The genre of rock is responsible for moving America forward when we were “stuck in our ways.” Life had become predictable, people started wondering “there has to be more to this” (referring to life). The term rock n roll was used as slang in jazz and blues lyrics to mean, or to engage in sex. African Americans owned the jazz and blues genre. At a time when discrimination and racism was very strong America, the 1950s, adults did not want their children listening to music by African Americans with suggestive, sexual lyrics. This is why the genre was under so much scrutiny in the beginning.

Before rock n roll, the music scene consisted of pop or easy listen musicians, like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Big band, which was a music ensemble of jazz musicians country music, with stars like Hank Williams. Blues music, which was founded by African Americans in the 1860’s. These genres continued on with popularity into the early 1950’s.

Blues, along with rhythm and jazz were very popular among kids growing up in the post-World War II era. Young boys across America trying to emulate this blues beat they were hearing on the radio. The next sound was bound to be rock n roll because of this. The southern blues beat could only be heard on the black radio stations across America. The genre of blues is the back-bone of rock n roll, and without it rock n roll doesn’t exist. Famous blues artist such as B.B. King,  Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Freddie King and Buddy Guy were crucial components to the genres evolution into rock n roll.

Some early rock musicians who had played a huge part in moving the genre forward were Elvis, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and many others. 1954, Elvis came onto the scene, and not long after was deemed the King of Rock n Roll. Elvis was way before his time in terms of the sound he was putting out on the radio. With a sped up, new and improved sound along with a pretty white face singing like Elvis, the younger generation went mad for it. “When I heard Heartbreak Hotel, it was the end for me. Once I heard it and got into it, that was life, there was no other thing. I thought of nothing else but rock n roll,” said John Lennon in an interview. The sound, the beat, it was something new and fresh. With the lyrics being about love and full of sexual innuendos, younger generation was looking to rebel against their parents ideology and wanted to express themselves in a different way.

The younger children who were influenced by the 1950s rock n roll, by the 1960s, were producing music of their own. The British Invasion which included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Kinks were reinventing the sound they grew up on and throwing an R&B twist on it. The Beatles thrived in America, topping the fame of Elvis and selling millions of records. “Nothing affected me until I heard Elvis. Without Elvis, there would be no Beatles,” John Lennon famously said about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Although they may have become more popular, The Beatles had much respect for The King and made it known they were big fans. The early 1960s sound was catchy, upbeat, and usual was about loving a girl. The industry loved that stuff, mostly because it made them money.

The upbeat, catchy, good loving rock n roll sound continued up until about the mid-1960s, and then something changed. The beatnik culture throughout the 1950s and eventually turning into what we know as the counterculture movement in the 1960s loved rock. In fact, Rock n roll was the center piece to this movement based around peace, love and enlightenment. The 1960s brought something totally new to the table with rock. The lovey-dovey rock jams were out and social change was in. Rock artists started to use their music as a way to address the social problems that America was facing at this time. Groups like The Doors produced a song Five to One referring to a generational takeover by the young. Five to One being the ratio between young protesters to law enforcement. The point being about the ratio and how they have the older generation outnumbered, nothing can stop them and change will come, peace will prosper.

The drug LSD, played a huge part in changing the sound of rock n roll again. The bands indulging in it found that people enjoyed a solid jam with an electrifying guitar solo to take you to “that place” while on the drug. This was the start of psychedelic rock which meant less lyrics, loud guitar, and eerie yet pleasurable sounds that make you wonder what instrument created them. The main hub for this sound was coming from Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California. Every artist in the mid to late 60s was moving out there. San Francisco became an epicenter for rock music and the counterculture, it was peace, love and rock n roll all the time. Janis Joplin, and the 13^th Floor Elevators were two groups to make it big from Austin after moving further west. “As the front man of the 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson helped define the outer limits of psychedelic rock” (Erlewine, 2019). Other bands who had success from San Francisco included the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, and Steve Miller Band, all main stays in the rock genre for years and years to come.

As the years went on, the rock genre continued to develop, change and evolve throughout and into ‘70s, ‘80s, and ultimately saw its demise after the ‘90s. Without artist like Muddy Waters, B.B. King and the popularity of blues, rock n roll would not exist. The blues musicians are the original rockers who set this great genre we call rock in motion.

Youtube Videos

https://youtu.be/4fk2prKnYnI   B.B King – Thrill is Gone

https://youtu.be/w5IOou6qN1o  Muddy Waters – Manish Boy

https://youtu.be/1qpM2wSD7BA  Frank Sinatra and Elvis

https://youtu.be/jenWdylTtzs  The Beatles – I Want to Hold Your Hand

https://youtu.be/3tHPsphg9xc  The Doors – Five to One

https://youtu.be/a6JLKbSjH3E  13^th Floor Elevators – You’re Gonna Miss Me

https://youtu.be/zq8sp6WF3bQ  The Grateful Dead – The Eleven

References:

https://www.beatlesstory.com/blog/2017/08/11/the-kings-elvis-presley-and-the-beatles/#:~:text=%22Nothing%20affected%20me%20until%20I,of%20Rock%20’n’%20Roll.

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/remembering-roky-erickson-a-forefather-of-outsider-rock/