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== Early rock and roll == === Origins === {{Main|Origins of rock and roll}} [[File:Chuck Berry 1957.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chuck Berry]] in 1957]] The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and historians of music.<ref name=AllmusicR&R>{{harvnb |Bogdanov |Woodstra |Erlewine |2002 |p=1303}}</ref> There is general agreement that it arose in the Southern United States β a region that would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts β through the meeting of various influences that embodied a merging of the African musical tradition with European instrumentation.<ref>M. T. Bertrand, ''Race, Rock, and Elvis: Music in American Life'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), pp. 21β22.</ref> [[Second Great Migration (African American)|The migration of many former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers]] such as [[St. Louis]], [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[New York City]], [[Detroit]], [[Chicago]], [[Cleveland]], and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] meant that black and white residents were living in close proximity in larger numbers than ever before, and as a result heard each other's music and even began to emulate each other's fashions.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954β1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), pp. 4β6.</ref><ref>J. M. Salem, ''The late, great Johnny Ace and the transition from R & B to rock 'n' roll Music in American life'' (University of Illinois Press, 2001), p. 4.</ref> Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to both groups, the development and spread of the [[gramophone record]], and African-American musical styles such as [[jazz]] and [[Swing music|swing]] which were taken up by white musicians, aided this process of "cultural collision".<ref name=Bertrand2000>M. T. Bertrand, ''Race, rock, and Elvis Music in American life'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 99.</ref> The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the [[rhythm and blues]], then called "[[race music]]",{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 3, show 55}} in combination with either boogie-woogie and shouting gospel<ref name="reuters.com">{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-little-richard-idUSKBN22L0MO |title=Rock 'n' roll pioneer Little Richard dies at age 87 |newspaper=Reuters |date=May 9, 2020 |access-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124080346/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-little-richard-idUSKBN22L0MO |url-status=live |last1=Trott |first1=Bill }}</ref> or with [[country music]] of the 1940s and 1950s. Particularly significant influences were jazz, [[blues]], [[Gospel music|gospel]], country, and [[folk music|folk]].<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> Commentators differ in their views of which of these forms were most important and the degree to which the new music was a re-branding of African-American [[rhythm and blues]] for a white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms.<ref>A. Bennett, ''Rock and Popular Music: Politics, Policies, Institutions'' (Routledge, 1993), pp. 236β238.</ref><ref name = KeightleyR&R>K. Keightley, "Reconsidering rock", in S. Frith, W. Straw and J. Street, eds, ''The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), p. 116.</ref><ref>N. Kelley, ''R&B, Rhythm and Business: The Political Economy of Black Music'' (Akashic Books, 2005), p. 134.</ref> [[File:Roll Em Pete.jpg|alt=A picture of the 7" single for "Roll 'Em Pete"|thumb|[[Big Joe Turner]] and [[Pete Johnson (musician)|Pete Johnson]]'s record "[[Roll 'Em Pete]]" is regarded as a precursor to rock and roll.]] In the 1930s, [[jazz]], and particularly [[Swing music|swing]], both in urban-based dance bands and blues-influenced country swing ([[Jimmie Rodgers]], [[Moon Mullican]] and other similar singers), were among the first music to present African-American sounds for a predominantly white audience.<ref name="KeightleyR&R" /><ref>E. Wald, ''How the Beatles Destroyed Rock N Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 111β125.</ref> One particularly noteworthy example of a jazz song with recognizably rock and roll elements is [[Big Joe Turner]] with pianist [[Pete Johnson (musician)|Pete Johnson]]'s 1938 single "[[Roll 'Em Pete]]", which is regarded as an important precursor of rock and roll.<ref>[[Nick Tosches]], ''Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll'', Secker & Warburg, 1991, {{ISBN|0-436-53203-4}}</ref><ref>Peter J. Silvester, ''A Left Hand Like God: a history of boogie-woogie piano'' (1989), {{ISBN|0-306-80359-3}}.