A History Paper-Rock ‘n’ Roll Many people and many styles of music influenced Rock and Roll. The styles included Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Bluegrass, Boogie-Woogie, and Rockabilly. Each was a major factor into the introduction of a new style of music called Rock ‘N’ Roll. Popular music places a premium on accessibility, represents various meanings to boost both instant appeal and memorability - distinctive tunes, novel instrumental flourishes, danceable rhythms, repeated riffs - but its signal feature is melodic emphasis and great vocal gatherings. Popular music at the turn of the century came largely from musical theater - Broadway and Hollywood. Originally, popularized by traveling groups and sheet music sales, popular music really came into its own with the arrival of radio broadcasting, jukeboxes, 78 r.p.m recordings and other twentieth century technologies which continued into the Fifties. Hits from the first half of the 20th century were supplied by Tin Pin Alley that celebrated the boom years and Roaring Twenties and provided an escape from the Depression and two World Wars. Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Jerome Kern left their imprint during "the Jazz Age." However, there were the long-forgotten hacks cashing in on the latest fads spewing out sentimental weepers and cute novelty numbers aimed at the bland tastes of American mainstream. Jazz and “boogie-woogie” of the Thirties moved popular music away from the light entertainment of the publishing houses toward a more exciting and dance oriented style that made the swing era a golden age. As the bigger bands died out and the star singers again grabbed the spot light the songwriters again found their services in demand. Without jazz driving it and Americans rebuilding their lives and starting baby booms people were too busy to waste time dancing. Popular music turned back to light sentimental songs and cute novelty music song by polished voices and backed by sweetly generic instrumentals. The Fifties were a good time to be a white middle class American These years brought an UN-thought of prosperity and confidence to Americans who barely remembered the Great Depression. Popular music of the early fifties mirrored the life of mainstream America: bland predictable and reassuring. Which didn't seem bad after the depre... ... middle of paper ... ... England the rock capital of the world. The British Invasion of 1964 brought America's music - reinvented and revitalized - home, a new generation of rock fans was born. Rock now entered what is now known as its Classic Era. In conclusion this report has helped us understand the significance of Music in America. Also, the impact it has on music we listen too. Music is very much like a big chain reaction. Rock ‘N’ Roll, much like music today, stood out and was in a way rebellious. Parents now hate Rap and we love it. People in the 70’s loved Rock ‘N’ Roll and parents hated it. This shows that maybe no matter how much older people deny it, the time gap and generation gap is not too far apart. Without Rock ‘N’ Roll the World would without a doubt be changed. Any guess to that of which way would be a good one. Works Cited 1 Gass, Bryan "A History of Rock Music: The Rock and Roll Era" World Book. Ed. 6. 1994. 2 Jervey, A. J. " Rock Music Developments" World Book. Ed. 6. 1994. 3 Briss, Jake "A Rock’n Time” Compton’s. Ed. 13. 1987. 4 Mack, Stacey "ROCKED AND ROLLIN" TIME to Rock round the Clock Nash Publishing, 1994.
By the 1930’s the movement had shifted yet again and began to incorporate larger bands in what came to be known as “swing.” Broadcast radio was also an important factor by this time, giving swing music a far-reaching national influence. The size of the bands had a standardizing ...
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911.”. This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issues, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz. As the 1930’s began, the effects of the Great Depression still ravaged the United States, which in turn caused a dramatic change in the music industry.
Goldman, Albert. “The Emergence of Rock.” The Sixties. Ed. Gerald Howard. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984. 343-64.
Various music genres converged at the turn of 1950s and blues country and swing jazz fused and created rhythm and blues. Rhythm and blues took a lyrical style soaked in adolescent concerns and became known as Rock and Roll (Johnstone 2).
I. First I will start by discussing the various genres that created rock music in the 50’s and 60’s.
During the 1920’s music was very important to the people and exacerbated racial tensions in the postwar period (citation). The music industry began to take off because new technology started making it easier to produce and share music around.
Harris, James F. “Listen to the music: the meaning of classic rock,” The World & I, Vol. 11, 12 Ed. (1996): December, pp. 306.
