Early Rock & Roll and the Racial Divide If you were to look through your music playlist, what is the most prominent genre that you’d find? If you said rock & roll, I’ve got news for you. Rock & roll is known as the musical byproduct to American’s greatest revolution. During the peak period of segregation, poverty, and Victorian morals, Rock & roll managed to integrate two completely different styles of music and create something worthwhile. This in turn, paved the way for America’s own social integration. However, this integration didn’t happen without a fight. Early rock & roll created a racial divide so large, that it was almost impossible to dissipate. During the early 1950’s, the segregation of black people and white people was not only legal, but also aggressively enforced by authority officials. Radio stations were forced to played different genres of music targeted to different races. While white American’s were encouraged to listen to mainstream Pop music, Black people were left with what is …show more content…
“The Genie had been let out of the bottle, and even though the government might be able to discourage future ‘disruption’ to the proper operation of the recording industry, there was no way to make mainstream youth forget the new sensibility introduced by the rock and roll sound” (Linden, 2000). The change in the music market brought white teens to black musicians’ concerts, as well as blacks to see white musicians. This was an act of solidarity between races that was never before seen. Thanks to Rock and Roll, the younger generation was influenced to question, as well as dissipate some of the most wrongful beliefs held in America by adults at the time. It is because of these broken down racial barriers that rock & roll is considered to be one of the most revolutionary cultural phenomena in American
All Shook Up: How Rock N’ Roll Changed America, fits into the overall historical literature of the topic because the book has to deal with rock n’ roll being both politically and culturally inspired back when African Americans were still having to deal with being segregated. Altschuler talks about how the beginning of rock n’ roll was during the same time period as African Americans trying to obtain their Civil Rights. People did not want African Americans to be friends with white people because music seemed to bring teens and people of all races together. In most dance halls where African Americans played their music, white people became interested and at times would go. This was the biggest problem for the nation, African Americans becoming
Influences from popular African American blues artist were noted to have had a huge impact on Elvis’ music career. Although many people today claim that Elvis had initially ‘stolen’ the African American sound of blues, Elvis has never denied their impact on his career. He has always acknowledged and respected the fact that African Americans had been making a similar sound of music prior to the beginning of his career. Despite the assumptions made about this ‘stealing’ of sound, the interviews Elvis appeared in substantiated the fact that he wasn’t intentionally stealing their sound, instead incorporating it in music his own way. The fact that white covers of African American songs often outsold the original kept America segregated and created competition between the two races when instead, music should have helped create peace and respect within both
”(Kasson, 3). Although, by the twentieth century middle class genteel began to fall apart. Businesses for mass culture began to see new market opportunities for middle class and lower class in amusement but in a less cultural way. “Afro-American music and dance, violent sports, competitive athletics...began to increase popular acceptance. ”(Kasson, 2).
The 1960’s was a time of change for the better. Motown influenced white culture greatly through the founding of the company, its style of music, the crossover between cultures, and its participation in certain movements. First, Motown’s founding and overall business
“Race Records” was known as the black popular music. It included the blues, jazz, and the rhythm and blues. This music was known as very rowdy to most of the white population, but teenagers liked the rowdy music. It also gave them a chance to rebel from their parents. The teenagers were obsessed with the new upbeat style of rock music.
Coined by black artists, none of the whites listened until Elvis conquered the charts. His music, which was blues, gospel, jazz, and boogie-woogie, all created by black artists, blended to make rock n roll brought whites audiences to accept black culture. “Presley’s music broke the racial barriers of that time, and was a key to the movement of racial tolerance between whites and blacks. Presley was one of the first singers to be appreciated and loved by both the black and white communities,”(Introduction 3). Elvis tearing down barriers opened the world to so many opportunities.
Discussion #2 Racial Politics and Rock and Roll In this week’s discussion we were ask to discuss racial politics and its effect on rock and roll. In order to understand this we first must understand what racial politics is. According to the English dictionary racial politics is, “the practice of political actors exploiting the issue of race to forward an agenda”. Then we must ask ourselves how does racial politics relate to rock and roll?