</ref><ref>M. Campbell, ed., ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on'' (Cengage Learning, 3rd edn, 2008), p. 99. {{ISBN|0-495-50530-7}}</ref> The 1940s saw the increased use of blaring horns (including saxophones), shouted lyrics and boogie-woogie beats in jazz-based music. During and immediately after [[World War II]], with shortages of fuel and limitations on audiences and available personnel, large jazz bands were less economical and tended to be replaced by smaller combos, using guitars, bass and drums.<ref name="AllmusicR&R" /><ref>P. D. Lopes, ''The rise of a jazz art world'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 132</ref> In the same period, particularly on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], the development of [[jump blues]], with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many later developments.<ref name="AllmusicR&R" /> In the documentary film ''[[Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll]]'', [[Keith Richards]] proposes that [[Chuck Berry]] developed his brand of rock and roll by transposing the familiar two-note lead line of jump blues piano directly to the electric guitar, creating what is instantly recognizable as rock guitar. This proposal by Richards neglects the black guitarists who did the same thing before Berry, such as [[Goree Carter]],<ref>Robert Palmer, "Church of the Sonic Guitar", pp. 13β38 in Anthony DeCurtis, Present Tense, Duke University Press, 1992, p. 19. {{ISBN|0-8223-1265-4}}.</ref> [[Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown|Gatemouth Brown]],<ref>''Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. p. 57. {{ISBN|9780807169322}}.</ref> and the originator of the style, [[T-Bone Walker]].<ref>Dance, Helen Oakley, "Walker, Aaron Thibeaux (T-Bone)", ''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Denton: Texas State Historical Association.<!-- Access and archive dates removed - meaningless without URLs --></ref> [[Country boogie]] and [[Chicago blues|Chicago electric blues]] supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll.<ref name="AllmusicR&R" /> Inspired by [[electric blues]], Chuck Berry introduced an aggressive guitar sound to rock and roll, and established the electric guitar as its centerpiece,<ref>Michael Campbell & James Brody, ''Rock and Roll: An Introduction'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=RK-JmVbv4OIC&pg=PA110 pp. 110β111] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819210151/https://books.google.com/books?id=RK-JmVbv4OIC&pg=PA110 |date=August 19, 2020 }}</ref> adapting his rock band instrumentation from the basic blues band instrumentation of a lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass and drums.<ref name="campbell">Michael Campbell & James Brody, [https://books.google.com/books?id=RK-JmVbv4OIC&pg=PA80 ''Rock and Roll: An Introduction''], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311041516/https://books.google.com/books?id=RK-JmVbv4OIC&pg=PA80 |date=March 11, 2021 }}, pp. 80β81.</ref> In 2017, [[Robert Christgau]] declared that "Chuck Berry did in fact invent rock 'n' roll", explaining that this artist "came the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/7735698/chuck-berry-rock-n-roll-teenagers-inventor#:~:text=But%20now%20that%20the%20man,ever%20heard%20of%20Chuck%20Berry. |title=Yes, Chuck Berry Invented Rock 'n' Roll β and Singer-Songwriters. Oh, Teenagers Too |date=March 22, 2017 |magazine=Foodservice and Hospitality |access-date=August 2, 2020 |quote=Of course similar musics would have sprung up without him. Elvis was Elvis before he'd ever heard of Chuck Berry. Charles' proto-soul vocals and Brown's everything-is-a-drum were innovations as profound as Berry's. Bo Diddley was a more accomplished guitarist. |via=Billboard |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227211939/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/7735698/chuck-berry-rock-n-roll-teenagers-inventor |url-status=live }}</ref> Rock and roll arrived at a time of considerable technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, [[amplifier]], [[45 rpm record]] and modern condenser [[microphone]]s.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> There were also changes in the record industry, with the rise of independent labels like [[Atlantic records|Atlantic]], [[Sun Records|Sun]] and [[Chess Records|Chess]] servicing [[niche market|niche audiences]] and a similar rise of radio stations that played their music.