It fused African American blues with gospel. Today it includes punk rock, hard rock, alternative rock, and several other striations. One reason this fusion took place was the great migration of blacks northward. African American artists such as Chuck Berry started getting airtime and it grew in popularity partly due to one disc jockey. According to the United States History website, "Disc Jockey Alan Freed began a rhythm-and-blues show on a Cleveland radio station. Soon the audience grew and grew, and Freed coined the term "rock and roll" (“The Cold War Continues,” 2014). The teenagers loved it and parents hated it. The churches believed it was devil music but rock and roll was born and carries on into the future.
America was still changing rapidly as African Americans were allowed more and more rights and social justices. During this time in America’s history, racism was still largely found across the nation. It was almost customary for average white people to hold their black counterparts and lower regards. It was very rare for people of mixed races partaking in activities together, let alone creating music. Swing resolved some of these issues, and connected the races. The audience of Swing was also different in the sense that “college-age and high-school-age youth” built up a large majority of the common listeners (Edsford 1). The inclusion of younger aged consumers of Swing music is monumentally important contrasted with swing’s predecessors, where people of this age had no outlet of listening to music of any kind. The later part of the Swing revolution occurred during the first consumer era of America, allowing people of all ages to spend more time doing things they enjoyed, compared to just trying to survive. This brought a new flair to the world and transformed the bleak and monotone life of working all day into a luxuriant
Also known as the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, the American people felt that they deserved to have some fun in order to forget the emotional toll and social scars left from the war. The Jazz Age was appropriately named due to the illegal activities and good times, which included music, parties, and flapper girls. Jazz was a new style of music that originated out of the New Orleans area, where one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time – Louis Armstrong – began his career. The energy of jazz was a very new and almost uncomfortable style for the very traditional, rigid family of the 1920s. Young people in particular seemed to enjoy this new music the most, as it made them feel carefree. The energy of jazz was symbolic of the era’s trans...
The development of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the late 1940s and early 1950s by young African Americans coincided with a sensitive time in America. Civil rights movements were under way around the country as African Americans struggles to gain equal treatment and the same access to resources as their white neighbors. As courts began to vote in favor of integration, tensions between whites and blacks escalated. As the catchy rhythm of Rock ‘n’ Roll began to cross racial boundaries many whites began to feel threatened by the music, claiming its role in promoting integration. This became especially problematic as their youth became especially drawn to ...
...ath to dominate their field and branch off into other dominating sub-genres. Those genres, especially in the 1920’s, created the foundation of what we see today in the 21st century. The genres and the creativity produced in these decades were accompanied by entertaining dance and shows that provided the people with a comfortable diversion from their outward life. In addition, music remained a way of spiritual and fun release of the mind and energy. With the radio acting as a distribution center for music, it became a national pastime in which it still ranks number one today for it’s easy access and reaching fields. In conclusion, although the 1920’s saw the birthplace of what is generally known today as the foundation of modern music, the 1970’s matched innovation and creation in the industry which is why music is still a staple in the lives of many people today.
Jazz became popular during the 1920s and was developed from Blues and Ragtime. The 1920s was nicknamed The Roaring Twenties or the Jazz age because it was a time where many traditonal moral standards were not followed and people indulged in new danicng and dressing styles. Jazz is still important to us today but according to Nielsen‘s 2014 Year-End Report, jazz is continuing to fall out of favor with American listeners and has tied with classical music as the least-consumed music in the U.S., after children’s
...s, it was a time of great turbulence from start to finish. Protests, assassinations, war, pacifists; they all played a major role in the United States during this time. Something substantial had to happen to help relieve some of the on going woes. It was the British music. Not once, but twice, within a span of ten years were the British the influence that helped get us over those times. It may have been in a more positive way in the first wave, and maybe in a more negative way in the second, introducing an entire drug culture, but either way it made an impact. I have always viewed the 60’s as one of the most intriguing decades to live in, because of its culture shock that occurred during this time. It was the decade of peace, love and drugs; it would have been great to be there to experience these things. Nevertheless, in the research I have done, I have realized the importance of not only the British music on this decade, but all of the feelings behind the music, all of the meanings and emotions and social change which it encouraged. It was the decade with the highest highs and the lowest lows in the last half-century. It was the time when British music saved America from itself.
Rock music into four sections: Rock of the 50's, of the 60's, of the 70's