In the 1950s, rock and roll brought about a musical revolution, as its artists such as Buddy Holly and Little Richard defied social norms with music that caused moral alarm among suburban parents concerned about race mixing and sexual content in this new form of expression.
Other popular music artists recorded pop standards, remaking old classic songs to make them their own and incorporate country, rhythm & blues, and folk influences into the mix.
Rock & Roll
Rock & Roll was birthed during the 1950s. It was an era of immense change as young adults left military service, settled into suburbia houses, and sought stability and conformity – yet younger people sparked under-the-surface rebellion with rock music becoming their voice for youth rebellion.
Pop rock was a musical genre that combined elements of country and rhythm and blues music, yet was played exclusively by white artists, emphasizing faster tempos than previous popular music genres and using guitar and bass as lead instruments. Lyrics frequently addressed common topics while at times taking an unexpected twist due to influences such as blues or country music.
Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins recorded some of the first major hits in 1955 under this genre. Although both artists came from country backgrounds, Presley’s style shifted more toward pop than country while also incorporating elements of rock & roll music into his soundscape. A DJ coined the term “rockabilly” for this music created by these two artists.
After the success of rock & roll, girl group music came into its own as girl groups such as The Shirelles (“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?,” Marvelettes (“Please Mr. Postman,” and Chiffons (“Be My Baby”). Black vocal groups also began making waves with hits by Sam Cooke, James Brown, Solomon Burke, former Drifters lead singer Ben E. King (“Stand By Me”, which eventually reached #1 R&B charts.)
Jazz gradually enters popular consciousness through bebop and hard bop styles made popular by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and other jazz artists such as the Beach Boys (Dick Dale) releasing “Good Vibrations” early in 1966. Surf rock also made significant inroads into popular consciousness thanks to dozens of guitar led instrumental songs released by Dick Dale & the Beach Boys who released “Good Vibrations”.
R&B
R&B (rhythm and blues), more commonly referred to as R&B, began its evolution during the 1940s and 50s in urban centers such as New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia where Black American populations were growing quickly. Drawing upon roots in southern church music with electric guitars and drum sets to produce its modern sound. Early pioneers included Louis Jordan of Tympany Five who pioneered jump blues – an uptempo mix of jazz and blues featuring African American vernacular, humor and call-and-response sections in his music.
As R&B evolved, it gradually integrated elements of rock and roll. Though similar to rock music, R&B remained predominantly African American genre. Over time, musicians like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry would depart from its melancholy aspects by creating a more upbeat boogie-woogie sound which heavily influenced rock ‘n’ roll music; similarly Fats Domino and James Brown helped bring blues music into popular pop music scenes.
R&B saw further stylistic developments as it evolved into an ensemble genre. Groups typically featured piano, one or two electric guitars, bass, drums and one or more saxophones with doo-wop style harmonies – this hybrid combination helped pave the way for soul music and later disco.
Motown Records in Detroit played a critical role in shaping both Southern soul and Memphis soul styles, featuring artists like the Drifters, Platters and Sam Cooke whose music combined blues, gospel and pop with R&B influences.
Early artists were able to maintain broad appeal across races due to their sophisticated sound and song arrangements, drawing audiences of all races into their songs and helping bridge racial gaps through music. Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” stands out as an example of this period’s political activism in R&B music.
Harmonies
In the 1950s, vocal harmony groups flourished. These ensembles performed popular tunes as well as jazz-flavored jive novelties and ballads featuring blues elements. Many groups specialized in tight, clean harmony singing aided by talented jazz musicians; unlike rock’n’roll artists who may use loose, improvisational techniques, classical artists like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra relied more heavily on melodic catchiness rather than imitating or copying rock sounds.
Harmony groups first became popular in urban American communities where young enthusiasts had limited access to musical instruments. Most often, harmony ensembles consisted of a lead singer singing the melody while three or four harmony singers provided background harmony harmonies. These groups became known as doo-wop; these predecessors of rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll vocal harmony can be considered their fathers, producing beautiful, unifying sounds with only limited repertoire songs, practicing at locations like hallways, high school bathrooms or under bridges where echos could best highlight their harmonys.
One of the most iconic doo-wop groups was The Four Preps, who enjoyed great success throughout the 1950s. Their breakthrough single, Tiger Rag, sold more than 1 million copies and cemented their place as instant classics. Furthermore, their clean-cut West Coast image and precise harmonies influenced many subsequent rock groups including The Beach Boys.
The Coasters also used the clever street-smart “playlets” of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to craft chart-topping doo-wop hits with clever lyrics sung wistfully and supported by hot honking yakety sax from King Curtis.
The Chordettes, a female four-part harmony group, came to fame by winning a talent contest on Arthur Godfrey’s radio show. Though initially singing folk-driven songs, soon their harmony skills came into their own and several hits were produced by them. Their distinctive sound was due to blending their voices together into an all-female harmony which sometimes featured nonsensical lyrics (for instance “Rama Lama Ding Dong”) before transitioning into more refined arrangements for pop market use.
Instrumental
Instrumental music, as the name implies, does not involve lyrics or singing. Jazz and classical genres frequently contain instrumental songs; other popular genres don’t. Rock and roll had several instrumental hits during its heydays in the 1950s and 60s that weren’t solely targeted towards teenagers but instead appealed to a wider audience.
One of the best-known instrumental hits was The Beatles’ White Album, featuring two instrumental songs. Another notable instrumental track is Bill Haley & His Comets’ “Get up and Boogie,” although it does contain vocals, most of it is instrumental. Some might classify this track more as pop/rock due to its catchy melody and lyrics than an instrumental.
In the 1950s, rock and roll was at its height; overshadowing traditional pop music with more aggressive and energetic styles like rock ‘n’ roll. Racial tensions increased rapidly throughout this decade and musical expression of these struggles showed through. Soul music rose to popularity over this period with artists like Solomon Burke, Ben E King and Sam Cooke enjoying success during this era.
Early in the decade, country music remained immensely popular with artists such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and Eddy Arnold releasing hit songs. Later in the decade however, blues and boogie-woogie influences began seeping into country scenes thanks to musicians such as Ray Charles and Fats Domino who brought these sounds mainstream.
Instrumental songs reached their pinnacle of popularity just prior to the British Invasion when bands such as The Shadows and Bill Doggett Combo released hit instrumental albums containing instrumental versions of rock and roll songs with only brief vocal interjections of title or artist at either end of song or shortly beforehand.