A Brief History of Rock
Shortly after World War II, the Jazz Age declined and a new form of music began to take shape. This new style culled from the race records of the rural South and the urban blues of Chicago. It also borrowed from country and western styles and later from politically charged folk music.
When rock-and-roll emerged in the early 1950s, it forever changed the face of popular music. Rock-and-roll gained in popularity due in large part to the development of the electric guitar, jukeboxes, television and the 45 rpm record. Key figures such as Alan Freed, Sam Phillips, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and others all took advantage of this technology by drawing white audiences and musicians alike to participate in the birth of a new era.
Music historians usually cite rhythm and blues (R & B) as rock's most important antecedent. Yet while R & B was predominantly black, rock's first superstar was Elvis Presley, a white kid from Tupelo, Mississippi. Presley blended gospel and country with a hefty dose of the blues and a spirited backbeat. The result was an infectious and energetic brand of rock-and-roll called rockabilly. Sam Phillips's record label, Sun Records, had a major impact on the rise of this style by signing Presley and assembling what would later be known as the Million Dollar Quartet, featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Presley.
Race had an enormous impact on the development of rock-and-roll and its stylistic forerunners. Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records coined the term “rhythm and blues.” His goal was to replace the label “race records,” which was seen as an increasingly negative description of music made by black artists in the 1940s and 1950s.
Early rock-and-roll may have borrowed from many styles, but it was also inimitable in its own right. For instance, rock was attitude oriented, and it rebelled against the establishment. Further, rock used heavier backbeats, and it relied on amplification to get a larger-than-life sound. Rock's practitioners also often engaged in suggestive dancing on stage. Additionally, rock songs tended to be hook-laden, and they avoided the usual AABA song forms employed by composers of the Great American Songbook tradition.
Rock-and-roll made its crossover to white audiences when Elvis recorded “That's Alright Mama” in 1954, though he wouldn't earn a number one hit until 1956 with “Heartbreak Hotel.” By the 1960s, rock would drop its “roll” and mature into a whole range of substyles due to the influence of such icons as Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and, of course, the Beatles.
Paul McCartney is one of rock's great bassists. His band, the Beatles, is also one of the most influential rock/pop groups in history. In fact, they have become a musical institution. In his early period, McCartney's playing was more straightforward and simple. He used a lot of roots and fifths, like you'd find in country music. As the Beatles' music matured, McCartney's playing became more melodic and scalar.
In 1964, with the arrival of the Beatles on American shores, rock music firmly imbedded itself into the collective consciousness of society and has never left. Rock was dealt a harsh blow when rap and hip-hop topped it in CD sales in the 1990s, but it continues to thrive and have an enormous impact on popular culture. It is doubtful that rock will ever cease to be played.
