Editing Rock and roll (section)

=== 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 – a region that would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts – 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. 21–22.</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, 1954–1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), pp. 4–6.</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. 236–238.</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. 111–125.</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. 13–38 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. 110–111] {{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. 80–81.</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 – 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. 13–38 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. 157–8.</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. 3–14.</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=61–5 |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. 13–38 in Anthony DeCurtis, ''Present Tense'', [[Duke University Press]], 1992, pp. 24–27. {{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>