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First Rock & Roll Song

Nope. Other than the phrase "rock n rollin'" there is nothing in that song that is in common with real RnR songs.
 
A contemporary of the Boswells in he 30s was Meade Lux Lewis, and I'd suggest his boogie woogie piano style had more to do with rock & roll then them.
 
Once again, the Noo Yawk Times is full of itself. That long-winded diatribe failed, almost completely, to uncover what the two most important events were that formed the Rock n Roll era - the establishment of the teenager as a powerful commercial and cultural entity during the 1950's and the rise of those young adults against the Vietnam War in the 1960's. More than anything else they railed at the "establishment" by virtue of Elvis's hips and musical accompaniment and again at being drafted to fight a foreign war they did not believe valid. Along the way came some enterprising radio and record people who aided and abetted them for their own commercial purposes and a legend was born.

There is an old saying "unless you lived through the 60's you cannot understand the 60's". I did and I believe that statement is true. I really doubt anyone living in these United States 300-odd years from now will have any interest in what the 1950's or 60's were like or in the music of those times just as we have little interest in the music of the Civil War era. In fact, the way things are going the music of proceeding generations 300 years from now will probably be the least of the nation's worries.

I did find one particular paragraph of the article further evidence that even some music nerds believe current pop music has reached barren desert status:

"As a result, what we’re left with is a youth-oriented music genre that a) isn’t symbolically important; b) lacks creative potential; and c) has no specific tie to young people. It has completed its historical trajectory."
 
landtuna said:
Once again, the Noo Yawk Times is full of itself. That long-winded diatribe failed, almost completely, to uncover what the two most important events were that formed the Rock n Roll era - the establishment of the teenager as a powerful commercial and cultural entity during the 1950's and the rise of those young adults against the Vietnam War in the 1960's. More than anything else they railed at the "establishment" by virtue of Elvis's hips and musical accompaniment and again at being drafted to fight a foreign war they did not believe valid. Along the way came some enterprising radio and record people who aided and abetted them for their own commercial purposes and a legend was born.

There is an old saying "unless you lived through the 60's you cannot understand the 60's". I did and I believe that statement is true. I really doubt anyone living in these United States 300-odd years from now will have any interest in what the 1950's or 60's were like or in the music of those times just as we have little interest in the music of the Civil War era. In fact, the way things are going the music of proceeding generations 300 years from now will probably be the least of the nation's worries.

I did find one particular paragraph of the article further evidence that even some music nerds believe current pop music has reached barren desert status:

"As a result, what we’re left with is a youth-oriented music genre that a) isn’t symbolically important; b) lacks creative potential; and c) has no specific tie to young people. It has completed its historical trajectory."
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I would mostly agree with what you are saying. However, I'm not sure that that those who were teenagers during the early years of rock & roll automatically accepted the music of the Vietnam era 10 years later. Music in the '50s had simple lyrics about social issues. When the lyrics turned to drugs and politics in the mid-'60s, many of those early rock & rollers were turned off. I was in that group. I "hung in there" through the first couple of Beatles albums because they were covering many '50s rock & roll songs. When they started getting into drugs and politics, I gave up. It would be interesting to hear other opinions on this, if there are posters out there who are old enough to remember.
 
landtuna said:
Once again, the Noo Yawk Times is full of itself.
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You're overthinking it. This is simply a hypothetical situation that one writer has come up with. Put ten other writers in a room, and you get ten different answers.

I give this guy credit for at least having a little imagination. The fact that some of us today listen to 300 year old music by Mozart and Beethoven tells me that it's pretty likely some of the music of the 60s will survive 300 years from now.
 
landtuna said:


I remember the RnR music of the 50's having much more to do with relationships and love, not social issues.
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Well, those WERE the social issues at the time. Taking your girl to the drive-in, buying a hamburger and playing the jukebox. No transgender bathrooms back then.
 
TheFonz said:
I "hung in there" through the first couple of Beatles albums because they were covering many '50s rock & roll songs. When they started getting into drugs and politics, I gave up.
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They came full circle on Let It Be. Then John recorded his own album of 50s cover songs with Phil Spector in the 70s.
 
TheFonz said:
Well, those WERE the social issues at the time. Taking your girl to the drive-in, buying a hamburger and playing the jukebox. No transgender bathrooms back then.
Click to expand...

