1950's Birth of Rock 'n Roll

Rock 'n Roll came about in the early 1950's after WWII. This new Rock 'n roll music originated from the African American culture's rhythm and blues, but was taken over by white artists and gained the name Rock 'n Roll on a radio show from Disc Jockey Alan Freed. The birth of Rock 'n Roll sparked a change from the easy listening jazz music from the forties to the dancing music of the fifties with the largest generation of american teens and young adults to this point in american history listening to this new music.

Rock 'n Roll in the 50's was the complete opposite of the music of the previous generation. While the music of the 1940's consisted of easy listening and jazz music, the 50's brought about Rock 'n Roll music and dancing. The younger generation used Rock 'n Roll music and especially the dancing that goes along with said music to rebel against the older generation and their conservative views. As opposed to the calm, innocent dancing provoked by jazz music, Rock 'n Roll introduced twisting, thrusting, bumping and grinding that was viewed as disgusting and disgraceful to the older generation of jazz listeners.

Rock 'n Roll originated from the Rhythm and Blues music of the African American culture. When Rhythm and Blues began to gain popularity among the teens of America, producers began to search for white artists that could copy the sound. For a while, all the white artists that attempted to recreate the Rhythm and Blues style lost the heart and soul of the music and were not up to par with the producers' expectations. It wasn't until the discovery of Elvis Presley that white artists began to figure out how to keep the soul of the music while adding in their own style. Thus began the boom that was Rock 'n Roll, wildly popular among teenagers, middle class, and colored communities. On the other side, the conservative older generation, upper class citizens, and the church viewed this music as Satan's Music. But, that didn't stop many Americans from giving in to the temptation to shake, rattle, and roll.

Rock and roll is the most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression — lewd, sly, in plain fact, dirty — a rancid-smelling aphrodisiac and the martial music of every side-burned delinquent on the face of the earth.

– Frank Sinatra (1957)

In this song, Bill Haley captures the mood of the youth of the 1950's. They wanted to do nothing but "rock around the clock" to their favorite music which was in the new style of Rock n' Roll.This generation was all about singing and dancing along to the song being played in a less than conservative way that rebelled against their parent's generation.

Beginning with the opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom!" this song became a model for many Rock 'n Roll songs of the era. Through its strong, upbeat tempo and powerful vocal lines, Tutti Frutti was an instant hit in the 1950's among teenagers and became a top party song for those looking for a good time and a good dancing song.

Buddy Holly wrote and recorded this song in the late 1950's with his band The Crickets and it hit the top of the charts in both America and the UK in a matter of days. Buddy Holly was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas in a family of musicians. He decided to pursue a career in music after opening for Elvis Presley in 1955 and later that year went on to open for Bill Haley and his Comets once and Elvis 3 more times while simultaneously writing and recording new songs with his band.

Rockin' Robin is another well known hit of the era of Rock 'n Roll. It was the only hit single recorded by Bobby Day during his singing career. This song is one of many that was later remade and reached the top of the charts again with a different artist. This shows that African American artists were being included in and welcomed to the world of popular music in the 1950's and although Rock 'n Roll was created to get away from the African American Rhythm and Blues toward white artists, African American artists were still involved in Rock 'n Roll.

This was the song that sent teenagers and parents of the 50's into a frenzy after Elvis's appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. Teenagers of the time were crazy about the new heart throb and his smokin' dance moves while their parents were outraged at the disgusting hip movement that occurred on the stage.

Elvis is often times thought of as the main face of 1950's Rock n' Roll because he was wildly popular at the time and was the first white artist that captured the style of rhythm and blues that did not lose the heart and soul of the music.