In the late 1940s, editors at Billboard Magazine decided to change the genre labels. For example, “Folk” music would now be “country and western.” Among the changes, “race” music would now be referred to as “rhythm and blues.” Though the names had changed, the musical and racial divide still existed. R&B was a new name for music performed mostly by black artists, and sold to African American audiences. At its core were southern folk traditions, and as blacks returned from military service and began settling in cities like New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles, their experiences contributed to the music. “Jump bands,” inspired by swing, Tin Pan Alley-style love songs, urban blues, and gospel all influenced the one genre known as R&B.
Even when white and black audiences did share an interest in the genre, it did not indicate that racism was any less alive. Louis Jordan, a saxophone player and singer born in Arkansas, had a successful jump band called the Tympany Five. The band would book two nights in one city-one for a white dance, and one for a colored dance.
Louis Jordan's biggest hit, “Choo Choo Ch' Boogie,” maintained eighteen weeks at the top of the R&B charts in 1946. Its use of the boogie-woogie style, meaning its rhythmic drive and use of riffs, or repeated patterns, is an example of one element that contributed to the development of rock 'n' roll.
Fast forward to 1954. Bill Haley's song, “(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock,” is released in May. The jump blues-style song makes it to number twenty-three on the Billboard pop charts for only one week. James Myers, owner of the song, then decides to take a different route to success. Myers mailed copies of “(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” to Hollywood producers for their consideration. At the time, it was common for Hollywood producers to lower the volume of the music used in films so it wasn't earsplitting for audiences sitting in front of large loudspeakers at the theater. The producers of a movie called
Blackboard Jungle
decide to use the song, and turn up the volume. For the audience, it was the loudest music they had ever heard.
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The audio, along with the visual of rowdy teenagers in the movie, started the association between this style of music and delinquents.
Alan Freed was a disc jockey who needed a new name for a radio show in the New York City market. It was Freed who decided to use the phrase “rock and roll.” It was not a new term, and the music Freed played was rhythm and blues. Freed presented a dance concert in 1955, billed as a “Rock 'n' Roll Ball,” and the line up featured black rhythm and blues musicians-Ruth Brown, Joe Turner, the Drifters, Fats Domino, the Moonglows, and the Harptones. The audience, however, was almost half white. The new label, “rock 'n' roll,” began to stick. In time, more music would develop to suit it.
Much like R&B, rock 'n' roll was the product of many different contributions. “(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” was one of them, and “Ain't That a Shame” by Fats Domino was another. An electric guitar provided the bass line, and the eighth note triplets on piano emphasized the beat. Domino was an R&B artist, and this song was not so different from the songs he previously produced. However, the timing of the song's release contributed to its rock 'n' roll credentials. “Ain't That a Shame” was released three months after Domino performed at Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Ball, and as more people started to use the term, Domino was given the label of a rock singer. In doing so, it meant more young white people could be interested in his music.
Further south, in Memphis, Elvis Presley initially maintained a status as a regional success- Alan Freed wouldn't play Presley's records because he sounded too hill-billy or country-western. Presley, who did not have much interest in country music, was stuck with this persona because he was a white performer with guitar and bass accompaniment. Eventually, Presley embodied a combination of African-American-inspired rhythm and blues along with country and western. It came to be known as rockabilly.
Sam Phillips, owner of the Sun Record Company in Memphis, began losing African-American performers who moved to Chicago. As his sales dipped, he said that he knew he could make money if he found a white male performer with the “Negro” sound and feel. When he connected with Elvis Presley, he found what he was looking for.
Teachers can use “(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” as a listening example to get students to consider its impact on audiences, and imagine what their reactions might be when the song was released. An initial listening, with no introduction, at a loud volume, (similar to what audiences experienced at the theater) could be a fun way to start dissecting the music. After the students have heard the song and had a small taste of the experience, the class can begin analyzing the lyrics and musical structure. Possible discussion questions could be:
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Are there any words or phrases that are unfamiliar? For example, “glad rags.”
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What do you think the song is asking its audience to do during lines such as, “When it's eight, nine, ten, eleven too/I'll be goin' strong and so will you/We're gonna rock around the clock tonight/We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'till broad daylight”? (Besides simply dancing?)
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Once you determine the message of the song, put yourself in the shoes of a teenagers living in the year 1955. What is your reaction to this song? Friends' reactions? What are your mother's and father's reactions? Grandparents' reactions? How might an African-American audience response differ from a white audience response?
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Using appropriate terminology, describe the tempo (speed), dynamics (volume), texture (how many instruments), and timbre (sound of the instruments) in this song. How do these things contribute to the song's message? Depending on the students' experience, you can ask them to further identify musical qualities in the song, such as the syncopation of the horn part, or the walking baseline. If students are unfamiliar with these terms, the song serves as a great introduction.