Rock and roll is a type of popular music that began in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It started by combining African-American music styles, such as rhythm and blues, with influences from gospel, jazz, boogie-woogie, electric blues, jump blues, swing, and folk music. Although early rock and roll sounds can be found in blues songs from the 1920s and country songs from the 1930s, the music was not called "rock and roll" until 1954.
By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had grown into a broader international style known as rock music. However, many people still referred to it as rock and roll. This article focuses on the original meaning of rock and roll.
In the earliest rock and roll music, the piano or saxophone was often the main instrument. These were later replaced or added to by the electric guitar in the mid-to-late 1950s. The rhythm is based on a dance beat with a strong backbeat, usually played by a snare drum. Simple blues chord patterns, like the twelve-bar blues, are often used. Classic rock and roll typically uses one or more electric guitars (one for lead parts, one for rhythm) and a double bass (string bass). After the mid-1950s, electric bass guitars (first made widely available by Fender in the early 1950s) and drum kits became common in classic rock.
Rock and roll greatly influenced American lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. It is often shown in movies, magazines, and on television. According to G. C. Altschuler, the music helped support the civil rights movement because it was widely enjoyed by both Black and White teenagers.
Terminology
The term "rock and roll" is described by Greg Kot in Encyclopædia Britannica as a type of music that began in the mid-1950s and later became known as "rock music." In some dictionaries, the term "rock and roll" is used to mean the same as "rock music."
The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean. By the early 1900s, it was also used to describe the spiritual energy of African-American church rituals and as a way to describe a romantic or sexual relationship. In the early 1930s, a retired Welsh sailor named William Fender sang the phrase "rock and roll" during a performance of the traditional song "The Baffled Knight" for a folklorist named James Madison Carpenter. This recording is available on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website.
Before the term became widely popular, the phrase "rock and roll" appeared in many gospel, blues, and swing songs. For example, the African-American spiritual "Bosom of Abraham," recorded as early as 1867, uses the phrase "rock my soul" in a religious context. This song was later performed by musicians from different genres, including gospel groups, jazz artist Louis Armstrong, skiffle musician Lonnie Donegan, and rock and roll artist Elvis Presley. In 1922, blues singer Trixie Smith recorded a song titled "My Man Rocks Me with One Steady Roll." The phrase was also used in 1940s music and reviews about "rhythm and blues," a style of music aimed at African-American audiences. In 1950, the musician Huey "Piano" Smith credited Cha Cha Hogan, a performer from New Orleans, with helping to popularize the term in his song "My Walking Baby."
In 1934, the song "Rock and Roll" by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round. In 1942, before the term "rock and roll" was widely used, a writer for Billboard magazine named Maurie Orodenker began using the phrase to describe upbeat songs like "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Her style was described as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing." By 1943, a music venue called the "Rock and Roll Inn" opened in South Merchantville, New Jersey. In 1951, a radio disc jockey named Alan Freed in Cleveland, Ohio, began playing this music style and calling it "rock and roll" on his radio show, which helped spread the term.
Some sources suggest that Freed first heard the term "rock and roll" as a synonym for sexual activity on the song "Sixty Minute Man" by Billy Ward and his Dominoes. The song includes the line, "I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long." However, Freed did not confirm this in interviews. He explained that "rock 'n roll" was a modern name for swing music that began in African-American communities and included blues and rhythm.
Alan Freed's work helped bring attention to African-American rhythm and blues music. Greg Harris, who was the director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said that Freed helped break down racial barriers in the 1950s by encouraging white and Black listeners to enjoy the same music. After Freed received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the organization noted that he promoted African-American rhythm and blues music in the United States and Europe under the name "rock and roll."
Todd Storz, the owner of a radio station in Omaha, Nebraska, was the first to use the Top 40 format in 1953. This format focused on playing the most popular songs. His station and others that adopted the idea helped spread rock and roll music. By the mid-1950s, the Top 40 format included artists such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, and Fats Domino.
Early rock and roll
Rock and roll has a history that many experts continue to study. Today, most scholars agree that rock and roll developed from the musical traditions of African Americans in the American South and the cities of the North. At its heart, rock and roll is a powerful and fast version of African-American music. While European instruments provided tools for making music, the rhythm, structure, and spirit of rock and roll came from African-American communities. When many former enslaved people and their descendants moved to large cities like St. Louis, Memphis, New York City, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Buffalo, black and white people began living closer together in greater numbers than before. Radio stations that played both black and white music, the invention of the gramophone record, and African-American styles like jazz and swing, which were adopted by white musicians, helped bring black and white musical traditions together.
The early beginnings of rock and roll came from rhythm and blues, which was also called "race music," combined with boogie-woogie, shouting gospel, or country music from the 1940s and 1950s. Important influences on rock and roll included jazz, blues, gospel, country, and folk music. Experts disagree about which of these styles had the greatest impact and whether rock and roll was a new version of African-American rhythm and blues for white audiences or a mix of black and white musical traditions.
