188-510: American rock has its roots from 1940s and 1950s rock and roll , rhythm and blues , and country music , and also draws from folk music , jazz , blues , and classical music . American rock music was further influenced by the British Invasion of the American pop charts from 1964 and resulted in the development of psychedelic rock . From the late 1960s and early 1970s, American rock music
376-672: A DIY (do it yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels. By late 1976, acts such as the Ramones and Patti Smith , in New York City, and the Sex Pistols and The Clash , in London, were recognized as the vanguard of a new musical movement. The following year saw punk rock spreading around the world. For the most part, punk took root in local scenes that tended to reject association with
564-417: A distorted electric guitar solo with warm overtones created by his small valve amplifier . However, the use of distortion was predated by electric blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis , Guitar Slim , Willie Johnson of Howlin' Wolf 's band, and Pat Hare ; the latter two also made use of distorted power chords in the early 1950s. Also in 1955, Bo Diddley introduced the " Bo Diddley beat " and
752-531: A double bass (string bass). After the mid-1950s, electric bass guitars ("Fender bass") and drum kits became popular in classic rock. Rock and roll had a profound influence on contemporary American lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language, and is often portrayed in movies, fan magazines, and on television. Some people believe that the music had a positive influence on the civil rights movement , because of its widespread appeal to both Black American and White American teenagers. The term "rock and roll"
940-462: A teen idol and one of the most popular singers of the early 1950s. He had 17 songs in the Top 10 on the music charts between 1950 and 1956 and 35 in the Top 40. In 1953, " Any Time " became his first record to sell a million copies, followed soon after by " I'm Walking Behind You ". In 1957 he signed a then record $ 1 million deal with the newly opened Tropicana Las Vegas to appear there a minimum of 4 weeks
1128-412: A vocalist , and he started singing in numerous amateur contests, which he usually won. He made his radio debut on WFIL , a local Philadelphia radio station. He also performed on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts , a popular radio show that later moved to television. Because he became a local star, Fisher dropped out of high school in the middle of his senior year to pursue his career. By 1946, Fisher
1316-458: A blues number), " Baby Let's Play House ", " Lawdy Miss Clawdy ", and " Hound Dog ". The racial lines, however, are rather more clouded by the fact that some of these R&B songs originally recorded by black artists had been written by white songwriters, such as the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . Songwriting credits were often unreliable; many publishers, record executives, and even managers (both white and black) would insert their name as
1504-409: A composer in order to collect royalty checks. Covers were customary in the music industry at the time; it was made particularly easy by the compulsory license provision of United States copyright law (still in effect). One of the first relevant successful covers was Wynonie Harris 's transformation of Roy Brown 's 1947 original jump blues hit " Good Rocking Tonight " into a more showy rocker and
1692-496: A defiant teen dates a rock and roll-loving boy but drops him for one who likes traditional adult music—to her parents' relief. In Britain, where postwar prosperity was more limited, rock and roll culture became attached to the pre-existing Teddy Boy movement, largely working class in origin, and eventually to the rockers . "On the white side of the deeply segregated music market", rock and roll became marketed for teenagers, as in Dion and
1880-571: A distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of the rock group, based on guitars and drums and producing their own material as singer-songwriters . Garage rock was a raw form of rock music, prevalent in North America in the mid-1960s, and called so because of the perception that it was rehearsed in a suburban family garage. Garage rock songs revolved around the traumas of high school life, with songs about "lying girls" being particularly common. The lyrics and delivery were more aggressive than
2068-458: A lack of spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on the generation of musicians who came of age in the 80s and ended up breaking through to mainstream success in the 1990s. Styles of alternative rock in the U.S. during the 1980s included jangle pop , associated with the early recordings of R.E.M., which incorporated the ringing guitars of mid-1960s pop and rock, and college rock , used to describe alternative bands that began in
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#17328808809692256-624: A major element in the sound of the genre. Later that year Dylan adopted electric instruments, much to the outrage of many folk purists, with his " Like a Rolling Stone " becoming a US hit single. Folk rock particularly took off in California, where it led acts like The Mamas & the Papas and Crosby, Stills and Nash to move to electric instrumentation, and in New York, where it spawned performers including The Lovin' Spoonful and Simon and Garfunkel , with
2444-407: A major element of progressive rock . From about 1967 bands like Cream had begun to move away from purely blues-based music into psychedelia. By the 1970s blues rock had become heavier and more riff-based, exemplified by the work of British bands Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple , and the lines between blues rock and hard rock "were barely visible", as bands began recording rock-style albums. The genre
2632-507: A major influence on British Invasion acts and particularly on the song writing of the Beatles and through them on the nature of later rock music. Many of the earliest white rock and roll hits were covers or partial re-writes of earlier black rhythm and blues or blues songs. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, R&B music had been gaining a stronger beat and a wilder style, with artists such as Fats Domino and Johnny Otis speeding up
2820-419: A milestone in American pop culture. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for an American television program. The Beatles went on to become the biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed by numerous British bands, particularly those influenced by blues music including The Rolling Stones , The Animals and The Yardbirds . The British Invasion arguably spelled
3008-420: A more radio-friendly tone to their music, while retaining the speed, some of the attitude and even the look of 1970s punk. Later pop-punk bands, including Simple Plan , All-American Rejects and Fall Out Boy , had a sound that has been described as closer to 1980s hardcore, while still achieving considerable commercial success. In the 1980s the terms indie rock and alternative rock were used interchangeably. By
3196-554: A multi-racial audience, and is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music. There is much debate as to what should be considered the first rock and roll record . One contender is " Rocket 88 " by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (in fact, Ike Turner and his band The Kings of Rhythm), recorded by Sam Phillips for Sun Records in Memphis in 1951. It has been argued that " That's All Right (Mama) " (1954), Elvis Presley 's first major single for Sun Records
3384-453: A musical approach, the indie rock movement encompassed a wide range of styles, from hard-edged, grunge influenced bands like Superchunk , through do-it-yourself experimental bands like Pavement , to punk-folk singers such as Ani DiFranco . It has been noted that indie rock has a relatively high proportion of female artists compared with preceding rock genres, a tendency exemplified by the development of feminist-informed Riot Grrrl music. By
3572-691: A national audience, leading many (often surf or hot rod groups) to adopt a British Invasion lilt, and encouraging many more groups to form. Thousands of garage bands were extant in the US and Canada during the era and hundreds produced regional hits. Examples include: "I Just Don't Care" by New York City's The D-Men (1965), "The Witch" by Tacoma's The Sonics (1965), "Where You Gonna Go" by Detroit's Unrelated Segments (1967), "Girl I Got News for You" by Miami's Birdwatchers (1966) and "1–2–5" by Montreal's The Haunted . Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures. It
3760-409: A number of distinct subgenres, including rockabilly , combining rock and roll with "hillbilly" country music, which was usually played and recorded in the mid-1950s by white singers such as Carl Perkins , Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and with the greatest commercial success, Elvis Presley. In contrast doo wop placed an emphasis on multi-part vocal harmonies and meaningless backing lyrics (from which
3948-575: A perkier vocal more appropriate for an audience unfamiliar with the song to which James's song was an answer , Hank Ballard 's "Work With Me, Annie". Presley's rock and roll version of "Hound Dog", taken mainly from a version recorded by the pop band Freddie Bell and the Bellboys , was very different from the blues shouter that Big Mama Thornton had recorded four years earlier. Other white artists who recorded cover versions of rhythm and blues songs included Gale Storm (Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin ' "),
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#17328808809694136-655: A preacher (October 1957), the departure of Presley for service in the United States Army (March 1958), the scandal surrounding Jerry Lee Lewis ' marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin (May 1958), riots caused by Bill Haley 's ill-fated tour of Europe (October 1958), the deaths of Buddy Holly , The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash (February 1959), the breaking of the Payola scandal implicating major figures, including Alan Freed , in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs (November 1959),
4324-493: A prog rock influence and while ranking among the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, issuing in the era of pomp or arena rock , which would last until the costs of complex shows (often with theatrical staging and special effects), would be replaced by more economical rock festivals as major live venues in the 1990s. Glam rock was prefigured by the showmanship and gender identity manipulation of American acts such as The Cockettes and Alice Cooper . It emerged from
