109-661: [REDACTED] Look up freed in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Freed may refer to: People [ edit ] Alan Freed (1921–1965), American radio personality Arthur Freed (1894–1973), American film producer and lyricist Dan Freed (born 1959), American mathematician Gene Freed (1930–2009), American bridge player James Ingo Freed (1930–2005), German-American architect Leonard Freed (1929–2006), American photographer Richard Freed (1928–2022), American music critic Media [ edit ] Jio Freed,
218-486: A character in O-Parts Hunter The Freed Man , 1989 Sebadoh album "Freed", a song by Tracy Bonham, from her album Down Here Freed: Fifty Shades Freed as Told by Christian , 2021 novel by E. L. James Other [ edit ] Freed, West Virginia Freed of London , a specialist manufacturer of dance shoes and clothing Honda Freed , a Mini MPV vehicle made by Honda Freedman ,
327-417: 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
436-531: 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"
545-596: A $ 6,000 judgment from Freed, as well as an agreement to give up further usage of the name Moondog. Freed left the station in May 1958 "after a riot at a dance in Boston featuring Jerry Lee Lewis". WINS eventually became an around-the-clock Top 40 rock and roll radio station, and would remain so until April 19, 1965, long after Freed left and three months after he had died—when it became an all-news outlet. Earlier, in 1956, Freed had hosted "The Camel Rock and Roll Dance Party", so named for
654-458: 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
763-409: 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
872-496: 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
981-446: A former slave who has been released from slavery See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] Search for "freed" on Misplaced Pages. All pages with titles containing Freed All pages with titles beginning with Freed Free (disambiguation) Freedom (disambiguation) Freeman (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
1090-683: A home page biography written by Ben Fong-Torres . On February 26, 2002, Freed was honored at the Grammy Awards with the Trustees Award. In 2017 he was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in Detroit, Michigan. Freed was used as a character in Stephen King 's short story " You Know They Got a Hell of a Band ", and was portrayed by Mitchell Butel in its television adaptation for
1199-502: A jukebox-shaped memorial featuring Freed's image. On August 22, 1943, Freed married his first wife Betty Lou Bean. They had two children, daughter Alana and son Lance, and divorced on December 2, 1949. On August 12, 1950, Freed married Marjorie J. Hess, with whom he had two children, daughter Sieglinde and son Alan Freed, Jr. They divorced on July 25, 1958. On August 8, 1958, Freed married Inga Lil Boling. They remained together until his death. An archived sample of Freed's introduction on
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#17328633222101308-412: A local favorite for playing hot jazz and pop recordings. Freed was the first radio disc jockey and concert producer who frequently played and promoted rock and roll; he popularized the phrase "rock and roll" on mainstream radio in the early 1950s. (The term already existed and had been used by Billboard as early as 1946, but it remained obscure.) Several sources suggest that he first discovered
1417-507: 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
1526-474: A member of the Byrds , and "This Is Not Goodbye, Just Goodnight" by Kill Your Idols . The 2023 off-Broadway musical Rock & Roll Man follows Freed's rise and influence in radio using various songs that he played on the radio. Constantine Maroulis played Freed. In 2024, RiffTrax produced and published a humorous commentary for the 1956 musical drama film Rock, Rock, Rock! , in which Freed appeared on as
1635-575: 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 ' "),
1744-680: A place in American music history as the first important rock 'n' roll disc jockey. His ability to tap into and promote the emerging black musical styles of the 1950s to a white mainstream audience is seen as a vital step in rock's increasing dominance over American culture. The board of directors of the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame inducted Alan Freed into the class of 2017. Mr. Rock 'n Roll 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 )
1853-655: 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),
1962-415: 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
2071-600: 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
2180-446: A row. At the height of his popularity in 1948, Freed signed a contract extension with WAKR that included a non-compete clause inserted by owner S. Bernard Berk, preventing Freed from working at any station within a radius of 75 miles (121 kilometers ) of Akron for a full year. Freed left WAKR on February 12, 1950, and after one program on competing station WADC (1350 AM) several days later, Berk and WAKR sued Freed to enforce
2289-610: A short stint at the Long Beach station KNOB /97.9. Living in the Racquet Club Estates neighborhood of Palm Springs, California , Freed died on January 20, 1965, from uremia and cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism , at the age of 43. Prior to his death, the Internal Revenue Service had continued to maintain that he owed $ 38,000 for tax evasion, but Freed did not have the financial means to pay that amount. He
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#17328633222102398-766: A show presenter. Freed's importance to the musical genre is confirmed by his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and his 1991 star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The DJ was also inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988. The organization's Web page states that "despite his personal tragedies, Freed's innovations helped make rock and roll and the Top-40 format permanent fixtures of radio". The Wall Street Journal in 2015 recalled "Freed's sizable contributions to rock 'n' roll and to teenagers' more tolerant view of integration in