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to this music that led to the development of what was to be defined as rock and roll as a distinct genre.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> Because the development of rock and roll was an evolutionary process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously "the first" rock and roll record.<ref name="dawson propes">[[Jim Dawson]] and [[Steve Propes]], ''[[iarchive:whatwasfirstrock0000daws|What Was The First Rock'n'Roll Record]]'', 1992, {{ISBN|0-571-12939-0}}</ref> Contenders for the title of "[[first rock and roll record]]" include [[Sister Rosetta Tharpe]]'s "[[Strange Things Happening Every Day]]" (1944),<ref>{{Cite news | last = Williams | first = R. | title = Sister Rosetta Tharpe: the godmother of rock 'n' roll | date = March 18, 2015 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/18/sister-rosetta-tharpe-gospel-singer-100th-birthday-tribute | access-date = December 16, 2016 | archive-date = July 8, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170708190516/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/18/sister-rosetta-tharpe-gospel-singer-100th-birthday-tribute | url-status = live }}</ref> "[[That's All Right]]" by [[Arthur Crudup]] (1946), "[[Move It On Over (song)|Move It On Over]]" by [[Hank Williams]] (1947),<ref>{{Cite web|first=James|last=Beaty|title=Ramblin' Round: Hank Williams: Kicking open that rock 'n' roll door|url=https://www.mcalesternews.com/opinion/ramblin-round-hank-williams-kicking-open-that-rock-n-roll-door/article_7825618e-fff1-11e8-bbc9-7320754e5d75.html|access-date=2020-11-05|website=McAlester News-Capital|date=December 15, 2018 |language=en|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310170142/https://www.mcalesternews.com/opinion/ramblin-round-hank-williams-kicking-open-that-rock-n-roll-door/article_7825618e-fff1-11e8-bbc9-7320754e5d75.html|url-status=live}}</ref> "[[The Fat Man (song)|The Fat Man]]" by [[Fats Domino]] (1949),<ref name="dawson propes"/> [[Goree Carter]]'s "[[Rock Awhile]]" (1949),<ref name="palmer1992p19">[[Robert Palmer (American writer)|Robert Palmer]], "Church of the Sonic Guitar", pp. 13β38 in Anthony DeCurtis, ''Present Tense'', [[Duke University Press]], 1992, p. 19. {{ISBN|0-8223-1265-4}}</ref> and [[Jimmy Preston]]'s "[[Rock the Joint]]" (1949) (later [[cover version|covered]] by [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] in 1952).<ref>{{allMusic|artist|p115739|Jimmy Preston}}</ref> "[[Rocket 88]]" by [[Jackie Brenston]] and his Delta Cats ([[Ike Turner]] and his band [[Kings of Rhythm|The Kings of Rhythm]] and sung by Brenston), was recorded by [[Sam Phillips]] in March 1951. This is often cited as the first rock n' roll record.<ref name="theguardian_com">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/apr/16/popandrock |title=Will the creator of modern music please stand up? |date=April 16, 2004 |work=The Guardian |access-date=December 26, 2022 |quote=}}</ref><ref name=Campbell2008pp157-8>M. Campbell, ed., ''Popular Music in America: and the Beat Goes on'' (Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning, 3rd ed., 2008), {{ISBN|0-495-50530-7}}, pp. 157β8.</ref> In an interview however, Ike Turner offered this comment: "I don't think that 'Rocket 88' is rock 'n' roll. I think that 'Rocket 88' is R&B, but I think 'Rocket 88' is the cause of rock and roll existing".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-first-ever-rock-and-roll-song/|title=Listen to the first rock and roll song ever recorded|website=Faroutmagazine.com|date=November 13, 2021 |access-date=December 26, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,661084,00.html |title=Elvis Rocks but He's Not the First |date=June 30, 2017 |magazine=Time |access-date=August 8, 2020}}</ref> [[File:BillHaley.JPG|upright=1.05|thumb|[[Bill Haley]] and his Comets performing in the 1954 Universal International film ''Round Up of Rhythm'']] In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere, [[Bill Haley (musician)|Bill Haley]]'s "[[Rock Around the Clock]]",{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 5, show 55}} recorded in April 1954 but not a commercial success until the following year, is generally recognized as an important milestone, but it was preceded by many recordings from earlier decades in which elements of rock and roll can be clearly discerned.<ref name="dawson propes"/><ref name=palmer1980pp3-14>Robert Palmer, "Rock Begins", in ''[[Rolling Stone]] Illustrated History of Rock and Roll'', 1976/1980, {{ISBN|0-330-26568-7}} (UK edition), pp. 3β14.