Editing Rock and roll

{{short description|Genre of popular music}}
{{hatnote group|{{about|the 1950s style of music|the general rock music genre|Rock music|other uses|Rock and roll (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|RnR|3=RNR (disambiguation)}}}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Rock and roll
| image             = <!-- DO NOT ADD ANOTHER IMAGE OF ELVIS; THERE'S ALREADY ONE IN THE ROCKABILLY SECTION -->
| stylistic_origins = *[[Rhythm and blues]]
* [[gospel music|gospel]]
* [[boogie-woogie]]
* [[electric blues]]
* [[jazz]]
* [[Country music|country]]
* [[jump blues]]
| cultural_origins  = Late 1940s{{snd}}early 1950s, United States
| derivatives       = * [[Rock music|Rock]]
* [[Beat music|Beat]]
* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[Surf music|Surf]]
| regional_scenes   = [[British rock and roll|United Kingdom]]
| other_topics      = *[[Origins of rock and roll]]
* [[List of rock and roll artists|list of artists]]
* [[African-American music]]
}}
'''Rock and roll''' (often written as '''rock & roll''', '''rock-n-roll''', and '''rock 'n' roll''') is a [[Genre (music)|genre]] of [[popular music]] that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |author=Christopher John |first=Farley |author-link=Christopher John Farley |date=July 6, 2004 |title=Elvis Rocks. But He's Not the First |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,661084,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817051714/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,661084,00.html |archive-date=August 17, 2013 |access-date=July 3, 2009}}</ref><ref name="dawson propes"/> It [[Origins of rock and roll|originated]] from African American music such as [[jazz]], [[rhythm and blues]], [[boogie-woogie]], [[electric blues]], [[gospel music|gospel]], and [[jump blues]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Considine |first=J.D. |date=December 5, 1993 |title=The missing link in the evolution of rock and roll JUMP BLUES |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1993-12-05-1993339172-story.html |access-date=December 26, 2022 |work=The Baltimore Sun |quote=}}</ref> as well as from [[country music]].<ref>Larry Birnbaum, ''Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll'', Scarecrow Press, 2013, p.vii-x.</ref> While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s<ref>Davis, Francis. ''[[iarchive:historyofblues00davi|The History of the Blues]]'' (New York: Hyperion, 1995), {{ISBN|0-7868-8124-0}}.</ref> and in country records of the 1930s,<ref name="Peterson">Peterson, Richard A. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=J3zWpIOLB-MC&pg=PA9 Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity]'' (1999), p. 9, {{ISBN|0-226-66285-3}}.</ref> the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.<ref>"The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll 1946–1954". 2004. Universal Music Enterprises.</ref><ref name="dawson propes"/>

According to the journalist [[Greg Kot]], "rock and roll" refers to a style of popular music originating in the United States in the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had developed into "the more encompassing international style known as [[rock music]], though the latter also continued to be known in many circles as rock and roll".<ref name="kot-eb">Kot, Greg, [https://www.britannica.com/art/rock-and-roll-early-style-of-rock-music "Rock and roll"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417053348/https://www.britannica.com/art/rock-and-roll-early-style-of-rock-music |date=April 17, 2020 }}, in the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', published [[Encyclopædia Britannica Online|online]] 17 June 2008 and also in print and in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference'' DVD; Chicago : Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010</ref> For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition.

In the earliest rock and roll styles, either the [[piano]] or [[saxophone]] was typically the lead instrument. These instruments were generally replaced or supplemented by the [[electric guitar]] in the mid-to-late 1950s.<ref name=Evans2002/> The beat is essentially a dance rhythm<ref>Busnar, Gene, It's Rock 'n' Roll: A musical history of the fabulous fifties, Julian Messner, New York, 1979, p. 45</ref> with an accentuated [[backbeat]], almost always provided by a [[snare drum]].<ref>P. Hurry, M. Phillips, and M. Richards, ''Heinemann advanced music'' (Heinemann, 2001), pp. 153–4.</ref> Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or more [[electric guitar]]s (one [[lead guitar|lead]], one [[rhythm guitar|rhythm]]) and a [[double bass]] (string bass). After the mid-1950s, electric [[bass guitar]]s ("Fender bass") and [[Drum kit|drum kits]] became popular in classic rock.<ref name=Evans2002>S. Evans, "The development of the Blues" in A. F. Moore, ed., ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge companion to blues and gospel music]]'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 40–42.</ref>

Rock and roll had a profound influence on contemporary American lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language, and is often portrayed in movies, fan magazines, and on television. Some people believe that the music had a positive influence on the [[civil rights movement]], because of its widespread appeal to both [[Black American]] and [[White American]] teenagers.<ref name=Altshuler2003p35>G. C. Altschuler, ''All shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed America'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2003), p. 35.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McNally |first=Dennis |date=2014-10-26 |title=How Rock and Roll Killed Jim Crow |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/26/how-rock-and-roll-killed-jim-crow |access-date=2022-09-06}}</ref>

