History of Rock & Roll - The 1950s (Special Edition)

laid on me daddy-o I'm JT Curtis and this is the history of rock and roll the 1950s [Music] [Music] please don't rock and roll music and why I preach against it and I believe with all of my heart that it is a contributing factor through our juvenile delinquency of today I hundred percent believe why I believe that is because I know how it feels when you sing I know what it does to you and I know of the evil feeling that you feel when you sing it well that evil feel-good rock-and-roll hit America in the 1950s and changed music forever the post-world War two generation loved rock and roll it was fast it was fun and it was controversial what is this this is Delta music and 60 years later rock and roll is still going on strong well holding on for dear life but where did it come from well the roots of rock and roll are pretty complicated and fiercely debated what was the first rock and roll song no no no that the first rock and roll record was not that I'll settle for that this is Louis Jourdan performing his 1946 hit caldonia one of the first songs to be referred to as rock and roll you see groups like Lewis Jordan and his timpani five we're really sorry Nikki Sixx drinking heroin out of a firehose and SP don't go it's so lonely okay maybe I wouldn't go as far as to call Lewis Jordan the first rock and roller but his influence on the genre should not be forgotten in its simplest form rock and roll is a melding of blues country gospel and jazz from Africa to the black church and over the gospel which turned into blues and jazz and country music the 1940s were still dominated by big-band jazz but their days were numbered when artists like Lewis Jordan started performing with smaller groups in 1949 Lewis Jordan recorded a two-part single called Saturday night fish fry which included the lyrics and features some electric guitar licks that would later be copped by numerous rock and roll guitar players well the term rockin was originally a religious term and it was also a euphemism for sex well that's a bit of a contradiction there I know how it feels when you think I know what it does quiet you getting back to the topic at hand what was the first rock and roll song well I don't know about this one either this sounds more like a 40s big band shuffle now we're talking this is wynonie harris is good rockin tonight originally written by Roy brown it's considered to be one of the first rock and roll songs probably the most obvious reason is because it has the term rockin in it but it's also the melding of musical elements those familiar blues changes that boogie woogie piano and that strong emphasis on the backbeat augmented by those gospel style handclaps the song was later covered by a number of rockers in the 50s though at the time it was being marketed as jump blues or rhythm and blues if you will take an old delta blues song Robert Johnson's son take the same song played up-tempo and it's completely different [Music] rocking loaders never my rhythm and blues up tempo and rhythm booze up tempo is boogie-woogie other contenders for first rock and roll song include Jimmy Preston's 1949 hit rock the joint producing an exciting party atmosphere [Music] Gouri carter's Rockwell was another song to feature a distorted electric guitar [Music] and a lot of this was it hello yeah hi isn't this an episode about the 1950s how did you get this number it's a youtube video it doesn't matter hey hey give me that phone I gotta call my well that's the 1950s opened fats Domino's piano-driven blues record the fat man became a huge hit featuring his smooth voice and drummer Earl Palmer strong backbeat [Applause] well would it call Roger Rowan I'd written in blue I've been 15 years evolving piano and horns were still the dominant instruments by this time jackie brenston recorded rocket 88 produced by sam phillips for Chess Records you women have heard of the laughs if you heard the noise they made but let me reduce my progeny featuring Ike Turner's band with Willie kisser Don guitar a very very distorted electric guitar knowing Ike Turner he probably kicked the amp so badly it just ended up sounding like that the song was a huge hit and widely considered to be the first rock and roll song and thus the electric guitar became the main instrument of the decade the hollow body electric guitar had been around since the big band era played by Charlie Christian like but it was the 1950s where the instrument became a star in its own right and manufacturers leo fender and les paul invented solid body electric guitars [Music] blues artists in particular found the distorted sound really appealing man listen to that voice that's Big Mama Thornton singing her 1953 in hound dog written by renowned composers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller she's got more balls than most modern-day male satyrs [Music] you never get to hear a woman like this today yeah Katy Perry is hot but her voice sounds like a computerized two-year-old imagine big Mama's voice coming out of Katy Perry [Music] [Music] Chicago Illinois was really the hot spot for electric blues artists I mentioned chess records already found it by Phil and lettered chess which housed many influential blues artists money Waters Howlin wolf John Lee Hooker @a James both didly didly released his hit Bo Diddley which popularized a new beat called the Bo Diddley beat yeah he really liked that name didn't he it's