</ref><ref name="unterberger birth">{{AllMusic|class=explore|id=essay/t523|first=Richie|last=Unterberger|label=Birth of Rock & Roll|access-date=March 24, 2012}}</ref> Journalist [[Alexis Petridis]] argued that neither Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" nor Presley's version of "That's Alright Mama" heralded a new genre: "They were simply the first white artists' interpretations of a sound already well-established by black musicians almost a decade before. It was a raucous, driving, unnamed variant of rhythm and blues that came complete with lyrics that talked about rocking".<ref name="theguardian_com" /> Other artists with early rock and roll hits included [[Chuck Berry]], [[Bo Diddley]], [[Little Richard]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], and [[Gene Vincent]].<ref name="Campbell2008pp157-8"/> Chuck Berry's 1955 classic "[[Maybellene]]" in particular features a [[distortion (music)|distorted]] [[electric guitar]] solo with warm [[overtone]]s created by his small [[valve amplifier]].<ref>{{Cite book | last = Collis | first = John | title = Chuck Berry: The Biography | publisher = Aurum | year = 2002 | page = 38 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0AgUAQAAIAAJ | isbn = 9781854108739 | access-date = October 17, 2015 | archive-date = May 26, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160526212743/https://books.google.com/books?id=0AgUAQAAIAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref> However, the use of distortion was predated by electric blues guitarists such as [[Joe Hill Louis]],<ref>{{cite book|last=DeCurtis|first=Anthony|title=Present Tense: Rock & Roll and Culture|year=1992|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|location=Durham, North Carolina|isbn=0822312654|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bsT3RQ9e58kC|edition=4th print|quote=His first venture, the Phillips label, issued only one known release, and it was one of the loudest, most overdriven, and distorted guitar stomps ever recorded, "Boogie in the Park" by Memphis one-man-band Joe Hill Louis, who cranked his guitar while sitting and banging at a rudimentary drum kit.|access-date=October 17, 2015|archive-date=June 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617115231/https://books.google.com/books?id=bsT3RQ9e58kC|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Guitar Slim]],<ref name="Aswell2010">{{Cite book |last=Aswell |first=Tom |title=Louisiana Rocks! The True Genesis of Rock & Roll |year=2010 |publisher=[[Pelican Publishing Company]] |location=[[Gretna, Louisiana]] |isbn=978-1589806771 |pages=61β5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSHTGsnI8skC&pg=PA61 |access-date=October 17, 2015 |archive-date=November 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122212503/https://books.google.com/books?id=BSHTGsnI8skC&pg=PA61 |url-status=live }}.</ref> [[Willie Johnson (guitarist)|Willie Johnson]] of [[Howlin' Wolf]]'s band,<ref name = "Rubin">{{Cite book |last1=Dave |first1=Rubin |title=Inside the Blues, 1942 to 1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0amzAiwBmOcC |year=2007 |publisher=Hal Leonard |page=61 |isbn=9781423416661 |access-date=October 17, 2015 |archive-date=April 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424073808/https://books.google.com/books?id=0amzAiwBmOcC |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Pat Hare]]; the latter two also made use of distorted [[power chord]]s in the early 1950s.<ref name="palmer1992p24-27">[[Robert Palmer (American writer)|Robert Palmer]], "Church of the Sonic Guitar", pp. 13β38 in Anthony DeCurtis, ''Present Tense'', [[Duke University Press]], 1992, pp. 24β27. {{ISBN|0-8223-1265-4}}.</ref> Also in 1955, Bo Diddley introduced the "[[Bo Diddley beat]]" and a unique electric guitar style,<ref>P. Buckley, ''The rough guide to rock'' (Rough Guides, 3rd ed., 2003), p. 21.</ref> influenced by [[Music of Africa|African]] and [[Afro-Cuban music]] and in turn influencing many later artists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bo-diddley |title=Bo Diddley |access-date=October 27, 2008 |publisher=The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |archive-date=February 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212064701/http://rockhall.com/inductees/bo-diddley/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Bo Diddley|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bo-diddley/biography|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=April 26, 2012|year=2001|archive-date=August 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822091715/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bo-diddley/biography|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="independent_bo">{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Jonathan|title=Bo Diddley, guitarist who inspired the Beatles and the Stones, dies aged 79|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/bo-diddley-guitarist-who-inspired-the-beatles-and-the-stones-dies-aged-79-838868.html|access-date=April 26, 2012|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=June 3, 2008|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322215856/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/bo-diddley-guitarist-who-inspired-the-beatles-and-the-stones-dies-aged-79-838868.