4512-624: A recording contract with RCA Victor and became their best selling pop artist. Fisher was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951, sent to Fort Hood , Texas , for basic training, and served a year in Korea . From 1952 to 1953, he was the official vocal soloist for the United States Army Band (Pershing's Own) and a tenor section member in the United States Army Band Chorus (an element of Pershing's Own) assigned at Fort Myer in
4700-484: A relatively melodic, pop-oriented approach. By the mid-1980s bands were beginning to emerge from the L.A. scene that pursued a less glam image and a rawer sound, particularly Guns N' Roses , breaking through with the chart-topping Appetite for Destruction (1987), and Jane's Addiction , who emerged with their major label debut Nothing's Shocking , the following year. In the late 1980s metal fragmented into several subgenres, including thrash metal , which developed in
4888-415: A result heard each other's music and even began to emulate each other's fashions. Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to both groups, the development and spread of the gramophone record , and African-American musical styles such as jazz and swing which were taken up by white musicians, aided this process of "cultural collision". The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in
5076-600: A rock and roll standard. As interest in rock and roll was beginning to subside in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was taken up by groups in British cities like Liverpool , Manchester , Birmingham , and London . About the same time, a British blues scene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies who were inspired by American musicians such as Robert Johnson , Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf . Many groups moved towards
5264-751: A series of top ten singles, together with the arrival of artists including John Mellencamp , Steve Earle and more gentle singer/songwriters as Bruce Hornsby . It can also be heard as an influence on artists as diverse as Billy Joel and Tracy Chapman . Heartland rock faded away as a recognized genre by the early 1990s, as rock music in general, and blue collar and white working class themes in particular, lost influence with younger audiences, and as heartland's artists turned to more personal works. Many heartland rock artists continue to record today with critical and commercial success, most notably Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, although their works have become more personal and experimental and no longer fit easily into
5452-514: A show business scandal. Due to the unfavorable publicity surrounding the affair and divorce, NBC canceled Fisher's television series in March 1959. Beginning in fall 1959, Fisher established two scholarships at Brandeis University , one for classical and one for popular music, in the name of Eddie Cantor. In 1960, RCA Victor dropped him and he briefly recorded on his own label, Ramrod Records. He later recorded for Dot Records . During this time, he had
5640-540: A significant contribution to the genre, with their hit "Bombora" (1963). Surf music achieved its greatest commercial success as vocal music, particularly the work of the Beach Boys , formed in 1961 in Southern California. Their early albums included both instrumental surf rock (among them covers of music by Dick Dale) and vocal songs, drawing on rock and roll and doo wop and the close harmonies of vocal pop acts like
5828-580: A single genre. Newer artists whose music would perhaps have been labelled heartland rock had it been released in the 1970s or 1980s, such as Missouri's Bottle Rockets and Illinois' Uncle Tupelo , found themselves labeled alt-country . The term alternative rock was coined in the early 1980s to describe rock artists who did not fit into the mainstream genres of the time. Bands dubbed "alternative" had no unified style, but were all seen as distinct from mainstream music. Alternative bands were linked by their collective debt to punk rock, through hardcore, New Wave or
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6016-504: A starting point for many successful musicians), Canned Heat , the early Jefferson Airplane , Janis Joplin , Johnny Winter , The J. Geils Band and Jimi Hendrix with his power trios , the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys , whose guitar virtuosity and showmanship would be among the most emulated of the decade. Early blues rock bands often emulated jazz, playing long, involved improvisations, which would later be
6204-516: A straightforward musical style, and a concern with the lives of ordinary, blue collar American people, developed in the second half of the 1970s. The term heartland rock was first used to describe Midwestern arena rock groups like Kansas , REO Speedwagon and Styx, but which came to be associated with a more socially concerned form of roots rock more directly influenced by folk, country and rock and roll. It has been seen as an American Midwest and Rust Belt counterpart to West Coast country rock and
6392-476: A time of considerable technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, amplifier , 45 rpm record and modern condenser microphones . There were also changes in the record industry, with the rise of independent labels like Atlantic , Sun and Chess servicing niche audiences and a similar rise of radio stations that played their music. It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to this music that led to
6580-496: A unique electric guitar style, influenced by African and Afro-Cuban music and in turn influencing many later artists. Rock and roll was strongly influenced by R&B, according to many sources, including an article in The Wall Street Journal in 1985, titled, "Rock! It's Still Rhythm and Blues". In fact, the author stated that the "two terms were used interchangeably", until about 1957. The other sources quoted in
6768-432: A white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms. In the 1930s, jazz , and particularly swing , both in urban-based dance bands and blues-influenced country swing ( Jimmie Rodgers , Moon Mullican and other similar singers), were among the first music to present African-American sounds for a predominantly white audience. One particularly noteworthy example of a jazz song with recognizably rock and roll elements
6956-605: A wider public, but, although beginning to influence each other, rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with mutually exclusive audiences. The folk rock movement is usually thought to have taken off with The Byrds ' recording of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man " which topped the charts in 1965. With members who had been part of the cafe-based folk scene in Los Angeles, the Byrds adopted rock instrumentation, including drums and 12-string Rickenbacker guitars, which became
7144-509: A wider scale than any other single performer and by 1956, he had emerged as the singing sensation of the nation. Bill Flagg who is a Connecticut resident, began referring to his mix of hillbilly and rock 'n' roll music as rockabilly around 1953. In July 1954, Presley recorded the regional hit " That's All Right " at Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis. Three months earlier, on April 12, 1954, Bill Haley & His Comets recorded "Rock Around
7332-410: A year for 5 years. In 1956, Fisher costarred with then-wife Debbie Reynolds in the musical comedy Bundle of Joy . He played a dramatic role in the 1960 drama Butterfield 8 with second wife Elizabeth Taylor . His best friend was showman and producer Mike Todd , who died in a plane crash in 1958. Fisher's affair, divorce from Reynolds, and subsequent marriage to Taylor, Todd's widow, caused
7520-519: Is Big Joe Turner with pianist Pete Johnson 's 1938 single " Roll 'Em Pete ", which is regarded as an important precursor of rock and roll. The 1940s saw the increased use of blaring horns (including saxophones), shouted lyrics and boogie-woogie beats in jazz-based music. During and immediately after World War II , with shortages of fuel and limitations on audiences and available personnel, large jazz bands were less economical and tended to be replaced by smaller combos, using guitars, bass and drums. In
7708-459: Is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz , rhythm and blues , boogie-woogie , electric blues , gospel , and jump blues , as well as country music . While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s,
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7896-472: Is defined by Greg Kot in Encyclopædia Britannica as the music that originated in the mid-1950s and later developed "into the more encompassing international style known as rock music ". The term is sometimes also used as synonymous with "rock music" and is defined as such in some dictionaries. The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean, but by
8084-677: Is general agreement that it arose in the Southern United States – a region that would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts – through the meeting of various influences that embodied a merging of the African musical tradition with European instrumentation. The migration of many former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers such as St. Louis , Memphis , New York City , Detroit , Chicago , Cleveland , and Buffalo meant that black and white residents were living in close proximity in larger numbers than ever before, and as
8272-418: Is generally agreed that garage rock peaked both commercially and artistically around 1966. By 1968 the style largely disappeared from the national charts and at the local level as amateur musicians faced college, work or the draft . New styles had evolved to replace garage rock (including blues-rock , progressive rock and country rock ). In Detroit garage rock stayed alive until the early 70s, with bands like
8460-481: Is most noted for its sexual and gender ambiguity and representations of androgyny , beside extensive use of theatrics. The success of British artists like David Bowie led to the adoption of glam styles among acts like Lou Reed , Iggy Pop , New York Dolls and Jobriath , often known as "glitter rock" and with a darker lyrical content than their British counterparts. From the late 1960s it became common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock. Soft rock
8648-466: Is often identified with the emergence of teen culture among the first baby boomer generation, who had greater relative affluence and leisure time and adopted rock and roll as part of a distinct subculture. This involved not just music, absorbed via radio, record buying, jukeboxes and TV programs like American Bandstand , but also extended to film, clothes, hair, cars and motorcycles, and distinctive language. The youth culture exemplified by rock and roll
