Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in America in the 1950s, though elements of rock and roll can be seen in rhythm and blues records as far back as the 1920s. Early rock and roll combined elements of blues, boogie woogie, jazz and rhythm and blues, and is also influenced by traditional folk music, gospel music, black and white, and country and western. Going back even further, rock and roll can trace a foundational lineage to the old Five Points district of mid-19th century New York City, the scene of the first fusion of heavily rhythmic African shuffles and sand dances with melody driven European genres, particularly the Irish jig ^{[citation needed]}. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... For other uses, see Rhythm and blues (disambiguation). ... The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... “Blues music” redirects here. ... Boogie woogie has two different meanings: a piano based music style, boogie woogie (music) a dance that imitates the rocknroll of the 50s, boogie woogie (dance) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Rhythm and blues (disambiguation). ... Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including: Traditional music: The original meaning of the term folk music was synonymous with the term Traditional music, also often including World Music and Roots music; the term Traditional music was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the... Gospel music is a musical genre characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature, particularly Christian. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Five Points (or The Five Points) was a notorious slum centered on the intersection of Worth St. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The jig (sometimes seen in its French language or Italian language forms gigue or giga) is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type, popular in Ireland and Scotland. ...

Origins of the name rock and roll

The first coupling of the words "rock" and "roll" on record came in 1916, in a recording of a spiritual, "The Camp Meeting Jubilee", by an unnamed vocal "quartette" issued by Little Wonder Records. The lyrics include "We've been rocking and rolling in your arms / Rocking and rolling in your arms / In the arms of Moses". In 1922, blues singer Trixie Smith recorded "My Man Rocks Me (with One Steady Roll)", first featuring the two words in a secular context. == Historical background on spiritual music Spirituals were often expressions of religious faith, although they may also have served as socio-political protests veiled as assimilation to white, American culture. ... Little Wonder Records was a United States record label from 1914 through 1923. ... Trixie Smith (1895 - 21 September 1943), was a blues singer and recording artist. ...

However, for many years and probably centuries previously, the term "rocking and rolling" had been used as a nautical term to denote the side-to-side and forward-and-backward motion of ships on the ocean. This meaning was used metaphorically in such records as Buddy Jones' "Rockin' Rollin' Mama" (1939) - "Waves on the ocean, waves in the sea/ But that gal of mine rolls just right for me/ Rockin' rollin' mama, I love the way you rock and roll". Buddy Jones (1906- October 20, 1956) was an American Western swing musician who recorded in the 1930s and 1940s. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

Rocking was a term also used by gospel singers in the American South to mean something akin to spiritual rapture. A double, ironic, meaning came to popular awareness in 1947 in blues artist Roy Brown's song "Good Rocking Tonight" (also covered the next year by Wynonie Harris in an even wilder version), in which "rocking" was ostensibly about dancing but was in fact a thinly-veiled allusion to sex. Such double-entendres were nothing new in blues music (which was mostly limited in exposure to jukeboxes and clubs) but were new to the radio airwaves. After the success of "Good Rocking Tonight" many other rhythm and blues artists used similar titles through the late 1940s including a song called "Rock and Roll" recorded by Wild Bill Moore in 1949. These songs were relegated to "race music" (the music industry code name for rhythm and blues) outlets and were barely known by mainstream white audiences. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      In conservative Christian eschatology, rapture is... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Roy Brown (10 September 1925–25 May 1981) was a blues musician who brought a soul singing style (from gospel music) to the emerging genre of rock and roll. ... Good Rocking Tonight was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown. ... Wynonie Mr. ... A Zodiac jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that can play specially selected songs from self-contained media. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... William M. Moore (b 13 June 1918, Houston, Texas – d 8 August 1983, Los Angeles, California), known as Wild Bill Moore, was an American R&B tenor saxophone player. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... African American music (also called black music, formerly known as race music) is an umbrella term given to a range of musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large ethnic minority of the population of the United States. ...

In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed would begin playing this type of music for his white audience, and it is Freed who is credited with coining the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the rollicking R&B music that he brought to the airwaves. The term, with its simultaneous allusions to dancing, sex, and the sound of the music itself, stuck even with those who didn't absorb all the meanings. Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cleveland redirects here. ... For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

Originally Freed used the name Moondog for himself and any concerts or promotions he put on. This arose from the fact he used a piece of music called "Moondog Symphony" by the street musician Moondog as his repeated opening music for his radio show. Moondog subsequently sued Freed on grounds that he was stealing his name. Since Freed was no longer allowed to use the term Moondog he needed a new catch phrase. After a night of heavy drinking he and his friends came up with the name "The Rock and Roll Party" since he was already using the phrase "Rock and Roll Session" to describe the music he was playing on his radio show. Since his show was extremely popular the term caught on and the subsequent public used it to describe a certain form of music. Moondog the nom de plume of Louis T. Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), was an American composer, musician and poet, who also invented musical instruments - all this despite being blind, and, for three decades, homeless. ...

