Rock 'n' Roll.

Assessment 1 – Rock ‘n’ Roll

A ‘post-war boom’ in the US was the economic background to a new scale of working-class and middle-class ‘affluence’ in the 1950’s. Both pocket money and widely available part-time work swelled the disposable income of ‘teenagers’ at high school, while wages were often relatively high in the first years of work. The overall effect was to create a large group, throughout the country, of independent young or ’teenage’ consumers, of relatively high spending power, even despite the rise in number staying on longer in school. (Longhurst, B, 1995)

The 1950s were comparatively safe and innocent, and rock 'n' roll established a foundation for the ideals that youth could pursue in such an environment. When issues of race relations, war, sexuality, drugs, ecology, and world hunger arose in later years, rock 'n' roll was forced, like every other ideology, to respond to them. That many of these concerns were of central importance to the kids reared on and revelling in rock 'n' roll as a lifestyle only heightens the significance of their common response, as expressed in and through the music.

Looking back from these Classic Rock vantage points, it's easy to visualize the early rock 'n' roll days. By now, they've been relived and recreated in hundreds of movies, television programs, magazine articles, biographies, and anthologies. Those were the Happy Days, the Fabulous Fifties, when that Old Time Rock 'n' Roll was blasting from every jukebox. It was when Elvis was King, when life was simpler, when they played all those wonderful love songs that touched our hearts when the living room lights were dimmed... The fifties are forever frozen in American memory by these kinds of images, and they may even be fairly accurate, for all we know.

Some of the main artists that played a major part in the explosion of the American rock ‘n’ roll music scene in the fifties, were Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. The way in which they have contributed to the rock ‘n’ roll explosion and how their songs and persona have influenced the British music scene will become apparent in the brief biographies of the said artists.

Chuck Berry’s music has transcended generations. Tunes like Johnny B. Goode, Maybellene, and Memphis are some of the most easily recognisable rock ‘n’ roll songs of the century, and have become anthems to American youth and popular culture. He is a musical icon who essentially established rock ‘n’ roll as a musical form instead of a hybrid of R ‘n’ B and country.

Johnny B. Goode was Berry’s masterpiece, as it brought together all the elements of Berry’s unique musical sound. It cemented his place in rock history and led to fame in the fifties. His popularity garnered him television and movie appearances and he toured frequently.

In the sixties and seventies, Berry’s music was the inspiration for such groups as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. As a tribute to the persuasiveness of Chuck Berry in the realm of rock ‘n’ roll, a clip of Johnny B. Goode was chosen as a representation of rock music in the Voyager I spacecraft proving Chuck Berry and his rock legacy are truly out of this world. (Chuck Berry, 2002)

Considered one of the founding fathers of rock ‘n’ roll, Buddy Holly demonstrated his love for music early in life. With the help of some friends, Holly formed his own band, ‘The Crickets’. The group’s music talent, together with Holly’s unique ‘excited’ style of singing quickly made them a success. (Official Site of Buddy Holly, 1996)

Arguably, Holly's influence on British Rock and Roll was greater even than that of Elvis Presley or any other of the Rock and Roll pioneers that preceded him. This was probably because Buddy Holly did not fit the established R&R image of his contemporaries. He was just an ordinary guy who wore glasses, so he was possible to emulate, and many did so.

Although now dead for more than 40 years, his influences live on, especially in Europe. His songs are still popular and recently the legend has been retold in the immensely popular UK Musical, 'Buddy'. (45-rpm, 2002)

Elvis’ legacy will always be that of ‘The King’, he had a major influence on how America began to see rock ‘n’ roll and also caused a lot of controversy along the way. In 1954, he began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation.

Elvis’ talent had a big influence on the British Invasion of the sixties and ended up being what is known today as ‘Classic Rock’. From the standpoint of that genre, Elvis was a huge influence on The Beatles. While other British bands fostered their chops mainly with American R’n’B, Soul and Jazz. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were openly influenced by the ‘Country and Western’ leanings of artists like Elvis and Carl Perkins. (Rock ‘n’ Roll Zone, 2002)

Elvis was criticised and lambasted for his on-stage movements, being accused of deliberately inciting his audiences, mostly young girls, with lewd and suggestive movements. He was investigated by the police (who found nothing wrong) and appeared on American television from the waist up, so as not to shock America. In Russia, Elvis was banned, accused of being an American plot to undermine the nation’s youth.

