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88-527: The Electric Ballroom is a 1,500-capacity performance venue (primarily for rock bands) and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town , London, England. The Electric Ballroom started as an Irish ballroom in the 1930s, renamed as Electric Ballroom in the summer of 1978 and owned by Bill Fuller, up until his death in 2008, aged 91. It hosts various events. The two-storey building has two dance floors and four bars. The ground floor has

176-417: 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

264-531: 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"

352-458: 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

440-409: 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

528-500: 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

616-512: 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

704-580: 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 ' "),

792-667: 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),

880-403: A quarter note or a dotted quarter note, subdivision begins when the note is divided into sixteenth notes. The downbeat is the first beat of the bar , i.e. number 1. The upbeat is the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes, and hence anticipates, the downbeat. Both terms correspond to the direction taken by the hand of a conductor . This idea of directionality of beats

968-415: 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

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1056-569: A return to strong backbeat accentuation as part of the honky tonk style of country. In the mid-1940s " hillbilly " musicians the Delmore Brothers were turning out boogie tunes with a hard driving back beat, such as the No. 2 hit "Freight Train Boogie" in 1946, as well as in other boogie songs they recorded. Similarly Fred Maddox 's characteristic backbeat, a slapping bass style, helped drive

1144-512: A rhythm that came to be known as rockabilly , one of the early forms of rock and roll . Maddox had used this style as early as 1937. In today's popular music the snare drum is typically used to play the backbeat pattern. Early funk music often delayed one of the backbeats so as "to give a 'kick' to the [overall] beat". Some songs, such as The Beatles ' " Please Please Me " and " I Want to Hold Your Hand ", The Knack 's " Good Girls Don't " and Blondie 's cover of The Nerves ' " Hanging on

1232-610: 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

1320-491: A stage and full concert facilities, with a capacity of 1,500. Stand Up Central (formerly known as Russell Howard's Stand Up Central ) is a British stand-up comedy television show in front of a live audience at the Electric Ballroom. MTV Brand New for (2011-2018) is a showcase at Electric Ballroom. The Electric Ballroom was a roller disco for a brief period from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. By 1990,

1408-424: A stressed beat): So "off-beat" is a musical term, commonly applied to syncopation , that emphasizes the weak even beats of a bar, as opposed to the usual on-beat. This is a fundamental technique of African polyrhythm that transferred to popular western music. According to Grove Music, the "Offbeat is [often] where the downbeat is replaced by a rest or is tied over from the preceding bar". The downbeat can never be

1496-476: 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

1584-506: 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

1672-432: 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

1760-514: 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

1848-519: 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

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1936-466: 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,

2024-513: Is a hand-clapping back beat on " Roll 'Em Pete " by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner , recorded in 1938. A distinctive back beat can be heard on "Back Beat Boogie" by Harry James And His Orchestra, recorded in late 1939. Other early recorded examples include the final verse of "Grand Slam" by Benny Goodman in 1942 and some sections of The Glenn Miller Orchestra 's "(I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo", while amateur direct-to-disc recordings of Charlie Christian jamming at Minton's Playhouse around

2112-482: 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

2200-692: 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

2288-466: 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

2376-476: Is one unit of hypermeter , generally a measure. "Hypermeter is meter, with all its inherent characteristics, at the level where measures act as beats." Beat perception refers to the human ability to extract a periodic time structure from a piece of music. This ability is evident in the way people instinctively move their body in time to a musical beat, made possible by a form of sensorimotor synchronization called 'beat-based timing'. This involves identifying

2464-719: 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

2552-415: Is significant when you translate its effect on music. The crusis of a measure or a phrase is a beginning; it propels sound and energy forward, so the sound needs to lift and have forward motion to create a sense of direction. The anacrusis leads to the crusis, but doesn't have the same 'explosion' of sound; it serves as a preparation for the crusis. An anticipatory note or succession of notes occurring before

2640-530: Is the measurement of the number of pulses between more or less regularly recurring accents. Therefore, in order for meter to exist, some of the pulses in a series must be accented—marked for consciousness—relative to others. When pulses are thus counted within a metric context, they are referred to as beats . Metric levels faster than the beat level are division levels, and slower levels are multiple levels. Beat has always been an important part of music. Some music genres such as funk will in general de-emphasize

2728-485: 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

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2816-582: The Encyclopedia of Percussion . An early record with an emphasised back beat throughout was " Good Rockin' Tonight " by Wynonie Harris in 1948. Although drummer Earl Palmer claimed the honor for " The Fat Man " by Fats Domino in 1949, which he played on, saying he adopted it from the final "shout" or "out" chorus common in Dixieland jazz, urban contemporary gospel was stressing the back beat much earlier with hand-clapping and tambourines . There

2904-457: 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

2992-657: 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

3080-608: 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

3168-428: 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

3256-415: 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

3344-861: 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

3432-481: 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

3520-583: The 1970s, 1980s onwards, as well as modern hip hop and R&B. The Electric Ballroom is the London home for PROGRESS Wrestling , holding events on a regular basis since March 2014. On 15 April 2018, the People's Vote campaign was started there. Transport for London proposed to demolish the Electric Ballroom in order to allow the redevelopment of the Camden Town Underground station , but