In the 1930s, jazz, especially swing music, was among the first styles to introduce African-American sounds to a mostly white audience. One example is the 1938 song "Roll 'Em Pete" by Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson, which is seen as an early influence on rock and roll. In the 1940s, jazz music used loud horns, shouted lyrics, and boogie-woogie beats. During and after World War II, large jazz bands became less common due to fuel shortages and limited resources, leading to smaller groups that used guitars, bass, and drums. At the same time, jump blues, a style popular on the West Coast and Midwest, used guitar riffs and strong beats that later influenced rock and roll. In the documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, Keith Richards suggested that Chuck Berry created rock and roll by moving the two-note piano style of jump blues to the electric guitar. However, this idea ignores earlier black guitarists like Goree Carter, Gatemouth Brown, and T-Bone Walker, who also used this style. Country boogie and Chicago electric blues provided many elements that became part of rock and roll. Chuck Berry helped shape rock and roll by using an aggressive electric guitar sound and making the guitar the central instrument in rock bands. In 2017, Robert Christgau said Chuck Berry "invented rock 'n' roll" because he combined all the key elements of the genre.
Rock and roll developed during a time of major technological changes, including the invention of the electric guitar, amplifier, 45 rpm record, and modern microphones. The record industry also changed, with independent labels like Atlantic, Sun, and Chess focusing on niche audiences, and radio stations that played their music. The discovery that wealthy white teenagers were listening to this music led to the creation of rock and roll as a separate genre. Because rock and roll evolved over time, no single record can be called "the first" rock and roll song. Some early contenders include Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s "Strange Things Happening Every Day" (1944), Arthur Crudup’s "That’s All Right" (1946), Hank Williams’ "Move It On Over" (1947), Fats Domino’s "The Fat Man" (1949), Goree Carter’s "Rock Awhile" (1949), and Jimmy Preston’s "Rock the Joint" (1949).
The record "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, recorded in March 1951, is often called the first rock and roll record. However, Ike Turner, who played in the band, said he believed "Rocket 88" was rhythm and blues, not rock and roll, but that it helped rock and roll develop.
Bill Haley’s "Rock Around the Clock," recorded in April 1954, became a major milestone in rock and roll, even though it was not successful at first. However, many earlier songs already included elements of rock and roll.
Journalist Alexis Petridis noted that "Rock Around the Clock" and Elvis Presley’s version of "That’s Alright Mama" were not the start of a new genre, but rather the first white interpretations of a sound that African-American musicians had already created almost a decade earlier.
Other early rock and roll artists included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent. Chuck Berry’s 1955 song "Maybellene" used a distorted electric guitar sound made possible by his small amplifier. However, earlier electric blues guitarists like Joe Hill Louis, Guitar Slim, Willie Johnson, and Pat Hare also used distortion in the 1950s. In 1955, Bo Diddley introduced the "Bo Diddley beat" and a unique guitar style influenced by African and Afro-Cuban music.
Many sources, including an article in The Wall Street Journal in 1985, say rock and roll was strongly influenced by rhythm and blues (R&B). The article stated that "rock and roll" and "rhythm and blues" were often used interchangeably until around 1957. Other sources said rock and roll combined R&B with pop and country music.
Fats Domino, one of the most famous rock and roll stars in the 1950s, did not believe rock and roll was a new genre. In 1957, he said, "What they call rock 'n' roll now is rhythm and blues. I've been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans." Rolling Stone agreed, saying all 1950s rock musicians, black and white, were influenced by R&B, the popular black music of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Little Richard also built his groundbreaking sound by blending boogie-woogie, New Orleans rhythm and blues, and gospel music.
LaVern Baker, a singer known for her powerful mix of blues, jazz, and R&B, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall of Fame said her music showed the way for the rise of rock and roll.
Decline and later developments
Some experts believe that rock and roll began to decline in 1958. Events such as Little Richard leaving the music scene to become a preacher in 1957, Elvis Presley joining the United States Army in 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 13-year-old cousin in 1958, riots caused by Bill Haley’s European tour in 1958, the deaths of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash in 1959, the Payola scandal involving famous people in illegal activities in 1959, Chuck Berry’s arrest in 1959, and the death of Eddie Cochran in a car crash in 1960 suggested that the early era of rock and roll was ending.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the more intense styles of artists like Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly were replaced by a smoother, more commercial style of rock and roll influenced by pop music. Marketing often focused on the appearance of artists rather than their music, leading to the success of teen idols such as Ricky Nelson, Tommy Sands, Bobby Vee, Jimmy Clanton, and the Philadelphia group of Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian.
Some music historians also note important developments during this time, including multitrack recording, created by Les Paul, the use of electronic effects by innovators like Joe Meek, and the "Wall of Sound" style developed by Phil Spector. These innovations helped shape rock and roll. The charts also became more diverse, and new styles like surf music, garage rock, and the Twist dance became popular. Surf rock, known for its use of reverb-heavy guitars, was especially popular in the early 1960s.
