A Brief History of Rock and Roll

Mrs Kennedy
Topics
 Social Background
 What is Rock and Roll Music?
 Early Rock
 Rockabilly
 Surf Rock
 The British Invasion
 Folk Rock
 Psychedelic Rock
 Heavy Metal
 Glam Rock
 Punk
 Hair Rock
 Grunge
 Nu Metal
Social Background
 Pre and Post WWII
1930s & 40s 1950s & 60s
 Family Values  1940s Baby Boom
 Rapidly changing social
 Rules
Dynamic
 Music for Adults  Less emphasis on
 Dancing for Adults engrained values of
previous generations
 Boring for (Religious ethics / pure
Teenagers morals)
 Less ‘Rules’
 Non - Conformity
 Post war prosperity: Teenagers could now afford
to buy their own records and go to concerts
 Music was now written for teenagers, with topics
that would interest them such as Dating, Clothes,
School, Cars and Sex
 Rock and Roll lyrics gave their generation a voice
and an image that previous teenagers didn’t have.
 It allowed them to express themselves through
music and dancing
Dancing
 Dances such as the Twist exploded onto the scene
 It was a very suggestive dance at the time and was seen
to break discipline and obedience
 Elvis Presley’s swivelling hips were censored by some
television channels as they were seen to be sexually
suggestive and he could only be filmed from the waist up

 The Stroll
 The Twist
Civil Rights Movement

•Pre 60s – Segregation

•Rock And Roll was a combination of ‘White’
and ‘Black’ Music
‘White Music’ ‘Black Music’
 Country & Western  Blues
 Swing  Gospel

Rock and Roll was seen to

break racial barriers
What is Rock and Roll Music?
Rock and Roll (Noun)

a type of popular dance music originating

in the 1950s, characterized by a heavy
beat and simple melodies. Rock and roll
was an amalgamation of black rhythm and
blues and white country music, usually
based around a twelve-bar structure and
an instrumentation of guitar, double bass,
and drums
 1950s

Early Rock and Roll

Early Rock
 One of the earliest Rock and Roll songs to
appear was Bill Haley’s ‘Rock around the
Clock’
 Rock and Roll was originally a slang term for
dating
 This TERM first appeared on a record in 1922
in Trixie Smith's “My Baby Rocks Me With One
Steady Roll.”
Bill Haley and the Comets
 What
instrument do you associate
most with Rock and Roll??
When was it invented? And Who by?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0alRAXZrzc
Sam Phillips (1923 – 2003)
 Sam Phillips was a DJ who started ‘Sun
Records’ label.

 Was concerned his black artists would not be

able to break through into the “white
mainstream” market.

 Began searching for a white artist “who could

play and sing in this same exciting, alive way.”
Small v Large Record Companies
 Large Record companies wanted to make
mainstream music that would appeal to the
masses – at that time that meant a white artist
performing censored versions of black music

 Small Record companies, however, wanted to

find artists “so talented and unique—or so
outrageous—that their styles could not be
easily imitated by other artists on the major
labels.”
 By1957 Wilder acts began to
appear such as:
Jerry Lee Lewis
Little Richard
Chuck Berry

All Outrageous, unique and talented

Jerry Lee Lewis
Chuck Berry
Little Richard
Rockabilly
Rockabilly (Noun)

a type of popular music, originating in

the south-eastern US in the 1950s,
combining elements of rock and roll
and country music.

A Combination of the words ‘Rock’

and ‘Hillbilly’
Rockabilly Artists

 Rockabilly artists include

 Johnny Cash
 Buddy Holly
 Elvis Presley (Early)
 Jerry Lee Lewis
What was new about Rockabilly?
Buddy Holly
 Born in Texas 1936

 Tried to bring elements of rhythm and blues

into country music.

 Influenced by Elvis Presley to give their music a

“harder rhythm and blues edge.”