== Terminology ==
[[File:Birthplace of Rock 'N' Roll.jpg|thumb|Sign commemorating the role of [[Alan Freed]] and [[Cleveland]], Ohio, in the origins of rock and roll]]
The term "rock and roll" is defined by [[Greg Kot]] in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' as the music that originated in the mid-1950s and later developed "into the more encompassing international style known as [[rock music]]".<ref name="kot-eb"/> The term is sometimes also used as [[synonymous]] with "rock music" and is defined as such in some dictionaries.<ref>{{cite web | title = Rock music | work = The American Heritage Dictionary | publisher = Bartleby.com | url = http://www.bartleby.com/61/92/R0279250.html | access-date = December 15, 2008 | archive-date = May 24, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090524012056/http://www.bartleby.com/61/92/R0279250.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Rock and roll | work = Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary | publisher = Merriam-Webster Online | url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rock%20and%20roll | access-date = December 15, 2008 | archive-date = April 27, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200427022831/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rock%20and%20roll | url-status = live }}</ref>

The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_UbAQAAIAAJ&q=rocking+and+rolling|title=The United Service Magazine|date=October 22, 2017|via=Google Books|access-date=November 19, 2020|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310165614/https://books.google.com/books?id=U_UbAQAAIAAJ&q=rocking+and+rolling|url-status=live}}</ref> but by the early 20th century was used both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church rituals<ref name=hoy>{{cite web |url=http://www.hoyhoy.com/dawn_of_rock.htm |title=Morgan Wright's HoyHoy.com: The Dawn of Rock 'n Roll |publisher=Hoyhoy.com |date=May 2, 1954 |access-date=April 14, 2012 |archive-date=June 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624013348/http://hoyhoy.com/dawn_of_rock.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> and as a sexual analogy. A retired [[Wales|Welsh]] seaman named William Fender can be heard singing the phrase "rock and roll" when describing a sexual encounter in his performance of the traditional song "[[The Baffled Knight]]" to the folklorist [[James Madison Carpenter]] in the early 1930s, which he would have learned at sea in the 1800s; the recording can be heard on the [[Vaughan Williams Memorial Library]] website.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Baffled Knight, The (VWML Song Index SN17648)|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/VWMLSongIndex/SN17648|access-date=2021-02-03|website=The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library|language=en-gb|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310165729/https://www.vwml.org/record/VWMLSongIndex/SN17648|url-status=live}}</ref>

Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became widely popular. "[[Bosom of Abraham]]", an African-American [[spirituals|spiritual]] that was documented no later than 1867 (just after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]), uses the phrase "rock my soul" frequently in a religious sense; this song was later recorded by musicians from various genres, including various gospel musicians and groups (including [[The Jordanaires]]), [[Louis Armstrong]] (jazz/swing), [[Lonnie Donegan]] ([[skiffle]]), and [[Elvis Presley]] (rock and roll/pop/country).<ref name="AWG 1867">{{cite book|editor1-link=William Francis Allen|editor1-first = William Francis|editor1-last = Allen|editor2-link=Charles Pickard Ware|editor2-first = Charles Pickard|editor2-last= Ware|editor3-link= Lucy McKim Garrison|editor3-first = Lucy McKim|editor3-last = Garrison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHktAAAAMAAJ&q=bosom+of+abraham |title=Slave Songs of the United States|chapter= #94: Rock O' My Soul|page= 73|publisher= A. Simpson & Co|date= 1867}}</ref>  Blues singer [[Trixie Smith]] recorded [https://www.kunc.org/music/2013-11-09/trixie-smith-helped-give-us-the-term-rock-and-roll <nowiki>"My [Man] Rocks Me with One Steady Roll"</nowiki>]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-09 |title=Trixie Smith Helped Give Us The Term Rock And Roll |url=https://www.kunc.org/music/2013-11-09/trixie-smith-helped-give-us-the-term-rock-and-roll |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=KUNC |language= en}}</ref> in 1922. It was used in 1940s recordings and reviews of what became known as "[[rhythm and blues]]" music aimed at a black audience.<ref name="hoy" /> [[Huey "Piano" Smith]] credits [[Cha Cha Hogan]], a jump-blues shouter and comic in New Orleans, with popularizing the term in his 1950 song "My Walking Baby".<ref name="Wirt2014">{{cite book | last=Wirt | first=John | title=Huey "Piano" Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues | publisher=LSU Press | year=2014 | isbn= 978-0-8071-5297-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=61i2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT75 | access-date=2023-06-27 | page=75}}</ref><ref name="JazzArchivist2015">{{cite journal |last1= Brock |first1= Jerry |date=2015 |title= Baby Doll Addendum and Mardi Gras '49 |url= https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A122157/datastream/PDF/view |journal= The Jazz Archivist: A Newsletter of the William Ransom Hogan Jazz Archive |volume=28 |issue= |pages= |doi= |publisher= Tulane University Libraries |access-date=2023-06-27}}</ref>

[[File:Alan_Freed_1957.JPG|thumb|right|[[Alan Freed]] disc jockey who is credited with popularizing the term "rock and roll" in the 1950s, helping break down racial barriers.]]

