How blacks invented rock 'n' roll
Sunday, December 12, 2004
A paper i wrotes..*shrugs*..spent like 2 nights writing it but it ws fun researching for it.
How blacks invented rock ‘n’ roll
Overview
Blacks started rock music. Yet somehow over the years this important truth has been lost. My aim in this research paper is to document how the blacks were the driving force behind the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll and how this unique honor now goes to white musicians.
Introduction
Rhythm and blues is defined as a ‘variety of different, but related, types of popular music produced and supported primarily by black Americans beginning in the early 1940s ("Rhythm-and-Blues Music”, 2004). It replaced the term ‘race music’ which was considered offensive and has its origins in blues that was also developed by black artistes (“Blues”, 2004).
Much of rhythm n blues in the years leading up to 1954 could easily have been categorized as rock n roll because by 1954 much of rhythm n blues was rock n roll. Rock n roll is often defined as a merger of country music (another musical genre mostly developed by white musicians) and rhythm n blues but I believe rhythm n blues was the more dominant influence on the musical genre (Scaruffi, 2002).
Who started it?
Origins of the term “rock ‘n’ roll”
The words ‘rock’ and ‘roll’ were used by blacks as early as the 1920s to mean ‘partying, carrying on, and /or having sex’. In the 1930s the term was being linked to music with a strong beat. However, Alan Freed first used the term to describe a certain kind of music in 1952. Alan Freed learned of the popularity of this music when he visited a Cleveland record store and saw rhythm ‘n’ blues (R&B) records selling out rapidly to white teenagers. This made him change the name of his radio show to “Moon Dog’s Rock ‘n’ Roll House Party” and start playing R&B records. As Freed was playing black music to a white audience he used the term “rock ‘n’ roll” for the music instead of “rhythm and blues” because he feared the racial inhibitions of people might dissuade them listening in otherwise. (Adams, 1986).
Till white performers popularized rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-50s what was referred to as rock ‘n’ roll in white circles was still called the latest style of R&B in black circles ("Rhythm-and-Blues Music”, 2004).
The first rock ‘n’ roll song
There is a dispute as to which song was the first in this brilliant musical genre. According to Scaruffi (2002), the first rock n roll song is possibly The Fat Man (1949) by Fats Domino who even back then was recording in a style quite indistinguishable from rock n roll. In 1951, ‘Rocket 88’ by Jackie Brenston and the Ike Turner band, which is widely accepted as the first rock ‘n’ roll record, was released. Scaruffi (2002) also mentions the song We're Gonna Rock by Gunter Lee Carl being released in 1951 going on to say ‘Therefore, everybody was already "rocking". Alas, they were mostly black, i.e. distributed only locally.’
This is true. Till around 1954 rock ‘n’ roll was still not widely recognized. The musical genre had great potential and the record companies were already eyeing the market but a black man couldn’t break it. Scaruffi (2002) wrote: ‘White people had the money, but black people were making the most exciting music. This created a niche for independent labels recording black artists for the white audience, but it could never become a mass market. The USA was still largely a racially divided country. There was little chance that a black singer could become as popular as, say, Frank Sinatra. When Sam Phillips founded Sun Records in Memphis (Tennessee), he made the famous statement "If I could find a white man who sings with the Negro feel, I'd make a million dollars".’
In 1952, white singer Bill Haley began recording with his band the Comets. He was originally a country singer who crossed over into the rock ‘n’ roll genre along with several others because of the ‘implications of financial success’ (Bulmer, 1997). In 1954 Bill Haley released Rock Around the Clock which went on to become a smash hit. He was never again able to release another song of the same caliber and his success waned. This was partly due to the emergence of Elvis Presley as a rock idol. Sam Philips found his ‘white man’ in Elvis Presley. His first single That’s All Right was released in 1954 and he never looked back.
Other major of that time are Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry released Maybelline in 1955 which Turner (1997) refers to the ‘Real Thing’. The same year Little Richard released his single Tutti Fruiti.
In 1953 Big Joe Turner sang Shake, Rattle and Roll, which is also held by some to be the first rock tune. The issue of which song was the first rock song is highly contentious. Everyone has their own idea as to which song was first, some even claiming that the blues recordings from years earlier were rock tunes.
How blacks-the inventors of rock-lost out
While talking about who invented most of the time the debate centers around Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry although a number of other artistes are also worth a mention.