8836-663: Is rock 'n' roll. I think that 'Rocket 88' is R&B, but I think 'Rocket 88' is the cause of rock and roll existing". In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere, Bill Haley 's " Rock Around the Clock ", recorded in April 1954 but not a commercial success until the following year, is generally recognized as an important milestone, but it was preceded by many recordings from earlier decades in which elements of rock and roll can be clearly discerned. Journalist Alexis Petridis argued that neither Haley's "Rock Around
9024-492: The 13th Floor Elevators from Texas, at the end of 1965; producing an album that made their direction clear, with The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators the following year. Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's emerging music scene as groups followed the Byrds from folk to folk rock from 1965. The psychedelic life style had already developed in San Francisco and particularly prominent products of
9212-444: The 1964 United States presidential election . Fisher suffered from knee, back, hearing, and eyesight problems in his later years, the last of which were worsened by complications stemming from cataract removal surgery, and he rarely appeared in public. According to friends, he remained mentally vigorous and kept himself busy watching television, following news and politics, and singing his old songs while friend George Michalski played
9400-419: The British Invasion would become the superseding forms of rock music during the mid-1960s, a few American artists were nonetheless able to achieve chart successes with rock and roll recordings during this time. The most notable of these was Johnny Rivers , who with hits such as "Memphis" (1964), popularized a " Go-go " style of club-oriented, danceable rock and roll that enjoyed significant success in spite of
9588-540: The Dead Kennedys , Minor Threat and Black Flag . Although punk rock was a significant social and musical phenomenon, it achieved less in the way of record sales, or American radio airplay (as the radio scene continued to be dominated by mainstream formats such as disco and album-oriented rock ). Punk rock had attracted devotees from the art and collegiate world and soon bands sporting a more literate, arty approach, such as Talking Heads , and Devo began to infiltrate
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#17328808809699776-582: The Eagles (made up of members of the Burritos, Poco and Stone Canyon Band), who emerged as one of the most successful rock acts of all time, producing albums that included Hotel California (1976). The founders of Southern rock are usually thought to be the Allman Brothers Band , who developed a distinctive sound, largely derived from blues rock , but incorporating elements of boogie , soul, and country in
9964-657: The Everly Brothers ; one-time teen idol Rick Nelson who became the frontman for the Stone Canyon Band; former Monkee Mike Nesmith who formed the First National Band ; and Neil Young . The Dillards were, unusually, a country act, who moved towards rock music. The greatest commercial success for country rock came in the 1970s, with artist including the Doobie Brothers , Emmylou Harris , Linda Ronstadt and
10152-617: The Four Freshmen . Their first chart hit, " Surfin' " in 1962 reached the Billboard top 100 and helped make the surf music craze a national phenomenon. From 1963 the group began to leave surfing behind as subject matter as Brian Wilson became their major composer and producer, moving on to the more general themes of male adolescence including cars and girl in songs like " Fun, Fun, Fun " (1964) and " California Girls " (1965). Other vocal surf acts followed, including one-hit wonders like Ronny &
10340-518: The Hollywood Walk of Fame : one for recording, at 6241 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television, at 1724 Vine Street. Fisher had five marriages and four children: In 1981, Fisher wrote an autobiography , Eddie: My Life, My Loves ( ISBN 978-0-0601-4907-9 ). He wrote another autobiography in 1999 titled Been There, Done That ( ISBN 978-1-5311-9694-3 ). The latter book devotes little space to Fisher's singing career, but recycled
10528-522: The International Submarine Band , arguably the first true country-rock album. Later that year he joined the Byrds for Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968), generally considered one of the most influential recordings in the genre. The Byrds continued in the same vein, but Parsons left to be joined by another ex-Byrds member Chris Hillman in forming The Flying Burrito Brothers who helped establish
10716-527: The London Philharmonic Orchestra . According to arranger-conductor Vincent Falcone, writing in his 2005 autobiography, Frankly: Just Between Us , these tracks were "the best singing of his life". Fisher performed in top concert halls all over the United States and headlined in major Las Vegas showrooms. He headlined at the Palace Theater in New York City, as well as London's Palladium . In
10904-575: The MC5 and The Stooges , who employed a much more aggressive style. These bands began to be labelled punk rock and are now often seen as proto-punk or proto- hard rock . In America blues rock had been pioneered in the early 1960s by guitarist Lonnie Mack , but the genre began to take off in the US the mid-60s as acts developed a sound similar to British blues musicians. Key acts included Paul Butterfield (whose band acted like Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Britain as
11092-579: The Monterey Pop Festival , the latter helping to make a major American star of Jimi Hendrix. Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow and The Doors ' Strange Days . These trends climaxed in the 1969 Woodstock festival , which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts, but by the end of the decade psychedelic rock was in retreat. The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream broke up and many surviving acts moved away from psychedelia into more back-to-basics "roots rock",
11280-457: The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that abolished the policy of " separate but equal " in 1954, but leaving a policy which would be extremely difficult to enforce in parts of the United States. The coming together of white youth audiences and black music in rock and roll inevitably provoked strong white racist reactions within the US, with many whites condemning its breaking down of barriers based on color. Many observers saw rock and roll as heralding
11468-654: The US pop charts – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956 and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency. The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. More grass roots British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including Wee Willie Harris and Tommy Steele . During this period American Rock and Roll remained dominant but in 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard reached number 2 in
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#173288088096911656-452: The Wall of Sound pursued by Phil Spector . Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By 1959, the death of Buddy Holly , The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become a preacher, prosecutions of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and the breaking of
11844-732: The Washington, D.C. Military District. During his active duty period, he also made occasional guest television appearances, in uniform, introduced as "PFC Eddie Fisher". After his discharge, he began to sing in top nightclubs and had a variety television series, Coke Time with Eddie Fisher on NBC (1953–1957). Fisher also appeared on The Perry Como Show , Club Oasis , The Martha Raye Show , The Gisele MacKenzie Show , The Chesterfield Supper Club and The George Gobel Show , and starred in another series, The Eddie Fisher Show ( NBC ) (1957–1959, alternating with Gobel's series). Fisher's good looks and strong, melodious tenor voice made him
12032-590: The beat music of rock and roll and rhythm and blues from skiffle, like the Quarrymen who became the Beatles , producing a form of rock and roll revivalism that carried them and many other groups to national success from about 1963 and to international success from 1964, known in America as the British Invasion. Groups that followed the Beatles included the beat-influenced Freddie and the Dreamers , Wayne Fontana and
12220-616: The gothic and modal harmony , helping to produce a "darker" sound. These elements were taken up by a "second generation" of heavy metal bands into the late 1970s, including Kiss , Ted Nugent and Blue Öyster Cult from the US. Despite a lack of airplay and very little presence on the singles charts, late-1970s heavy metal built a considerable following, particularly among adolescent working-class males in North America and Europe. Rock has been criticized by some Christian religious leaders, who have condemned it as immoral, anti-Christian and even demonic. However, Christian rock began to develop in
12408-412: The payola scandal (which implicated major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs), gave a sense that the initial rock and roll era had come to an end. More recently some authors have emphasised important innovations and trends in this period without which future developments would not have been possible. While early rock and roll, particularly through
12596-428: The rhythm and blues , then called " race music ", in combination with either boogie-woogie and shouting gospel or with country music of the 1940s and 1950s. Particularly significant influences were jazz, blues , gospel , country, and folk . Commentators differ in their views of which of these forms were most important and the degree to which the new music was a re-branding of African-American rhythm and blues for
12784-415: The tempos and increasing the backbeat to great popularity on the juke joint circuit. Before the efforts of Freed and others, black music was taboo on many white-owned radio outlets, but artists and producers quickly recognized the potential of rock and roll. Some of Presley's early recordings were covers of black rhythm and blues or blues songs, such as " That's All Right " (a countrified arrangement of
12972-457: The twist , for example. These groups eventually infused their original compositions with increasingly complex musical ideas and a distinctive sound. During 1963, The Beatles and other beat groups, such as The Searchers and The Hollies , achieved popularity and commercial success in Britain. British rock broke through to mainstream popularity in the United States in January 1964 with the success of
