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