Initial rock was initially conceived of as a means for unfettered self-expression that catered specifically to young people’s interests (such as quick sex and puppy love). San Francisco bands embraced complex harmony through improvisation.
Chuck Berry may have pioneered rock when he introduced electric guitar into rhythm-and-blues music, but its true creators understood that rock transcended any one performer or genre.
Blues
Blues developed from African-American communities and black culture melting pots of the American South. It draws its inspiration from African spirituals, slave secular folk music, field hollers, shouts, chants and ragtime. European dance melodies as well as rhymed simple narrative ballads all serve to compose it.
Black people who escaped the harsh realities of plantations life and moved to towns created their own styles of Blues that were unique to each area they resided. Over time, these local variations became commercial blues that was brought to prominence around 1911 by bandleader W. C. Handy and popular female singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.
The Blues is an emotional genre, often associated with feelings of melancholy and sorrow. People who play it are sometimes known as “Devil’s musicians”, which is ironic considering its name originated from being used by West African cultures in death rituals to signify sorrowful ceremonies when mourners would dye their clothing blue to signify grief and sadness.
Blues has emerged as one of the most influential musical genres ever, impacting all forms of popular music including jazz, rhythm & blues and rock. Its melancholy beauty draws many listeners into its fold. Furthermore, its 12-bar song structure makes learning Blues easy while playing it can be done using any number of instruments from guitars to harmonicas.
Arkansas is home to many legendary blues artists and its rich heritage has helped shape its style of blues music. Author Robert Palmer’s 1981 book Deep Blues raised scholarly awareness of it while Helena’s King Biscuit Festival helped reintroduce it to the public in 1986. Blues has undergone many changes since its origins during slavery, such as being adopted into urban environments with Great Migration of blacks from southern states to northern cities helping shape its sound into something more urban while Great Depression caused its decline until late 1960s when it saw its comeback as form of R&B/rock hybrid genres.
Rock & Roll
Rock and roll’s creation can be likened to that of America in general: its history is filled with firsts that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when one occurred. When people claim they invented it, this often refers to their record being the first song in that genre to chart; not necessarily necessarily being synonymous with creating its style itself – yet even this distinction could be contentious.
Questioning whether any particular song was the inaugural rock and roll record can be challenging due to black musicians already engaging in rhythm and blues during the 1940s. That being said, certain records are often considered proto rock. For instance, The Boswell Sisters’ 1934 recording “Rock and Roll” can often be considered one of them; its rocking beat and stellar vocal harmony were considered groundbreaking at the time. Another contender would be 1945’s Wynonie Harris and His Delta Cats recording “Rock Around the Clock”, although with some elements that connect it to proto rock songs of that era.
Alan Freed launched The Moondog House radio show on Cleveland radio station WJW in 1951, playing rhythm and blues records by black artists to an all-race audience for the first time. It quickly became a hit, prompting Freed to coin the term ‘rock and roll’ to describe this genre of music.
At this point in time, there were already other musicians experimenting with similar styles of music. White pop and country musicians borrowed elements of rhythm and blues music from black rhythm and blues artists while simultaneously adding their own styles into it. DJs began discovering this genre, while smart producers promoted it as an alternative to more established standards that were currently prevalent.
Berry and Elvis ultimately propelled the genre from its infancy into mainstream popularity by creating an innovative blend of musical styles. But this process wasn’t without controversy: early stars dug their heels in to this music with abandon, eventually having to step away for various reasons.
Electronics
Electronics, the study of electron flow in electric circuits, is an expansive discipline. Its roots lie in devices which controlled current flow by changing individual electron behavior; its legacy gave us radio, TV, radar and long-distance telephone services as well as providing the basis for modern computing technologies.
As our society becomes ever more dependent on electronics, understanding these devices has never been more crucial. That is why Nuts & Volts strives to bring you all of the latest news on this rapidly-evolving field.
One of the greatest innovations of the 20th century was Lee de Forest’s Audion device from 1914 – an electronic audio amplifier which allowed for precise control over electric current intensity.
Faster than anyone had predicted, triode tubes transformed the entertainment and media industries almost overnight. By the 1930s they had become essential parts of radio transmitters and receivers, hi-fi sets, public address systems and guitar amplifiers; early computers even typically included thousands of them!
This revolution would become as significant as that caused by the internal combustion engine or incandescent light bulbs, with significant effects felt across modern media platforms due to this seemingly obscure, often unnoticed creation.
Rock and roll music emerged alongside these technological developments, giving rise to its signature sound – rock. Rock music resembles its technology source by being disorganized and incoherent while still serving a purpose – not simply offering consumers what they don’t know they want but rather pushing back against artificial boundaries that had devout followerships.
Rebuttal to those who contend that rock music is simply an idea: to them I offer Chuck Berry as proof. One could also consider how rock began through black artists combining rhythm and blues, country, gospel, jazz funk soul music with innovative technology to form rock.
Punk
In the mid to late 1970s, punk rock music came into being. The MC5, Stooges and Alice Cooper laid its foundation by stripping away any of its psychedelic excess and giving way to something harder, faster, and more aggressive – something called punk.
Punk was an outlet for young people to express their anger and frustration with society and the status quo, providing a sense of community among listeners as they joined together against it. Anger also served as an effective unifier, conveying to all participants that current culture and society were wrong, providing a platform for groups such as The Sex Pistols to spread anti-establishment views among an audience discontented with unemployment, limited opportunities and political and social inequities.
Punk bands were known for favoring short, fast riffs with raw, unedited sounds that often contained profanity or social criticism, performing live in small venues with minimal stage setups. Their songs typically had political themes as well as profane language or social critique; live performances by punk bands often involved violence as an expression of their anger and discontent; for instance Iggy Pop was known to cut his throat live while smashing microphones or throwing objects at crowd members as part of their performance.
Fashion and attitude were integral parts of punk style. Clothing was often worn shabbily and torn, and bands used safety pins or marker pens to write messages or draw pictures on their clothing using safety pins or marker pens. Punk also featured lean, hungry looks as well as accents and slang used by working class urban Britons; wearing fascist and Nazi symbols as mockery instead of affiliation to these hateful ideologies was another feature.
The punk rock movement gave birth to an entire subculture comprising clubs, record labels and fanzines for teenage news dissemination. While its influence may only last for a short while longer term.