Rock Music; History and Popular Bands of the Time

Today many are fun to the different rock bands and individual rock artist that entertain us. The rock style of music has come a long way and has a long history ranging from the 1950’s to late 1990’s.

Rock developed in the 1950’s and was originally called Rock and Roll.

Rock, has diverse styles but then tends to be a vocal music with hard, driving beat, often featuring electric guitar accompaniment and heavily amplified sounds.

In little more than a decade, rock evolved from a simple, dance-oriented style to music that was highly varied in its tone colors, lyrics and electronic technology.

HISTORY OF ROCK STYLE

It started in the 1940’s with the development of Rhythm and blues among African Americans. In the 1950’s the rhythm and blues developed into more powerful beats with the use of saxophones and electric guitar. The popularly known performers of the time were Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

The earliest of the Rock n Roll groups was Bill Haley and his Comets, whose Rock Around the Clock was the first big hit of the new style in 1955.The music at the time was associated with rebellion and sexual directness.

In the 1960’s Rock music by Black performers was called soul, a term that emphasized the emotionality of this style ,its gospel roots and its relationship to the black community ,for example James brown, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. There developed a type of soul music that blended rhythm and blues with popular music which was known as Motown. (A combination of gospel rhythms, modern harmonies, soft melodies and bright lyrics) The popular singers of this time are Diana Ross, the Supremes and Stevie Wonder.

1964 saw a new era of rock arise with the American tour of the Beatles along with the Rolling Stones. This era influenced the rock artists of the middle and late 60’s thus exploring a wider range of sources of sounds and musical ideas. They also absorbed elements of folk music. The lyrics dealt mostly with the contemporary issues as was and racial injustices. This was a development that was spurred by success of song writer and singer Bob Dylan whose song ‘Blowin in the Wind’ articulated the feeling of many young people. The diversity of rock styles at the reflected in many terms that arose for example folk rock ,jazz rock, classical rocks, raga rock and a period that saw the first rock musical, ‘Hair’ by Galt McDermott.

Rock suffered major loses in the 70’s especially 1970 and 1971 when the Beatles announced their dissolution and three leading performers Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison tragically died. It also saw the rise of a dance called disco. A blend of country music and rock called country rock became very popular. Country music itself moved into the musical mainstream as its stars Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson won popularity. Reggae, Funk and Punk are also musical styles that rose.

In the 1980’s new wave bands from Britain such as Police and Culture Club were popular with American rock audiences. The bands used extensive electronic technology, featuring outlandish –looking performers. There was also a renewed interest by teenagers in ‘heavy metals’ type of basic rock characterized by pounding drums, heavily amplified bass and unrestrained guitars played at peak volumes. They comprised overt references to sex and violence raising concern about their influence to teenagers. Bands at the time include Quiet Riot, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue and Guns n Roses. Rap music also developed.

The growth of heavy metal and rap continued to grow through the 1990’s. Heavy metal rock broadened its audience appeal thus spanning a variety of sub styles such as thrash, speed metal and death metal. Rap on the other hand adopted stylistic features from other forms of popular music and had began to attract new audiences. Some of the musicians at the time include, Dr Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Ice Cube and De La Soul. Rap –flavored rhythms and blues moved into mainstream and dominated the recording sales.

Sources

Kamien Roger, Music An Appreciation, McGrow-Hill Company, 2000