13160-843: The 1800s; the recording can be heard on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became widely popular. " Bosom of Abraham ", an African-American spiritual that was documented no later than 1867 (just after the Civil War ), uses the phrase "rock my soul" frequently in a religious sense; this song was later recorded by musicians from various genres, including various gospel musicians and groups (including The Jordanaires ), Louis Armstrong (jazz/swing), Lonnie Donegan ( skiffle ), and Elvis Presley (rock and roll/pop/country). Blues singer Trixie Smith recorded "My [Man] Rocks Me with One Steady Roll" in 1922. It
13348-418: The 1950s, by leading white and black kids to listen to the same music, put the radio personality 'at the vanguard' and made him 'a really important figure ' ". After Freed was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , the organization's Web site offered this comment: "He became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under
13536-456: The 1970s included Montrose , including the instrumental talent of Ronnie Montrose and vocals of Sammy Hagar and arguably the first all-American hard rock band to challenge the British dominance of the genre, released their first album in 1973, and were followed by bands like Aerosmith . From the late 1960s the term heavy metal began to be used to describe some hard rock played with even more volume and intensity, first as an adjective and by
13724-516: The 1980s Christian rock performers have gained mainstream success, including figures such as the American gospel-to-pop crossover artist Amy Grant . While these artists were largely acceptable in Christian communities the adoption of heavy rock and glam metal styles by bands like Petra and Stryper , who achieved considerable mainstream success in the 1980s, was more controversial. From the 1990s there were increasing numbers of acts who attempted to avoid
13912-419: The 1980s included new wave , hardcore punk , post-punk , thrash , and alternative rock . In the 1990s, alternative rock broke through into the mainstream with grunge , and other significant subgenres included indie rock and nu metal . In the 2000s genres that emerged into the mainstream included emo , metalcore and there was a garage rock/post-punk revival . The development of digital technology led to
14100-635: The Asbury Jukes and Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers , it was partly a reaction to post-industrial urban decline in the East and Mid-West, often dwelling on issues of social disintegration and isolation, beside a form of good-time rock and roll revivalism. The genre reached its commercial, artistic and influential peak in the mid-1980s, with Springsteen's Born in the USA (1984), topping the charts worldwide and spawning
14288-565: The Beach Boys were able to sustain a creative career into the mid-1960s, producing a string of hit singles and albums, including the highly regarded Pet Sounds in 1966, which made them, arguably, the only American rock or pop act that could rival The Beatles. By the end of 1962 British beat groups like The Beatles were drawing on a wide range of American influences including soul music, rhythm and blues and surf music. Initially, they reinterpreted standard American tunes, playing for dancers doing
14476-463: The Beatles. " I Want to Hold Your Hand " was the band's first number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, starting the British Invasion of the American music charts. The song entered the chart on January 18, 1964, at number 45 before it became the number 1 single for 7 weeks and went on to last a total of 15 weeks in the chart. Their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show February 9 is considered
14664-552: The Belmonts ' " A Teenager in Love " (1959). From its early 1950s beginnings through the early 1960s, rock and roll spawned new dance crazes including the twist . Teenagers found the syncopated backbeat rhythm especially suited to reviving Big Band-era jitterbug dancing. Sock hops , school and church gym dances, and home basement dance parties became the rage, and American teens watched Dick Clark 's American Bandstand to keep up on
14852-418: The Billboard charts in 1965. The growing popularity of the genre led groups from other areas to try their hand. These included The Astronauts , from Boulder, Colorado , The Trashmen , from Minneapolis, Minnesota , who had a number 4 hit with " Surfin' Bird " in 1964 and The Rivieras from South Bend, Indiana , who reached number 5 in 1964 with "California Sun". The Atlantics , from Sydney, Australia , made
15040-589: The Christian band label, preferring to be seen as groups who were also Christians, including P.O.D and Collective Soul . Punk rock was developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States and the United Kingdom. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces
15228-547: The Clock" nor Presley's version of "That's Alright Mama" heralded a new genre: "They were simply the first white artists' interpretations of a sound already well-established by black musicians almost a decade before. It was a raucous, driving, unnamed variant of rhythm and blues that came complete with lyrics that talked about rocking". Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Little Richard , Jerry Lee Lewis , and Gene Vincent . Chuck Berry's 1955 classic " Maybellene " in particular features
15416-462: The Clock". Although only a minor hit when first released, when used in the opening sequence of the movie Blackboard Jungle a year later, it set the rock and roll boom in motion. The song became one of the biggest hits in history, and frenzied teens flocked to see Haley and the Comets perform it, causing riots in some cities. "Rock Around the Clock" was a breakthrough success for the group; traditionally,
15604-477: The Daytonas with "G. T. O." (1964) and Rip Chords with " Hey Little Cobra ", which both reached the top ten, but the only other act to achieve sustained success with the formula were Jan & Dean , who had a number 1 hit with " Surf City " (co-written with Brian Wilson) in 1963. The surf music craze, and the careers of almost all surf acts, was effectively ended by the arrival of the British Invasion from 1964. Only
15792-746: The Diamonds (The Gladiolas' "Little Darlin ' " and Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"), the Crew Cuts (the Chords' "Sh-Boom" and Nappy Brown's "Don't Be Angry"), the Fountain Sisters (The Jewels' "Hearts of Stone") and the Maguire Sisters (The Moonglows' "Sincerely"). Some commentators have suggested a decline of rock and roll starting in 1958. The retirement of Little Richard to become
15980-705: The English psychedelic and art rock scenes of the late 1960s and can be seen as both an extension of, and reaction against, those trends. Musically it was very diverse, varying between the simple rock and roll revivalism to complex art rock, and can be seen as much as a fashion as a musical subgenre. Visually it was a mesh of various styles, ranging from 1930s Hollywood glamor, through 1950s pin-up sex appeal, pre-war Cabaret theatrics, Victorian literary and symbolist styles, science fiction , to ancient and occult mysticism and mythology ; manifesting itself in outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots. Glam
16168-447: The Joint " (1949) (later covered by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952), " Rocket 88 " by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats ( Ike Turner and his band The Kings of Rhythm and sung by Brenston), was recorded by Sam Phillips in March 1951. This is often cited as the first rock n' roll record. In an interview however, Ike Turner offered this comment: "I don't think that 'Rocket 88'
16356-473: The Louis Prima rocker "Oh Babe" in 1950, as well as Amos Milburn 's cover of what may have been the first white rock and roll record, Hardrock Gunter 's "Birmingham Bounce" in 1949. The most notable trend, however, was white pop covers of black R&B numbers. The more familiar sound of these covers may have been more palatable to white audiences, there may have been an element of prejudice, but labels aimed at
16544-686: The Mindbenders , Herman's Hermits and the Dave Clark Five . Early British rhythm and blues groups with more blues influences include the Animals , the Rolling Stones , and the Yardbirds . Rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and European-American teens enjoyed
16732-589: The New York-based no wave scene which placed an emphasis on performance, including bands such as James Chance and the Contortions , DNA and Sonic Youth . Early contributors to the genre included the US bands Pere Ubu , Devo, The Residents and Talking Heads . Although many post-punk bands continued to record and perform, it declined as a movement in the mid-1980s as acts disbanded or moved off to explore other musical other areas, but it has continued to influence
16920-535: The Rivieras (South Bend, Indiana). Other influential garage bands, such as the Sonics (Tacoma, Washington), never reached the Billboard Hot 100 . In this early period many bands were heavily influenced by surf rock and there was a cross-pollination between garage rock and frat rock , sometimes viewed as merely a subgenre of garage rock. The British Invasion of 1964–66 greatly influenced garage bands, providing them with
17108-572: The Southern rock of the American South. Led by figures who had initially been identified with punk and new wave, it was most strongly influenced by acts such as Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Van Morrison, and the basic rock of 60s garage and the Rolling Stones. Exemplified by the commercial success of singer songwriters Bruce Springsteen , Bob Seger , and Tom Petty , along with less widely known acts such as Southside Johnny and
17296-421: The US from the style known as speed metal , under the influence of hardcore punk, with low-register guitar riffs typically overlaid by shredding leads. Lyrics often expressed nihilistic views or deal with social issues using visceral, gory language. It was popularised by the "Big Four of Thrash": Metallica , Anthrax , Megadeth , and Slayer . Death metal developed out of thrash, particularly influenced by
17484-552: The US. This success opened the door for the multi-platinum sales of metallic punk band The Offspring with Smash (1994). This first wave of pop punk reached its commercial peak with Green Day's Nimrod (1997) and The Offspring's Americana (1998). A second wave of punk pop was spearheaded by Blink-182 , with their breakthrough album Enema of the State (1999), followed by bands such as Good Charlotte , Bowling for Soup and Sum 41 , who made use of humour in their videos and had
17672-457: The advent of rockabilly, saw the greatest commercial success for male and white performers, in this era the genre was dominated by black and female artists. Rock and roll had not disappeared at the end of the 1950s and some of its energy can be seen in the Twist dance craze of the early 60s, mainly benefiting the career of Chubby Checker . Having died down in the late 1950s, doo wop enjoyed a revival in