all one chord the lyrics allude to a nursery rhyme it's totally unique nothing else sounds like it in New York City ometer de confounded Atlantic Records and signed rhythm and blues artists such as [Music] I don't know and a young Ray Charles singing his first hit Messer up the best around they're doing the math everybody doing the mess around all of these are so become huge influences on the genre and while most of these artists I've mentioned are rhythm and blues artists a Cleveland DJ named Alan Freed began calling this new musical genre rock and roll this is Alan pre the old kingdom burgers and it's time again for another of your favorite rock and roll such as blues into the records all the gang in the moon dog kingdom his moon dog show attracted teenagers both white and black and launched rock and roll its popularity here is the poco group that had the first number-one rock and roll song in America the Penguins sing earth angel little known fact the guitar player for the Penguins with some unknown kid named Marty McFly this is heavy Alan Freed organized the first rock and roll concert which quickly became over capacity and almost started a riot and soon after older generations spoke out against rock and roll including religious groups who considered it to be the work of the devil I know what it does okay mostly because it came from black people we came along the whole thing changed all of a sudden we became a no-no what is this this is devil music this is a very crucial point not just for the history of rock and roll but American history at this point in time it hadn't even been a century since slavery was abolished and even then it didn't seem like much it changed America was still highly segregated especially in the south this vulgar animalistic rock and roll Bob that's really where rhythm and blues came from [Music] these guys didn't just sing the blues they live into the blues whether singing in the cotton fields or singing in church the oppressed african-american culture found solace in music I still say that there is such a fine line between gospel and R&B it was uplifting it was soothing a form of spiritual healing and I think that's why the younger generation white kids included found rock-and-roll so appealing apart from it being fun to dance to and rebellious in nature rock and roll and rhythm and blues was just pure emotion real authentic human emotion of people who channel the in justices of society to create art there's no black or white in this music you feel it in your soul you've got to be color Bannerman whatever moves you move you I don't know if I go as far to say that rock and roll broke down the racial barrier but it certainly played a pivotal role in American civil rights it was 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to sit at the back of a segregated bus and it just happened to be the same year that Richard Penniman released tutti-frutti yeah critics of rock'n'roll probably had Little Richard in mind when they started calling it devil's music known for his soulful voice his hard-driving piano and for being completely crazy man Bo Diddley looks scared out of his mind right there but tutti-frutti is a classic rock and roll record it also features a great sax solo by Lee Allen [Music] my god he looks like he's having an orgasm on the piano yeah bill hill he looks into it well the son was a big hit Pat Boone covered the Sun achieve greater success with his version this is so friggin white and that basically is where the problem lies because of the controversy surrounding it a lot of radio stations were reluctant to play race records as they were known I remember he and Phil just saying you know what if we could get a white kid to play this song we could get it played in the early 50s a country in western group called Bill Haley in the commets I recorded spirited covers of rocket 88 rocked the joint and in 1955 they made music history with rock around the clock [Music] the song was not a huge hit right away but its inclusion in the landmark Sidney Poitier film Blackboard Jungle shot the single to number one you are now listening to rock around the clock this is the theme music from MGM sensational new picture Blackboard Jungle compared with a lot of its contemporaries the track is much cleaner as is Paley's voice but he sings the song with a lot of energy and guitarist Danny Citroen plays a cool solo actually the song sounds an awful lot like Hank Williams moving on over pavement last night it and best man that baby of mine wouldn't let me because of its success rock and roll was now the music of the decade and no one could stop it I haven't talked much about country but it is a big part of rock and roll's roots [Music] maybe nowadays you wouldn't think of someone like Johnny Cash being a rock guy but back then his music was being marketed as rockabilly I walk the line tomorrow but at Sun Records and Nashville's of R&B became but we was doing and rock-and-roll became was the way kids was doing the title of it is Maybelline oh yeah Chuck Berry the st. Louis born guitarist was also influenced by country music and in 1955 he recorded Maybelline for Chess Records the story driven lyrics of a car and a girl struck a chord no pun intended with younger audiences Maybelline sounds just like Ida red rhythmically curtains on the windows snowy-white the parlor is planned on Sunday night [Music] he was writing intelligent lyrics in the 50s when people were singing oh baby I love you so so Chuck would just take these boogie woogie piano riffs and basically just play them on guitar [Music] throughout the decade Chuck barium would become a driving force for rock-and-roll and one of the most influential guitar players in history a year earlier Sam Phillips who was now managing Sun Records discovered a Memphis singer named Elvis Presley some of you might have heard of them his first recording for Phillips was a cover of crude ups 1946 blues number that's all right Elvis had what Phillips was looking for a soulful voice coming out of a young handsome white guy they were so shocked they had to listen to see what brutality is taking place he would also record a rockabilly version of good rockin tonight before signing with RCA and recording his first number-one the rest is rock and roll history [Music] pretty cool too from then on it was hit after hit after hit with this guy well I said you were high-class it was his performance of Big Mama Thornton hound dog on the Milton Berle show that solidified him as king of rock and roll [Music] you ain't not well of course we all know where he really got those dance moves from force Cup [Music] there's a lot of controversy surrounding Elvis Presley probably his most famous are his dance moves which aroused young girls I watched him gyrated legs and swivel his hips and our parent-teachers group feels he should not be on television and now here is Elvis Ed Sullivan was very reluctant to have him on his shell and even when he did appear he would only shoot Elvis Presley from the waist up [Music] I mean it's like showing David Lee Roth from the waist up I mean what's the point how do you keep getting into my house well you know the funny thing about that is I'm gonna steal your gold pick is there a trapdoor back there no the other controversy surrounding Elvis is the idea that he stole a lot of black music a good amount of his songs were written by prolific R&B composer Otis Blackwell who wrote songs like little Willy John's fever [Music] I mean Otis Blackwell wrote songs for Elvis like return to sender all shook up a Willapa song with me the plaza my friends say I'm all shook up mmm but really never got the credit that he really deserved another example was guitarist Carl Perkins who was also discovered by Sam Phillips and Sun Records at this time they were turning out a lot of big-name acts like Johnny Cash the fantastic mr. Carl Perkins [Applause] [Music] [Music] Perkins released his signature tune blue suede shoes at the beginning of 1956 out of all the rockabilly guitarists Carl Perkins was the best he would become a huge influence on George Harrison and a number of other guitarists through the years but shortly after the record came out Carl Perkins was in a car accident leaving Elvis Presley to perform the song live on TV well you can do anything with the new suede shoes and thus everybody thought it was Elvis's song now the later years of the 1950's for the peak of rock and roll music there's a lot to talk about here Fats Domino had achieved his greatest success with Blueberry Hill which he performed on The Ed Sullivan Show [Music] [Music] we'll be here Little Richard was still rockin and rollin with his hip Lucille highlighted by some of his best piano playing [Music] [Music] give it up for the man he's pretty much the reason rock and roll is what it is today I have never received nothing [Applause] 19:57 saw the release of Jerry Lee Lewis signature tune great balls of fire originally written by Otis blackwell [Music] [Music] great balls of fire is just pure rock and roll Jerry's piano playing really earns him the nickname the killer and once again all the parents at home watching Leave It to Beaver criticize the sun's strong sexual undertones yeah the song is called great balls of fire and that same year Texans Buddy Holly and the crickets released their number-one hit that'll be the day [Music] Labor Day and that'll be the day for any exciting work if you didn't know they were black/white it didn't really matter very some electric sound on the radio Buddy Holly was one of the most influential figures at the time his discography of classic songs like Peggy Sue every day and rave on is impressive always one of the first rockers to write produce and even perform his own material and make a totally self-contained unit out of the bank thought he was Street said at this time oh well there's 2 18 1 20 and the 21 everyone was influenced by Buddy Holly [Music] except him the crickets toured the same year with the Everly Brothers they're smooth harmonies gained notoriety with hits like Vega and in 1957 Elvis Presley released his greatest song to date no he didn't write it it was written by labour and stellar no he didn't arrange it or play an instrument on it but Elvis sings the hell out of this song you do realize men in the jailhouse right yeah now the song is about prison love years before Shawshank Redemption or Oz so the song was very ahead of its time I guess it was yeah goldfish visualized by the jailhouse rock sequence from the movie it's still to this day considered to be the greatest rock song of all time but there's another contender for that title not only was this son mortalized by Michael J Fox and back to the future this son is on the Voyager Golden Record a disc on the Voyager spacecraft that represents earth music to aliens Johnny be good is on the same record with Beethoven's fifth symphony and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring how can this not be one of the greatest rock songs ever made like jailhouse rock this is Chuck Berry at his finest every note coming out of his guitar is perfectly placed [Applause] how's a guy who's been playing guitar since he was eight years old I can really relate to Chuck story about a young guitar slammer Johnny seriously is there any rock-and-roll son more recognizable than this la Bamba yeah baba but ritchie valens weight and incredibly balanced yeah talking about the loo slow-mo song who's richie balance I had such high hopes for you so did my mother lebombo is another anthem which writer ritchie valens adapted from mexican folk lyrics it became one of the first pop hits to include all spanish lyrics and yes it was covered by Los Lobos in 1987 his goldfish versus Dale in the summer of 1958 Eddie Cochran released his teen anthem summertime blues it's really well recorded for the time featuring some early experiments and layering guitars and overdubbing but it's really the lyrics that single this rocker out and that line alone says so much about the tension between older generations and younger generations don't forget at this time the legal voting age was still at least 21 and ironically any Concord would die in a car accident at the age of 21 so now that brings me to the fall of rock and roll what happened well it seems like a perfect storm of incidents happened in the late 50s Elvis Presley was drafted into the Army in 1958 when he came back he was never the same Jerry Lee Lewis thought to be Elvis's successor was blacklisted from radio when he married his 13 year old cousin who was later played by Winona Ryder Chuck Berry was arrested for a similar scandal involving a minor he served a year and a half in prison Little Richard briefly gave up his rock-and-roll career to become a preacher Alan Freed was fired from his show at WABC for the payola scandal and on February 3rd 1959 a plane crash took the lives of Buddy Holly Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper it was later referred to as the day the music died [Music] one of the things we're very very proud of here on the Dick Clark show is introducing some very very big records this young man we introduced several weeks ago his record has now sold and he doesn't know anything at all about this 1 million copies of Bobby Darin 1959 saw the rise of pop idols like Paul Anka Connie Francis and Bobby Darin and by this point rock and roll songs mainly written by Leiber and Stoller were becoming a lot more gimmicky and tame it seemed like the rock and roll craze was over and the genre had bitten the dust but that didn't stop other R&B artists from taking up the reins [Music] Ray Charles two-part single what I say pointed to the future the song features Ray's smoky Wurlitzer piano some suggestive lyrics and is later augmented by a horn section to close part one [Music] [Music] man talk about a progressive song this was the single that made Ray Charles a household name and while it's more of an R&B tune this unmistakable groove would be a huge influence on rock songs to come Ray Charles is without a doubt as they say a genius to me he is even more so well that brings us to our end question in the 50s rock hard well yeah let's face it the 1950s was the birth of rock-and-roll the hard-driving backbeat the unmistakable guitar lines the raucous vocals very thought-provoking lyrics that's what's laid the foundation for rock music for the past 60 years I mean compared to more contemporary music these songs may seem softer more tame or even dated but it obviously left a mark on American society and even overseas inspiring future British rockers songs like Johnny be good long tall Sally jailhouse rock and what I say still sound just an exciting and fresh today as they did 60 years ago it was loud it was rebellious it was the music that the young people listened to that your parents absolutely hated and that continues today in one form or another I think because of the controversy and the racial tensions they could only push the envelope so far I know how it be for God's sakes and it's also noteworthy that this music played a part in the civil rights movement Chuck Berry said to me one time you know a car we might be doing as much with our music as our leaders are and Washington to break down the barriers so without rock and roll music of the 50s there would be no rock and roll today at all so that's the 1950s we'll rock and roll be resurrected in the 1960s you know it's going to be yes I know that but I was trying to end this episode on a cliffhanger that was actually a good Stallone movie yeah what yeah it was great yeah no I know no what are you get out of my house yes sir hey who's your favorite 50s rock artist do we forget somebody what 60s artist er ban do you want us to talk about next comment below and let us know hey that rhymes you [Music]

Channel: JTCurtisMusic

Views: 289,224

Keywords: rock music, genera, rock and roll, History, 1950s, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Fats Domino, Rocket 88, Good Rockin Tonight, Ray Charles, King of Rock and Roll, 2000s, History of Rock, Rock & Roll, Classic Rock, Birth, Documentary, Research, Music, Death, Bo Diddley, Making of, The Beatles, Tribute, Piano, Guitar, First, Song, Jerry Lee Lewis, Country, Blues, R&B, Gospel, Evolution, Architect

Id: c00_2wAuL7Q

Length: 34min 41sec (2081 seconds)

Published: Sat May 09 2020