In 1934, the song "Rock and Roll" by the [[Boswell Sisters]] appeared in the film ''[[Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round]]''. In 1942, before the concept of rock and roll had been defined, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine columnist [[Maurie Orodenker]] started to use the term to describe upbeat recordings such as "Rock Me" by [[Sister Rosetta Tharpe]]; her style on that recording was described as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MAwEAAAAMBAJ&q=Rosetta+tharpe&pg=PT101 |title=Record Reviews |date=May 30, 1942 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=February 22, 2021 |quote= |archive-date=June 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601044236/https://books.google.com/books?id=MAwEAAAAMBAJ&q=Rosetta+tharpe&pg=PT101 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MAwEAAAAMBAJ&q=Rosetta+tharpe&pg=PT101 ''Billboard'', May 30, 1942], page 25. Other examples are in describing [[Vaughn Monroe]]'s "Coming Out Party" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=HwwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22rock-and-roll%22+1942&pg=PT54 the issue of June 27, 1942, page 76] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430074303/https://books.google.com/books?id=HwwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT54&lpg=PT54&dq=%22rock-and-roll%22+1942&source=bl&ots=dUpRjyrLKr&sig=OdCAOgvBtvWpSfBdJnBOWbBGKxw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=faeHUIHMDYTLhAehhoCYCA&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBjge|date=April 30, 2016}}; [[Count Basie]]'s "It's Sand, Man", in [https://books.google.com/books?id=OAwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22rock-and-roll%22+1942&pg=PT62 the issue of October 3, 1942, page 63] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610145424/https://books.google.com/books?id=OAwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT62&lpg=PT62&dq=%22rock-and-roll%22+1942&source=bl&ots=8z5-VZ_8v2&sig=TZ7kcER2pGmGsux86CtvH3AJGHY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tKaHUODHNMKFhQejg4H4Dg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBjgU|date=June 10, 2016}}; and [[Deryck Sampson]]'s "Kansas City Boogie-Woogie" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=RwwEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22rock-and-roll%22&pg=PT66 the issue of October 9, 1943, page 67] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629113948/https://books.google.com/books?id=RwwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=%22rock-and-roll%22+1943&source=bl&ots=XzXvW_I2Fc&sig=fGbWvxH_OcqGdA5kNAnhL8Tk9Hg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kKmHUMq8Es2FhQeXgoHoCw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22rock-and-roll%22&f=false|date=June 29, 2016}}.</ref> By 1943, the "Rock and Roll Inn" in [[Merchantville, New Jersey|South Merchantville, New Jersey]], was established as a music venue.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YwwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22rock-and-roll%22+1943&pg=PT18 ''Billboard'', June 12, 1943] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511231357/https://books.google.com/books?id=YwwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT18&lpg=PT18&dq=%22rock-and-roll%22+1943&source=bl&ots=BmH_2BRc1J&sig=sbUT1QVjJNMo1pmBcIHMMwrM8Hc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GKiHUL6UBsqYhQfCzID4CA&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ |date=May 11, 2020 }}, page 19</ref> In 1951, [[Cleveland]], Ohio, disc jockey [[Alan Freed]] began playing this music style, and referring to it as "rock and roll"<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alan-Freed |title=Alan Freed |date=March 4, 2018 |encyclopedia=Britannica |access-date=February 3, 2021 |quote=Alan Freed did not coin the phrase he popularized it and redefined it. Once slang for sex, it came to mean a new form of music. This music had been around for several years, but&nbsp;... |archive-date=February 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205212852/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alan-Freed |url-status=live }}</ref> on his mainstream radio program, which popularized the phrase.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bordowitz|first=Hank|title=Turning Points in Rock and Roll|url=https://archive.org/details/turningpointsinr0000bord|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Citadel Press|location=New York |isbn=978-0-8065-2631-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/turningpointsinr0000bord/page/63 63]}}</ref>

