There is without a doubt that the 1950s saw the rise of the King of Rock 'n' Roll, known as Chuck Berry. His musical take on rhythm and blues was a large influence on many successful artists that rose the following decade, but most notably The Rolling Stones. This paper examines the earlier musical career of Chuck Berry and how The Rolling Stones modeled themselves upon him and then expanded themselves further. During the 1950s, many rhythm and blues (R&B) artists, who were of African American descent, used the piano as their main choice of instrument,such as Little Richard. His music had that rock 'n' roll exuberance, soulful voice, and in your face shouting that is a common ingredient in rock today (“History of Rock & Roll-The 1950s”). An example, is the sound of his energetic piano riffs from “Tutti Frutti” . However, when Chuck Berry translated those “boogie woogie” riffs from the piano to the electric guitar, it just set the standard to how rock and roll should sound (“History of Rock & Roll-The 1950s”). The electric guitar riffs that Chuck Berry played, just sounded more upbeat and moving than anything that can be done on a piano. It was his guitar playing that ultimately left a large influence in the coming …show more content…
As mentioned, the country incorporation allowed Chuck Berry to reach larger white audiences. His records had biracial appeal and became successful in the business (Christgau). Christgau states, “A good blues single usually sold around 10,000 copies and a big rhythm and blues hit might go into the hundreds of thousands, but "Maybellene" probably moved a million”. Still, like other race records of the time, white artists would perform covers, made possible by Tin Pan Alley, and Chuck’s records were no exception. Overall, Chuck Berry’s records still managed to become successful in a business that was geared to oppressed black
This paper will be an updated version of my last paper which talked about a portion of Barry Gordy's background, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Temptations and their start at Motown. How Motown was the first American music label owned by an African-American, the first music label to successfully market black artists to white mainstream audiences. How Motown was responsible for discovering, mentoring, and perfecting a lot of American popular music's most influential and successful artists and the best albums and artists and what new artists have entered Motown.
His Beginnings: Growing up on Detroit's Lower side, Gordy's greatest loves were boxing and jazz. By the time he graduated from Northeastern high school in 1948, Gordy was able to place boxing 1st. however once winning fifteen Golden Gloves matches, his career as a boxer was inhibit once he was drafted to fight in the Korean War. After the war, Gordy was too old to continue in boxing, thus he turned to his alternative love, opening a record store specializing in jazz. Sadly, Gordy had failed to notice that blacks in Motown weren’t particularly fascinated by jazz. They wished to listen to rock 'n' roll. Gordy's 3-D Record outlet went bankrupt after only 2 years.
“We stuck to who we were at Motown, and the world came around.” Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown records relayed at the Occidental College’s 125th commencement ceremony in 2007. Motown was “the new voice of America” due to its great impact and influence on the music industry and society. Numerous events were happening in America at that time and Berry Gordy identified several of these factors to target the music of Motown and its artists to young audiences in specific ways. There were various social, musical and cultural factors that were critically important and of these factors, Gordy identified the segregation and the civil rights movement, the music and cultural aspects of the black community at that time.
The music industry during the 1940s was filled with many talented artists who impacted the music industry and the history of rock n’ roll forever. But one of the very well known and talented artists was Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly was the first to pioneer new music genres and progressive music. Charles Hardin Holley (1936-1959) was an American musician and artist whose creative career began in 1956. The family name is correctly spelled “Holley” but his first recording contract from Decca Records in 1956 spelled his last name “Holly” and he kept it that way for the rest of his career (Griggs 1). Holly took a very influential position in the music industry and built an audience for his Rock and Roll music very quickly due to his unique voice and advanced knowledge of music. Buddy Holly is a prime example of a musical pioneer who blended resources from various music genres including a variety of popular genres such as rhythm and blues (RNB), oriental, and African (Schinder and Schwartz 85).
The music of jazz became an important aspect of American culture in the early 20th century. The crisp syncopation of ragtime and the smooth tunes of the blues seeped into American mainstream music through dance halls and saloons and later through ballrooms. Instruments like the piano, trumpet, trombone and clarinet became important and symbolized the “swing-feel” of jazz because of their capability to syncopate and improvise precisely. With the help of the booming recording industry, musical geniuses were discovered and their talent and contributions to the emergence of jazz spread throughout the entire country. Such musicians include composer, arranger and pianist Jelly Roll Morton who heavily influenced the development of early jazz by his unique piano style, his “invention” of musical notation for jazz, and his compositions that have become the core in the jazz repertory. Because the style was new and different and so successful in drawing in large audiences, musicians around the world tried to mimic it. Furthermore, Morton’s masterpieces were the first to show notation for complicated jazz music and thus, formed the basis for standard notation in jazz compositions today.
