the_history_of_rock_n_roll

lets start from the Rock n' Roll of 1950's, when Rock n' Roll was born. It emerged from rhythm and blues, a music similar to jazz played by blacks. This kind of music started to attract white teenagers. Disc jockey Alan Freed was the one who introduced this music and later gave it the name of Rock n' Roll. Record companies distributed records played by whites but composed by blacks. Whites were frustrated because there weren't any white artists and they didn't want the blacks to be the stars until Bill Haley appeared with his "Rock Around the Clock". In this decade, Elvis Presley introduced a music that was sexual suggestive and outraged dull adults. In time he changed the style of the music by adopting a country and western style and became a national hero. By the end of this decade and the start of the next, Rock n' Roll started to decline because it was formula ridden and it was too sentimental. Teenage audiences transferred their allegiance to Folk music.

Elvis-Presley

In 1963 the renewal of Rock n' Roll came when The Beatles started to play. The Beatles, for some the best rock group ever, were from Liverpool, England. Through the 60's, The Beatles dominated the record industries and with their dominant instrumentation, which included: electric leads, rhythm, and bass guitar, drums and sometimes an electric organ, changed the name of Rock n' Roll to just Rock. During the 1960's many other styles of music arose from Rock like, Motown, Soul music, Jazz-rock , Folk-rock and others Folk-Rock the most appreciated of this derivations and was first suggested by Bob Dylan. This kind of music brought to folk music a hard beat and amplification; and to Rock, a new poetic style. California was one of the major centers of rock activity and experimentation during the decade. First it was characterize for its surfing music, a very joyful music that reflected the fun people had while surfing. The Beach Boys were the ones who introduced this kind of music.

The-Beatles

At the end of the century this happy kind of music changed to a more rebellious style that was designated the name of "hippie music". Groups that played this music were Country Joe and The Mamas and The Papas. Along with this hippie ideas popularity of hallucinogenic drugs produced a psychedelic style of music called Acid Rock. By the end of the 60's the distinctions between Rock n' Roll and Rock were evident. The early instruments- saxophone, piano, amplified guitar, and drums- had been changed to electric guitar and bass, amplified drums and other electronic devices. Not only did the instruments change but so did the ideas behind the music. For example, "to the lyrics of teenage love and adolescent concerns were added social commentary, glorification of drugs and free-association poetry"("Rock Music", Groliers, p.1). Groups like The Beach Boys, Crew Cuts and The Everly Brothers were replaced by more imaginative, non-descriptive names groups like The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and Holding Company. The Who, the most famous of these groups, were originally from England and were reknowned because of their bizarre stage performances, they would destroy their instruments after their performance finished. The Who was one of the first rock groups.

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