Several sources suggest that Freed found the term, used as a synonym for sexual intercourse, on the record "[[Sixty Minute Man]]" by [[Billy Ward and his Dominoes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history-of-rock.com/freed.htm |title=Alan Freed |date=January 4, 2011 |work=History of Rock |access-date=January 28, 2021 |quote= |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108124841/https://www.history-of-rock.com/freed.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/blog/395-ch-3-rockin-around-the-clock |title=Ch. 3 "Rockin' Around The Clock' |date=June 22, 2020 |work=Michigan Rock and Roll Legends |access-date=January 28, 2021 |quote=By the middle of the 20th century, the phrase 'rocking and rolling' was slang for sex in the black community but Freed liked the sound of it and felt the words could be used differently. |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125070350/https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/blog/395-ch-3-rockin-around-the-clock |url-status=live }}</ref> The lyrics include the line, "I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long".<ref>{{cite book |last=Ennis |first=Philip |date=9 May 2012 |title=The History of American Pop |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwJ4pa36cYkC&q=alan+freed+rock+n+roll+60+minute+man+dominoes+%22I+rock+%27em%2C+roll+%27em+all+night+long%22.&pg=PA18 |publisher=Greenhaven |page= 18 |isbn=978-1420506723 |access-date=February 2, 2021 |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310165612/https://books.google.com/books?id=dwJ4pa36cYkC&q=alan+freed+rock+n+roll+60+minute+man+dominoes+%22I+rock+%27em%2C+roll+%27em+all+night+long%22.&pg=PA18 |url-status=live }}</ref> Freed did not acknowledge the suggestion about that source in interviews, and explained the term as follows: "Rock 'n roll is really swing with a modern name. It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/alan-freed-dies|title=55 Years Ago: Rock 'n' Roll Fireball Alan Freed Dies |date=January 20, 2020 |work=Ultimate Classic Rock |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210201141742/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/alan-freed-dies|archive-date=February 1, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In discussing Alan Freed's contribution to the genre, two significant sources emphasized the importance of African-American rhythm and blues. Greg Harris, then the executive director of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, offered this comment to [[CNN]]: "Freed's role in breaking down racial barriers in American pop culture in the 1950s, by leading white and black kids to listen to the same music, put the radio personality 'at the vanguard' and made him 'a really important figure{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/03/showbiz/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-alan-freed/index.html |title=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ousts DJ Alan Freed's ashes, adds Beyonce's leotards |date=August 4, 2014 |work=CNN |access-date=January 27, 2021 |quote= |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201091038/https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/03/showbiz/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-alan-freed/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> After Freed was honored with a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], the organization's Web site offered this comment: "He became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://walkoffame.com/alan-freed/ |title=Alan Freed |date=May 27, 1991 |work=Walk of Fame |access-date=January 27, 2021 |quote= |archive-date=February 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202011533/https://walkoffame.com/alan-freed/ |url-status=live |author1=Chad }}</ref>

Not often acknowledged in the history of rock and roll, [[Todd Storz]], the owner of radio station KOWH in [[Omaha]], Nebraska, was the first to adopt the [[Top 40]] format (in 1953), playing only the most popular records in rotation. His station, and the numerous others which adopted the concept, helped to promote the genre: by the mid 50s, the playlist included artists such as "[[Elvis Presley|Presley]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis|Lewis]], [[Bill Haley|Haley]], [[Chuck Berry|Berry]] and [[Fats Domino|Domino]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1992/06/28/from-hit-parade-to-top-40/4550deaf-6e31-4e99-bcbe-0c7378bf1cd3/ |title=From Hit Parade to Top 40 |date=June 28, 1992 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=April 4, 2021 |quote=in the mid- to late '50s with upstarts named Presley, Lewis, Haley, Berry and Domino |archive-date=June 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601044234/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1992/06/28/from-hit-parade-to-top-40/4550deaf-6e31-4e99-bcbe-0c7378bf1cd3/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hall |first=Michael K |date=May 9, 2014 |title=The Emergence of Rock and Roll: Music and the Rise of American Youth Culture, Timeline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWeLAwAAQBAJ&q=Rock%27n%27Roll++evolved+1940s+and+50s |location= |publisher=Routledge |page= |isbn=978-0415833134 |access-date=May 4, 2021 |archive-date=June 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601044214/https://books.google.com/books?id=QWeLAwAAQBAJ&q=Rock%27n%27Roll++evolved+1940s+and+50s |url-status=live }}</ref>

== 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 – 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>

===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. “Jim Dandy” and “Tweedlee Dee” 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=31–47 |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 7–8}}<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 – 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, 1954–1963'' (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. 183–84.</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. 86–88.</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, 1954–1963'' (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. 51–52.</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").

