Rock “n” Roll was an example of a turning point for America in the 1950’s. Rock “n” Roll music was the newest sound for the generation. The music made people think more about racial barriers, brought people together, and led people to have a different outlook on the generation. Rock “n” Roll is a mixture of country, pop, blues, and gospel music. Rock “n” Roll includes the elements of a few black and white American music styles together.
I think rock and roll music became less popular in the late 1950s because of many things, like changes in popular culture and social changes. I notice that the rise of popular culture has led to the need for more mainstream entertainment. Not only that, but I also think that in the 1950s, people didn’t like rock and roll because they thought it was too strict and conservative. This made people less interested in rock and roll, so it became less popular. At the same time, different types of music like R&B were popular, and Phil Spector’s music was popular on the West Coast.
Rock and Roll was a very popular cultural aspect of the 50s. It originated from African American culture then the whites interpreted it. One of the first singers to do this was the very king of rock and roll himself, Elvis Presley. Many adults hated this new music and wanted to ban it. A huge part of it was censored, for example on the Ed Sullivan show, Elvis had to wear a tuxedo and wasn’t allowed to dance because his moves were “sexually inappropriate”.
The 1950’s was a time of invention, hard fought war by men and women of our country and some of the most medical step forwards that we have ever had in our history. Not only was it a time for invention and war but also a time were rock and roll hit the ground running. Most people protested that rock and roll was the music of the devil poisoning the minds of our children. With even these people trying to bring that genera down the great legends prospered. Every kid remembers growing up and hearing the words “thank you, thank you very much” at least once in their life, it was words of the great king Elvis Presley.
Rock N’ Roll was a new music genre accepted and loved by many teenagers of the time. While their parents felt that Elvis Presley ruined music, the teens disagreed, and with so many teenagers at the time, there were many to keep the genre alive. Teens wanted to release the tensions that bubbled beneath the smooth surface of postwar America. In a biography about Presley, a.k.a. the king of Rock N’ Roll, it writes a historical moment, when Presley was filmed from only the waist-up.
Jimmy Santiago Baca is an American poet writer of Apache and Chicano descent. He was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on January 2, 1952. Abandoned by his parents at the age of two, he lived with his grandmother for several years before he was placed in an orphanage. Baca ran away from the orphanage where he found himself caught up with substance abuse. At the age of twenty-one he was convicted for drug possession where he was sent to prison for a total of six years, four of them in isolation.
Rock and roll emerged in the mid-1950s, many record labels for rock and roll occurred in New Orleans, Memphis and other cities. Rock and roll has many different styles some examples are the boogie woogie, R&B music, Gospel and the blues. Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry are very famous people who were the elements in rock and roll or known as the “birth of rock and roll “. Rock and roll drew to people and many styles that were associated with it. As music grew so did the audience and that is when rock and roll became a big part of tradition.
I believe that Rock and Roll is not responsible for dismantling America’s traditional family, sexual, and racial customs in the 1950s and the 1960s. Rock and Roll had become very popular in the US during the 50s and the 60s that people started to blame Rock and Roll for the big change in the culture. Music does play a small role on the character of teenagers and adults, but it is not the reason for why people act the way they do. Poverty, permissive parents, lack of religious and moral training, televisions, movies, racism, divorced parents, and the decline of parental discipline explain why America’s customs were going downhill (Oakley, 122). Juvenile delinquency in America had increased during the time Rock and Roll was popular so everyone
With artists like “The King of Rock and Roll” (Elvis Presley), Buddy Holly etc who could resist the music? The parents in the 50’s did not like a lot of things about the Rock and Roll, from the way Elvis danced to the provocative lyrics within the song. The parents of the teens in the 50’s did EVERYTHING they could to stop the teens from listening to the music. A video of a priest preaching about the bad things coming out of the teens listening to the music revealed how he believed that all this music may make these teens brainwashed because of the content within the songs.
Alfred Kinsey changed American people’s view about sex at that time. He started a systematic and scientific research about sexuality of human. Kinsey pushed people to face and think about what is sexuality in the U.S. Kinsey broke the rules, thought out of the box and stuck to his research, even though he was under quite huge pressure from society because of ethics at that time. Kinsey wanted to tell people that everyone is different, and we should not judge others by the words of “natural” or “unnatural”, but “common” and “rare”.
Although the 1950s were a difficult time in American history, the popularity of Rock ‘n’ Roll encouraged the erosion of racial barriers and the freedom of expression in young people. Rock ‘n’ Roll reflected the social issues of the day and became a movement that unified people to challenge and denounce the Vietnam War, racial inequality, and oppression. Color lines began to blur as both White Americans and African Americans became interested in the same energizing music. Rock ‘n’ Roll artists agitated race relations with a mix of country, gospel, jazz, and rhythm and blues incorporated into their songs. The exposure of Rock ’n’ Roll to both races unknowingly helped change the attitudes of white Americans towards African Americans like never
Rock music in the 1960s was egalitarian, eclectic, and real based on a number of reasons. To explain the 'real' piece of rock music in the 1960s, one would have to know that there was war going on overseas that didn't make sense to Americans as to why it was going on (the Vietnam war). There was also still severe inequality between blacks and whites causing protests to occur via the Civil Rights movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There was inequality between women and mens rights. These issues caused dissatisfaction to occur in the American people.
Most of the music made during the 1960s characterized the dissatisfaction of American youth with the escalation of America’s involvement in the Vietnam conflict. Rock ‘n’ Roll music became an anthem of the American youth as they demonstrated their anti-establishment and anti-war sentiment. Tensions were high between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The United States got involved in Vietnam after France lost control over the communist revolutionaries. Out of fear that communist influence would spread, the war eventually escalated under the control of president Johnson.
Then Rock and Roll appeared with strength and made everything easier for society. As we’ve studied in class, Rock and Roll artists danced and sang with a similar style, creating a collective identity. Performers like Elvis were the reason of parents being alarmed by this genre of
Cultural Impact of Rock and Roll Amidst the 1960’s Jimi Hendrix formerly stated, “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” A generation which was earnestly devoted to peace, protest, and revolution, the counterculture amongst the 1960’s yearned for change. Rock and roll was far beyond just a genre of music; it influenced lifestyles, protests, and attitudes, thus, kindling an awakening in the youth of American culture. The distinction between parental and youth culture was a persistent root of concern, considering that teens throughout the world found a sense of belonging in this style of music.