As well as the big rock ‘n’ roll stars of America, Britain of course spawned its own stars, although arguably, not as many or with as much ‘oomph’ as the Americans. Tommy Steele was ...

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As well as the big rock ‘n’ roll stars of America, Britain of course spawned its own stars, although arguably, not as many or with as much ‘oomph’ as the Americans. Tommy Steele was a young seaman who was, for a while, the hottest thing in Britain, however he was followed by Cliff Richard and the Drifters, and possibly the nearest thing to an authentic American rock ‘n’ roll/rockabilly sound, Billy Fury.

Tommy Steele was undoubtedly Britain’s first great rock ‘n’ roll idol. Like many who followed him, Tommy started his musical career by playing in a skiffle group. He was also the first of the London based artists who would precurse their fame by singing at the 2 ‘I’ Coffee Bar - a venue which later hosted the virtually unknown Adam Faith and Cliff Richard. Although Tommy’s brand of rock ‘n’ roll was nearer to ‘easy listening’ than that of some of his American contemporaries he more than made up for it with his personality. His manager, Larry Parnes, once said, “Tommy Steele was the greatest entertainer that I ever had on my books”, and Tommy Steele’s rise as a teenage star was probably attributable to charisma rather than sex appeal. (45-rpm, 2002)

Most British teenagers thought of Steele as passé by 1959, as it was four years since he’d broken into the charts, and a whole new wave of children were in their teen years, listening to Elvis (whose records, a little later than they did in America, hit the charts in England), Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, and other rockier sounds than Tommy Steele. In a sense however, Steele was more successful advancing out of rock ‘n’ roll, which is what he wanted to do. (Yahoo! Shopping Music, 2002)

Often regarded as the most innovative and influential act of the fifties in England, although that’s a big name to give him as Lonnie Donegan and Cliff Richard are certainly in the running for that designation. Steele as a rock ‘n’ roller was important, vitally so, in several respects. His music proved that British musicians could write and play something roughly akin to American rock ‘n’ roll without being too loud or crude (two impediments to rock ‘n’ roll’s acceptance in England). Additionally, his success drew a major British record company towards rock ‘n’ roll, which was doubly important considering that Decca had passed on signing him a year earlier because they doubted that the skiffle boom would last. Additionally, Steele’s success was also a vital link in the chain of evolution from Lonnie Donegan to Cliff Richard and he helped pave the way, indirectly, for the Beatles and all that followed. Most importantly, he was the first English teenager to elicit excitement with his music.

Like several other of Britain's first rock and roll artists, Cliff Richard's professional career started at the 2 'I's Coffee bar in London. After a brief spell as a skiffler he began to model himself on his idol, Elvis Presley. With his group, the 'Drifters', a recording opportunity arose with Norrie Paramor- a producer at EMI. Paramor decided to use the young singer's talents to produce a version of the American teen ballad 'Schoolboy Crush'. Fortunately, it was the other side of this disc that caught the attention of disc jockeys and the rock and roll entrepreneur Jack Good. The record, 'Move It', reached #2 in the UK chart and is now widely regarded as one of the finest examples of early UK rock and roll ever made. It had been written by one of the Drifters, Ian Samwell although the single used session musicians and not the group.

Jack Good promoted the new star on his legendary TV show 'Oh Boy!' alongside the UK's, hitherto, top rock and roller 'Marty Wilde'. The Drifters changed their name to the 'Shadows' to avoid confusion with the American group of the same name. At this time Cliff Richard was following the 'Elvis' model very closely - hairstyle, curled lip and gyrating hips. It would be a year or two before he gradually readjusted to the clean-cut image that he has long since portrayed.