In 1988 Gordy sold Motown Records to MCA and Boston Partners, ending Motown’s era as an independent company. In the post-Gordy era, Motown continued to release hit music by new artists such as Boyz II Men, Johnny Gill, alongside veteran performers like Wonder, Ross, and the
Many people from the 1900’s contributed to the evolution of the history of rock and roll. However, Jimi Hendrix was the rock legend who changed the way music was made and he raised the bar for the rest of the music industry. Jimi was born in 1942, in Seattle, Washington, he had a difficult childhood, being raised by a young mom who had Jimi at seventeen and a dad who eventually left and started another family, he was often left living with relatives. He only saw his mom a few times before she eventually died in 1958. In many ways music became a sanctuary for Jimi since he grew up not having much. Jimi loved blues and rock and roll and when he was sixteen Jimi got his first acoustic guitar and taught himself how to play. Shortly after he began
Although he later denied that he ever said it, Sam Phillips-the man who discovered Elvis Presley-is reputed to have said, “if I could find a white man who had the Negro sound the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars” (Decurtis 78). Certain radio stations would not play the work of black artists in the segregated America of the 1950s. But, nevertheless, rock ‘n’ roll was an art form created by African-Americans. Little Richard, whose songs “Tutti Fruitti” and “Long Tall Sally” became hits only after white-bread versions were made by Pat Boone, said, “It started out as rhythm and blues” (Decurtis 78).
Berry Gordy played a significant role in the 1960’s African American shift into the American Music Industry through the establishment of the highly recognised company and genre “Motown”. As the Founder of Motown Records Berry Gordy introduced to the American Music Industry some of the biggest artists of all time take the stage and within a decade created the “Black Pop” genre, which was listened to and purchased from a segregated audience. The business changed the way record labels would polish, nurture and distribute their artist, having an impact on the number of jobs that were introduced into the Music Industry, dealing and consulting with marketing, artist development, choreography, stylists and costume designers. With Berry Gordy’s all
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 ...
Jerry Lee Lewis’ mother once said, “Well, you and Elvis are pretty good, but you're no Chuck Berry.” Chuck Berry is considered to be the true king of Rock and Roll. By using Boogie-Woogie piano patterns to change them into electric guitar, Berry invented a particular style with his electrifying guitar that has become the guide for rock and roll guitar and music as well. He was not only a good guitarist, but a memorable singer, that blended melodic hooks, distinctive patterns in his rhythm and used meaningful lyrics that have made many people call first great poet of rock. Berry’s influence on Rock and Roll not only impacted the way how it would sound, but also how it was perceived by all races.
Rock 'n' roll came from a type of music called rhythm and blues (R&B), which consisted of doo-wop and gospel music. It was popular mostly in the south during the 40’s but it soon grew to urban cities. It was Les Paul’s invention of the electric guitar in 1952 that added a new sound and made rhythm and blues into the rock 'n' roll we all know and love today. Most of the artists from R&B were African American, and in their song they would reference sexual matters. So together it gave a bad connotation towards the music and their race, therefore both were never fully accepted in the north. The term “rock” was slang mostly used by African Americans meaning a form of music that was easily danced to. Meanwhile “roll” was usually a euphemism for sex, such as “a roll in the hay”. It was Alan Freed who first popularized the term “rock and roll” for this gen...
The Rolling Stones were described as the voice of teenage rebellion. The huge success of The Stones proved any talented musician can make it in the music
Chuck Berry is known as one of the most influential artists of the rhythm and blues, rock and roll error of music from the 50’s through the 70’s. He is famous for a vast amount of hit records including the hit songs Maybellene My-Ding-A-Ling and Johnny B. Goode. Many music historians considered Berry’s song Maybellne the first true rock and roll song. While undergoing his musical career Berry faced numerous devastating obstacles that could have tragically ended his career. All of Berry’s songs were derived from his adept lyrics and peculiar sounds. Chuck Berry influenced a lot of artists with his amazing talent. A few would include The Beetles, John Doe, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. With all of his success Berry became a very essential figure in the history of Rock and Roll.
With his focus on African American music early in his career, he was able develop his performers into the rockabilly the superstars we know today. The rockabilly style has always been it’s own thing, which included the vocals being raspy and the ability to change tone quickly. Also with the upbeat and quick tempo, these songs were able to develop a new form of early rock and roll. The greatest reason this music was effective was due to the “slap back” tape delay which released an echo sound which had never been heard before.