 Standardized the rock line up of 2 guitar, bass

and drums
The Day the Music Died
Surf Music -The early 60s saw the rise of
the Surf Craze
Vocal Surf Music
 Multiple vocal
harmonies
 Lyrics often relating to
the beach / ocean
 ‘California Dreaming’
by the Mamas and Papas
Instrumental Surf
 2 Guitars, Bass and
Drums
 Heavy use of reverb /
effects
 Often included the use
of a theramin
 ‘Wipeout’ by the Surfaris
The Beach Boys

Popularized Surf Music Worldwide

 Clean Guitar
 Heavy emphasis on
intricate vocal
harmonies
 Influenced many bands
both at the time and in
the future including The
Beatles
Surf Music

Surfin USA Wipeout

Early 1960s Britain
 At this time most bands in Britain were covering
the Rock music that had crossed the Atlantic from
USA, including a young band called the Beatles

 The “Liverpool sound” is “…the same as the rock

from five years ago.” (George Harrison, The
Beatles)

 Other bands doing the same included The Rolling

Stones, The Who, The Kinks and The Animals
 The success of the Beatles in America
brought on what was to become known as
the British Invasion
Folk Music
Folk Music – A Social Background
 The 1960s:Vietnam War, Nuclear Weapons, Civil Rights
Movement

 The freedom and revolution from the teenagers of 1950s

followed through to the 1960s when college students and
activists used music as a peaceful means of protesting.

 Folk Music consisted of very simple melodies, few

instruments, and the most important aspect
was the lyrics and the message

 Popular Folk artists included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Simon and
Garfunkel, and Peter, Paul & Mary.
Bob Dylan
Peter, Paul and Mary
Psychedelic Rock
 Freedom of expression also led to many using drugs; this led
to psychedelic rock

• Psychedelic Rock:
- Focused drug sub culture and
hallucinogenic experiences.
- Introduced long instrumentals.

 Examples of Psychedelic Rock artists include: Jimi Hendrix,

The Doors, Pink Floyd, and The Who
Psychedelic Rock
Woodstock
1970s

While the majority of Americans were

listening to folk and soft rock, musicians
playing “hard rock,” “heavy metal,” “art
rock,” and “glam rock” were becoming
popular to fans who missed the “energy,
spectacle and sheer volume of 1960s
rock and roll.”
1970s – Metal & Glam Rock
Metal Rock
 Led Zeppelin were the founders of metal (even
though at the time they were referred to as a
heavy rock band)
 Metal is essentially Rock, using driving power
chords, twin guitar, double bass drum and
harsher lyrics and singing style.
 Metal Groups of the 70s and 80s include Deep
Purple, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motorhead
and Metallica to name a few.
Whole Lotta Love
Kashmir
Glam Rock
 British artists in the early 70s were
“pushing the wild, theatrical side” of rock
and roll.
 Glitter or glam rock artists were easily
recognized by their brightly colored
clothes, platform shoes and makeup.
 It portrayed a world where the misfit
became the hero.
Glam Rock Artists – T-Rex
Punk – A Definition

 punk noun (since the 1970’s) young

person with strange clothes and often
coloured hair who likes loud violent
music
 punk noun anti-Establishment youth
movement and style of rock music of the
late 1970’s
Punk
 Shocking
 Short Lived
 ‘In your Face’
 Rebellious
 Lyrics and Message more important than music – ‘Punk’
musicians weren’t necessarily talented musically
____________________________________________

The Ramones, The Clash, The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols
1980s
 1980s Rock
 Bands like U2 and REM were more accessible
versions of Punk Rock
 MTV was launched; The way musicians looked and
acted on their videos began to be more important
than how they sounded on their records.
1983 'Glam Metal' (or 'Hair Metal') become the
most popular of the 'Metal' styles with the release of
albums by Def Leppard, Poison and later Bon Jovi
1988 Compact discs (CDs) outsell vinyl records for
the first time.
Whitesnake
Grunge Characteristics
 Originated in Seattle, USA
 Grunge is generally characterized by heavily
distorted electric guitars, contrasting song
dynamics, "growling" vocals and apathetic or
angst-filled lyrics.
 Many grunge musicians were noted for their
unkempt appearances and rejection of
theatrics.
 Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden
Nirvana
Soundgarden
Nu Metal
 Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal that fuses
elements of heavy metal music with those of multiple
other genres, most notably ones like hip hop, funk, and
grunge.

 Rage against the Machine

 Linkin Park
 Slipknot
 System of a Down
System of a Down
Questions?
Jerry Lee Lewis Biography
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNNXnr4sc8o&index
=1&list=PL0730CBF155E62D57