Rock History- The '50s

JACLYN LICCONE
Nov 1, 2016
2 min read

[Image Source: Google Images]

The foundation for rock music started as early as the '50s when Black Gospel Music, Jazz and Blues were popular. Rock formed from these base types of music.

In the '50s there was a racial backlash. Rock’n’Roll records were referred to as "race records,” and some whites expressed their fear of this racial and cultural integration by complaining about the sexual overtones of Rock n Roll.

In 1954, black Rock’n’Roll records began to appeal to white youth. Teens bought Chuck Berry and Little Richard discs and would dance to their music.

The recording industries in the '50s were only signing white artists. These companies were Columbia Records, Capital Records, RCA, and DECCA. As black music grew more popular, new independent labels were formed to sign black artists and fill the void that the major labels weren’t acknowledging. These labels were Atlantic Records, Chess Records, King Records, and Imperial Records.These new labels created their own way of distributing and selling their music, and getting their records played. They recognized a big void in the business and they filled it. Some of their methods were never done before, which could have been seen to be illegal. One such illegal practice was called payola.

Payola in the music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on commercial radio. These payola songs blend in as the normal tracks being played on the radio on a daily basis.

Some stylistic trends of rock & roll in the '50s were Mainstream Rock’n’Roll which contained a strong influence of R&B music and a 12-bar blues pattern as it’s foundation. Some R&B artists say that this form of Rock’n’Roll is the same as R&B, just called a different name. Artists who fall under this style were Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Chuck Berry.

Another stylistic trend was rockabilly. This was a mixture of Country Western and R&B. Rockabilly was a phenomenon in the mid '50s - early '60s but did not have much impact after that point. Artists for this style included Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Soft Rock is another style which was a mixture of Pop elements and R&B. This style became very prominent in 1958 and lasted throughout the early 60’s. Rock ballads were frequently performed in this style during this time period. Some soft rock artists were Frankie Avalon, Neil Sedaka, and Paul Anka.

Another style was Doo Wopp which was vocal ensembles of 3 - 6 singers. One singer was typically the lead singer while the rest of the group would provide tight harmony and background. The harmony was typically performed on nonsense syllables like ‘doo-wah’ or ‘doo-wop.’ Performances were typically very well choreographed. Some of these groups were The Platters and The Clovers.

Elvis Presley, who is the king of rock & roll, was big during the '50s. He was the only artist known whose music could be considered under all genre styles. He changed rock & roll and the music world forever...

[Source: Rock and Culture Course Notes]