== Decline and later developments ==
[[File:Buddy Holly & The Crickets publicity portrait - cropped.jpg|upright|thumb|right|[[Buddy Holly]] and his band, [[the Crickets]]]]
Some commentators have suggested a decline of rock and roll starting in 1958.<ref>D. Hatch and S. Millward, ''From blues to rock: an analytical history of pop music'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press ND, 1987), p. 110.</ref><ref>M. Campbell, ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on: Popular Music in America'' (Publisher Cengage Learning, 3rd edn., 2008), p. 172.</ref> The retirement of [[Little Richard]] to become a preacher (October 1957), the departure of Presley for service in the [[United States Army]] (March 1958), the scandal surrounding [[Jerry Lee Lewis]]' marriage to his [[Myra Gale Brown|thirteen-year-old cousin]] (May 1958), riots caused by [[Bill Haley]]'s ill-fated tour of Europe (October 1958), the deaths of [[Buddy Holly]], [[the Big Bopper]] and [[Ritchie Valens]] in [[The Day the Music Died|a plane crash]] (February 1959), the breaking of the [[Payola]] scandal implicating major figures, including [[Alan Freed]], in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs (November 1959), the arrest of [[Chuck Berry]] (December 1959), and the death of [[Eddie Cochran]] in a car crash (April 1960) gave a sense that the initial phase of rock and roll had come to an end.<ref name="Campbell2008">M. Campbell, ed., ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on'' (Cengage Learning, 3rd edn., 2008), p. 99.</ref>

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the rawer sounds of Presley, [[Gene Vincent]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] and [[Buddy Holly]] were commercially superseded by a more polished, commercial style of rock and roll influenced pop music.  Marketing frequently emphasized the physical looks of the artist rather than the music, contributing to the successful careers of [[Ricky Nelson]], [[Tommy Sands (American singer)|Tommy Sands]], [[Bobby Vee]], [[Jimmy Clanton]], and the Philadelphia trio of [[Bobby Rydell]], [[Frankie Avalon]], and [[Fabian Forte|Fabian]], who all became "teen idols".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000046845|title=Pop {{!}} Grove Music|language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.46845|access-date=2018-11-12|year=2001|last1=Middleton|first1=Richard|last2=Buckley|first2=David|last3=Walser|first3=Robert|last4=Laing|first4=Dave|last5=Manuel|first5=Peter|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0|archive-date=May 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522183313/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000046845|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Johnny Rivers 1975.JPG|thumb|left|[[Johnny Rivers]] was a key 1960s rock artist known for hits like "Memphis" and his "Go-go" style.]]

Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including [[multitrack recording]], developed by [[Les Paul]], the electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as [[Joe Meek]], and the "[[Wall of Sound]]" productions of [[Phil Spector]],{{sfn |Gilliland |1969 |loc=show 21}} continued desegregation of the charts, the rise of [[surf music]], [[garage rock]] and the [[Twist (dance)|Twist]] dance craze.<ref name="KeightleyR&R"/> [[Surf music|Surf rock]] in particular, noted for the use of reverb-drenched guitars, became one of the most popular forms of American rock of the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/surf-ma0000002883|title=Surf Music Genre Overview – AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=August 22, 2014|archive-date=October 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029040516/https://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/surf-ma0000002883|url-status=live}}</ref>

While the sounds of the [[British Invasion]] would become the superseding forms of rock music during the mid-1960s, a few American artists were nonetheless able to achieve chart successes with rock and roll recordings during this time. The most notable of these was [[Johnny Rivers]], who with hits such as [[Memphis, Tennessee (song)#Other popular versions|"Memphis"]] (1964), popularized a "[[Go-go dancing|Go-go]]" style of club-oriented, danceable rock and roll that enjoyed significant success in spite of the ongoing British Invasion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-04 |title=Louisiana Music Hall of Fame - JOHNNY RIVERS 2009 |url=http://louisianamusichalloffame.org/content/view/95/114/ |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=Louisiana Music Hall of Fame |quote=One American artist after another faded into rock & roll purgatory, victims of Her Majesty's transatlantic onslaught. Among the few Yanks who survived the British Invasion, [was]... Johnny Rivers... A cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis"... reached number 2 in the midst of Beatlemania, sending a message that American artists weren't ready to concede their turf to the Brits just yet. |archive-date=October 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004175822/http://louisianamusichalloffame.org/content/view/95/114/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Johnny Rivers Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnny-rivers-mn0000203639 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=AllMusic |language=en |quote=... there were other artists playing this kind of basic, danceable rock & roll, mostly in club settings... In early 1964, however, none of those acts had broken nationally or even locally. Rivers got there first...}}</ref> Another example was [[Bobby Fuller]] and his group [[The Bobby Fuller Four]], who were especially inspired by Buddy Holly and stuck with a rock and roll style, scoring their most notable hit with [[I Fought the Law#Bobby Fuller Four version|"I Fought the Law"]] (1965).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bobby Fuller Four Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-bobby-fuller-four-mn0000061534 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=AllMusic |language=en |quote=... Fuller [was] a worthy inheritor of early rock & roll and rockabilly traditions...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bobby Fuller Four on Apple Music |url=https://music.apple.com/us/artist/bobby-fuller-four/1336938800 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=Apple Music |language=en-US |quote=In the mid-1960s, Texas rocker Bobby Fuller championed the old-school rock-&-roll values of artists like Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bobby Fuller {{!}} TheAudioDB.com |url=https://www.theaudiodb.com/artist/141865-Bobby-Fuller |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=www.theaudiodb.com |quote=At a time when the British invasion and folk rock were culturally dominant, Fuller stuck to Buddy Holly's style of classic rock and roll with Tex Mex flourishes.}}</ref>

