The Enigma of Rock and Roll Music - Term Paper Example

– The Enigma of Rock and Roll Music Introduction Rock and roll is a music genre which had a big influence on the world in the 20th century. Themusic world was just evolving during those years and the rock and roll music along with hippie culture was on the edge in 1950s.This is music which originated in US during the 1950s and swept the country off the feet. Rock and roll music is the blend of afro- American music, jazz, blues and gospel music. It also has the shade of country and western music. As per (Rentelmann 377-85) “Rock and roll is generally considered to be very loud by person above 25 years of age”. It is in 1920s, this combination music acquired a new name of “Rock and Roll’. Since its launch it was a hit among American public. The rock music was the first music item which created a storm among the young population of America and it definitely had black roots.(Thesis) As history could trace, the rock and roll music originated in 1950s and used blend of music’s and instrument with vocals. In the beginning, the music used piano and saxophone but later started experimenting guitar and other novel instruments. Rock and roll took birth from “rhythm and blues’ which is known as “R&B” and had a good market in the music industry. It was lively music which evoked spiritual rejuvenation and energy among its followers. As rock and roll was gaining name the music technology was also evolving slowly. At that time phonograph records were difficult to use due to its weight and structure. However it was the invention of stereo which made rock and roll a masterpiece music variety, which won many hearts. What is “Rock and Roll”? “Rock and Roll” as a name does not have any implication it was a name allotted by someone who has no historical records. It is a blend of many music types and has roots to the African population who sang music while they were working in the farms of American land. It had spiritual essence and the African slaves in American land fooled their landlords into believing that they enjoyed work and listened music as a part of sharing their satisfaction with work. According to (Cox)” Often very overlooked, African-Americans contributed greatly to the advent and success of rock and roll music”. The music itself and many of its artists were influenced by the black blue singers and they were people like Howlin Wolf,Junior parker and Muddy walters.Surprisingly, the first rock and roll song was an influence of a song by a black blue artists called Joe Turner and the song was “Shake, rattle and roll”. It is the first rock and roll song and satisfied all the elements of a true rock and roll song. Another number one song was the “Rocket 88”which was released in 1951 and was recorded by Ike Turner band. However, it is saddening that the contribution of black artists to the rock and roll music was ever overlooked. The entire population including family listened to rock and roll music through stereo and radio stations. The artists who were famous were soloist Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dersey, Doris Day and others. As the technology developed the efficiency of record changed and more music was stored in the records. As time passed records could save song on each side called singles and they were inexpensive source of songs which a teenager could store easily in his room. This led to the emergence of two market for rock and roll music, one for adults who used phonographs and other the youngsters who used the records. The inventions in music world opened up a new scope with the release of “transistor radio”. This was an inexpensive medium for listening to rock and roll for the young generation. Along with all the technological inventions” car radio” was also getting popular and with this rock and roll music got much exposure among American crowd. It is the urge of wealthy American white teens which led to the popularity of R & B music and its conversion into rock and roll music. The blue influenced rock and roll songs were a sexy, lively and catchy type of music which swept the youngsters off the feet especially with its dancing beats which led the rock and roll to be partying music. Gradually rock and roll music became the own music of the American teenagers. However, the blatant racism in the country gave the credit of rock and roll to the white artists and only few black artist got recognition in later stage or after their death. Blacks and rock and roll emergence Everyone listened to rock and roll and appreciated the music but none could exactly pay homage to the real inventors of this music genre. The white racist world could only give credit to the white men for rock and roll while the real inventors were black slaves who listened to their traditional music in their farmland. This was the real origination of music in the American land. According to (DeCurtis) “Sam Phillips, the man who discovered Elvis Presley, denies he ever said it, but the quote is still among the most famous--and most prescient--in the history of rock n roll. "If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel," Phillips is said to have said, "I could make a billion dollars”. The American media refused to play songs by black artist in the radio and rejected the identity of black with rock and roll music. The white man who succeeded in resembling black voice among white men was Elvis Presley. However the reality is that rock and roll is an art form which was invented by black people. The rock and roll started as “Rhythm and Blues” and then converted into rock and roll music in later stage. The pioneer of black music like ” Little Richard” explains that the rhythm and blues were only listened by black population and sang only by black artists like him. It was when the white teens started listening along with girls then the urge for a white rock and roll artist emerged in the mind of white population The blacks were not given chance to play rock and roll in the music industry due to the hard core racism practiced in United States. The artists were segregated as “whites” and “blacks” hence the black rock and roll artists had little or no chance to play on national media or musical platform. When the white took the patronage for black music of R&B, the blacks were totally ignored and sidelined by white music industry. The name “rock and roll” was synonym to the movement of ship in an ocean and it was liked for its sexual analogy and spiritual essence. The rock and roll had the element of black’s gospel music which gave it a spiritual touch. In the journal (Rose 276-90) explains that “While a shift in rap’s political articulation did take place confining the definition of the cultural politics of rap to lyrical content addresses only the most obvious and the explicit face of the politics of the Black cultural expression’. Ironically, due to the racist attitude of