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Impact of rock and roll on american society
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Who would have guessed that a set of drums, guitar, bass, and vocals would have had such a profound effect on American history. Even at a time in history, when all was well in the country, some people still felt the need to “escape” from the troubles in their life and other negative circumstances. At one point in American history, people were oppressed as slaves and to try to cope with their situation emotionally, they would sing. They would create music to be able to express the feelings and emotions that they would have otherwise not have been able to express. As time progressed, many musicians who were victims of racism in the South, used the same coping mechanism and expressed how they truly felt about their position and circumstance through songs. Their music was filled with such emotion, that others who felt oppressed within their own life would make a connection while listening to the older music, which was the blues. These younger musicians would turn to the blues music to help them escape from their problems. Specifically, these same musicians, who were fans of blues music, were influenced by what they liked, but they did create their own type of music. Their music, which came to be known as rock and roll, was not simply black music under another title it was its own type of music. On the surface, rock music did seem to challenge the systems of inequality and oppression that plagued America in the 1950s and ‘60s, however after further analysis it is evident that it in fact did reproduce those systems of injustice. In analyzing several artists, it will be concluded that rock and roll is its own distinct type of music and it did reproduce the systems of inequality and oppression that plagued America in the 1950s and ‘60s.
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Johnson, Robert. “Cross Road Blues.” blueslyrics.tripod.com. Accessed December 8th 2013, http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/lyrics/robert_johnson/cross_road_blues_take_1.htm. Miller, James. Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll 1947-1977. New York:
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Joan Baez, a famous folk singer, sang her most famous song “Oh Freedom” during the civil rights movement. She expressed her want and need for equality and freedom f...
All Shook Up: How Rock n’ Roll Changed America, written by historian Glenn Altschuler, is a fascinating analysis of the impact that rock n' roll music has made upon American culture. Glenn C. Altschuler received his Ph.D. in American History from Cornell in 1976 and has been an administrator and teacher at Cornell since 1981. He is currently the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and the Dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He is the author of several books on American history and popular culture, more popular for All Shook Up. (Wikipedia).
As the 1930’s began, the effects of the great depression still ravaged the United States, which in turned caused a dramatic change in the music industry. Membership in the musicians’
Rock n - roll In the 1950s rock-n-roll established its own mark in history. It spread throughout the decade in a thrilling, substantial, and even livid manner to those Americans trying to get rid of all sorts of conflicts and challenges that occurred during this time period. As exciting as this music was, the novel “All Shook Up” portrays how rock-n-roll brought many changes to the American culture and later to the sixties. It expresses many concerns such as race relations, moral decay, and communism, but in ways that are partially true.
Newfield, Jack. “Who Really Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll?” New York Sun. New York Sun, 21 Sep. 2004. Web. 28 Nov. 2010
Goodwin, Susan and Becky Bradley . "1960-1969." American Cultural History. Lone Star College-Kingwood Library, 1999. Web. 7 Feb. 2011
Music nurtured the African American tradition and their struggle towards equality in the same century.... ... middle of paper ... ... Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds Pub. Carter, D. (2009).
After many of World War II’s harmful effects, the 1950s served as a period of time of musical change that reflected the dynamic of society as well as the traditional norms and values. Many factors contributed to this transformation. For example, the civil rights movement heightened many racial tensions, and the music produced consequently manifested this tension in itself. Rock-n-roll and R&B music universalized music typically associated with African-Americans, and many African-American musicians gained fame; however, as with any relatively-widespread success, there were many musicians as well who missed their opportunities due to the same racial segregation. While “radical” genres such as R&B and rock-n-roll laid the foundation for music future forms of music, the standard pop, jazz, and country music adhered to traditional values, and thus continued to maintain popularity amidst phenomena such as the Elvis craze.
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans. First is about the effect of slave music on American history and African American music. The slave music’s
Ryan, John. “The Seventh Stream: The emergency of rock n roll in American popular music,” (Book reviews) Social Forces (1994): March, p. 927. Star, Alexander. “Hole in Our Soul: The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music” (book reviews)
Goldstein, Patrick. “Parents Warn: Take The Sex and Shock Out Of Rock And Roll.” Los Angeles
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
McPherson, Ian. “The Salt of the Earth: 1955-1960 R&B-Derived Rock & Roll.” Time Is On Our
Tick, Judith, and Paul E. Beaudoin. Music in the USA: a Documentary Companion. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.
Powell, A. (2007). The Music of African Americans and its Impact on the American Culture in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Miller African Centered Academy, 1. Retrieved from http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2007/Powell.pdf