Following the success of 'Move It' came a long string of hits including the consecutive number 1's of 'Living Doll' and 'Travelling Light'. At this time his single releases usually had a rock and roll number on one side and a ballad on the other. They consequently had wide appeal and the quality was always good. So it was of little surprise that he became recognised as Britain's top recording artist within the space of a few months. He made a number of successful musical movies including 'Summer Holiday' which was probably responsible for setting the seal on his long-term image.

Despite the 'Beat boom' and the advent of the Beatles, Cliff Richard managed to sustain his career, but gradually shifted his material to suit the growing maturity of his audience. He even managed to survive coming runner-up in the Eurovision song contest with 'Congratulations'. With chart hits in every decade since he first began professionally, Sir Cliff Richard must rate as one the most enduring artists ever to begin with rock and roll. (45-rpm, 2002)

Billy Fury’s interest in music, which was already stimulated by the family environment and piano lessons at ten years of age, was further fuelled by listening to the American music brought in by visiting seamen from trips across the Ocean. Especially this new music, rock ’n’ roll, started to make an impact on young Billy.

Early in 1958 Billy entered the Percy F. Phillips’ recording studio in Liverpool and cut a 78 r.p.m acetate. Accompanied only by his guitar, he went through four Elvis Presley numbers and even one of his own self penned compositions entitled ‘Love’s A Callin’. A tape of the songs and a photograph of the young man were sent to impresario Larry Parnes, the big man of British pop, who already had in his stables, Tommy Steele and Marty Wilde.

Billy’s career skyrocketed right from the start; within days he signed with Decca Records, recorded his first disc, the self penned ‘Maybe Tomorrow’. He established himself as a regular on Jack Good’s legendary ‘Oh Boy!’ television show.

Oh Boy! was a non-stop music television programme, hosted by Tony Hall and Jimmy Henney, which was launched in September 1958. It was an innovative show that enabled British and American rock ’n’ roll artists to become mainstream and increase their following in the UK. The programme influenced the youth of the rock ’n’ roll generation as they could see their idols more often than just in concert.

The show’s greatest discovery was Cliff Richard, who appeared on the first show and two weeks later had entered the charts with ’Move It’. (WhirliGig, 2002)

During the last months of the decade Billy appeared several times on Jack Good’s latest pop vehicle ‘Boy Meets Girl’, a television show where American rock ‘n’ rollers Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran made their UK debuts.

The year 1961 started with a cover of the Revilers’ ‘A Thousand Stars’ and Marty Robbins’ ‘Don’t Worry’, but it was ‘Halfway To Paradise’ that really made him a major star. The Goffin/King song had been a minor hit in the US for Tony Orlando, but Billy’s cover is now considered the definitive version. (Black Cat Rockabilly Europe, 2000)

Rock ‘n’ roll might be said to be cocunstituted by a relation to its immediate past - by cover. In the fifties so many of the originals had been released only a few months prior to covers that even if someone in the audience did know the original, they did not attach any particular past to it. Mid-fifties rock ’n’ roll was constituted by timeless moments of now; the past was an eternal present. (Swiss, T et al, 1998)

There could have been competition between the American artists who sang the original songs and the British artist who covered them. But there hardly was. The covers done by the British artists contributed to the popularity of rock ‘n’ roll music developing in the UK because the fans had a chance to hear the music, but it was coming from their own fellow countrymen instead of appearing to be a foreign import, even though it was.

The media’s interest in rock ’n’ roll grew rapidly as they realised that in fact the music could do nobody any harm in any way and they could in fact benefit from the movement because it created jobs opportunities, such as factory work, for the manufacturing of the music, jobs within distribution and record company jobs.

So would Britain have been influenced by the whole rock and’ roll scene if it weren’t for the American artists’? The answer would probably be no. American started the whole rockabilly/rock ‘n’ roll movement in the mid fifties and it did not reach mainstream Britain until the late 1950’s. Maybe the British could have invented the music themselves, but it seems like that would have been highly unlikely as so many of the rock ’n’ roll artists that Britain spawned were directly influenced by the American artists and their songs.