17860-488: The album Blonde on Blonde . This, and subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums, have been seen as creating the genre of country folk , a route pursued by a number of, largely acoustic, folk musicians. Other acts that followed the back-to-basics trend included the Californian-based Creedence Clearwater Revival , who mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country and blues, to be among
18048-439: The arrest of Chuck Berry (December 1959), and the death of Eddie Cochran in a car crash (April 1960) gave a sense that the initial phase of rock and roll had come to an end. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the rawer sounds of Presley, Gene Vincent , Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly were commercially superseded by a more polished, commercial style of rock and roll influenced pop music. Marketing frequently emphasized
18236-564: The article said that rock and roll combined R&B with pop and country music. Fats Domino was one of the biggest stars of rock and roll in the early 1950s and he was not convinced that this 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". According to Rolling Stone , "this is a valid statement ... all Fifties rockers, black and white, country born and city-bred, were fundamentally influenced by R&B,
18424-457: The bands Venom and Slayer. Florida's Death and the Bay Area's Possessed emphasized lyrical elements of blasphemy , diabolism and millenarianism , with vocals usually delivered as guttural " death growls ", high-pitched screaming , complemented by downtuned, highly distorted guitars and extremely fast double bass percussion. American working-class oriented heartland rock, characterized by
18612-532: The black popular music of the late Forties and early Fifties". Further, Little Richard built his ground-breaking sound of the same era with an uptempo blend of boogie-woogie, New Orleans rhythm and blues, and the soul and fervor of gospel music vocalization. Less frequently cited as an influencer, LaVern Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall remarked that her "fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set
18800-520: The block in New York where many songwriters were based, which included the number 1 hit for the Shirelles " Will You Love Me Tomorrow " in 1960, penned by the partnership of Gerry Goffin and Carole King . The instrumental rock and roll pioneered by performers such as Duane Eddy , Link Wray, and The Ventures was developed by Dick Dale who added distinctive "wet" reverb , rapid alternate picking, as well as Middle Eastern and Mexican influences, producing
18988-553: The charts with " Move It ". At the same time, TV shows such as Six-Five Special and Oh Boy! promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde and Adam Faith . Cliff Richard and his backing band, the Shadows , were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era. Other leading acts included Billy Fury , Joe Brown , and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates , whose 1960 hit song " Shakin' All Over " became
19176-578: The close harmonies of doo wop and girl groups, the carefully crafted song-writing of the Brill Building Sound and the polished production values of soul, have been seen as influencing the Merseybeat sound, particularly the early work of The Beatles , and through them and others the form of later rock music. Some historians of music have also pointed to important and innovative technical developments that built on rock and roll in this period, particularly
19364-476: The clubs of L.A.'s Sunset Strip and including such bands as Quiet Riot , Ratt , Mötley Crüe , and W.A.S.P. , who, along with similarly styled acts such as New York's Twisted Sister , incorporated the theatrics (and sometimes makeup) of glam rock acts like Alice Cooper and Kiss. The lyrics of these glam metal bands characteristically emphasized hedonism and wild behavior and musically were distinguished by rapid-fire shred guitar solos, anthemic choruses, and
19552-493: The college circuit and college radio, including acts such as 10,000 Maniacs and The Feelies . By the early 1990s, rock was dominated by commercialized and highly produced pop, rock, and "hair metal" artists, while MTV had arrived and promoted a focus on image and style. Disaffected by this trend, in the mid-1980s, bands in Washington state (particularly in the Seattle area) formed a new style of rock which sharply contrasted with
19740-623: The concept of rock and roll had been defined, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term to describe upbeat recordings such as "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe ; her style on that recording was described as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing". By 1943, the "Rock and Roll Inn" in South Merchantville, New Jersey , was established as a music venue. In 1951, Cleveland , Ohio, disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style, and referring to it as "rock and roll" on his mainstream radio program, which popularized
19928-415: The crossover of African-American "race music" to a growing white youth audience, the popularization of rock and roll involved both black performers reaching a white audience and white musicians performing African-American music. Rock and roll appeared at a time when racial tensions in the United States were entering a new phase, with the beginnings of the civil rights movement for desegregation , leading to
20116-539: The culmination of his return to the concert stage in 1962, Fisher headlined a five-week Broadway show at Winter Garden, calling it a dream of his since his youth to perform in the venue Al Jolson had made famous. Fisher created interest as a pop culture icon. Betty Johnson 's "I Want Eddie Fisher For Christmas", containing references to a number of hit songs, reached No. 28 in the Music Vendor national survey during an 11-week chart run in late 1954. Fisher has two stars on
20304-462: The development of new forms of digital electronic rock . The foundations of American rock music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its immediate origins lay in a mixing together of various black musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music ; in addition to country and western . In 1951, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for
20492-403: The development of rock music and has been seen as a major element in the creation of the alternative rock movement. In the late 1970s Eddie Van Halen established himself as a metal guitar virtuoso after his band's self-titled 1978 album . Inspired by Van Halen's success and the new wave of British heavy metal , a metal scene began to develop in Southern California from the late 1970s, based on
20680-494: The development of rock music, bringing in elements of psychedelia, and helping to develop the ideas of the singer-songwriter, the protest song and concepts of "authenticity". Psychedelic music's LSD -inspired vibe began in the folk scene, with the New York-based Holy Modal Rounders using the term in their 1964 recording of " Hesitation Blues ". The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were
20868-588: The development of what was to be defined as rock and roll as a distinct genre. Because the development of rock and roll was an evolutionary process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously "the first" rock and roll record. Contenders for the title of " first rock and roll record " include Sister Rosetta Tharpe 's " Strange Things Happening Every Day " (1944), " That's All Right " by Arthur Crudup (1946), " Move It On Over " by Hank Williams (1947), " The Fat Man " by Fats Domino (1949), Goree Carter 's " Rock Awhile " (1949), and Jimmy Preston 's " Rock
21056-598: The early 1970s as a noun. The term was first used in music in Steppenwolf 's " Born to be Wild " (1967) and began to be associated with pioneer bands like Boston's Blue Cheer and Michigan's Grand Funk Railroad . By 1970 three key British bands had developed the characteristic sounds and styles which would help shape the subgenre. Led Zeppelin added elements of fantasy to their riff laden blues-rock, Deep Purple brought in symphonic and medieval interests from their progressive rock phrase and Black Sabbath introduced facets of
21244-487: The early 1970s. The most successful act to follow them were Lynyrd Skynyrd , who helped establish the "good ol' boy" image of the subgenre and the general shape of 1970s guitar rock. Their successors included the fusion/progressive instrumentalists Dixie Dregs , the more country-influenced Outlaws , jazz-leaning Wet Willie and (incorporating elements of R&B and gospel) the Ozark Mountain Daredevils . After
21432-415: The early 1990s, including Rancid , Pennywise , Weezer and Green Day . In 1994 Green Day moved to a major label and produced the album Dookie , which found a new, largely teenage, audience and proved a surprise diamond-selling success, leading to a series of hit singles, including two number ones in the US. They were soon followed by the eponymous début from Weezer, which spawned three top ten singles in
21620-416: The early 20th century was used both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church rituals and as a sexual analogy. A retired Welsh seaman named William Fender can be heard singing the phrase "rock and roll" when describing a sexual encounter in his performance of the traditional song " The Baffled Knight " to the folklorist James Madison Carpenter in the early 1930s, which he would have learned at sea in
21808-427: The electric guitar as its centerpiece, adapting his rock band instrumentation from the basic blues band instrumentation of a lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass and drums. In 2017, Robert Christgau declared that "Chuck Berry did in fact invent rock 'n' roll", explaining that this artist "came the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together". Rock and roll arrived at
21996-511: The electric guitar, creating what is instantly recognizable as rock guitar. This proposal by Richards neglects the black guitarists who did the same thing before Berry, such as Goree Carter , Gatemouth Brown , and the originator of the style, T-Bone Walker . Country boogie and Chicago electric blues supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll. Inspired by electric blues , Chuck Berry introduced an aggressive guitar sound to rock and roll, and established
22184-404: The electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as Joe Meek , and the " Wall of Sound " productions of Phil Spector , continued desegregation of the charts, the rise of surf music , garage rock and the Twist dance craze. Surf rock in particular, noted for the use of reverb-drenched guitars, became one of the most popular forms of American rock of the early 1960s. While the sounds of