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Rhythm and blues=== [[File:LaVern_Baker,_1957_closeup.jpg|thumb|left|[[LaVern Baker]] was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. βJim Dandyβ and βTweedlee Deeβ helped shape the sound of the 1950s rock scene.]] Rock and roll was strongly influenced by R&B, according to many sources, including an article in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' in 1985, titled, "Rock! It's Still Rhythm and Blues". In fact, the author stated that the "two terms were used interchangeably", until about 1957. The other sources quoted in the article said that rock and roll combined R&B with pop and country music.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1214792 |title=Rock! It's Still Rhythm and Blues |date=March 1, 1985 |journal=The Black Perspective in Music |jstor=1214792 |access-date=March 15, 2021 |last1=Redd |first1=Lawrence N. |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=31β47 |doi=10.2307/1214792 |archive-date=May 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525225022/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1214792 |url-status=live | issn = 0090-7790 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Fats Domino]] was one of the biggest stars of rock and roll in the early 1950s and he was not convinced that this was a new genre. In 1957, he said: "What they call rock 'n' roll now is rhythm and blues. I've been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-remembers-truly-magnificent-fats-domino-128449/|title=Paul McCartney Remembers 'Truly Magnificent' Fats Domino|first=Elias|last=Leight|website=Rolling Stone.l|date=October 26, 2017|accessdate=March 15, 2021|archive-date=November 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125142548/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-remembers-truly-magnificent-fats-domino-128449/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]]'', "this is a valid statement ... all Fifties rockers, black and white, country born and city-bred, were fundamentally influenced by R&B, the black popular music of the late Forties and early Fifties".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-50s-a-decade-of-music-that-changed-the-world-229924/|title=The 50s: A Decade of Music That Changed the World|first=Robert|last=Palmer|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=April 19, 1990|accessdate=March 15, 2021|archive-date=February 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222202919/https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-50s-a-decade-of-music-that-changed-the-world-229924/|url-status=live}}</ref> Further, [[Little Richard]] built his ground-breaking sound of the same era with an uptempo blend of boogie-woogie, New Orleans rhythm and blues, and the soul and fervor of gospel music vocalization.<ref name="reuters.com"/> Less frequently cited as an influencer, [[LaVern Baker]] was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall remarked that her "fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set the stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/lavern-baker |title=LaVern Baker |date=January 21, 2018 |work=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |access-date=December 26, 2022 |quote=}}</ref> === Rockabilly === {{Main|Rockabilly}} [[File:Elvis Presley promoting Jailhouse Rock.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|alt=A black and white photograph of Elvis Presley standing between two sets of bars|[[Elvis Presley]] in a promotion shot for ''[[Jailhouse Rock (film)|Jailhouse Rock]]'' in 1957]] "Rockabilly" usually (but not exclusively) refers to the type of rock and roll music which was played and recorded in the mid-1950s primarily by white singers such as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Carl Perkins]], [[Johnny Cash]], and [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], who drew mainly on the country roots of the music.