American white population there is only very few black artists in male and female category who has contributed to the rock and roll music. When the rock and roll music was dissected from the black community, the white made it music of different genre which only constituted white involvement. The blacks moved on with hip hop and rap music, still rock and roll as music owes to black people. The Beat of rock and roll Rock and roll is definitely a black’s music and it contains music and rhythm from various instruments. When the rock and roll music took a toll on America and United kingdom its rhythm was centered around electric guitar accompanied by basic guitar, bass and drums.As1960s approached, the rock music diversified into different genre of music like blue rock, country rock, jazzrock, punk rock, folk rock as so on. And the instrument used in this music was different and vivid. However vocals formed the basic criteria of rock and roll music despite of its genre. Generally, drum kit and cymbals formed an integral part of rock and roll music. Harmonium was also used in this music to give additional rhythm and splendor. Rock and roll requires best type of instruments in order to deliver quality music which can entertain the minds of its listeners. In the earlier times, saxophone was a major instrument which adds to the rhythm of rock and roll music. Later harmonica, piano and synthesizer joined the group of instrument which compiled rock and roll music. As time moved on the instruments used in rock and roll music also developed. The instrument changed according the genre of rock and roll music; however guitar and vocals form the basis of all genres of music. As a matter of fact, turntables is a mixer which adds vibrancy to the rock music as it manipulates sound and beats of rock music. Frankly speaking it is the instrument and the singer which makes the rock music outstanding. The Effect of rock music Music has been part of human civilization since times immemorial and every culture of the planet practices some kind of music in their lives. Looking from contemporary times, one can assume that the impact and popularity which rock and roll music shared is incomparable with other music genre. It can be said that music being expressive had the ability to enhance social, economical, religious and environmental aspects of human life. In the same manner, rock and roll music has a great effect on the psyche of the music listener. It has deep connection with the mind and emotional status of a person. When a person listened to rock music he is unknowingly taken to a different realm. It is proved that rock music had a tremendous effect on the brain functioning of a person. It has a relieving effect on the brain and gives peace and tranquility to the person who is listening to it. This music boosts the functioning of the brain by reacting on the neurons of the brain. The beats and rhythm of the rock and roll music is highly euphoric and even effect the physiological condition of a person. The music evokes an emotion of happiness and comfort to the mind of a listener and brings positivity to his personality It is advisable for a person with depression to listen to rock music which can sooth his mind and body .The rock and roll music also has the advantage of making people dance and relax while they are bored or uncomfortable. The Rock singer – Elvis Presley It is hard to believe if someone in West have-not heard about Elvis Presley the cultural icon of rock and roll music. He was the most popular rock and roll artists of 20th century. He was born in Mississippi and, started his journey towards rock and roll at the age of 13. It was Sam Phillips who brought the sound of Elvis to the public and this child artiste became one of the greatest artists of 20th century. He became one of the hot properties of rock and roll music in America and also had chart buster s in his music profile. The fan following he had was enormous especially from the female population of the west. He in 1970s held live concerts which were telecasted through satellite and it was a huge hit in America. Elvis was a most important personality in rock and roll music culture and he sang in various genres of rock music. He was called the “king of rock and roll” and achieved fame and success unlike any other rock and roll artists. Elvis was an overall performer and was not boring like Frank Sinatra, who was also a wonderful artiste of rock and roll music. It was also his dancing and singing style which had stirred the heart and mind of American youngster .He brought sexual movements in his performance and this evoked the mind and soul of young American population. However, due to drug abuse, he killed himself in the year 1977 .It was his break up with his wife which mentally and spiritually destroyed him which led him to death. Conclusion It is the 1950s which has given birth to rock and roll music and the root of it goes to Black music of rhythm and blues. Rock and roll music has many genres and it is a fusion of R&B, country music, gospel music and jazz. Even though the origin of rock and roll goes back to black people, the racist attitude of whites completely ignored them from the history of rock and roll. There were many black rock and roll singers in American rock and roll music history including women. But none were given propped credit or reputation for their talent and skill. It is the youngsters of America which gave appreciation to rock and roll music as they felt sexy and spiritual tone in it. It is however, singers like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley who gave a new dimension to rock and roll music. Along with rock and roll music, the technology in the music industry also got evolved which made access to music much cheaper and available. As per (Timpano) “What made rockabilly so appealing to the 1960s rockers was that a small group-A rhythm guitar singer, a bass player, an electric lead guitar and a drummer could find a garage and make music”. In the end of 20th century, the population of the west was completely merged in rock and roll music. This music had a unique place in music industry as it is a combination of different styles of music and variety of instruments and its root definitely goes to black culture. References Cox, Erika. "African-American influence in Rock and Roll." http://www.loti.com. Loti, 2006. Web. 29 June 2013. . Decurtis, Anthony. "IS ROCK N ROLL A WHITE MANS GAME?." http://www.time.com. N.p., 24 June 2001. Web. 29 June 2013. . Rose, Tricia. "Fear of a Black Planet." The Journal of Negro Education 60.3 (1991): 276-90. Print. Rentelmann, William F. "Non induced hearing loss and Rock and Roll Music." JAMA 88.4 (1968): 377-85. Print. Timpano, Lionardo. "The History and Origin Of Rock and Roll." http://travelinsurance-dburlison.blogspot.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 30 June 2013. . Read More