22372-409: The end of instrumental surf music, vocal girl groups and (for a time) the teen idols , that had dominated the American charts in the late 1950s and early 60s. It dented the careers of established R&B acts like Fats Domino and Chubby Checker and even temporarily derailed the chart success of surviving rock and roll acts, including Elvis. The British Invasion also played a major part in the rise of
22560-673: The end of the 1990s many recognisable subgenres, most with their origins in the late 80s alternative movement, were included under the umbrella of indie. Lo-fi eschewed polished recording techniques for a D.I.Y. ethos and was spearheaded by Beck , Sebadoh and Pavement . The work of Talk Talk and Slint helped inspire both post rock , an experimental style influenced by jazz and electronic music , taken up by acts such as Tortoise , as well as leading to more dense and complex, guitar-based math rock , developed by acts like Polvo and Chavez . Sadcore emphasised pain and suffering through melodic use of acoustic and electronic instrumentation in
22748-475: The first commercial recording of "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof . This technically counts as the biggest standard Fisher can claim credit for introducing, although it is rarely associated with him. He also recorded the albums Eddie Fisher Today and Young and Foolish (both 1965). The Dot contract was not successful in record sales terms, and he returned to RCA Victor and had a minor single hit in 1966 with
22936-462: The first definition. In the earliest rock and roll styles, either the piano or saxophone was typically the lead instrument. These instruments were generally replaced or supplemented by the electric guitar in the mid-to-late 1950s. The beat is essentially a dance rhythm with an accentuated backbeat , almost always provided by a snare drum . Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or more electric guitars (one lead , one rhythm ) and
23124-453: The first rock and roll song to top Billboard magazine 's main sales and airplay charts, and opened the door worldwide for this new wave of popular culture. Soon rock and roll was the major force in American record sales and crooners, such as Eddie Fisher , Perry Como , and Patti Page , who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed. Rock and roll has been seen as leading to
23312-455: The fourth of seven children born to Gitte Kathrine "Kate" Tisch (née Minicker, later Stup; c. 1901–1991) and Joseph Fisher (né Tisch; 1900–1972), both Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire . His father's surname was originally Tisch, but was changed to Fisher by the time of the 1940 census. To his family, Fisher was always called "Sonny Boy", a nickname derived from the song of
23500-446: The genre did not acquire its name until 1954. According to the journalist Greg Kot , "rock and roll" refers to a style of popular music originating in the United States in the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had developed into "the more encompassing international style known as rock music , though the latter also continued to be known in many circles as rock and roll." For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with
23688-419: The genre later gained its name), which were usually supported with light instrumentation and had its origins in 1930s and 40s African American vocal groups. Acts like The Crows , The Penguins , The El Dorados and The Turbans all scored major hits, and groups like The Platters , with songs including " The Great Pretender " (1955), and The Coasters with humorous songs like " Yakety Yak " (1958), ranked among
23876-474: The genre was pioneered by figures such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and often identified with progressive or labor politics . In the early sixties figures such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan had come to the fore in this movement as singer-songwriters. Dylan had begun to reach a mainstream audience with hits including " Blowin' in the Wind " (1963) and " Masters of War " (1963), which brought " protest songs " to
24064-463: The greatest Black musicians like BB King, Arthur Crudup and Fats Domino. His style of music combined with black influences created controversy during a turbulent time in history. Many other popular rock and roll singers of the time, such as Fats Domino and Little Richard , came out of the black rhythm and blues tradition, making the music attractive to white audiences, and are not usually classed as "rockabilly". Presley popularized rock and roll on
24252-552: The late 1960s, particularly out of the Jesus movement beginning in Southern California, and emerged as a subgenre in the 1970s with artists like Larry Norman , usually seen as the first major "star" of Christian rock. The genre has been particularly popular in the United States . Many Christian rock performers have ties to the contemporary Christian music scene, while other bands and artists are closely linked to independent music . Since
24440-536: The latest dance and fashion styles. From the mid-1960s on, as "rock and roll" was rebranded as "rock", later dance genres followed, leading to funk , disco , house , techno , and hip hop . Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, The Eddie Fisher Show . Actress Elizabeth Taylor
24628-401: The latter's acoustic " The Sounds of Silence " being remixed with rock instruments to be the first of many hits. Folk rock reached its peak of commercial popularity in the period 1967-8, before many acts moved off in a variety of directions, including Dylan and the Byrds, who began to develop country rock . However, the hybridization of folk and rock has been seen as having a major influence on
24816-399: The levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm". In discussing Alan Freed's contribution to the genre, two significant sources emphasized the importance of African-American rhythm and blues. Greg Harris, then the executive director of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, offered this comment to CNN : "Freed's role in breaking down racial barriers in U.S. pop culture in
25004-482: The loss of original members of the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the genre began to fade in popularity in the late 1970s, but was sustained the 1980s with acts like .38 Special , Molly Hatchet and The Marshall Tucker Band . Progressive rock, a term sometimes used interchangeably with art rock , was an attempt to move beyond established musical formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and forms. From
25192-711: The mainstream in the early 1990s. Early alternative metal bands mixed a wide variety of genres with hardcore and heavy metal sensibilities, with acts like Jane's Addiction and Primus using prog-rock, Soundgarden and Corrosion of Conformity using garage punk, The Jesus Lizard and Helmet mixing noise-rock , Ministry and Nine Inch Nails influenced by industrial music , Monster Magnet moving into psychedelia , Pantera and White Zombie creating groove metal , while Biohazard and Faith No More turned to hip hop and rap. Rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll , rock-n-roll , rock 'n' roll , rock n' roll , Rock n' Roll or proto-rock )
25380-532: The mainstream music of the time. The developing genre came to be known as "grunge", a term descriptive of the dirty sound of the music and the unkempt appearance of most musicians, who actively rebelled against the over-groomed images of popular artists. Grunge fused elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal into a single sound, and made heavy use of guitar distortion , fuzz and feedback . The lyrics were typically apathetic and angst-filled, and often concerned themes such as social alienation and entrapment, although it
25568-704: The mainstream. An associated punk subculture emerged, expressing youthful rebellion and characterized by distinctive clothing styles and a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies . Since punk rock's initial popularity in the 1970s and the renewed interest created by the punk revival of the 1990s, punk rock continues to have a strong underground following. A more extreme variation of punk rock, hardcore punk emerged from local scenes, particularly in Los Angeles and New York and taking root in Washington DC, Boston, and San Francisco. With louder, faster and usually shorter songs with shouted or screamed vocals it spawned bands like
25756-571: The material of his first book and added many new sexual details that were too strong to publish before. Upon the book's publication, his daughter Carrie declared: "I'm thinking of having my DNA fumigated." While performing at The Tropicana Hotel in 1957, Fisher had numerous affairs with women, which contributed to his turbulent marriage to Debbie Reynolds. One of his notable affairs was with model Pat Sheehan . They eventually parted ways after Fisher refused to divorce Reynolds. He would divorce Reynolds two years later and marry Elizabeth Taylor. When she
25944-706: The mid-1960s groups including The Left Banke and The Beach Boys, had pioneered the inclusion of harpsichords , wind and string sections on their recordings to produce a form of Baroque rock . Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy and science fiction . The American brand of prog rock varied from the eclectic and innovative Frank Zappa , Captain Beefheart and Blood, Sweat and Tears , to more pop rock orientated bands like Boston , Foreigner , Kansas , Journey and Styx . These, beside British bands Supertramp and Electric Light Orchestra , all demonstrated
26132-575: The mid-1990s, as elements of the movement began to attract mainstream interest, particularly grunge and then Britpop, post-grunge and pop-punk, the term alternative began to lose its meaning. Those bands following the less commercial contours of the scene were increasingly referred to by the label indie. They characteristically attempted to retain control of their careers by releasing albums on their own or small independent labels, while relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Linked by an ethos more than
26320-441: The more song-oriented bands of the 1970s punk movement like The Buzzcocks and The Clash , commercially successful new wave acts such as The Jam and The Undertones , and the more hardcore-influenced elements of alternative rock in the 1980s. Pop-punk tends to use power-pop melodies and chord changes with speedy punk tempos and loud guitars. Punk music provided the inspiration for some California-based bands on independent labels in
