Rock Age
Introduction: A brief History of Rock 'n' Roll.
Rock music was initially started of by black musicians and then taken over and popularized by the white musicians. There was a lot of potential for the Blues, which saw an increased amount of modification and change… later called Rock ‘n’ Roll. ‘Rock music’, essential of hybrid variety, comprised of both black and white music styles, and has taken a little from every genre of music to create its own style. It is unlike the Blues that derive their inspiration from black slavery, or Trance that is a mix of industrial sound, or Popular music that draws its inspiration from making marketable music.
Black music or was it white music? Initially started off by black musicians like Chuck Berry in the 1950’s, the music was adopted and popularized by the white musicians, like Elvis Presley and officially named Rock ‘n’ Roll. The dispute was settled, and Rock music emerged as the next big thing. It was called Rock ‘n’ Roll, and represented the era of the 1950’s, when dance was popular. It soon lost that tag to be called just ‘Rock’, so that there is continuity to its genre and is not just limited to the 1950’s. The result… Rock music was for all who could dance and those who couldn’t.
The change of attitude in music resulted in the black and white musicians getting together to make music that had an anti-conformist style and showed a rebellious attitude amongst the youth. You even had Rock music with bizarre names like Surf Rock, which was music made for fun on the beaches (The Beach Boys).
No other genre of music has undergone this much change as Rock music; it did not influence the British listeners initially, until the Beatles invasion. Rock flourished in the 60’s and 70’s. Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, and the Who, you name them and they were there to change the music scene. Hard Rock or what people would refer to as Loud Blues emerged with the entry of Led Zeppelin and Cream. The influence of this music was so strong that kids in the streets and in houses started to embrace electric guitars and drums. Folk Rock emerged with the likes of Byrds. We had the advent of Acid Rock with Frank Zappa, and Psychedelic Rock with The Doors.
The loud style of 60’s gave into the peaceful Rock in 70’s. Rock music in 70’s focused more on a soothing peaceful style called, ‘Rock Nirvana’. Rock Nirvana featured Country Rock (Eagles). Hard Rock was replace by Heavy Rock (Blue Oyster Cult, Journey, AC/DC). We had a genre called Punk Rock that was invented by the Sex Pistols.
In the 80’s, it was an emergence of Grunge Rock, a style represented by Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Sound Garden. The 90’s had a phenomenon called Alternative Rock, the composition of which is offbeat to the definition of Rock music. We also had genres like Noise Rock, Progressive, and Gothic Rock etc, in the music market.
The lyrics ranged from words depicting an emotion to poetry, and strong sensations. Some musicians had a message to give, while others reacted to the surroundings (influence of the Blues). Rock music is classic, personal and contemporary. The music made in 1970's feel like they have been made today.
Chuck Berry to Elvis, to Beach Boys, to Beatles… and here come the Sex Pistols, and then a Little Nirvana, Led Zep to U2 and now…. Evanescence.
Fifty years of Rockin', and still going strong, hats off to Rock!! Rock On!
TOP TEN ROCK N ROLL IMMORTALS:
1. Beatles
2. Bob Dylan
3. Elvis Presley
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Chuck Berry
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. James Brown
8. Little Richard
9. Aretha Franklin
10. Ray Charles
Courtesy: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news
Rock music was initially started of by black musicians and then taken over and popularized by the white musicians. There was a lot of potential for the Blues, which saw an increased amount of modification and change… later called Rock ‘n’ Roll. ‘Rock music’, essential of hybrid variety, comprised of both black and white music styles, and has taken a little from every genre of music to create its own style. It is unlike the Blues that derive their inspiration from black slavery, or Trance that is a mix of industrial sound, or Popular music that draws its inspiration from making marketable music.
Black music or was it white music? Initially started off by black musicians like Chuck Berry in the 1950’s, the music was adopted and popularized by the white musicians, like Elvis Presley and officially named Rock ‘n’ Roll. The dispute was settled, and Rock music emerged as the next big thing. It was called Rock ‘n’ Roll, and represented the era of the 1950’s, when dance was popular. It soon lost that tag to be called just ‘Rock’, so that there is continuity to its genre and is not just limited to the 1950’s. The result… Rock music was for all who could dance and those who couldn’t.
The change of attitude in music resulted in the black and white musicians getting together to make music that had an anti-conformist style and showed a rebellious attitude amongst the youth. You even had Rock music with bizarre names like Surf Rock, which was music made for fun on the beaches (The Beach Boys).
No other genre of music has undergone this much change as Rock music; it did not influence the British listeners initially, until the Beatles invasion. Rock flourished in the 60’s and 70’s. Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, and the Who, you name them and they were there to change the music scene. Hard Rock or what people would refer to as Loud Blues emerged with the entry of Led Zeppelin and Cream. The influence of this music was so strong that kids in the streets and in houses started to embrace electric guitars and drums. Folk Rock emerged with the likes of Byrds. We had the advent of Acid Rock with Frank Zappa, and Psychedelic Rock with The Doors.
The loud style of 60’s gave into the peaceful Rock in 70’s. Rock music in 70’s focused more on a soothing peaceful style called, ‘Rock Nirvana’. Rock Nirvana featured Country Rock (Eagles). Hard Rock was replace by Heavy Rock (Blue Oyster Cult, Journey, AC/DC). We had a genre called Punk Rock that was invented by the Sex Pistols.
In the 80’s, it was an emergence of Grunge Rock, a style represented by Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Sound Garden. The 90’s had a phenomenon called Alternative Rock, the composition of which is offbeat to the definition of Rock music. We also had genres like Noise Rock, Progressive, and Gothic Rock etc, in the music market.
The lyrics ranged from words depicting an emotion to poetry, and strong sensations. Some musicians had a message to give, while others reacted to the surroundings (influence of the Blues). Rock music is classic, personal and contemporary. The music made in 1970's feel like they have been made today.
Chuck Berry to Elvis, to Beach Boys, to Beatles… and here come the Sex Pistols, and then a Little Nirvana, Led Zep to U2 and now…. Evanescence.
Fifty years of Rockin', and still going strong, hats off to Rock!! Rock On!
TOP TEN ROCK N ROLL IMMORTALS:
1. Beatles
2. Bob Dylan
3. Elvis Presley
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Chuck Berry
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. James Brown
8. Little Richard
9. Aretha Franklin
10. Ray Charles
Courtesy: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news
Copyright © 2004 Puja Goyal
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