8/13/2019 the gme rock `n roll

1/3

rock music

Rock music emerged during the mid-1950s to become the major popular musical form of young audiences

in the United States and Western urope! "ts stylistic scope is too broad to be encompassed by any single

definition# the only feature common to all rock music is a hea$y emphasis on the beat!

R%&' ()( R%**+ 1950-,

.he primary source of rock (n( roll /as R.2 3)4 *US+ an idiom popular among black audiences

that combined elements of urban *US 6in the structure+ $ocal style+ and use of amplified guitar7+

8%S* 2US"& 6in the piano accompaniments and $ocal harmoni:ing7+ and ;30s+ and in 1951 the disc jockey

3lan ?reed+ /ho played an important role in attracting /hite teenagers to the music+ substituted the term@rock (n( roll+@ pre$iously used as a se=ual reference in lyrics!2ajor record producers+ obser$ing the success

of rhythm and blues and rock (n( roll songs distributed on @race records@ 6i!e!+ record labels marketed to

black audiences7+ issued @co$ers@--competing+ @saniti:ed@ $ersions of the same songs+ but recorded by

/hite artists! &o$ers--/hate$er their artistic Auality--brought ne/ stylistic influences to rock (n( roll 6/hite

&%U).R 3)4 WS.R) and popular music7 and eased the transition for /hite audiences! .his

audience+ still hesitant at accepting black music+ made ill aley(s @Rock 3round the &lock@ 619557 the

first important breakthrough for /hite rock (n( roll! What appealed to this ne/ audience+ accustomed to the

relati$ely bland .") 3) 3** brand of popular music+ /as rock (n( roll(s dri$ing dance rhythms+ itsdirect+ adolescent-le$el message+ and its suggestion of youthful rebellion!

Rock (n( roll(s first superstar /as l$is RS*!With his country-and-/estern background+ resley led

the /ay for other @rockabilly@ 6rock plus hillbilly7 artists# /ith his spasmodic hip gyrations+ he introduced a

se=ual suggesti$eness that outraged conser$ati$e adults# /ith his legions of teenage fans+ he brought to

rock (n( roll the cult of personality and became the archetype of the rock star as cultural hero!

%ther popular figures+ /hile commanding a smaller audience+ also made significant contributions to the

style# among them+ &huck RR nourished the music(s basic roots+ ;erry *ee *e/is e=panded its

country branch+ and *ittle Richard pro$ided frantic sho/manship! 4espite the dynamism of such figures+by the late 1950s a malaise had set in# the music had become formula ridden+ sentimental+ and often--as in

lo$e-death ballads like @.een 3ngel@--distinctly maudlin! Seeking a more honest e=pression+ a significant

segment of the adolescent and young adult audiences transferred their allegiance to ?%*' 2US"&+ as sungby such groups as eter+ aul+ and 2ary+ a folk trio# to traditional balladeers like the 'ingston .rio# and to

the prophets of modern folkBsocial commentary+ ;oan 3< and ob 4*3)!

R%&'+ 19,C-,9

.he rene/al of rock (n( roll came from the unlikely locale of *i$erpool+ ngland!.he 3.*S made their

start in 19,0+ at first imitating 3merican styles and then /ea$ing from the $arious strands of 3merican

rock (n( roll an indi$idual style marked--in both music and lyrics--by /it and a sense of fun! .heir successes

came Auickly during 19,C and (,>+ and their domination of the record market /as complete and

unprecedented! Rather than repeat the formulas of their initial triumphs+ they chose the more precarious

route of e=perimentation and gro/th! ?rom 19,5 to 19,9 they introduced ne/ sonorities+ te=tures+ forms+

rhythms+ melodic designs+ and lyric conceptions and /ere at the forefront of a re$olutionary epoch in

popular music! Rock (n( roll had e$ol$ed into an e=pression of greater sophistication+ comple=ity+ andbreadth! "t had become a ne/ idiomD rock!

%ther nglish groups also came into prominence around 19,>+ taking their places as eAuals /ith 3merican

artists in the de$elopment of rock! .he R%**")8 S.%)S+ the most prominent and durable of these

groups+ presented yet another image of rock--one of anger+ alienation+ and sensuality!