26508-608: The most commercially viable subgenres of the late 1990s. Although male bands predominated, female solo artist Alanis Morissette 's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill , labelled as post-grunge, also became a multi-platinum hit. Bands like Creed and Nickelback took post-grunge into the 21st century with considerable commercial success, abandoning most of the angst and anger of the original movement for more conventional anthems, narratives and romantic songs, and were followed in this vein by new acts including Shinedown , Seether and 3 Doors Down . The origins of 1990s punk pop can be seen in
26696-519: The most defined regional sound. The style had been evolving from regional scenes as early as 1958. "Tall Cool One" (1959) by The Wailers and " Louie Louie " by The Kingsmen (1963) are mainstream examples of the genre in its formative stages. By 1963, garage band singles were creeping into the national charts in greater numbers, including Paul Revere and the Raiders (Boise), the Trashmen (Minneapolis) and
26884-404: The most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like Ry Cooder , Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George , and influenced the work of established performers such as the Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet (1968) and the Beatles' Let It Be (1970). In 1968 Gram Parsons recorded Safe at Home with
27072-424: The most successful rock and roll acts of the period. The era also saw the growth in popularity of the electric guitar , and the development of a specifically rock and roll style of playing through such exponents as Chuck Berry, Link Wray , and Scotty Moore . Also significant was the advent of soul music as a major commercial force. It developed out of rhythm and blues with a re-injection of gospel music and pop and
27260-404: The music of bands like American Music Club and Red House Painters , while the revival of Baroque pop reacted against lo-fi and experimental music by placing an emphasis on melody and classical instrumentation, with artists like Rufus Wainright . Alternative metal emerged from the hardcore scene of alternative rock in the US in the later 1980s, but gained a wider audience after grunge broke into
27448-525: The music. Many early rock and roll songs dealt with issues of cars, school, dating, and clothing. The lyrics of rock and roll songs described events and conflicts to which most listeners could relate through personal experience. Topics such as sex that had generally been considered taboo began to appear in rock and roll lyrics. This new music tried to break boundaries and express emotions that people were actually feeling but had not discussed openly. An awakening began to take place in American youth culture. In
27636-659: The name of rock and roll". Not often acknowledged in the history of rock and roll, Todd Storz , the owner of radio station KOWH in Omaha , Nebraska, was the first to adopt the Top 40 format (in 1953), playing only the most popular records in rotation. His station, and the numerous others which adopted the concept, helped to promote the genre: by the mid 50s, the playlist included artists such as " Presley , Lewis , Haley , Berry and Domino ". The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and historians of music. There
27824-471: The ongoing British Invasion. Another example was Bobby Fuller and his group The Bobby Fuller Four , who were especially inspired by Buddy Holly and stuck with a rock and roll style, scoring their most notable hit with "I Fought the Law" (1965). In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language , had been exposed to American culture through
28012-419: The photogenic Blondie , began as punk acts and moved into more commercial territory. If hardcore most directly pursued the stripped down aesthetic of punk, and new wave came to represent its commercial wing, post-punk emerged in the later 1970s and early 80s as its more artistic and challenging side. Major influences beside punk bands were The Velvet Underground , The Who, Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, and
28200-418: The phrase. Several sources suggest that Freed found the term, used as a synonym for sexual intercourse, on the record " Sixty Minute Man " by Billy Ward and his Dominoes . The lyrics include the line, "I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long". Freed did not acknowledge the suggestion about that source in interviews, and explained the term as follows: "Rock 'n roll is really swing with a modern name. It began on
28388-506: The physical looks of the artist rather than the music, contributing to the successful careers of Ricky Nelson , Tommy Sands , Bobby Vee , Jimmy Clanton , and the Philadelphia trio of Bobby Rydell , Frankie Avalon , and Fabian , who all became "teen idols". Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including multitrack recording , developed by Les Paul ,
28576-502: The piano. Michalski had worked on several occasions over the years to help Fisher get his name back on the music charts. He said "The '60s passed Eddie by; he missed that entire era of music. I'd play a Beatles song like " Something " for him and he'd think I wrote it." Fisher fell and broke his hip on September 9, 2010, and died 13 days later on September 22, 2010, at his home in Berkeley, California , from complications from hip surgery, at
28764-479: The post-punk movements. Important bands of the 1980s alternative movement in the US included R.E.M. , Hüsker Dü , Jane's Addiction , Sonic Youth and the Pixies . Artists were largely confined to independent record labels , building an extensive underground music scene based on college radio , fanzines, touring, and word-of-mouth. Few of these bands, with the exception of R.E.M., achieved mainstream success, but despite
28952-567: The punk scene; in some quarters the description "New Wave" began to be used to differentiate these less overtly punk bands. Record executives, who had been mostly mystified by the punk movement, recognized the potential of the more accessible New Wave acts and began aggressively signing and marketing any band that could claim a remote connection to punk or new wave. Many of these bands, such as The Cars , The Runaways and The Go-Go's can be seen as pop bands marketed as new wave; other existing acts, while "skinny tie" bands exemplified by The Knack , or
29140-587: The regional hit " Let's Go Trippin' " in 1961 and launching the surf music craze. Like Dale and his Del-Tones , most early surf bands were formed in Southern California, including the Bel-Airs , The Challengers , and Eddie & the Showmen . The Chantays scored a top ten national hit with " Pipeline " in 1963 and probably the best known surf tune was 1963's " Wipe Out ", by the Surfaris , which hit number 2 and number 10 on
29328-537: The remaining grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of acts moved to the city in the hope of success. However, with the death of Kurt Cobain and the subsequent break-up of Nirvana in 1994, touring problems for Pearl Jam and the departure of Alice in Chains' lead singer Layne Staley in 1996, the genre began to decline, partly to be overshadowed by Britpop and more commercial sounding post-grunge . The term post-grunge
29516-633: The respectability and parameters of the genre, before Parsons departed to pursue a solo career. Country rock was particularly popular in the Californian music scene, where it was adopted by bands including Hearts and Flowers, Poco and New Riders of the Purple Sage , the Beau Brummels and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band . Some performers also enjoyed a renaissance by adopting country sounds, including:
29704-455: The same name in Al Jolson 's film The Singing Fool (1928). His siblings were Sidney, Nettie, Miriam, Janet, Alvin, and Eileen. Kate and Joseph divorced when Fisher was an adult, after 33 years of marriage, and Kate married Max Stup. Fisher attended Thomas Junior High School, South Philadelphia High School , and Simon Gratz High School . It was known at an early age that he had talent as
29892-517: The same period, particularly on the West Coast and in the Midwest , the development of jump blues , with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many later developments. In the documentary film Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll , Keith Richards proposes that Chuck Berry developed his brand of rock and roll by transposing the familiar two-note lead line of jump blues piano directly to
30080-519: The same period, with hits for acts like The Marcels , The Capris , Maurice Williams and Shep and the Limelights . The rise of girl groups like The Chantels , The Shirelles and The Crystals placed an emphasis on harmonies and polished production that was in contrast to earlier rock and roll. Some of the most significant girl group hits were products of the Brill Building Sound, named after
30268-517: The scene were The Grateful Dead , Country Joe and the Fish , The Great Society and Jefferson Airplane . The Byrds rapidly progressed from purely folk rock in 1966 with their single " Eight Miles High ", widely taken to be a reference to drug use. Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. The Summer of Love of 1967 was prefaced by the Human Be-In event and reached its peak at
30456-710: The so-called "vitamin" shots administered by the notorious "Dr. Feelgood", Max Jacobson , shots that contained methamphetamine. Fisher said he eventually kicked his drug addiction in 1990 after undergoing rehabilitation at the Betty Ford Clinic . In his autobiography, Been There, Done That , Fisher also claimed that following his separation from Taylor, he had numerous affairs with such women as Ann-Margret , Juliet Prowse , Stefanie Powers , Sue Lyon , Edie Adams , Judith Campbell , Mia Farrow , and Michelle Phillips . Phillips categorically denied Fisher's claim that they had an affair. Fisher supported Lyndon B. Johnson in
30644-404: The song " Games That Lovers Play " with Nelson Riddle , which became the title of his best-selling album. When Fisher was at the height of his popularity, in the mid-1950s, singles, rather than albums, were the primary medium for issuing recordings. His last album for RCA Victor was an Al Jolson tribute, You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet , released in 1968. In 1983 he attempted a comeback tour but this
30832-570: The song has been seen as the major breakthrough for the rock and roll genre, as its immense popularity introduced the music to a global audience. In 1956, the arrival of rockabilly was underlined by the success of songs like " Folsom Prison Blues " by Johnny Cash , " Blue Suede Shoes " by Perkins, and the No. 1 hit " Heartbreak Hotel " by Presley. For a few years it became the most commercially successful form of rock and roll. Later rockabilly acts, particularly performing songwriters like Buddy Holly , would be
31020-489: The stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties". "Rockabilly" usually (but not exclusively) refers to the type of rock and roll music which was played and recorded in the mid-1950s primarily by white singers such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins , Johnny Cash , and Jerry Lee Lewis , who drew mainly on the country roots of the music. Presley was greatly influenced by and incorporated his style of music with that of some of