Thinking back into those foggy days the only significant social issues I can come up with would be the very early civil rights demonstrations that would later tear the 60's apart and the influence of RnR on the nations youth. So long as there have been males and females there have been relationship issues but I would not qualify them as social as they will always be with us and tend to be one-on-one rather than on society as a whole. The music of the 50's tended to dwell upon those one-to-one relationships - even that proceeding the advent of RnR in the mid-decade.
 
landtuna said:


Thinking back into those foggy days the only significant social issues I can come up with would be the very early civil rights demonstrations that would later tear the 60's apart and the influence of RnR on the nations youth. So long as there have been males and females there have been relationship issues but I would not qualify them as social as they will always be with us and tend to be one-on-one rather than on society as a whole. The music of the 50's tended to dwell upon those one-to-one relationships - even that proceeding the advent of RnR in the mid-decade.
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O.K. Using your definition, I don't remember any social issues in the '50s. There didn't seem to be any major opposition to the Korean War in the early '50s. There didn't seem to be any major protests in the part of the country where I lived when white kids started listening to black music. We had a white DJ who played R&B music (white kids called it rock & roll). The DJ promoted live shows with black artists. The audiences were 80% black. Although white parents weren't real happy about their kids attending the shows, there were no protests. It was a happy time.
 
TheFonz said:
O.K. Using your definition, I don't remember any social issues in the '50s.
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You need to revisit your history. Do a Google search on Selma, Alabama for starters. There were civil rights marches and protests and President Eisenhower even bringing out the National Guard to desegregate schools.

And there were plenty of voices against "rock and roll" music as well with other musicians, preachers and others condemning the nation's youth for listening to the "devil's music".
 
landtuna said:
You need to revisit your history. Do a Google search on Selma, Alabama for starters. There were civil rights marches and protests and President Eisenhower even bringing out the National Guard to desegregate schools.
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Absolutely.

From blackpast.org:

In September 1957 Arkansas Democratic Governor Orval E. Faubus became the national symbol of racial segregation when he used Arkansas National Guardsmen to block the enrollment of nine black students who had been ordered by a federal judge to desegregate Little Rock's Central High School. His action created a national crisis with President Dwight D. Eisenhower finally ordering federal troops to Little Rock to ensure the judge's order was obeyed, to protect the black students, and maintain order for the remainder of the school year.


In both 1959 and 1960, many staff members at the Cleveland "r&b" radio station where I worked went to Mississippi to help register voters. I was in the group in 1960 that went to Newton, MS, near Meridian, where there had been violence and protests going back several years.

And there were plenty of voices against "rock and roll" music as well with other musicians, preachers and others condemning the nation's youth for listening to the "devil's music".
Click to expand...

The reason why Elvis' first appearance on Ed Sullivan's show was "waist up" only had to do with the protests that his movements were lewd and the music was inspired by the devil.
 
landtuna said:


You need to revisit your history. Do a Google search on Selma, Alabama for starters. There were civil rights marches and protests and President Eisenhower even bringing out the National Guard to desegregate schools.

And there were plenty of voices against "rock and roll" music as well with other musicians, preachers and others condemning the nation's youth for listening to the "devil's music".
Click to expand...

No need to re-visit history. I was there. My post clearly referred to "the part of the country where I lived". For Wisconsin high school kids in 1955 and 1956, Alabama, Mississippi, and Southern preachers were in another universe.
 
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DavidEduardo said:


Absolutely.

From blackpast.org:

In September 1957 Arkansas Democratic Governor Orval E. Faubus became the national symbol of racial segregation when he used Arkansas National Guardsmen to block the enrollment of nine black students who had been ordered by a federal judge to desegregate Little Rock's Central High School. His action created a national crisis with President Dwight D. Eisenhower finally ordering federal troops to Little Rock to ensure the judge's order was obeyed, to protect the black students, and maintain order for the remainder of the school year.


In both 1959 and 1960, many staff members at the Cleveland "r&b" radio station where I worked went to Mississippi to help register voters. I was in the group in 1960 that went to Newton, MS, near Meridian, where there had been violence and protests going back several years.



The reason why Elvis' first appearance on Ed Sullivan's show was "waist up" only had to do with the protests that his movements were lewd and the music was inspired by the devil.
Click to expand...

I just don't remember anyone carrying signs or burning police cars in front of the Ed Sullivan theater.
 
TheFonz said:
No need to re-visit history. I was there. My post clearly referred to "the part of the country where I lived". For Wisconsin high school kids in 1955 and 1956, Alabama, Mississippi, and Southern preachers were in another universe.
Click to expand...

So that was before Wisconsin joined the Union? I thought it had become a state before the Civil War.

You said, "O.K. Using your definition, I don't remember any social issues in the '50s." so what you are saying is that you did not know of any social issues in the 50's in the US.
 
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