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The 1950's
 ALAN FREED ( 1922-65)
- Disc jockey/promoter
- Claimed to have invented the term 'rock'n'roll'.
- Promoted black rhythm and blues artists in preference to white, pop-influenced 'cover' artists.
In the Payola scandal of the late 1950s, Alan Freed was accused of accepting bribes to play records. Along with many other promoters of original recordings, Freed was ruined and rock'n'roll in America suffered enormously.
BILL HALEY & THE COMETS
'The catalyst necessary for rock'n'roll's success'
Combined pop, country and western, and rhythm and blues. Copied the beat pattern and performing antics of Louis Jordan. Disguised the sexually explicit lyrics of rhythm and blues, making them acceptable to white audiences. Toured England in 1957.
- 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' -- 1954 hit.
- 'Rock Around the Clock' -- 1954 Blackboard Jungle film theme. 'See You Later Alligator', 'Corinne, Corinna' and 'Green Door' were later hits.
 SUN Records -- Memphis
In the early 1950s manager Sam Phillips was recording black rhythm and blues artists from the South. (Howlin' Wolf, B.B.King, Junior Parker.) In 1954 an unknown Elvis Presley recorded 'That's All Right' at the Sun studios. This became the first major success for both Elvis and Sun. Later artists to record at Sun were Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison.
'Rockabilly', a hybrid of rhythm and blues and country (hillbilly) music, is often associated with the Sun 'echo-chamber' sound. Slapping acoustic bass, twanging lead guitar and acoustic rhythm guitar are characteristic.
CHESS Records -- Chicago
Phil and Leonard Chess set up Chess Recording Studios in the early 1940s to record blues artists in the Chicago area. The combination of country blues (acoustic) and urban blues (electrified) is often called Chicago blues. Artists who recorded with Chess included: Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon (Chicago blues) and, from 1955, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry (rock and roll).
Leonard Chess employed many expert musicians and, together with his own sonic expertise, created Chess's distinctively different, rock and roll sound. The Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and other British blues-revival bands recorded at Chess in the mid-60s in order to get Chess's much-sought-after sound.
 CHUCK BERRY
- Singer/songwriter/guitarist. Set an early standard for song-writing and rock-guitar style. 'Maybellene' first hit 1955. 1957/8 hits: 'Roll over Beethoven', 'Rock and Roll Music', 'Johnny B. Goode', 'Sweet Little Sixteen'
Influenced by pianist Johnnie Johnson and guitarists Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry developed a style which was characterised by incisive guitar riffs and clear, rhythmically-supportive vocals. His recordings influenced Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
BO DIDDLEY
Born Ellas Bates 1928 (changed to Ellas McDaniel)
Influenced many American rock musicians.
Copied by British blues-revival groups of the 1960s:
'I'm a Man'(Yardbirds), 'Mona'(Rolling Stones), 'Bo Diddley'(Animals) and also 'Magic Bus'(The Who), 'She's the One'(Bruce Springsteen), 'Cuban Slide'(The Pretenders).
Trademark rock-oriented syncopated beat
Boom-chicka-(ic)ka-boom
 LITTLE RICHARD
(Richard Penniman). Born 1935, Macon, Georgia.
Learned to sing and play piano at an early age in church. Influenced by both gospel and rhythm & blues, Little Richard recorded his first hit 'Tutti Frutti' in 1956.
Later hits included 'Long Tall Sally', 'Good Golly Miss Molly' and 'Lucille'.
Little Richard's gospel-influenced vocal, energetic boogie-woogie piano style, outrageous dress sense and flamboyant attitude made him a rock'n'roll icon and inspired artists such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie.
BUDDY HOLLY
- Lubbock, Texas.
- Singer, songwriter, guitarist
- Learned to play fiddle, guitar, banjo and piano
- 'That'll Be the Day' -- first hit, 1957
- 'Peggy Sue' -- follow-up hit
- Killed in a plane crash in 1959
- 'It Doesn't Matter Any More' -- posthumous hit.
A pioneer in the use of a solid-body electric guitar, Buddy Holly also developed a unique hiccupping vocal delivery which, together with the band's relentless tom-tom drumming, created a fresh and appealing musical style.
 JERRY LEE LEWIS
Born 1935, Louisiana
'The Killer'
Began recording for Sam Phillips Sun Records, Memphis, in 1956.
Developed a characteristic pounding left-hand piano style with showy right-hand glissandi. 1957-8 hits included 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On', 'Great Balls of Fire', 'Breathless' and 'High School confidential'. His exciting performance style and 'pumping piano' sound was the epitome of early rock 'n' roll.
Lewis married his 13-year-old third cousin Myra without divorcing his first wife, an undertaking which effectively ended his career. |
