Popular Music1950s: The Emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Day 2
• Background on life in the 1950s• What is the “music industry” today?• Independent Labels – regional• Major Labels – RCA, CBS, Decca, & Capital Records• Marketing Categories: Regional vs. National• Development of the lightweight “unbreakable” 45 rpm record• Top 40 Radio was created
Day 3: Sounds of the Cities
First stop…
• New Orleans– Cosimo Matassa (J&M Studio)– Antoine “Fats” Domino– Little Richard
Fats Domino
Piano
Charted 36 Top 40 pop hits
Transcended racism
Had an elegant gentleman persona
Little RichardOriginally from Macon, GA
Contract bought out for $600
Went to New Orleans to record at J&M Studio
Most outrageous rocker
First to use mascara
Next stop…
• Los Angeles– Johnny Otis– Bobby Day– The Champs– Ritchie Valens
Johnny OtisFirst to make successful transition from jazz to rock ‘n’ roll
Big hit was Willie and the Hand Jive
Catalyst for African American culture and talent
Bobby DayRockin’ Robin
The ChampsDrew on Mexican rhythms
Tequila
Ritchie ValensFirst Chicano rock ‘n’ roll star
Died 3 months before his 18th birthday in plane crash with Buddy Holly & Big Bopper (February 3, 1959)
Known as “the day the music died”
La Bamba
Day 4: Sounds of the Cities
Moving on to Chicago…
• Chess Records– Bo Diddley– Chuck Berry
• Vee Jay Records
And…Cincinnati
• King Records
Bo DiddleyFirst instrument was the violin
Usually performed in all black with a black Stetson hat
Known for “shave and a haircut” diddy
Performed with oddly shaped guitars
Chuck BerryKing of Rock ‘n’ Roll??
Was told he sounded “too country for a black man”
Songs were too socially relevant for many people
Could relate to a white teen culture
R&R’s first guitar hero
Cincinnati
• King Records– Crossroads for blues and country music– Encouraged c&w artists and r&b artists to record
each other’s songs
Day 5: The Gospel Connection
• R & B artists did not perform in church.• Gospel singers were expected to steer clear of
“devil’s music.”• The Dominoes
Ray Charles“The Genius”
Blinded by glaucoma as a child
Did not see a contradiction between gospel and r&b
58-year career, won 12 Grammy Awards
He virtually created the gospel blues style
Day 6: Doo Wop – The Intersection of Gospel, Jazz & Pop
• Doo Wop was the product of urban vocal harmony groups, mostly African American and almost invariably male.– Influenced by gospel, jazz, pop, and blues styles.– Group Names (bird groups and car groups)– The Ravens
• “One Hit Wonders”• New York City was the center for doo wop.• The Clovers– Love Potion No. 9
The Coasters
• Major hit makers from 1950-1961– Yakety Yak– Charlie Brown– Poison Ivy
The Drifters
Race in Doo Wop GroupsItalian Americans
• Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
• Johnny Maestro and the Crests
• Dion and the Belmonts
• The Dell Vikings
Gender Balance
• Only a few groups had females• All-female groups were even fewer…their
songs defined male-female relationships
Doo Wop ended in 1961Those Oldies But Goodies – Little Caesar and the Romans
Day 7: Rockabilly (The Country Strain)
Sam Phillips• Started the Memphis
Recording Service in 1950• Cost $2 per side• Founded Sun Records in
Memphis, TN in 1953• Wanted to filter the African
American style through white performers, making it more accessible to the mainstream audience
Bill Haley & His Comets• Balding and looked
somewhat middle-aged• Rock Around the Clock sold
17 million copies
Elvis PresleyBorn to poor, white Mississippi parents on January 8, 1935
At Sun Records he recorded 10 sides (each of the 5 records had a r&b song backed with a c&w song)
Contract sold to RCA-Victor for $35,000
Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, & Don’t Be Cruel
Was not a songwriter
“Elvis the Pelvis”
Joined the Army from 1958-1960
Charted 149 Top 40 hits and 92 albums on the charts
Also starred in movies
Carl PerkinsThe son of poor, white southern parents
Blue Suede Shoes
Said, “Rockabilly is a country man’s song with a black man’s rhythm.”
Career ended after he was nearly killed in a car crash.
In 1964, the Beatles invited him to a recording session where they recorded 3 of his songs.
