Rock and Roll

1
Rock and Roll

• Robert Simpson
• Joe Burzynski

2
My Baby Rocks Me With A Steady Roll

• The term Rock and Roll was first used by
  Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed
• One of the most important popularizers of rock
  and roll during the '50s, Alan Freed was the
  first disc jockey and concert producer of rock
  and roll.
• Freed Was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of
  fame in 1986

3
Roots

• Rock and Roll is rooted in such musical styles as
  The Blues, Country, and Rhythm and Blues.
• Other major influences were found in the styles
  of Bluegrass, Boogie-Woogie, Gospel, Jazz, and
  Rockabilly.
• In 1917, the first jazz record was issued in the
  U.S. when Nick LaRoccas Original DixielandJazz
  Band released "The Dixieland Jazz Band One-Step."
  
• In 1929 the 78 rpm record was introduced.

4
The 50s

• Innocent and inoffensive "feel-good" tunes, which
  genuinely reflected the mood of post World War II
  America. Artists like Pat Boone, Rosemary Clooney
  and Perry Como dominated pop charts.
• In the hands of black innovators Country blues
  bands became urban and electric. Gospel music
  begat doo wop. Big bands splintered into smaller
  groups. Some into be bop, others into rhythm and
  blues progressions of the big bands called RB.
  All rooted, they cross pollinated and resulted in
  musical hybrids.

5

• Before WWII a teens exposure to music was limited
  to  radio and an occasional record purchase.
• Juvenile delinquency, at that time, was on the
  rise and was  played up by the media.
• Teen choices of new music began influencing
  society. A "generation gap" was formed as teen
  dress, beliefs, pastimes, social mores, speech
  patterns differed from their parents generation.

6
Guitar Heroes

• Pioneers
• Robert Johnson Dubbed the father of Modern Rock
  and roll by many, he is considered among the most
  prolific of early blues men
• Charlie Christian Christian elevated the guitar
  as a lead jazz instrument alongside the trumpet
  and saxophone. His single string technique
  established a musical style which would be
  emulated by later disciples Chuck Berry and B.B.
  King.

7

• Aaron T-Bone Walker T-Bone was the first
  electric bluesman. He is considered the link
  between acoustic and modern electric sounds.
• Innovators
• Chuck Berry Arguably the most important figure
  in Rock and Roll. The archetypal rock and roller,
  Chuck Berry melded blues, country, and a witty,
  defiant teen outlook into songs that influenced
  vitally every rock musician in his wake.
• "If you tried to give rock and roll another name,
  you might call it Chuck Berry" ......... John
  Lennon
• Other great Innovators are Jay Lee Hooker, Eddie
  Cochran, and Bo Diddley.

8

• The Electric Guitar
• The development of the electric solid body guitar
  owes a great deal to the popularity of Hawaiian 
  music in the 1920s and 1930s. Hawaiian guitars
  were solo instruments played with a metal slide.
  Electric Hawaiian guitars were the first
  instruments that depended entirely on their sound
  being amplified electrically not just
  acoustically.
• In the 1940s Gibson new electric models became
  firmly established.
• In 1944, Leo Fender, who ran a radio repair shop,
  teamed up with Doc Kaufman, a former Rickenbacker
  employee, started K F Company and produced a
  series of steel guitars and amplifiers.

9

• In 1954, Fender began producing the Stratocaster.
  Along with the Telecaster and the guitars Les
  Paul was designing for Gibson, they set the
  standard for solid body guitars.

10
Bill Haley and his comets

• Billy Haley and his Comets fused elements of
  country music, Western swing, and black RB to
  produce some of rock and roll's earliest hits.
• Rock Around The Clock was the song to introduce
  rock and roll into the white mainstream.
• His next record a cover of Joe Turner's "Shake,
  Rattle and Roll' was a top ten hit.  It was the
  first rock roll record to sell a million copies
  

11
The King

• Elvis Presley was the first real rock and roll
  star.
• Presley was repeatedly dismissed as vulgar,
  incompetent and a bad influence. However the
  force of his music and image signaled to the
  mainstream culture it was time for a change.
• Presley became a national star in 1956. He went
  to Nashville to record his first records for RCA.
  Among them was "Heartbreak Hotel."
• All of his singles in 1956 were gold certified.
• Presley was the first rock star to crossover into
  films with consistent commercial success.

12

• From the 1950s up to present day, he is still
  among the top selling artists.

13
American Bandstand

• Bandstand began as local programming in the
  Philadelphia area.
• Dick Clark was the first to host the network
  television series which featured the most popular
  bands of the day.
• 1st song played on the national edition was Jerry
  Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shaking Goin' On."
• BB King was the ONLY performer that did not
  lip-synch on Bandstand.

14
Fin

• Rock and Roll was the beginning of a musical
  revolution. Such bands as The Beatles, The Jimi
  Hendrix Experience, The Doors, Pink Floyd, and
  Led Zeppelin would further this revolution.
• People still overlook the roots of modern rock
  music in the early blues and rhythm and blues
  bands.