Although the British Invasion would later dominate rock music in the mid-1960s, some American artists continued to have success with rock and roll. Johnny Rivers, for example, achieved chart success with songs like "Memphis" despite the British Invasion. Another artist was Bobby Fuller and his group, The Bobby Fuller Four, who were inspired by Buddy Holly and created rock and roll music. Their most famous song, "I Fought the Law" (1965), became a notable hit.
British rock and roll
In the 1950s, Britain was well positioned to receive American rock and roll music and culture. Britain and the United States shared a common language, and British people had been exposed to American culture through American soldiers stationed in the UK. Both countries also experienced similar social changes, including the rise of unique youth groups, such as the Teddy Boys and the rockers. Trad jazz became popular in the UK, and many British musicians were influenced by American styles like boogie woogie and the blues. The skiffle craze, led by Lonnie Donegan, used simple versions of American folk songs and inspired many future musicians in rock and roll, folk, R&B, and beat music. At the same time, British audiences first encountered American rock and roll through films like Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Rock Around the Clock (1956). Both movies featured the Bill Haley & His Comets hit "Rock Around the Clock," which entered the British charts in early 1955—four months before it reached the US charts—reached the top of the British charts later that year and again in 1956, linking rock and roll with teenage behavior.
The British music industry initially tried to copy American records, using professional musicians and teen idols to perform. Soon after, grassroots British rock and roll musicians, such as Wee Willie Harris and Tommy Steele, began to appear. During this time, American rock and roll remained popular, but in 1958, Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star when Cliff Richard reached number 2 in the charts with "Move It." At the same time, TV shows like Six-Five Special and Oh Boy! helped promote British rock and roll musicians such as Marty Wilde and Adam Faith. Cliff Richard and his band, the Shadows, were the most successful British rock and roll acts of the era. Other notable musicians included Billy Fury, Joe Brown, and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, whose 1960 hit "Shakin' All Over" became a rock and roll classic.
As interest in rock and roll declined in the United States during the late 1950s and early 1960s, British groups in cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London continued to embrace the music. Around the same time, a British blues scene developed, led by fans who followed the original blues style, such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, who were inspired by American musicians like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf. Many groups shifted from skiffle to beat music and rhythm and blues, such as the Quarrymen, who later became the Beatles. This revival of rock and roll helped many groups gain national success by 1963 and international success by 1964, an event known in the US as the British Invasion. Groups that followed the Beatles included those influenced by beat music, such as Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman's Hermits, and the Dave Clark Five. Early British rhythm and blues groups with stronger blues influences included the Animals, the Rolling Stones, and the Yardbirds.
Cultural influence
G. C. Altschuler explains that rock and roll affected the way people lived, dressed, thought, and spoke. It may have also helped the civil rights movement because both African-American and European-American teenagers enjoyed the music.
William J. Schafer says that rock and roll songs often talked about topics like cars, school, dating, and clothing. These themes were familiar to many listeners. Rock and roll also began to include subjects like sex, which had been avoided in most music before. This helped people express feelings they had not openly shared, leading to changes in how young people in America thought and acted.
Rock and roll developed when African-American "race music" became popular with white teenagers. This meant that black musicians reached a white audience, and white musicians performed music with African-American roots. Rock and roll grew during a time when racial tensions in the United States were changing, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that "separate but equal" was not fair. However, enforcing this rule in some parts of the country remained very difficult. The blending of white youth and black music in rock and roll caused some white people to strongly oppose it, as they believed it broke down racial barriers. M. T. Bertrand notes that some people saw rock and roll as helping desegregation by creating a shared musical experience. Mina Carson says early rock and roll helped both white and black teenagers define their identities.
Ruth Padel says rock and roll was the first music genre to clearly represent a generation. It gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone. Rock and roll became popular among the first baby boomer generation, who had more money and free time. They formed a distinct subculture that included not only music but also fashion, hairstyles, cars, motorcycles, and unique ways of speaking. This youth culture, seen in radio, records, jukeboxes, and TV shows like American Bandstand, worried older generations, who feared youth rebellion and problems like delinquency. This culture was shared by many racial and social groups.
In America, concerns about youth culture appeared in things like comic books. For example, a story from True Life Romance (1956) shows a girl choosing a boy who likes traditional music over one who loves rock and roll, to her parents' approval. In Britain, rock and roll connected with the Teddy Boy movement, which was mostly working class, and later with the rockers. In the United States, rock and roll was marketed to teenagers, as seen in songs like Dion and the Belmonts’ "A Teenager in Love" (1959).
From the early 1950s through the early 1960s, rock and roll inspired new dance styles like the twist. Teenagers liked the rhythm of rock and roll because it matched the lively steps of Big Band-era jitterbug dancing. Events like sock hops, school dances, church gym dances, and home parties became popular. Teens watched American Bandstand to learn about the latest dances and fashion. From the mid-1960s onward, the term "rock and roll" was replaced with "rock," leading to new dance styles such as funk, disco, house, techno, and hip hop.