Motown was a transformative sound that arrived just at the height of the civil rights movement. Such success coming from a black business and black artists forced the rest of America to reexamine their racial prejudices that they still clung to. It seemed that it’s founder, Berry Gordy, knew from the start that Motown was something special when he hung a sign that read “Hitsville USA” above the recording studio’s headquarters. The success was almost instant for most Motown artists with song after song becoming number one hits on major music charts. However, the success was not easy, as it took strenuous amounts of work to mold the artist’s looks and sounds into something that would popularize them among the white population.
Other major artists that were the first to play “rock and roll” were Fats Domino, who put more country and blues into his music making it more laid back and relaxing compared (his song “Blueberry Hill”) and Little Richard, who did more of an aggressive blues/rock and roll (his song “TuttiFruitti” or “Good Golly, Miss Molly”). Little Richard did a lot of high pitched screeching in his songs as well as shouting or yelling his lyrics. That being said, it was easier for white people to accept Fats Domino compared to Little Richard, but Little Richard had a vast amount of white teenagers listening to his music, much like they did in earlier years. Joseph Turner Jr. who is more well known as Big Joe Turner, had more of a sexual tone in his music and could be taken one or two ways in meaning. People called this hokum blues or dirty blues.
After the end of the WWII, the Australians struggled to rebuild their lives. The veterans came home, and the radio captivated the attention of people at home when parents and children sat together in front of the radio to hear the latest news and listen to successful radio novels as Big Sister (1942) When a Girl Marries (produced after Big Sister). By the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, the radio producers captivated the attention of young people with programs like Tarzan, Superman and others. The film industry in Australia during the 1940s struggled, so the actors had to go to Hollywood in order to have a career.
In James Gilbert’s book, A Cycle of Outrage - America’s Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950’s, he cites examples of why Americans were “puzzled and distressed by the activities of postwar teenagers.” In an excerpt from his book, he describes that the increased worry about the changing culture of American teenagers is partly due to the rise in technology during the 1950’s (12). Unlike in the past, teenagers were able to rapidly shift their speech, fashion, taste in music, and overall attitude in a uniform manner due to access to mass media. As technology was on the rise, so was the number of students attending high schools. () This, in turn, allowed for even more solidarity amongst the teenage population.
Country artist Tim McGraw once said, “Music has the power to change people.” There is no better example of this than the roles that both Mardi Gras Indian music and Rhythm and Blues have had in fighting for the oppression against African Americans. Through the assessment of the musical and cultural impacts of both styles, it is possible to determine the roles each has played in fighting racism towards African Americans and, in the case of Mardi Gras Indian music, Native Americans as well. Mardi Gras Indian Music and Rhythm & Blues share many similarities and differences in the musical influences that lead to their foundations, their musical elements and the results that came from their formation.
Essay question 1. Starr and Waterman note that “the use of encoded, or hidden, meaning in the blues has its roots in many earlier genres of African American music.” These coded messages often take the form of referencing local landmarks (i.e., “where the southern cross the dog”) and sexual references (i.e., “That Black Snake Moan”). How do these traditions continue to impact popular music?
“Music has always been both a barometer measuring and responding to society's problems and possibilities, and the twentieth century was a period that witnessed the emergence of a diverse range of musical styles and genres, each seemingly in reaction to the dominant sociopolitical concerns of the day” (Morgan). Presley, Dylan, and Joplin had the greatest influence on American culture in the 1960’s. Elvis had a great influence on American culture through his influence on music, affect on American culture, and his legacy. Elvis also known as “the King” or “the King of Rock and Roll”was very popular in the 1960’s. Presley created new styles by gyrating his hips and dressing differently.
He states that Chicago was different from London and New York and did not host fancy “late night clubs with red ropes.” These “kids” were rebels and did not wish to be tamed or conform. Rock ‘n’ roll was for white people as disco was for minorities. He claims that this pushback of disco was simply an act of “self-preservation”; a common buzzword that many white supremacists use. These “kids” felt as though they were being forced to assimilate and that their rock ‘n’ roll identity was being stripped away from them.