== British rock and roll ==
{{Main|British rock and roll}}
[[File:Tommy Steel 1957.jpg|thumb|[[Tommy Steele]], one of the first British rock and rollers, performing in Stockholm in 1957]]
In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture.<ref name=Unterberger>{{AllMusic|class=explore|id=essay/t571|first=Richie|last=Unterberger|label=British Rock & Roll Before the Beatles|access-date=June 24, 2009}}</ref> It shared [[English language|a common language]], had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the [[Teddy Boy]]s and the [[Rocker (subculture)|rockers]].<ref name="D. O'Sullivan, 1974 pp. 38–9">D. O'Sullivan, ''The Youth Culture'' (London: Taylor & Francis, 1974), pp. 38–9.</ref> [[Trad jazz]] became popular in the UK, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including [[boogie woogie]] and the [[blues]].<ref>J. R. Covach and G. MacDonald Boone, ''Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 60.</ref> The [[skiffle]] craze, led by [[Lonnie Donegan]], used amateurish versions of American folk songs and encouraged many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing.<ref name=Broken2003>M. Brocken, ''The British folk revival, 1944–2002'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), pp. 69–80.</ref> At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including ''[[Blackboard Jungle]]'' (1955) and ''[[Rock Around the Clock (film)|Rock Around the Clock]]'' (1956).<ref>V. Porter, ''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 192.</ref> Both movies featured the [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] hit "[[Rock Around the Clock]]", which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached the [[Billboard Hot 100|US pop charts]] – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956 and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency.<ref>T. Gracyk, ''I Wanna Be Me: Rock Music and the Politics of Identity'' (Temple University Press, 2001), pp. 117–18.</ref>

[[File:Cliff Richard 1960.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|[[Cliff Richard]] became an early British rock and roll star with his 1958 hit "Move It".]]

The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. More grass roots British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including [[Wee Willie Harris]] and [[Tommy Steele]].<ref name=Unterberger/> During this period American Rock and Roll remained dominant but in 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when [[Cliff Richard]] reached number 2 in the charts with "[[Move It]]".<ref>D. Hatch, S. Millward, ''From Blues to Rock: an Analytical History of Pop Music'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1987), p. 78.</ref> At the same time, TV shows such as ''[[Six-Five Special]]'' and ''[[Oh Boy! (TV series)|Oh Boy!]]'' promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like [[Marty Wilde]] and [[Adam Faith]].<ref name=Unterberger/> Cliff Richard and his backing band, [[the Shadows]], were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era.<ref>A. J. Millard, ''The electric guitar: a history of an American icon'' (JHU Press, 2004), p. 150.</ref> Other leading acts included [[Billy Fury]], [[Joe Brown (singer)|Joe Brown]], and [[Johnny Kidd & the Pirates]], whose 1960 hit song "[[Shakin' All Over]]" became a rock and roll standard.<ref name=Unterberger/>

As interest in rock and roll was beginning to subside in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was taken up by groups in British cities like [[Liverpool]], [[Manchester]], [[Birmingham]], and [[London]].<ref name=Harry>[http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/about/founders-story2.shtml Mersey Beat – the founders' story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224172126/http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/about/founders-story2.shtml |date=February 24, 2021 }}.</ref> About the same time, a [[British blues]] scene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such as [[Alexis Korner]] and [[Cyril Davies]] who were inspired by American musicians such as [[Robert Johnson]], [[Muddy Waters]] and [[Howlin' Wolf]].<ref name=Allmusic700>V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds, ''All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues'' (Backbeat, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 700.</ref> Many groups moved towards the [[beat music]] of rock and roll and rhythm and blues from skiffle, like the [[Quarrymen]] who became [[the Beatles]], producing a form of rock and roll revivalism that carried them and many other groups to national success from about 1963 and to international success from 1964, known in America as the British Invasion.<ref name=AllMusicBI>{{AllMusic|class=explore|id=style/d379|label=British Invasion|access-date=August 10, 2009}}</ref> Groups that followed the Beatles included the beat-influenced [[Freddie and the Dreamers]], [[Wayne Fontana]] and [[the Mindbenders]], [[Herman's Hermits]] and [[the Dave Clark Five]].<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Ira A. |last=Robbins |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/80244/British-Invasion |title=British Invasion (music) |encyclopedia=Britannica |date=February 7, 1964 |access-date=April 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221235217/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/80244/British-Invasion |url-status=live }}</ref> Early [[British rhythm and blues]] groups with more blues influences include [[the Animals]], [[the Rolling Stones]], and [[the Yardbirds]].<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Unterberger
| first = Richie
| author-link = Richie Unterberger
| editor-last = Erlewine
| editor-first = Michael
| editor-link = Michael Erlewine
| encyclopedia = [[All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues|All Music Guide to the Blues]]
| section = Blues rock
| year = 1996
| location = San Francisco
| publisher = [[Miller Freeman, Inc.|Miller Freeman Books]]
| isbn = 0-87930-424-3
| page = [https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob00erle/page/378 378]
| url = https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob00erle/page/378
| title = All music guide to the blues : The experts' guide to the best blues recordings
}}</ref>