31208-562: The stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the Teddy Boys and the rockers . Trad jazz became popular in the UK, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including boogie woogie and the blues . The skiffle craze, led by Lonnie Donegan , used amateurish versions of American folk songs and encouraged many of
31396-510: The subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing. At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Rock Around the Clock (1956). Both movies featured the Bill Haley & His Comets hit " Rock Around the Clock ", which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached
31584-451: The way for desegregation, in creating a new form of music that encouraged racial cooperation and shared experience. Many authors have argued that early rock and roll was instrumental in the way both white and black teenagers identified themselves. Several rock historians have claimed that rock and roll was one of the first music genres to define an age group . It gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone. Rock and roll
31772-799: The white market also had much better distribution networks and were generally much more profitable. Famously, Pat Boone recorded sanitized versions of songs recorded by the likes of Fats Domino, Little Richard, the Flamingos and Ivory Joe Hunter. Later, as those songs became popular, the original artists' recordings received radio play as well. The cover versions were not necessarily straightforward imitations. For example, Bill Haley's incompletely bowdlerized cover of " Shake, Rattle and Roll " transformed Big Joe Turner's humorous and racy tale of adult love into an energetic teen dance number, while Georgia Gibbs replaced Etta James ' tough, sarcastic vocal in "Roll With Me, Henry" (covered as "Dance With Me, Henry") with
31960-415: The wider experimentation of progressive rock, or riff-laden heavy rock. Roots rock is the term now used to describe a move away from what some saw as the excesses of the psychedelic scene, to a more basic form of rock and roll that incorporated its original influences, particularly country and folk music, leading to the creation of country rock and Southern rock. In 1966 Bob Dylan went to Nashville to record
32148-401: Was a recurring source of concern for older generations, who worried about juvenile delinquency and social rebellion, particularly because, to a large extent, rock and roll culture was shared by different racial and social groups. In America, that concern was conveyed even in youth cultural artifacts such as comic books . In "There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" from True Life Romance (1956),
32336-418: Was already married was widely reported and brought unfavorable publicity to both Fisher and Taylor. Approximately five years later, he and Taylor divorced and he later married Connie Stevens . Fisher is the father of Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher , whose mother is Reynolds, and the father of Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher , whose mother is Stevens. Fisher was born in Philadelphia on August 10, 1928,
32524-513: Was also known for its dark humor and parodies of commercial rock. Bands such as Green River , Soundgarden , the Melvins and Skin Yard pioneered the genre, with Mudhoney becoming the most successful by the end of the decade. However, grunge remained largely a local phenomenon until 1991, when Nirvana ‘s Nevermind became a huge success thanks to the lead single " Smells Like Teen Spirit ". Nevermind
32712-469: Was best friends with Fisher's first wife, actress Debbie Reynolds . The couple divorced in 1959 when it was revealed shortly after Taylor's third husband, Mike Todd , was killed in a plane crash, that Fisher had been having an affair with her. The affair was a great public scandal, which led to the cancellation of Eddie Fisher's television show . Fisher and Taylor married that same year. The scandalous affair that Fisher and Taylor had been having while each
32900-421: Was coined for the generation of bands that followed the emergence into the mainstream, and subsequent hiatus, of the Seattle grunge bands. Post-grunge bands emulated their attitudes and music, but with a more radio-friendly commercially oriented sound. Often they worked through the major labels and came to incorporate diverse influences from jangle pop, punk-pop, alternative metal or hard rock. The term post-grunge
33088-668: Was common at the time, often with growled or shouted vocals that dissolved into incoherent screaming. They ranged from crude one-chord music (like the Seeds ) to near-studio musician quality (including the Knickerbockers , the Remains , and the Fifth Estate ). There were also regional variations in many parts of the country with flourishing scenes particularly in California and Texas. The Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon had perhaps
33276-450: Was continued in the 1970s by figures such as George Thorogood , but bands became focused on heavy metal innovation, and blues rock began to slip out of the mainstream. By the 1960s, the scene that had developed out of the American folk music revival had grown to a major movement, using traditional music and new compositions in a traditional style, usually on acoustic instruments. In America
33464-498: Was crooning with the bands of Buddy Morrow and Charlie Ventura . He was heard in 1949 by Eddie Cantor at Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel in the Borscht Belt . Cantor's so-called discovery of Fisher was later described as a totally contrived, "manipulated' arrangement by Milton Blackstone, Grossinger's publicity director. After performing on Cantor's radio show he was an instant hit and gained nationwide exposure. He then signed
33652-544: Was highly influential in the development of a number of fusion genres, including blending with folk music to create folk rock , with blues to create blues rock , with country music to create country rock , roots rock and Southern rock and with jazz to create jazz rock , all of which contributed to psychedelic rock . In the 1970s, rock developed a large number of subgenres, such as soft rock , hard rock , heavy metal , glam rock , progressive rock and punk rock . New subgenres that were derived from punk and important in
33840-560: Was interviewed, Debbie Reynolds said that she could understand being dumped "for the world's most beautiful woman", referring to Taylor, who was previously a close friend. Taylor and Reynolds later resumed their friendship and mocked Fisher in a TV movie written by Carrie Fisher, These Old Broads , in which their characters ridiculed the ex-husband they shared, named "Freddie Hunter". In his memoirs, Fisher admitted to addictions to drugs and gambling, which aggravated his career problems. He wrote that his addiction to drugs began in 1953 with
34028-534: Was led by pioneers like Ray Charles and Sam Cooke from the mid-1950s. By the early 60s figures like Marvin Gaye , James Brown , Aretha Franklin , Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder were dominating the R&;B charts and breaking through into the main pop charts, helping to accelerate their desegregation, while Motown and Stax/Volt Records were becoming major forces in the record industry. All of these elements, including
34216-581: Was meant to be pejorative, suggesting that they were simply musically derivative, or a cynical response to an "authentic" rock movement. From 1994, former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl 's new band, the Foo Fighters , helped popularize the genre and define its parameters. Some post-grunge bands, like Candlebox , were from Seattle, but the subgenre was marked by a broadening of the geographical base of grunge, with bands like Los Angeles' Audioslave , and Georgia's Collective Soul, who all cemented post-grunge as one of
34404-549: Was more melodic than its predecessors, but the band refused to employ traditional corporate promotion and marketing mechanisms. During 1991 and 1992, other grunge albums such as Pearl Jam 's Ten , Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger and Alice in Chains ' Dirt , along with the Temple of the Dog album featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, became among the 100 top selling albums. The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands prompted Rolling Stone to nickname Seattle "the new Liverpool ." Major record labels signed most of
34592-453: Was not a success. Eddie Fisher's last released album was recorded around 1984 on the Bainbridge record label. Fisher tried to stop the album from being released, but it turned up as After All . The album was produced by William J. O'Malley and arranged by Angelo DiPippo. DiPippo, a world-renowned arranger, worked with Eddie countless hours to better his vocals, but it became futile. Fisher's final recordings (never released) were made in 1995 with
34780-430: Was often derived from folk rock, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody and harmonies. Major artists included Carole King , James Taylor and America . It reached its commercial peak in the mid- to late- 70s with acts like Billy Joel and the reformed Fleetwood Mac , whose Rumours (1977) was the best-selling album of the decade. In contrast, hard rock was more often derived from blues-rock and
34968-557: Was played louder and with more intensity. It often emphasised the electric guitar, both as a rhythm instrument using simple repetitive riffs and as a solo lead instrument, and was more likely to be used with distortion and other effects. Key acts included British Invasion bands like The Who and The Kinks , as well as psychedelic era performers like Cream, Jimi Hendrix and The Jeff Beck Group and American bands including Iron Butterfly , MC5 , Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge . Hard rock-influenced bands that enjoyed international success in
35156-403: Was the first rock and roll record, but, at the same time, Big Joe Turner 's " Shake, Rattle & Roll ", later covered by Bill Haley , was already at the top of the Billboard R&B charts . Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Fats Domino , Little Richard , Jerry Lee Lewis , and Gene Vincent . Bill Haley's " Rock Around the Clock " (1955) became
35344-409: Was used in 1940s recordings and reviews of what became known as " rhythm and blues " music aimed at a black audience. Huey "Piano" Smith credits Cha Cha Hogan , a jump-blues shouter and comic in New Orleans, with popularizing the term in his 1950 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
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