Elvis Presley
Ask people ‘who started rock?’ and the prompt reply is Elvis Presley. On July 5, 2004 thousands gathered in Memphis to commemorate the song That’s All right which has been labeled by the city and others as the tune that started rock ‘n’ roll (Moody, 2004). Rolling Stone agrees ‘Presley’s debut song marks the birth of rock’(Moody,2004).And he is known far and wide as the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’. John Lennon even went so far as to say, “Before Elvis there was nothing.”(Denton, 2004)
Who made him king? White men did. How? Because back then they were the ones who had the power to make the label stick and stick it has. Crediting one man with the start of an entire musical genre that slowly evolved over years is wrong. Rock is a mixture of various styles that were around long before Elvis. Furthermore, if you must label someone king of the rock genre make it a black man. All white men did was copy the black music, attitude and dance moves, and of course steal their thunder. Christian (2002) writes, ‘Yes, Elvis Presley and the Beatles are given the most credit for performing rock ‘n’ roll, but, let’s not forget that Elvis and the Beatles often openly acknowledged that they were heavily influenced by Blacks!’
By the way, this surprisingly is also the argument Elvis fans use while defending their idol. To them the fact that Elvis acknowledged that his musical influences came from black people is enough. But what about the mass recognition and the financial gains the blacks whose music was appropriated were entitled to?
Amid the ‘Elvis Presley 25 years on’ celebrations in 2002, Kolawale published an article in The Guardian entitled ‘He wasn’t my king’. Elvis is important in this argument because in the words of Kolawale (2002) Elvis ‘signifies the foul way so many black writers and performers, such as Little Richard, were treated by the music industry. The enduring image of Elvis is a constant reflection of society's then refusal to accept anything other than the non-threatening and subservient negro: Sammy Davies Jnr and Nat King Cole. The Elvis myth to this day clouds the true picture of rock 'n' roll and leaves its many originators without due recognition. So what is left for black people to celebrate? How he admirably borrowed our songs, attitude and dance moves?’. Not surprising the letters sent in by the infuriated public once again utilized the ‘he said he was influenced by blacks so he wasn’t a thief’ argument. What they fail to realize is this isn’t about Elvis the man, it is about Elvis the institution and the big CEOs who exploited blacks every chance they got. Thankfully one of the readers got the point and even provided an example: ‘The black American singer-songwriter who did lose out to the music industry was Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, who saw two of his songs - That's Alright Mama and Baby Let's Play House - recorded by Presley (Letters, August 17). As Arthur had sold his copyright, he did not benefit from the millions made by the song's publishers. With the help of a couple of white blues fans he nearly reached a settlement, but the corporate lawyers deliberately delayed until Crudup's death.’ (Murphy, 2002).
Other contemporaries of Elvis such as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry saw their contributions to rock’s development undervalued or outright ignored. Little Richard commenting on the rewards he got for writing and singing some of rock ‘n’ roll’s best songs said, ‘I didn’t get a dime for it’ (Stanage, 2004).
Chuck Berry
Kenyada (n.d.) describes Chuck Berry in these glowing terms, “While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who out all the essential pieces together. It was his particular genius to graft country and western guitar licks onto a rhythm and blues chassis in his very first single ‘Maybellene’. Combined with quick-witted, rapid-fire lyrics full of sly insinuations about cars and girls, Berry laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance.”
Kenyada (n.d.) is not alone in his praise of Chuck Berry. The man is considered a leading pioneer of rock music and some even go so far as to call him the father of rock music.
On his 75th birthday in 2001, Stevie Wonder wrote, “There's only one true king of rock 'n' roll. His name is Chuck Berry.”(as cited in in Suhr, 2001) Unfortunately, Chuck Berry also numbers among the black singers who lost out on the movement they started. His song maybelline reached the pop charts and was #1 on the R&B charts. Even so to get airplay 2/3 of the song credits were given to Alan Freed and his associate Russ Fratto. This was done without the knowledge of Chuck Berry (Kenyada, n.d.).