Day 8: Rockabilly continued…
Jerry Lee Lewis
Known for his boogie-powered “pumping piano”
Had blonde, curly hair
Turned out three Top 10 pop hits in a row for Sun Records, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, Great Balls of Fire, and Breathless
Johnny CashStarted at Sun Records in 1955
After a few country hits, I Walk the Line became a Top 20 pop hit in 1956
Switched to Columbia Records in 1958
Career included gold and platinum records, films, and his own TV show
Died in 2003 from complications from diabetes
“The Million Dollar Quartet”
Elvis Presley
Jerry Lee Lewis
Johnny Cash
Carl Perkins
Buddy Holly
Enjoyed greater success in Great Britain than in US
Was a Texas-born rockabilly who reached the pop audience
Signed to Decca Records in 1955, wore “coke-bottle” glasses
The Crickets – That’ll Be the Day in 1957
Never had a country hit
Died in plane crash
Day 9: Rockabilly continued…
The Reaction to Rock ‘n’ Roll
• The Eisenhower Era– Dwight D. Eisenhower was conservative, old-fashioned, bland,
polite, and conventional– Only bland music was released
• “Family Life” in the 1950s– Teenagers rebelled
• Rock ‘n’ Roll represented everything that white, middle-class parents feared (the “devil’s music,” NAACP strategy for recruiting young whites, or a communist plot to undermine the moral fiber of the younger generation)
Day 10: The Established Powers Fight Back
• Revenues from record sales climbed from $213 million in 1954 to $603 million in 1959
• The pop market, and music industry, tripled during the 1950s
• Rock ‘n’ Roll was here to stay• “War on Rock” – Established powers of the music
industry joined forces with the US Government in an attempt to suppress the music
• ASCAP - American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers
Covering the Bases
• Cover records not only altered the style of the music but also the lyrics– Were released during
the expected chart life of the original
– Often outsold the original
• How could cover records be beneficial?
• Pat Boone– Built his career sanitizing
the classics– This kept him from being
inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame
Pop DiversionsU.S. Calypso
• RCA and Columbia records led the push
• Harry Belafonte– Banana Boat, established the
tone and content of the style
Popular Folk Music
• Kingston Trio– Clean-cut image, brightly
colored matching shirts, and upscale college humor (white).
– Signed to Capital Records in 1957, released 18 albums that made the Top 20
Schlock Rock
• Philadelphia was the major hub• 3 Independent Labels: Chancellor,
Cameo/Parkway, and Swan– Transformed local teenagers into teen idols– Focused on image, not talent (boy-next-door)
Day 11: Schlock Rock continued…
• Italian American artists– Fabian, Frankie Avalon,
Bobby Rydell, Freddy Cannon, Bobby Darin, Annette Funicello
– Felt compelled to Anglicize their names
• Chubby Checker– African American
superstar– The Twist was the first
dance craze– Original name was
Ernest Evans
American Bandstand
TV Show that began in 1952 as a local Philadelphia broadcast on an ABC affiliate
Dick Clark took over the show in 1956 and was known as the “perpetual teenager”
In the early years, only white performers appeared on the show
Promoted rock ‘n’ roll via TV
Television’s Greatest Hits
• Mickey Mouse Club– Launched Annette
Funicello’s R&R career– Started the mouseketeer
craze
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet– Starred Ricky Nelson– A Teenager’s Romance
went to #2
Songwriters
• Paul Anka– Diana
• Neil Sedaka– Calendar Girl
• Brill Building (1619 Broadway, NYC)
Day 14: The Official Attack on Rock ‘n’ Roll
• By the mid 1950s, R&R had become the focal point for all of society’s fears of violence, juvenile delinquency, and general moral decline.
• R&R brought styles of music that were considered class- and race-specific into the mainstream.
• Religious organizations supplied lists of inappropriate records.
• Towns set up review boards to screen new releases.• Police confiscated offensive records and jukeboxes.• Payola – paying for play
– Payola Hearings
Surf’s Up!• Surf music emerged in the early 1960s.– Vocal and Instrumental varieties– Only lasted from 1962-1964– Made R&R white and middle class.– Surfing = easy going lifestyle– British Invasion wiped out the genre
Surf Groups
• Surfari’s – Wipe Out (only instruments)• Guitar-Based Groups– Duane Eddy and the Rebels– The Ventures• Established the instrumentation of the classic R&R
quartet – electric guitar, rhythm, bass guitar, & drums
The Beach Boys
Defined Surf Music
A Family Affair
Wrote songs that elevated the sport to a metaphor for the American Dream
Surfin’ USA
Signed with Capital Records in 1962
Brian Wilson was the group’s main song writer, arranger, and producer