First record

Main article: first rock and roll record There are many candidates for the title of the first rock and roll record. ...

According to some, notably music historian Peter Guralnick, the first rock and roll record was "Rocket 88", by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (written by 19-year-old Ike Turner, also the session leader) and recorded by Sam Phillips for his Memphis Recording Service in 1951 (the master tape being sold to and later released by Chess Records).^[1] But this may be the result of shameless self-promotion on Phillips' part, as many other records recorded in the same time period or earlier are equal, or better, contenders for this title. Wynonie Harris' 1947 cover of Roy Brown's "Good Rocking Tonight" is probably the most legitimate claimant for the title of first rock and roll record, as the popularity of this record led to many answer songs, mostly by black artists, with the same rocking beat, during the late 40's and early 50's. (Roy Brown's original had a shuffle blues beat, not quite rocking, but Wynonie Harris changed the rhythm to a rocking gospel beat with hand clapping on the backbeat, which distinguishes it from previous records). Others have pointed to the later broad commercial success with white audiences of Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" or "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and his Comets as true starting points. Still others point out that performers like Arthur Crudup and Fats Domino were recording blues songs as early as 1946 that are indistinguishable from later rock and roll, and that these blues songs were based on themes, chord changes, and rhythms dating back decades before that. Crudup's That's All Right recorded with an electric guitar in 1946 is similar in style to Elvis's version recorded in 1954. Elvis Rocks But He's Not the First. Rhythm and Blues sax player and band leader Louis Jordan actually broke into the pop charts in the mid-forties with the rocker "Caldonia". In 1947 Jack Guthrie and his group The Oaklahomans had a hit with "The Oakie Boogie", basically a mix of boogie woogie with hillbilly and an electric guitar thrown in (a fairly new invention in 1947). Benny Carter, a co-author of "Cow Cow Boogie" (Capitol Records first gold single) back in 1942, wrote the jazz-swing song "Rock Me to Sleep" with Paul Vandervoort II in 1950... Peter Guralnick is a music critic and historian of American popular music. ... Rocket 88 is a rhythm and blues song from 1951. ... Rocket 88, a rhythm and blues song from 1951 claimed by Sun Records owner and pioneer rock and roll record producer Sam Phillips as the first rock and roll song. The record was credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, but the band did not actually exist. ... Izear Luster Turner (born November 5, 1931) is an African American musician (piano, guitar), bandleader, talent scout and record producer, best known for his work with his former wife Tina Turner. ... Sam Phillips, born Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – June 30, 2003), was a record producer who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s. ... Sun Studio Sun Studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. ... The Chess Records logo, as featured on this Memphis Slim single. ... Good Rocking Tonight was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown. ... Charles Edward Anderson Chuck Berry (born 18 October 1926, St. ... Maybellene is a song by Chuck Berry that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. ... Rock Around the Clock is a rock n roll song from 1952, written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter under the pseudonym Jimmy De Knight). Although first recorded by Sonny Dae & the Knights, the more famous version by Bill Haley & His Comets is not, strictly speaking... The original members of Bill Haley and His Comets, c. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Antoine Dominique Fats Domino (born February 26, 1928) is a classic R&B and rock and roll singer, songwriter and pianist. ... Thats All Right (Mama) is the name of the first song released by Elvis Presley. ... Louis Jordan swinging on sax, Paramount Theatre, NYC, 1946 (Photo: William P. Gottlieb) Louis Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was a pioneering African-American blues, jazz and rhythm & blues musician and songwriter who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jack Guthrie (13 November 1915–15 January 1948) was born Leon Jerry Guthrie in Olive, Oklahoma, USA. He was the cousin of Woody Guthrie and had a hit record in the country and western charts with a rewritten version of a Woody Guthrie song Oklahoma Hills (1945). ... {{refimprove| // The term Hill-Billies is first encountered in documents from 17th century Ireland. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. ... Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label, owned by EMI. // The Capitol Records company was founded by the songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1942, with the financial help of movie producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, (1910-1971) (owner of Music City, at the... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• First rock and roll record

There are many candidates for the title of the first rock and roll record. ...

References

1. ^ Dawson, Jim; & Propes, Steve (1992). What was the first rock ’n’ roll record?. Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-12939-0. 

Ongoing History of New Music

External links

• Hoy Hoy Website, a website detailing the origins of rock and roll