Many of Chuck Berry’s songs have been used by other music bands to the point that they are no longer even recognized as his. Two of Beatles greatest hits Roll Over Beethoven and Rock And Roll Music are Berry originals. According to Bulmer (1997), “the British invasion of the 1960's was based on the work of the such black artists as Berry.” Chuck Berry was never financially successful (Bulmer, 1997)
Chuck Berry was jailed for two years in 1962 for illegally transporting a minor across state lines. Racism played a part in his sentence due to which there was a retrial: the original sentence was five years. Chuck Berry never recovered from his imprisonment and his popularity, which had been soaring before the arrest, never quite reached the old heights again. (Kenyada, n.d.) .
In the 1950s Chuck Berry was the leading factor uniting blacks and whites in music. The importance of Chuck Berry in rock ‘n’ roll can be judged by the fact that he was the first person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. (Bulmer, 1997)
Richard Penniman
Little Richard, as he was called, was another pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll. Like Chuck Berry many of his singles from the 1950s appeared again during the British invasion of the rock scene in the 1960s. His is a fine example of how black artistes were robbed of their rights. Two of his hits were covered by Pat Boone and though covering (described as ‘one artist releasing another's song’) was common in those days, Pat Boone’s appropriation of Little Richard’s songs was definitely not a friendly venture designed to get his song on the air-waves; it was an appropriation for financial means. (Bulmer, 1997)
Conclusion:
All the examples above detail clearly the kind of unfairness with which early black rock pioneers were treated. The 1950s and 1960s are rampant with such examples. The problem was that inspite of the efforts of Freed and other, black music was still not acceptable on many white-owned radio stations so covering of black music by white artistes was common at this time especially due to its enormous potential. Often watered down versions of the originals were released geared to a more sensitive white audience. Somewhere in this process the reality that rock ‘n’ roll took birth from black blues music and was initially played by black artistes got lost. People today are surprised to see Black displayed so prominently in the rock ‘n’ roll museum so deep-rooted is their thinking of rock ‘n’ roll as solely white music (Kevin,1997).
Even so with all the people who do know how blacks were responsible for this genre Kravitz believes the real inventors of rock will never be recognized.
"The guys who invented rock 'n' roll, we probably don't even know who they are," he said. "We can talk about all the Bo Diddleys and the Fats Dominos and all the great guys and Chuck Berrys who were the pioneers, but I’m sure there were a bunch of guys sitting on porches somewhere in the backwoods and we don't even know who they are."( as cited in Moody, 2004)
References:
Adams, C. (1986). Who invented the term "rock 'n' roll"? Retrieved November, 2004, from http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_027b.html
Blues. Retrieved November, 2004, from Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2004
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Bulmer, J. Devil Music: Race, Class, and Rock And Roll. Retrieved November, 2004, from http://www.capital.net/~jbulmer/devil.htm
Christian, M.A. (2002) Lenny Kravitz: sexy rock `n' roll performer tells why he keeps `our' music alive. Retrieved November, 2004, from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_14_101/ai_84396653
Denton, P. (2004).Elvis Presley in brief. Retrieved November, 2004, from http://www.pauldenton.co.uk/Page48.htm?o=0
Kenyada, R.(n.d.) The One and Only…Chuck Berry. Retrieved November, 2004, from
http://kenyada.com/chuck.htm
Kevin, C. (1997) How blacks invented rock and roll:R&B stars created foundations of
multibillion-dollar music industry. Retrieved November, 2004, from
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n3_v52/ai_18980636
Kolawale, H. (2002) He wasn’t my king. Retrieved November, 2004, from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/elvis/story/0,12333,774842,00.html
Moody, N.M (2004) Rock 'n' roll's true birthday debate begins. Retrieved November, 2004, from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/06/content_345933.htm
Murphy, F. Elvis Presley was never a thief. Retrieved November, 2004, from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/elvis/story/0,12333,776853,00.html
Rhythm-and-Blues Music. Retrieved November, 2004, from Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2004 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Scaruffi, P. (2002) The history of rock music. Retrieved November, 2004, from
http://www.scaruffi.com/history/
Stanage, N. (2004) Rock ‘n’ roll’s heart of darkness beats
http://www.sbpost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-964941030-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FAgenda-2FOffmessage.asp
Scaruffi, P. (2002) The history of rock music. Retrieved November, 2004, from
http://www.scaruffi.com/history/
Suhr, J. (2001). Chuck Berry Celebrates 75th Birthday. Retrieved November, 2004, from http://www.chuckberry.de/birthday.htm
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