3608-561: 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

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3696-547: 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

3784-466: 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,

3872-780: 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

3960-503: 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'

4048-479: 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

4136-716: 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

4224-457: The Telephone ", employ a double backbeat pattern. In a double backbeat, one of the off beats is played as two eighth notes rather than one quarter note. Cross-rhythm. A rhythm in which the regular pattern of accents of the prevailing meter is contradicted by a conflicting pattern and not merely a momentary displacement that leaves the prevailing meter fundamentally unchallenged A hyperbeat

4312-439: 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

4400-570: 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,

4488-425: The beat is split in three are called compound meter. Thus, simple duple ( 4 , 4 , etc.), simple triple ( 4 ), compound duple ( 8 ), and compound triple ( 8 ). Divisions which require numbers, tuplets (for example, dividing a quarter note into five equal parts), are irregular divisions and subdivisions. Subdivision begins two levels below the beat level: starting with

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4576-407: The beat, while other such as disco emphasize the beat to accompany dance. As beats are combined to form measures, each beat is divided into parts. The nature of this combination and division is what determines meter. Music where two beats are combined is in duple meter , music where three beats are combined is in triple meter . Music where the beat is split in two are in simple meter, music where

4664-431: The beginning of a line. In typical Western music 4 time , counted as " 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4... ", the first beat of the bar (downbeat) is usually the strongest accent in the melody and the likeliest place for a chord change, the third is the next strongest: these are "on" beats. The second and fourth are weaker—the "off-beats". Subdivisions (like eighth notes) that fall between

4752-536: 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

4840-469: The building had an indoor market on weekends with about fifty stalls, selling a variety of fashion-, lifestyle - and music -related goods. The market closed at short notice in 2015, resulting in unemployment for many staff and traders. The Friday club night is Sin City, playing rock and alternative genres. The Friday club was formerly goth night Full Tilt. On Saturday, "Shake" plays mostly pop and dance from

4928-563: 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

5016-632: 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

5104-415: 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

5192-588: 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

5280-416: 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

5368-427: 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

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5456-511: 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

5544-455: 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

5632-624: The extension of the Camden Town tube station to be restarted. A public consultation ended on 22 February 2007. Details, the adoption statement and the adopted planning brief for the Camden Town Underground Station site are on the Camden Council website. 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 )

5720-467: The first barline of a piece is sometimes referred to as an upbeat figure, section or phrase. Alternative expressions include "pickup" and " anacrusis " (the latter ultimately from Greek ana ["up towards"] and krousis ["strike"/"impact"] through French anacrouse ). In English, anákrousis translates literally as "pushing up". The term anacrusis was borrowed from the field of poetry , in which it refers to one or more unstressed extrametrical syllables at

5808-462: 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

5896-446: 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

5984-463: 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

6072-514: The latest dance and fashion styles. From the mid-1960s on, as "rock and roll" was rebranded as "rock", later dance genres followed, leading to funk , disco , house , techno , and hip hop . Backbeat Rhythm in music is characterized by a repeating sequence of stressed and unstressed beats (often called "strong" and "weak") and divided into bars organized by time signature and tempo indications. Beats are related to and distinguished from pulse, rhythm (grouping), and meter: Meter

6160-399: 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

6248-581: 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

6336-666: 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

6424-459: The off-beat because it is the strongest beat in 4 time. Certain genres tend to emphasize the off-beat, where this is a defining characteristic of rock'n'roll and ska music. A back beat , or backbeat , is a syncopated accentuation on the "off" beat. In a simple 4 rhythm these are beats 2 and 4. "A big part of R&B's attraction had to do with the stompin' backbeats that make it so eminently danceable," according to

6512-474: 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

6600-418: 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

6688-512: 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 ,

6776-544: The planning application for the redevelopment was rejected by Camden London Borough Council in 2004. A revised proposal from Transport for London in 2005 to demolish the whole block including the Ballroom, Buck Street Market and the Dr Martens store was rejected by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott . In 2007 the government declared the Electric Ballroom a dilapidated building, a new argument which allows planning for

6864-403: The pulse beats are even weaker and these, if used frequently in a rhythm, can also make it "off-beat". The effect can be easily simulated by evenly and repeatedly counting to four. As a background against which to compare these various rhythms a bass drum strike on the downbeat and a constant eighth note subdivision on ride cymbal have been added, which would be counted as follows ( bold denotes

6952-528: 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

7040-460: The same time have a sustained snare-drum backbeat on the hottest choruses. Outside U.S. popular music, there are early recordings of music with a distinctive backbeat, such as the 1949 recording of Mangaratiba by Luiz Gonzaga in Brazil. Slap bass executions on the backbeat are found in styles of country western music of the 1930s, and the late 1940s early 1950s music of Hank Williams reflected

7128-525: 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

7216-494: 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

7304-626: 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

7392-516: 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

7480-451: 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

7568-804: 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

7656-401: 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),

7744-473: 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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