{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=shows 7β8}}<ref name=AllmusicRbilly/> Presley was greatly influenced by and incorporated his style of music with that of some of the greatest Black musicians like BB King, Arthur Crudup and Fats Domino. His style of music combined with black influences created controversy during a turbulent time in history.<ref name=AllmusicRbilly>"Rock and Roll Pilgrims: Reflections on Ritual, Religiosity, and Race". {{AllMusic|class=explore|id=style/d187|label=Rockabilly|access-date=August 6, 2009}}</ref> Many other popular rock and roll singers of the time, such as [[Fats Domino]] and [[Little Richard]],{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 6}} came out of the black [[rhythm and blues]] tradition, making the music attractive to white audiences, and are not usually classed as "rockabilly". Presley popularized rock and roll on a wider scale than any other single performer and by 1956, he had emerged as the singing sensation of the nation.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRhBf_6L8B8C&dq=Elvis+Presley+popularized+rockabilly&pg=PA17 |last=Sagolla |first=Lisa Jo |date=2011 |title=Rock 'N' Roll Dances of the 1950s |series=The American Dance Floor |publisher=Greenwood |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=978-0-313-36556-0 |page=17}}</ref> [[Bill Flagg]] who is a Connecticut resident, began referring to his mix of hillbilly and rock 'n' roll music as rockabilly around 1953.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/12/granvilles_bill_flagg_pioneere.html|title=Granville's Bill Flagg pioneered rockabilly|work=masslive.com|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en-US|archive-date=June 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601044213/https://www.masslive.com/entertainment/2015/12/granvilles_bill_flagg_pioneere.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 1954, Presley recorded the regional hit "[[That's All Right]]" at Sam Phillips' [[Sun Studio]] in Memphis.<ref name=AllmusicElvis>{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5175/biography|label=Elvis|access-date=August 6, 2009}}</ref> Three months earlier, on April 12, 1954, [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] recorded "Rock Around the Clock". Although only a minor hit when first released, when used in the opening sequence of the movie ''[[Blackboard Jungle]]'' a year later, it set the rock and roll boom in motion.{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 5, show 55}} The song became one of the biggest hits in history, and frenzied teens flocked to see Haley and the Comets perform it, causing riots in some cities. "Rock Around the Clock" was a breakthrough success for the group; traditionally, the song has been seen as the major breakthrough for the rock and roll genre, as its immense popularity introduced the music to a global audience.<ref name=AllmusicHaley>{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p4426/biography|label=Bill Haley|access-date=August 6, 2009}}</ref> In 1956, the arrival of rockabilly was underlined by the success of songs like "[[Folsom Prison Blues]]" by [[Johnny Cash]], "[[Blue Suede Shoes]]" by Perkins, and the No. 1 hit "[[Heartbreak Hotel]]" by Presley.<ref name=AllmusicRbilly /> For a few years it became the most commercially successful form of rock and roll. Later rockabilly acts, particularly performing songwriters like [[Buddy Holly]], would be a major influence on [[British Invasion]] acts and particularly on the song writing of [[the Beatles]] and through them on the nature of later rock music.<ref>P. Humphries, ''The Complete Guide to the Music of The Beatles, Volume 2'' (Music Sales Group, 1998), p. 29.</ref> === Cover versions === {{Main|Cover version}} [[File:Little Richard 1957 (cropped).JPG|thumb|upright|[[Little Richard]] in 1957]] Many of the earliest white rock and roll hits were [[cover version|cover]]s or partial re-writes of earlier black rhythm and blues or blues songs.{{sfn |Gilliland|1969 |loc=show 4, track 5}} Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] music had been gaining a stronger beat and a wilder style, with artists such as Fats Domino and [[Johnny Otis]] speeding up the [[tempos]] and increasing the [[beat (music)|backbeat]] to great popularity on the [[juke joint]] circuit.<ref>Ennis, Philip H. (1992), ''The Seventh Stream β The Emergence of Rocknroll in American Popular Music'', Wesleyan University Press, p. 201, {{ISBN|978-0-8195-6257-9}}</ref> Before the efforts of Freed and others, black music was taboo on many white-owned radio outlets, but artists and producers quickly recognized the potential of rock and roll.