2507-572: A statement for the FCC while working at WABC (AM) to state that he never received bribes. That led to his termination. In 1960, payola was made illegal. In December 1962, after being charged on multiple counts of commercial bribery , Freed pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial bribery and was fined three hundred dollars and given a suspended sentence. There was also a series of conflict of interest allegations, that he had taken songwriting co-credits that he did not deserve. The most notable example
2616-476: 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
2725-496: 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
2834-432: 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
2943-509: 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
3052-519: 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
3161-459: 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,
3270-464: Is arguably the first time that authentic R&B was featured regularly on a major, mass audience station. Freed called his show "The Moondog House" and billed himself as "The King of the Moondoggers". He had been inspired by an instrumental piece called "Moondog Symphony" that had been recorded by New York-based composer and street musician Louis T. Hardin, known professionally as Moondog . Freed adopted
3379-472: 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
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3488-677: 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
3597-496: Is named in honor of Freed. Freed is mentioned in The Ramones ' song " Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? " as one of the band's idols. Other songs that reference Freed include "The King of Rock 'n Roll" by Terry Cashman and Tommy West , "Ballrooms of Mars" by Marc Bolan , "They Used to Call it Dope" by Public Enemy , "Payola Blues" by Neil Young , "Done Too Soon" by Neil Diamond , "The Ballad of Dick Clark" by Skip Battin ,
3706-466: 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
3815-708: 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
3924-617: The Nightmares & Dreamscapes mini-series. He was the subject of a 1999 television movie, Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story , starring Judd Nelson and directed by Andy Wolk . The 1997 film Telling Lies in America stars Kevin Bacon as a disc jockey with a loose resemblance to Freed. Jack McBrayer portrayed Freed on the Comedy Central show Drunk History in a segment on Freed's legacy. The Cleveland Cavaliers ' mascot Moondog
4033-477: 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
4142-654: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. In 1988, he was also posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame . On December 10, 1991, Freed was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . The VH1 series Behind The Music produced an episode on Freed featuring Roger Steffens . In 1998, The Official Website of Alan Freed went online with the jumpstart from Brian Levant and Michael Ochs archives as well as
4251-457: 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
4360-654: 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
4469-590: 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
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4578-428: 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
4687-415: 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
4796-843: 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
4905-511: The 1950s". The publication praised the help he gave to "hundreds of black and white artists" and said that "his tireless efforts helped create thousands of jobs for studio musicians, engineers, record producers, concert promoters and instrument manufacturers". One source said that "No man had as much influence on the coming culture of our society in such a short period of time as Alan Freed, the real King of Rock n Roll". Another source summarized his contribution as follows: Alan Freed has secured
5014-418: 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
5123-412: The 1957–58 television season. Although the ratings for the show were strong, it was suddenly terminated. The Wall Street Journal summarized the end of the program as follows. "Four episodes into The Big Beat , Freed's prime-time TV music series on ABC, an uproar was caused when African-American artist Frankie Lymon was seen on TV dancing with a white audience member". Two more episodes were aired but
5232-552: 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
5341-547: 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
5450-462: 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,
5559-746: 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
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#17328633222105668-495: 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'
5777-473: 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
5886-686: 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
5995-545: The Moondog Show was used by Ian Hunter in the opening of the song " Cleveland Rocks ", from Hunter's 1979 album You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic . The 1978 motion picture American Hot Wax was inspired by Freed's contribution to the rock and roll scene. Although director Floyd Mutrux created a fictionalized account of Freed's last days in New York radio by using real-life elements outside of their actual chronology,
6104-601: The New York City area over station WNJR 1430 (now WNSW ), in Newark, New Jersey. In July 1954, following his success on the air in Cleveland, Freed moved to WINS (1010 AM) in New York City . Hardin, the original Moondog, later took a court action suit against WINS for damages against Freed for infringement in 1956, arguing prior claim to the name "Moondog", under which he had been composing since 1947. Hardin collected
6213-663: The West Coast in 1960, where he worked at KDAY /1580 in Santa Monica, California . In 1962, after KDAY refused to allow him to promote "rock and roll" stage shows, Freed moved to WQAM in Miami , Florida, arriving in August 1962. Recognizing that his career in major markets might be over, he drank heavily and the job lasted only two months. During 1964, he returned to the Los Angeles area for