References

Books

Longhurst, B. (1995) Popular Music and Society. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press

Swiss, T et al. (1998) Mapping the Beat: Popular Music and Contemporary Theory. Oxford: Blackwells Publishers

Internet

45-rpm. (2002) Tommy Steele. [online] Available from: <http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirt/tommys.htm>

Yahoo! Shopping Music. (2002) Tommy Steele Biography. [online] Available from: <http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=1927145353&clink=dmmu.artist&a=b>

Rock ‘n’ Roll Zone. (2002) An Elvis Moment …and more. [online] Available from: <http://www.rocknrollzone.com/backstage.htm>

Chuck Berry. (2002) Biography. [online] Available from: <http://www.chuckberry.com/bio.html>

Official Site of Buddy Holly. (1996) Biography. [online] Available from: <http://www.buddyholly.com/bio.html>

Black Cat Rockabilly Europe. (2000) Billy Fury - British ballads and rock ‘n’ roll. [online] Available from: <http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/bfury.htm>

45-rpm. (2002) Buddy Holly. [online] Available from: <http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirt/buddys.htm>

WhirliGig. (2002) The TV Rock ‘n’ Roll Years. [online] Available from: <http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/adults/rocknroll/rocknroll.htm>

45-rpm. (2002) Cliff Richard. [online] Available from:

Bibliography

Books

Longhurst, B. (1995) Popular Music and Society. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press

Cohen, S. (1991) Rock Culture in Liverpool: Popular Music in the Making. New York, US: Oxford University Press

Scanlon, A. (1997) The Rock ‘n’ Roll Guide to Camden. London: Tristia

Wicke, P. (1990) Rock Music: Culture, Aesthetics and Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Swiss, T et al. (1998) Mapping the Beat: Popular Music and Contemporary Theory. Oxford: Blackwells Publishers

Internet

45-rpm. (2002) Tommy Steele. Available from: <http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirt/tommys.htm>

Yahoo! Shopping Music. (2002) Tommy Steele Biography. [online] Available from: <http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=1927145353&clink=dmmu.artist&a=b>

Rock ‘n’ Roll Zone. (2002) An Elvis Moment …and more. [online] Available from: <http://www.rocknrollzone.com/backstage.htm>

History of Rock. (2002) Introduction to the History of Rock and Roll: The Golden Decade - 1955 to 1964. [online] Available from: <http://www.history-of-rock.com/introduction.htm>

Rock in Town. (2000) Rock ‘n’ Roll & History. [online] Available from: <http://rockintown.com/history1.html>

Westman, N. and Eley, C. (2000) Billy Fury Biography. [online] Available from: <http://gamma.nic.fi/~nallew/pages/bio.html>

Peaksoft. (2002) Billy Fury - The Man. [online] Available from: <http://www.peaksoft.org/fury/furyman.htm>

The Video Beat. (2001) Rock and Roll TV Shows. [online] Available from: <http://www.thevideobeat.com/tv_shows.htm>

WhirliGig. (2002) The TV Rock ‘n’ Roll Years. [online] Available from: <http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/adults/rocknroll/rocknroll.htm>

Cliff Richard.org. (2002) Life and Times. [online] Available from: <http://www.cliffrichard.org/life_and_times/biography.htm>

Sir Cliff. (2002) Cliff Richard Discography: Singles. [online] Available from: <http://www.sir-cliff.com/single.html>

Black Cat Rockabilly Europe. (2000) Billy Fury - British ballads and rock ‘n’ roll. [online] Available from: <http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/bfury.htm>

Paradise Promotions. (2001) Billy Fury Discography. [online] Available from: <http://www.paradisepromotions.co.uk/disc.html>

Westman, N. and Eley, C. (2000) Billy Fury Discography. [online] Available from: <http://gamma.nic.fi/~nallew/pages/disco.html>

Chuck Berry. (2002) Biography. [online] Available from: <http://www.chuckberry.com/bio.html>

Official Site of Buddy Holly. (1996) Biography. [online] Available from: <http://www.buddyholly.com/bio.html>

Overload Media. (2000) It’s only Rock & Roll. [online] Available from:

45-rpm. (2002) Cliff Richard. [online] Available from:

Discographies

Tommy Steele

Cliff Richard

Billy Fury

Rock 'n' Roll.

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