There are many contributors to rock and roll music. But none have had as much influence as the crew of the 1950’s and 1960’s that took the blues sound and ran with it. This pivotal time in the development of the Rock and Roll genre showcases the explicit relationship that music and culture have.
Rock and Roll is typically referred to as a union of rhythm and blues stemming from African American beats and melodies, coupled with youthful subject matter that as time went on applied more to middle class white society than its predecessors. The forefathers of this genre are undoubtedly those personalities of the 50’s and 60’s who saw this underground, often unspoken of music sound, become mainstream.
Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Ike Turner, Hank Williams, Joe Turner, Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly - and Elvis Presley are among the names that spring to mind when we talk of pioneers of Rock and Roll. As time went on and decades rolled past, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin found themselves filling the shoes of those left behind.
Rock and Roll is typically referred to as a union of rhythm and blues stemming from African American beats and melodies, coupled with youthful subject matter that as time went on applied more to middle class white society than its predecessors. The forefathers of this genre are undoubtedly those personalities of the 50’s and 60’s who saw this underground, often unspoken of music sound, become mainstream.
Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Ike Turner, Hank Williams, Joe Turner, Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly - and Elvis Presley are among the names that spring to mind when we talk of pioneers of Rock and Roll. As time went on and decades rolled past, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin found themselves filling the shoes of those left behind.
Therefore the development of this genre was multi-racial, in the beginning. However, fast forward to the 1980’s and finding a black American engaged in rock music would be hard to come across. This issue became of such precedence that the Black Rock Coalition (BRC) developed to support those Black Americans displaced by the turn that rock music had taken in later years. Chapters in Los Angeles and New York emerged to support the desire of any black Americans that wanted to play, write or record rock music. There was such an obstacle as it was implausible to record executives and many music consumers that there was a place for black Americans in rock music, the fore-founders of the genre.
Between the 1980’s and today, the environment has changed very little. When trying to think of an African American rock group when writing this article, I found myself stumped and asked a friend if any names sprung to mind. Within the rock genre I found a few names that have a strong representation, Lenny Kravitz, Slash and Pharrel Williams. Williams is the founder of N.E.R.D, of which is the closest thing that the 20th Century has in the way of an all African American Rock and Roll Band. And to be honest, I personally feel that’s pushing it to class N.E.R.D as rock. There music is more, hip hop and rap. Pharrel himself is considered a master of those genres and commands a high power and even higher sum of money to work with him.
It is thought that as this genre evolved; the subject matter of rock music songs became less and less relevant to young, African Americans post WWII. The melodies that at first emerged as an outlet for black oppression, was superseded by the typically ‘white’ subject matter, that had no bearing on the African American lifestyle.
It is thought that as this genre evolved; the subject matter of rock music songs became less and less relevant to young, African Americans post WWII. The melodies that at first emerged as an outlet for black oppression, was superseded by the typically ‘white’ subject matter, that had no bearing on the African American lifestyle.
Now this race of people have a huge representation in Rap and Hip Hop genres that developed in response to the turn that Rock and Roll took. It is rather sad that the grassroots culture that Rock and Roll developed from are no longer as involved in the genre as they once were. But again it is evidenced that music and culture have a mutually exclusive relationship, where these two entities affect each other in all aspects of the word. It is like considering what came first the chicken or the egg. In this case what changed first? Was it the music of Rock and Roll that changed in response to the changing culture of a post WWII society, or alternatively did the music revolutionise culture and open it up to a whole new way of life. It is hard to argue either side, and only those that experienced this development first hand will be able to answer, if at all, that question.
References:
Mahon, M 2000, 'Black like this: race, generation, and rock in the post civil rights era', American Ethnologist, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 283-311, JSTOR.
http://oldies.about.com/od/rockandrollpioneers/Rock_and_Roll_Pioneers.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment