How Did Rock And Roll Have Survived If There Were No Racial Division In The 1940s

History of Rock Music: Exam #2

Rock and roll would not have survived if there were no racial division in the 1940s. Because “rock ‘n roll” had such an overwhelming influence on social interactions of both black and white teens alike, the genre forced record labels to sign black artists because their music became so popular and profitable. Rock and roll influenced not only daily life, but fashion, and attitudes. When segregation became unlawful in 1954, it gave freedom to both black and white artists. While many white parents tried to prevent their teens from listening to rock and roll in the 1950s and 1960s, television and radio made it impossible to prevent their children’s exposure. It can be said that when racial tensions were very
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Mainstream Pop which is popular music listened to by the majorities.

3. Country and Western which originated in the southern United States in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1920s. Country and Western music generally remained regional until after 1945.

It is important to note that during the 1930s and 1940s, some pop music became widely recognized while other styles remained regional. This can be attributed to the network programmers who played only mainstream pop singers such as Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, and later Frank Sinatra.

In 1957, Frank Sinatra is quoted as saying that, “Rock and roll is the most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression – lewd, sly, in plain fact, dirty – a rancid-smelling aphrodisiac and the marital music of every side-burned delinquent on the fact of the earth (www.ushistory.org/us/53d.asp).

Obviously, rock and roll was not created overnight -- it all started with the first Rhythm and Blues artists that received mainstream attention even though they were black. You could say it all began to take off in approximately 1959 when Berry Gordy started his own Motown record label. Gordy, who is known as the founder of Motown, helped Rock and Roll get its roots and launched many successful black artists in the Rhythm and Blues genre, which include artists Blinky, Choker Campbell and his 16-piece band, Caroline Crawford, Debbie Dean, The Four Tops, Eddie Holland, David Ruffin, Mary Wells, and Stevie Wonder. Gordy was the main organizer for
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He mixed country and blues together for the whites so he could make a living, unlike others who were not approved of by the white society. You can hear his love for country in his vocals. It was strong enough to trick white people into thinking he was white (Covach, What’s That Sound?). Two of Berry’s most famous songs are “Johnny B. Goode”, and “Maybellene”. Chuck Berry ‘wrote’ “Maybellene” after the song “Ida Red”, which was a fiddle song by Bob Willis & the Texas Playboys. Other major artists that were the first to play “rock and roll” were Fats Domino, who put more country and blues into his music making it more laid back and relaxing compared (his song “Blueberry Hill”) and Little Richard, who did more of an aggressive blues/rock and roll (his song “TuttiFruitti” or “Good Golly, Miss Molly”). Little Richard did a lot of high pitched screeching in his songs as well as shouting or yelling his lyrics. That being said, it was easier for white people to accept Fats Domino compared to Little Richard, but Little Richard had a vast amount of white teenagers listening to his music, much like they did in earlier years. Joseph Turner Jr. who is more well known as Big Joe Turner, had more of a sexual tone in his music and could be taken one or two ways in meaning. People called this hokum blues or dirty blues. Turner’s songs like “Bump Miss Suzie,” “Honey Hush,” and, of course,