== Cultural influence ==
{{Main|Social effects of rock music}}

Rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language.<ref>G. C. Altschuler, ''All shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed America'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2003), p. 121.</ref> In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and European-American teens enjoyed the music.<ref name="Altshuler2003p35"/>

Many early rock and roll songs dealt with issues of cars, school, dating, and clothing. The lyrics of rock and roll songs described events and conflicts to which most listeners could relate through personal experience. Topics such as sex that had generally been considered taboo began to appear in rock and roll lyrics. This new music tried to break boundaries and express emotions that people were actually feeling but had not discussed openly. An awakening began to take place in American youth culture.<ref name="Schafer, William J 1972">Schafer, William J. ''Rock Music: Where It's Been, What It Means, Where It's Going''. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1972.</ref>

=== Race ===
In the crossover of African-American "race music" to a growing white youth audience, the popularization of rock and roll involved both black performers reaching a white audience and white musicians performing African-American music.<ref>M. Fisher, ''Something in the air: radio, rock, and the revolution that shaped a generation'' (Marc Fisher, 2007), p. 53.</ref> Rock and roll appeared at a time when racial tensions in the United States were entering a new phase, with the beginnings of the [[civil rights]] movement for [[Racial segregation|desegregation]], leading to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] ruling that abolished the policy of "[[separate but equal]]" in 1954, but leaving a policy which would be extremely difficult to enforce in parts of the United States.<ref>H. Zinn, ''A people's history of the United States: 1492–present'' (Pearson Education, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 450.</ref> The coming together of white youth audiences and [[African American music|black music]] in rock and roll inevitably provoked strong white racist reactions within the US, with many whites condemning its breaking down of barriers based on color.<ref name=Altshuler2003p35/> Many observers saw rock and roll as heralding the way for desegregation, in creating a new form of music that encouraged racial cooperation and shared experience.<ref>M. T. Bertrand, ''Race, rock, and Elvis'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), pp. 95–6.</ref> Many authors have argued that early rock and roll was instrumental in the way both white and black teenagers identified themselves.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Carson
| first = Mina
| title = Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music
| publisher = Lexington
| year = 2004
| page = 24
}}</ref>

=== Teen culture ===
{{Main|Youth subculture}}
[[File:True Life Romance 3.jpg|thumb|upright|"There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" made the cover of ''True Life Romance'' in 1956.]]
Several rock historians have claimed that rock and roll was one of the first music genres to define an [[age group]].<ref name="padel" /> It gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone.<ref name="padel">{{cite book |last=Padel |first=Ruth |title=I'm a Man: Sex, Gods, and Rock 'n' Roll |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2000 |pages=46–48}}</ref> Rock and roll is often identified with the emergence of teen culture among the first [[baby boomer]] generation, who had greater relative affluence and leisure time and adopted rock and roll as part of a distinct subculture.<ref name=Coleman2007>M. Coleman, L. H. Ganong, K. Warzinik, ''Family Life in Twentieth-Century America'' (Greenwood, 2007), pp. 216–17.</ref> This involved not just music, absorbed via radio, record buying, jukeboxes and TV programs like ''[[American Bandstand]]'', but also extended to film, clothes, hair, cars and motorcycles, and distinctive language. The youth culture exemplified by rock and roll was a recurring source of concern for older generations, who worried about juvenile delinquency and social rebellion, particularly because, to a large extent, rock and roll culture was shared by different racial and social groups.<ref name=Coleman2007 />