6322-439: 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
6431-564: 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,
6540-511: The audience, "It looks like the Boston police don't want you to have a good time." As a result, Freed was arrested and charged with inciting to riot, and was fired from his job at WINS. Freed's career was significantly affected when it was shown that he had accepted payola (payments from record companies to play specific records), a practice that was highly controversial at the time. He initially denied taking payola but later admitted to his fans that he had accepted bribes. Freed refused to sign
6649-545: The big beat." In June 1945, Alan Freed joined WAKR (1590 AM) in Akron, Ohio , and quickly became a star announcer. Dubbed "The Old Knucklehead", Freed had up to five hours of airtime every day on the station by June 1948: the daytime Jukebox Serenade , the early-evening Wax Works and the nightly Request Review . Freed also had brief run-ins with management and was at one point temporarily fired for violating studio rules and failing to show up for work for several days in
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#17328633222106758-453: The big screen, years before music videos would present the same sort of image on the small television screen. Freed appeared in several motion pictures that presented many of the big musical acts of his day, including: Freed was given a weekly primetime TV series, The Big Beat , which premiered on ABC on July 12, 1957. The show was scheduled for a summer run, with the understanding that if there were enough viewers, it would continue into
6867-485: 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
6976-553: 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
7085-578: The clause. Freed repeatedly lost in court, even after appealing his case to the Supreme Court of Ohio ; Berk's successful implementation of the non-compete is now recognized within the industry as a model for broadcasters regarding on-air talent contracts. In the late 1940s, while working at WAKR, Freed met Cleveland record store owner Leo Mintz . Record Rendezvous, one of Cleveland's largest record stores, had begun selling rhythm and blues records. Mintz told Freed that he had noticed increased interest in
7194-623: 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
7303-473: The concert was shut down early due to overcrowding and a near-riot. Freed gained notoriety from the incident. WJW immediately increased the airtime allotted to Freed's program, and his popularity soared. In those days, Cleveland was considered by the music industry to be a "breakout" city, where national trends first appeared in a regional market. Freed's popularity made the pop music business take notice. Soon, tapes of Freed's program, Moondog , began to air in
7412-415: 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
7521-588: 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
7630-529: The early 1960s, Freed's career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry, as well as by allegations of taking credit for songs he did not write and by his chronic alcoholism . Freed was born to a Welsh-American mother, Maude Palmer, and a Russian Jewish immigrant father, Charles S. Freed, in Windber, Pennsylvania . In 1933, Freed's family moved to Salem, Ohio , where Freed attended Salem High School , graduating in 1940. While Freed
7739-416: 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
7848-427: 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
7957-511: 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
8066-451: 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
8175-417: The film does accurately convey the fond relationship between Freed, the musicians he promoted, and the audiences who listened to them. The film starred Tim McIntire as Freed and included cameo appearances by Chuck Berry , Screamin' Jay Hawkins , Frankie Ford and Jerry Lee Lewis , performing in the recording studio and concert sequences. On January 23, 1986, Freed was part of the first group inducted into
8284-462: 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
8393-520: The gap of segregation among young teenage Americans, presenting music by black artists (rather than cover versions by white artists) on his radio program, and arranging live concerts attended by racially mixed audiences. Freed appeared in several motion pictures as himself. In the 1956 film Rock, Rock, Rock , Freed tells the audience that "rock and roll is a river of music which has absorbed many streams: rhythm and blues, jazz, ragtime, cowboy songs, country songs, folk songs. All have contributed greatly to
8502-446: 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
8611-463: 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
8720-399: 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
8829-460: The music he played. Later that year, Freed promoted dances and concerts featuring the music he was playing on the radio. He was one of the organizers of a five-act show called " The Moondog Coronation Ball " on March 21, 1952, at the Cleveland Arena . This event is now considered to have been the first major rock and roll concert. Crowds attended in numbers far beyond the arena's capacity, and
8938-525: 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
9047-659: 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
9156-471: 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
9265-418: 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
9374-506: 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 ,
9483-412: The radio personality 'at the vanguard' and made him 'a really important figure'", according to the executive director. Freed was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991. The organization's website posted this note: "He became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll". In
9592-403: The record as his show's theme music. His on-air manner was energetic, in contrast to many contemporary radio presenters of traditional pop music , who tended to sound more subdued and low-key in manner. He addressed his listeners as if they were all part of a make-believe kingdom of hipsters, united in their love for black music. He also began popularizing the phrase " rock and roll " to describe