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954β1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 6.</ref> Some of Presley's early recordings were covers of black rhythm and blues or blues songs, such as "[[That's All Right]]" (a countrified arrangement of a blues number), "[[Baby Let's Play House]]", "[[Lawdy Miss Clawdy]]", and "[[Hound Dog (song)|Hound Dog]]".<ref>C. Deffaa, ''Blue rhythms: six lives in rhythm and blues'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996), pp. 183β84.</ref> The racial lines, however, are rather more clouded by the fact that some of these R&B songs originally recorded by black artists had been written by white songwriters, such as the team of [[Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller]]. Songwriting credits were often unreliable; many publishers, record executives, and even managers (both white and black) would insert their name as a composer in order to collect royalty checks. [[File:Ritchie_Valens_1959_press_photo.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|[[Ritchie Valens]] best known for his 1958 hit "La Bamba", which blended traditional Mexican music with rock and roll.]] Covers were customary in the music industry at the time; it was made particularly easy by the [[compulsory license]] provision of [[United States copyright law]] (still in effect).<ref>J. V. Martin, ''Copyright: current issues and laws'' (Nova Publishers, 2002), pp. 86β88.</ref> One of the first relevant successful covers was [[Wynonie Harris]]'s transformation of [[Roy Brown (blues musician)|Roy Brown]]'s 1947 original jump blues hit "[[Good Rocking Tonight]]" into a more showy rocker<ref>G. Lichtenstein and L. Dankner. ''Musical gumbo: the music of New Orleans'' (W. W. Norton, 1993), p. 775.</ref> and the Louis Prima rocker "Oh Babe" in 1950, as well as [[Amos Milburn]]'s cover of what may have been the first white rock and roll record, [[Hardrock Gunter]]'s "Birmingham Bounce" in 1949.<ref>R. Carlin. ''Country music: a biographical dictionary'' (Taylor & Francis, 2003), p. 164.</ref> The most notable trend, however, was white pop covers of black R&B numbers. The more familiar sound of these covers may have been more palatable to white audiences, there may have been an element of prejudice, but labels aimed at the white market also had much better distribution networks and were generally much more profitable.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954β1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 201.</ref> Famously, [[Pat Boone]] recorded sanitized versions of songs recorded by the likes of Fats Domino, Little Richard, the Flamingos and Ivory Joe Hunter. Later, as those songs became popular, the original artists' recordings received radio play as well.<ref>G. C. Altschuler, ''All shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed America'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2003), pp. 51β52.</ref> The cover versions were not necessarily straightforward imitations. For example, Bill Haley's incompletely [[Expurgation|bowdlerized]] cover of "[[Shake, Rattle and Roll]]" transformed Big Joe Turner's humorous and racy tale of adult love into an energetic teen dance number,{{sfn |Gilliland|1969 |loc=show 4, track 5}}<ref>R. Coleman, ''Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll'' (Da Capo Press, 2007), p. 95.</ref> while Georgia Gibbs replaced [[Etta James]]' tough, sarcastic vocal in "Roll With Me, Henry" (covered as "Dance With Me, Henry") with a perkier vocal more appropriate for an audience unfamiliar with the song to which James's song was an [[answer song|answer]], [[Hank Ballard]]'s "Work With Me, Annie".<ref>D. Tyler, ''Music of the postwar era'' (Greenwood, 2008), p. 79.</ref> Presley's rock and roll version of "Hound Dog", taken mainly from a version recorded by the pop band [[Freddie Bell and the Bellboys]], was very different from the blues shouter that [[Big Mama Thornton]] had recorded four years earlier.<ref>C. L. Harrington and D. D. Bielby., ''Popular culture: production and consumption'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2001), p. 162.</ref>{{sfn |Gilliland|1969 |loc=show 7, track 4}} Other white artists who recorded cover versions of rhythm and blues songs included Gale Storm (Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin{{'"}}), the Diamonds (The Gladiolas' "Little Darlin{{'"}} and Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"), the Crew Cuts (the Chords' "Sh-Boom" and Nappy Brown's "Don't Be Angry"), the Fountain Sisters (The Jewels' "Hearts of Stone") and the Maguire Sisters (The Moonglows' "Sincerely").
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