Rock and roll is also known as rock & roll, rock ‘n’ roll. The term was derived from the phrase “rocking and rolling” which was used by the sailors of the 17th century which was used to describe the motion of a ship when it is in the sea because it deals with the rhythmic movement of the ship and same movements are felt by the people after listening to the music of rock and roll.
This popular music style first originated in the period of mid-1950 and it was more evolved during the mid-1960s incorporating the international style of music also known as rock music. And later it was known as rock and roll.
In 1951, this type of music was firstly introduced by Alan freed, Ohio, Cleveland. That was popularised on the radio program. The genre of rock and roll combines jazz, blues, rhythm, and country music. The zero-hours for rock and roll began in 1966. 1966 was the end of the teenyboppers and scream age. This age gave birth to serious fans and it is also known as the ear of age.
Rock lovers celebrated this age as the year of the big bang.
What is characterized by rocks?
Rock and roll mainly consist characterized by the presence of electric guitar, electric piano, electric bass, rock instruments, electric organs, etc.
It was known as the sound of ‘60s’ and ‘70s’.
After this, it became more modern shredding behind the 10 rear “roll”. It just became more and more modern which opened the way for the sidecar.
Rock and roll has changed over time:
Over the last seven decades, rock and roll music has changed very much. It changed very much from the time of hip-shaking pop stars of the 1950s, for example, Elvis Presley to the period of the 1980s where the obsession and a brief period of hair – mental. It has consistently defined the cultural shifts in the contemporary music of America.
Rock and roll influenced the music:
Generally, the people of that decade were very much influenced by this music because after listening to it they used to think that they can do it too. They were the genres that were accessible as well as most diverse by which the people can relate to it, fell included in such a way that they consider themselves as to its part. Rock and roll has influenced fashion, language, attitude, and daily life in a way that has equalled social developments.
It brought the black and white community together through music, enjoyment, and the culture of youth.
Rock and roll is different from other music forms:
Pop music generally focused on vocals, beats, guitar, and bass. Its basic elements are not much evolved like a rock which evolved from sub genres.
It is a blend of white musical traditions and African-American music. It challenged the existing norms of the society which include race segregation. It became a sound of youth that was defying the expectations of their parents.
How rock and roll impacted the culture of American history:
With the emergence of rock and roll, many changes were introduced in the lives of Americans.
It played a major role in changing the behavior of teens in the 1950s as it encouraged freedom in the life of a teenager, introduced the generation gap, and encouraged new fads between teenagers.
Effect of technology on Rock and roll:
Innovation in the technology provided further opportunities for distribution of sound, recording of sound, and quality of sound which influenced the rock and roll ratings and resulted in an explosion in production and new technology.
Many new technologies arrived at the time when rock and roll were popular like the unsung egg-heads that were behind the radio, telephone system, electrical grid, plastics, and transistors that put the influence of technology in the rock and roll.
Many technologies played an important role in the development of rock and roll like the electric guitar which turned into ground-breaking innovation for rock and roll music.
Before this innovation saxophone, piano, and trumpet were the instruments that were used by the musicians mainly for soloing.
Rock and roll in the 1950s:
Rock music evolved in the 1950s. 1950 saw the rise and emergence of rock and roll. One of the pioneers was Carl Perkins who participated in the creation of rock music and his style was known as rock ability.
Blues and rhythm had a great impact on the music of the 1950s. It emerged from blues and jazz, and some artists like Ray Charles inspired the genres. Bluesy nature brought New Orleans into the mainstream which inspired blues and jazz fans.
This music celebrated themes like young love, and freedom from oppression in the middle-class society.
It spread very quickly among the teenagers of America at the time of the 1950s and Jokey Alan Freed played an important role in it.
The music genre in the 1950s was like doo-wop, Swing, rock and roll, country music jazz music, rock ability, etc.
Elvis Presley brought rock and roll music back in the 1950s by giving legendary hits like Love me Tender, and Heartbreak Hotel.
Rock and Roll in 1960s:
It has been a decade for the iconic groups like The Beatles, The Yardbirds, and The Rolling Stones.
The Beatles did something that was not experienced before by anybody in popular music and especially a group who has come from overseas. This band took America for the rest of the world by creating a storm during this period.
Another important band that came from London was, The Rolling Stones. They made Blues the instrumental and were an important part of rock and roll. They have produced creations that were timeless and which cannot be forgotten easily.
Many more bands and musicians were popular in the 1960s. This decade was considered one of the important decades which sculpted rock and roll and changed the music drastically.
This decade gave The Beatles, The rolling stones, The beach boys, folk rock, and surf music and ended up with Woodstock.
Rock and roll in the 1970s:
Started as a decade for rock superstars Sheer scale in the sales of rock albums gave an upper hand to musicians, lawyers, and accountants to negotiate with the companies. And it turned out to be like “The greater the artist’s self-indulgence bigger will be the financial return”. At the end of the year, record sales become half and the economic recession increased the competition for young people.
Famous rock and roll bands in 1970 were Elton John, Eagles, Queen, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin, etc.
During 1970 there was a change in the rock pattern and format. The needs of dancers were met by disco. In the early 1980s disco came back into the world. And it was spread everywhere in deejays, clubs, etc.
African and American music entered parallel to rock music plus the new rock technologies were used to sharpen the difference.
Rock and roll in the 1980s:
The music industry recovered itself from the economic crisis because of the development of new technology. Revolution in technology had an immediate effect generally on the record buyers. They preferred to listen to music on the superior sound systems.
Rock became the music for adults and youthful fads started disappearing.
As the superstars of the 1970s were not able to match the sales of old records
Rock became too broad and expectations unified by anyone.
Famous rock bands of the era were Journey, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Queen, AC/DC, Motorhead, etc.
Rock and roll in the 1990s:
At the beginning of the 1990s, the music began as it used to be in the 80s. Cocaine and Aqua net were some popular holdovers of the era such as INXS and ZZ top, and Guns N’ Roses, they still chokehold the charts.
In the early 1990s, new music came that combined heavy metal with alternative rock. And this was considered the precursor of the metal movement in the 1990s. This style was generally used by Jane’s Addiction, Helmet, etc.
Popular music in the 1990s got a continuation of dance-pop trends and teen pop. These emerged in the 1970s and 80s. Rather than this in the 1990s Hip hop grew more which became very popular and lead to the golden age genres.
Rock and roll in the 2000s:
In its early stage, new groups emerged that drew the inspiration from new wave and post-punk and were the part of garage rock, etc.
Hip hop was dominating in this era but still, rock music was very popular and special the genres like post-grunge, nu metal, metal core, and post-Britpop. This era saw resurgence in the popularity of power pop and pop-rock.
Famous artists of this era were 50 cents, the black-eyed peas, Nas, Kanye west, Missy Elliott, etc.
Rock and roll played a big role in influencing the fashion of daily life, language, and attitude of the people. It brought the black and white community together through music, enjoyment, and the culture of youth. Rock and roll mainly consisted of electric guitar, electric piano, electric bass, rock instruments, and electric organs. It became very popular that the ’60s’ and ’70s’ were known as the sound era.
It spread with the help of new technology. And influenced the brains and thinking of teens. This music made people feel like a part of this music. This music was responsible for the joy that emerged in the culture of youth.