9701-431: The records at his store, and encouraged him to play them on the radio. In 1951, having already joined television station WXEL (channel 9, now WJW channel 8) in the middle of 1950 as an announcer, Freed moved to Cleveland, which at 39 miles (63 km) from Akron was within the range of the still in force non-compete clause. However, in April, through the help of William Shipley, RCA's Northern Ohio distributor, he
9810-517: 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
9919-612: The show was suddenly cancelled. Some sources indicate that the cancellation was triggered by an uproar among ABC's local affiliates in the South . During this period, Freed was seen on other popular programs of the day, including To Tell the Truth , where he is seen defending the new "rock and roll" sound to the panelists, who were all clearly more comfortable with swing music: Polly Bergen , Ralph Bellamy , Hy Gardner and Kitty Carlisle . In 1958, Freed faced controversy in Boston when he told
10028-570: 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
10137-440: The sponsor Camel cigarettes. The half hour program headlined Count Basie and his Orchestra and later Sam The Man Taylor and His Orchestra, and featured weekly rock n roll guests such as LaVern Baker , Clyde McPhatter and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers . The radio program was also referred to as "Alan Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Dance Party" on CBS Radio from New York. Freed also worked at WABC (AM) starting in May 1958 but
10246-489: 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
10355-612: 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
10464-510: 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
10573-496: The term (as a euphemism 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", however, Freed did not accept that inspiration (or that meaning of the expression) in interviews, and explained his view of the term as follows: "Rock 'n roll is really swing with a modern name. It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm". He helped bridge
10682-569: The title Freed . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Freed&oldid=1188688768 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Alan Freed Albert James " Alan " Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965)
10791-451: 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
10900-799: 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
11009-429: Was Chuck Berry 's " Maybellene ". Taking partial credit allowed him to receive part of a song's royalties, which he could help increase by heavily promoting the record on his own program. Berry was eventually able to regain the writing credit. The Flamingos also claimed that Freed had wrongly taken writing credit for some of their songs. In another example, however, Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows insisted Freed's name
11118-401: 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),
11227-400: Was an American disc jockey . He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout North America. In 1986, Freed was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . His "role in breaking down racial barriers in U.S. pop culture in the 1950s, by leading white and black kids to listen to the same music, put
11336-510: Was fired from that station on November 21, 1959, after refusing to sign a statement for the FCC that he had never accepted payola bribes. He subsequently arrived at a small Los Angeles station, KDAY (1580 AM) and worked there for about one year. Freed also appeared in a number of pioneering rock and roll motion pictures during this period. These jukebox musicals were often welcomed with tremendous enthusiasm by teenagers because they brought visual depictions of their favorite American acts to
11445-685: Was in high school, he formed a band called the Sultans of Swing in which he played the trombone . Freed's initial ambition was to be a bandleader; however, an ear infection put an end to that dream. While attending Ohio State University , Freed became interested in radio. Freed served in the US Army during World War II and worked as a DJ on Armed Forces Radio. Soon after World War II , Freed landed broadcasting jobs at smaller radio stations, including WKST ( New Castle, Pennsylvania ); WKBN ( Youngstown, Ohio ); and WAKR ( Akron, Ohio ), where, in 1945, he became
11554-627: Was initially interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York . In March 2002, Judith Fisher Freed, his daughter-in-law, carried his ashes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio . On August 1, 2014, the Hall of Fame asked Alan Freed's son, Lance Freed, to remove the ashes permanently, which he did. The Freed family later interred his ashes at Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery beneath
11663-453: Was not merely a credit on the song " Sincerely " and that he did actually co-write it, although other band members disagreed. In 1964 Freed was indicted by a federal grand jury for tax evasion and ordered to pay $ 37,920 in taxes on income he had allegedly not reported. Most of that income was said to be from payola sources. Because of the negative publicity from the payola scandal, no prestigious station would employ Freed, and he moved to
11772-783: Was released from the non-compete clause. He was then hired by WJW radio for a midnight program sponsored by Main Line, the RCA Distributor, and Record Rendezvous. Freed peppered his speech with hipster language, and, with a rhythm and blues record called "Moondog" as his theme song, broadcast R&B hits into the night. Mintz proposed buying airtime on Cleveland radio station WJW (850 AM), which would be devoted entirely to R&B recordings, with Freed as host. On July 11, 1951, Freed began playing rhythm and blues records on WJW. While R&B records were played for many years on lower-powered, inner city radio stations aimed at African-Americans, this
11881-466: 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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