Sound

• In many respects, the 1950s in the United States were simpler and more innocent than the previous decades, with a conservative value system, but other cultural developments ran counter to this trend
• The Cold War colored U.S. politics
• There was a race for technological superiority between the United States and the Soviet Union
• Technological developments and communist paranoia sparked an American interest in science fiction
• Economic prosperity increased in the United States following World War II
• Americans spent more time in their cars, many of which were now equipped with radios
• The middle-class values as shown on television in the 1950s were sexually conservative, but the decade also saw the introduction of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy and the Barbie doll
• In 1954 and 1955, two important antisegregation decisions were made by the U.S. Supreme Court
• The result of these decisions strengthened the American civil rights movement, but racial struggles persisted
• The 1950s were characterized by the cultural tensions and contradictions out of which rock and roll arose
• There is no clear “first year” of rock and roll, but 1955 is a useful marker
• Rock and roll was born with the emergence of rhythm and blues into the mainstream
• A middle class, teenage audience helped to blur the divisions between country and western, rhythm and blues, and mainstream pop
• This chapter will consider the “first wave” of rock and roll, roughly 1955–1960
• The early years were crucial in establishing rock as a musical style and element of youth culture
• The postwar period was the first to have a pop culture devoted exclusively to teenagers, who wanted their own music
• For white teens, listening to rhythm and blues was an act of social rebellion; conversely, juvenile delinquency was a concern for adults in the 1950s
• Many white teens first heard rhythm and blues on the radio, and small, inexpensive radios were increasingly common
• Disc jockeys such as Cleveland’s Alan Freed helped rhythm and blues to break into the mainstream in the early 1950s
• Aggressive marketing tactics, including the practice of paying disc jockeys to play records on the radio, were required to compete with major labels in the rhythm and blues market
• Unlike mainstream pop, rhythm and blues and country and western were markets where independent labels could more easily beat major labels and make a profit
• Tracking the music business and trends within it was important to people in the industry; periodicals such as Cashbox and Billboard carried sales charts that assisted with decision making
• Charts tracked listening populations, not musical styles, and were segregated into rhythm and blues, country and western, and mainstream pop based on assumptions about markets
• When a record or song holds a position on more than one of the three types of charts, this is called crossover
• When a record or song holds a position on more than one of the three types of charts, this is called crossover, which can occur in different ways
• The First Rock and Rollers Cross Over

  1. Fats Domino topped the rhythm and blues charts and had many Top 40 hits

  2. Chuck Berry's record "Maybellene" crossed over from the rhythm and blues to the pop charts

  3. Little Richard had nine Top 40 hits but found it difficult to advance his career in the mainstream pop market
• The practice of changing the lyrics and music of rhythm and blues songs to appeal to white listeners could be called the whitening of rhythm and blues
• The "Whitening" of Rhythm and Blues

  1. Bill Haley and His Comets had hit singles that appeared on both the pop and rhythm and blues charts

  2. Pat Boone covered rhythm and blues songs and sometimes outperformed the originals on the charts

  3. The success of cover songs may have reduced the crossover potential for the original records and artists
• In 1955, it was still common for several singers to record a given song in their own styles; many white covers of rhythm and blues, however, were close copies
• Many white covers of rhythm and blues were close copies


  Benefited mainly record companies and white performers
• Singers like Pat Boone and Bill Haley claimed that the rhythm and blues songs they covered would not have been played on white radio otherwise
• The Rise of Elvis Presley: In Steps Corporate America

  1. Elvis Presley further blurred the boundaries between pop, country and western, and rhythm and blues

  2. Elvis's recording with Scotty Moore and Bill Black of "That's All Right (Mama)" launched his career and established Sun Records on a national level

  3. Sam Phillips sold Elvis's contract to RCA in 1955; Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel" was a hit on the pop, country and western, and rhythm and blues charts

  4. Elvis was not a songwriter; he chose from a wide variety of songs and stylistic influences
• Elvis hit on the pop, country and western, and rhythm and blues charts, gaining international exposure
• Elvis’s move to RCA marked the beginning of major label interest in rock and roll
• Covers in Elvis’s Early Career

  Elvis was not a songwriter; he chose from a wide variety of songs and stylistic influences
• Elvis’s Sun records

  • Helped establish a style known as “rockabilly”
• Presley’s Move to RCA for Broader Appeal

  Elvis broadened his appeal beyond a teenage audience during his years with RCA, when he also made films and served in the U.S. Army
• Rockabilly in the Wake of Presley

  1. Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis at Sun

  2. Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran

  3. Rockabilly Ladies

  4. Buddy Holly
• Carl Perkins


  Was a singer-guitarist whose “Blue Suede Shoes” sold more than a million copies and was a hit on all three charts
• Johnny Cash


  Was popular on the country and western charts, though he crossed over with “I Walk the Line” before moving to a major label