In America, that concern was conveyed even in youth cultural artifacts such as [[comic books]]. In "There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" from ''True Life Romance'' (1956), a defiant teen dates a rock and roll-loving boy but drops him for one who likes traditional adult music—to her parents' relief.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nolan|first= Michelle|title=Love on the Racks|publisher=McFarland|date= 2008|page=150|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ndJ7BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|isbn = 9781476604909}}</ref> In Britain, where postwar prosperity was more limited, rock and roll culture became attached to the pre-existing [[Teddy Boy]] movement, largely working class in origin, and eventually to the [[Rocker (subculture)|rockers]].<ref name="D. O'Sullivan, 1974 pp. 38–9" /> "On the white side of the deeply segregated music market", rock and roll became marketed for teenagers, as in [[Dion and the Belmonts]]' "[[A Teenager in Love]]" (1959).<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Lisa A. |editor1-last=Lewis |title=The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media |publisher=Routledge |year=1992 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=10GznmSA3w4C&q=teenager+in+love |chapter=Beatlemania: Girls just want to have fun|author1-first=Barbara|author1-last=Ehrenreich|author2-first=Elizabeth|author2-last=Hess|author3-first=Gloria|author3-last=Jacobs<!--|pages=84–107-->|isbn=9780415078214}}</ref>

=== Dance styles ===
From its early 1950s beginnings through the early 1960s, rock and roll spawned new [[Novelty and fad dances|dance crazes]]<ref>[http://www.sixtiescity.com/Culture/dance.shtm sixtiescity.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324225234/http://www.sixtiescity.com/Culture/dance.shtm |date=March 24, 2012 }} ''Sixties Dance and Dance Crazes''</ref> including the [[Twist (dance)|twist]]. Teenagers found the syncopated [[backbeat]] rhythm especially suited to reviving Big Band-era [[jitterbug]] dancing. [[Sock hop]]s, school and church gym dances, and home basement dance parties became the rage, and American teens watched [[Dick Clark]]'s ''[[American Bandstand]]'' to keep up on the latest dance and fashion styles.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954–1963'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 10.</ref> From the mid-1960s on, as "rock and roll" was rebranded as  "rock", later dance genres followed, leading to [[funk]], [[disco]], [[house music|house]], [[techno]], and [[hip hop]].<ref>{{cite book
| last1 = Campbell
| first1 = Michael
|first2=James
 |last2=Brody
 | title = Rock and Roll: An Introduction
| publisher = Schirmer Books
| year = 1999
| location = New York, NY
| pages = 354–55
}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |editor1-first=V. |editor1-last=Bogdanov |editor2-first=C. |editor2-last=Woodstra |editor3-first=S. T. |editor3-last=Erlewine |title=All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul |location=Milwaukee, WI |publisher=Backbeat Books |edition=3rd |year=2002 |isbn=0-87930-653-X }}
* ''Rock and Roll: A Social History'', by Paul Friedlander (1996), Westview Press ({{ISBN|0-8133-2725-3}})
* "The Rock Window: A Way of Understanding Rock Music" by Paul Friedlander, in [http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/TRA/Tracking.shtml ''Tracking: Popular Music Studies''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923173908/http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/TRA/Tracking.shtml |date=September 23, 2006 }}, Volume I, number 1, Spring, 1988
* ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' by Holly George-Warren, Patricia Romanowski, Jon Pareles (2001), Fireside Press ({{ISBN|0-7432-0120-5}})
* ''The Sound of the City: the Rise of Rock and Roll'', by Charlie Gillett (1970), E.P. Dutton
* {{Gilliland |show=5 |title= Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll: The rock revolution gets underway
 }}
* ''[[The Fifties (book)|The Fifties]]'' by [[David Halberstam]] (1996), Random House ({{ISBN|0-517-15607-5}})
* ''The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll : The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music'' by editors James Henke, Holly George-Warren, Anthony Decurtis, Jim Miller (1992), Random House ({{ISBN|0-679-73728-6}})
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links|d=y|c=category:Rock music|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|s=no|species=no|m=no|mw=no}}
* [http://www.philxmilstein.com/probe/tracks/MaleQuartette-TheCampMeetingJubilee.mp3 The Camp Meeting Jubilee] 1910 recording
* [http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/electricguitar/index.htm The Smithsonian's history of the electric guitar]
* [http://www.history-of-rock.com/ History of Rock]
* [http://www.youngtownmuseum.com/ Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum] – Omemee, Ontario
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOCPOYAEK-CCZELd2U8IVTQ Rock'n'Roll (1959) - The only feature film of a live Rock'n'Roll concert ever made]{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

{{Rock|state=expanded}}
{{Country music}}
{{BlackMusicHistory}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Rock and roll| ]]
[[Category:Rock music]]
[[Category:Rock music genres]]
[[Category:History of rock music]]
[[Category:African-American culture]]
[[Category:African-American music]]
[[Category:American styles of music]]
[[Category:Culture of the Southern United States]]
[[Category:1950s fads and trends]]
[[Category:Popular music]]
[[Category:Radio formats]]
[[Category:Youth culture in the United States]]
[[Category:Youth culture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1950s neologisms]]
[[Category:Italian-American culture]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1950s]]