%ther trends of the 19,0s included the girl groups+ prominent in the early part of the decade# the merging

of rhythm and blues /ith black gospel styles to create the 2%.%W) sound of groups like the Supremes

and the .emptations+ and later the harder sound of S%U* 2US" the beginnings of ja::-rock+ as

8/13/2019 the gme rock `n roll

2/3

originally synthesi:ed by the band lood+ S/eat and .ears# folk-rock+ a blending of folk /ith rock# and the

emergence of the @&alifornia sound!@ .he folk-rock style+ first suggested by ob 4ylan at the 19,5

)e/port ?olk ?esti$al+ brought to folk music a hard beat and amplification+ and to rock a ne/ poetic

sensibility and social consciousness! 3 deeper significance of the blending /as its demonstration of rock(s

tendency to absorb all challenging idioms!

.he @&alifornia sound+@ despite its name+ /as not a uniform style+ but a term that reflected the rise of&alifornia as a major center of rock acti$ity and e=perimentation! "n the early 19,0s+ &alifornia /as the

scene of @surfing music@ 6populari:ed by the 3& %S7+ but o$er the course of the decade the music

changed to parallel the trends of hippies 6the 2amas and the apas7+ student protest 6&ountry ;oe and the

?ish7+ and a countercultural affair /ith drugs!

Widespread popularity of hallucinogenic drugs 6particularly *S4+ or @acid@7 produced psychedelic 3cidRock+ /hose apostles included ;??RS%) 3"R*3) and the 8R3.?U* 434!

Rock(s first major effort in musical theater /as the hippie re$ue air 619,E7+ a spectacularly successful

pageant celebrating youth+ lo$e+ and drugs! &losely follo/ing /ere such rock-opera successes as .ommy

and ;esus &hrist Superstar!

y the end of the 19,0s the distinctions bet/een rock (n( roll and rock /ere e$ident! .he earlier

instrumentation of sa=ophone+ piano+ amplified guitar+ and drums had been replaced by se$eral amplifiedguitars+ drums+ and an e$er-increasing reliance on electronic technology! .o the standard patterns of 1-bar

blues and C-bar song form /ere added e=tended+ uniAue forms+ sometimes encompassing the entire side ofa record album# to the lyrics of teenage lo$e and adolescent concerns /ere added social commentary+

glorification of drugs+ and free-association poetry! 4escripti$e group names 6&re/ &uts+ $erly rothers+

each oys7 /ere replaced by nondescripti$e+ enigmatic names 6.he W%+ ;efferson 3irplane+ ig

rother and the olding &ompany7! ?inally+ the separation bet/een performer and composer seemed to

$anish as the t/o merged in a single performer-composer! 3s demonstrated by the W%%4S.%&'

?S."F3* in 3ugust 19,9+ rock music /as by this time an intrinsic element in the life of 3merican youth

and a po/erful articulation of their moods+ hopes+ and fears!

R%&'+ 19E0-E9

.his decade sa/ the fragmentation of rock into subdi$isions beyond the general categories of hard rock6e=tremely loud and electronically amplified7 and mello/ rock 6softer+ sometimes /ith acoustic

instruments7! .he terms identifying these subdi$isions are not firm definitions+ but merely guides+ tenuous

and fluid+ /ith much stylistic o$erlapping!

Some styles are blendings of rock /ith other established idioms+ the rock contribution in$ariably being ahea$y beat and electronic technology! .hus+ folk-rock and country-rock each retain the character of folk

and country music! R883+ /hich emerged from ;amaica around 19E+ is an integration of rock+ soul+

calypso+ and other *atin rhythms! ;a::-rock fusion+ or simply fusion+ is a meeting bet/een rock

instrumentalists+ attracted to the broad creati$e opportunities and demanding musicianship of ja::+ and ja::

musicians+ attracted to rock(s electronics and commercial potential!

%ther styles are more clearly based on rock principles and precedents and range from the benign bubble-

gum rock of the %smond rothers+ directed to/ard the youngest popular music fans+ and the intentionally$ile U)' R%&'+ /hich punctuates its strident denunciations /ith $ulgarity! ea$y metal rock has

continued the hallucinogenic approach of acid rock+ but /ithin a narro/er musical dimension+ relying uponthe hypnotic po/er of repetiti$eness+ loud $olume+ and electronic distortion# among its leading e=ponents

ha$e been "ron utterfly and *4

8/13/2019 the gme rock `n roll

3/3

2ost rock music of the period /as intended almost solely for listening+ not for dancing! .he ine$itable

reaction /as 4"S&%+ a music first and foremost for dancing! With its thumping regularity of accented

beats di$ided into accented minibeats+ disco has been decried by hard-line rock fans as mechanical+

commercial+ and unlyrical! )e$ertheless+ its follo/ing increased and+ after the 8S composed and

recorded Saturday )ight ?e$er 619EE7+ disco became for a /hile a major sector of rock music!

. &*&."& 19G0s

Rock music+ by the mid-19G0s+ had presented no clear-cut ne/ musical direction! ands became more

production oriented+ in part because of the sudden e=plosion of @$ideos@ on .F screens! Ranging from

tele$ised concerts to minutes-long acted-out $ersions of rock songs+ $ideos ha$e pro$ed to be a po/erful

tool for introducing ne/ groups 6the 3ustralian 2en at Work+ for e=ample7! With their emphasis on the

$isual+ though+ they encouraged the use of bi:arre+ grotesAue @stories@ and staging+ /hile the musicremained secondary! ea$y metal bands recei$ed a boost from $ideos! 3lthough fading musically+ punk

remained a strong $isual style! "t /as outshone+ ho/e$er+ by the glittery+ androgynous look of such

immensely popular performers as 2ichael ;3&'S%)+ R")&+ and oy 8eorge! ruce SR")8S.)+

/hose @populist@ e=plorations of the 3merican e=perience in the 19E0s earned him a /ide follo/ing+

achie$ed superstar status in the mid-19G0s!

.he influence of ritish bands on the U! S! rock scene remained strong! .heir music /as as eclectic as the

/ork of their predecessors+ the eatles+ but it dre/ from a far narro/er rangeD punk+ disco+ pop-rock+reggae!

3t the same time+ there /as a nostalgic return to older+ simpler rock and prerock idioms! ritish musician

l$is &ostello(s songs harked back to rhythm-and-blues and country-/estern styles+ and *os 3ngeles-based

*os *obos fused rock music /ith traditional 2e=ican music!

Since the mid- to late-19G0s+ artists such as aul Simon 6formerly of S"2%) 3)4 83R?U)'*7 and

4a$id yrne 6of the .3*'")8 34S7+ e=tensi$ely @borro/ed@ from styles outside rock music+

particularly from 3frican music! &oncurrently+ almost e$ery country in the /orld has begun to de$elop

and support indigenous forms of rock music!

.he scope and significance of rock remains /ithout precedent in the history of popular music! eginning

as a minority e=pression on the fringe of 3merican society+ it de$eloped into a distinct countercultureduring the 19,0s+ and a decade later had become a dominant cultural force+ affecting and reflecting the

mores and moods of 3merican youth and /ea$ing itself into the $ery fabric of society!

d/ard 3! erlin

ibliographyD &urtis+ ;!+ Rock ras 619GE7# ?rame+ ete+ et al!+ .he armony "llustrated ncyclopedia of

Rock+ ,th ed! 619GG7# 8aar+ 8illian 8!+ She(s a RebelD .he istory of Women in Rock H Roll 61997#

ardy+ hil+ and *aing+ 4a$e+ ncyclopedia of Rock+ re$! ed! 619G97# ;ackson+ ;! 3!+ ig eat eat 619917#

2ako/er+ ;oel+ Woodstock 619G97D 2arcus+ 8reil+ 2ystery .rain+ Cd ed! 619907# )ite+ )orm )!+ Rock

%n+ C $ols!+ re$! ed! 619G-G57# areles+ ;on+ and Romano/ski+ atricia+ .he Rolling Stone ncyclopedia

of Rock H Roll 619GC7# odell+ ;!+ ed!+ Rock 2usic in 3merica 619GE7# Rogers+ 4a$e+ Rock (n( Roll 619G7#

Rolling Stone editors+ .he Rolling Stone "nter$ie/sD .he 19G0s--19G1-GG 619G97# Salamander ooks+ .he

"llustrated ncyclopedia of Rock 619G7# Schaffner+ )icholas+ .he ritish "n$asionD ?rom the ?irst Wa$eto the )e/ Wa$e 619G7# Scheurer+ .! !+ ed!+ 3merican opular 2usic+ Fol! 619907# Sha/+ 3rnold+ 3

4ictionary of 3merican op-Rock 619G7# Stambler+ "r/in+ ncyclopedia of op+ Rock+ and Soul+ re$! ed!619G97# S:atmary+ 4a$id !+ Rockin( in .imeD 3 Social istory of Rock-and-Roll+ d ed! 619917# Ward+

d+ Stokes+ 8eoffrey+ and .ucker+ 'en+ Rock of 3gesD .he Rolling Stone istory of Rock and Roll 619GE7#

Wicke+ !+ Rock 2usic 619907!