Rock Music: The Origin

Rock is a form of popular music from the late 20th century which typically features a vocal melody (often with vocal harmony) that is supported by accompaniment of electric guitars, a bass guitar, and drums, often with a strong back beat. Keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or synthesizers are often used in many types of rock music. While brass instruments, such as saxophone were common in some styles in earlier development of rock, they are less common in the newer subgenres of rock music since the 1990s. The genre of rock music is broad, and its boundaries loosely-defined, with related genres such as soul and funk sometimes being included in the definition of the term.

A major formative influence on rock was rock and roll, and rockabilly. In the 1960s, as British rock developed, the term "rock music" became popular. With the "British Invasion" this reinvigorated musical style spread back to the United States, and became an international cultural phenomenon with considerable social impact. Rock has has evolved into a multitude of highly-varying styles with widespread popularity.

Origins

Rock and Roll came from a fusion of musical cultures, and in turn its influence fed back to these cultures, a process of borrowings, influences that continues to develop rock music. Rock 'n' Roll had runaway success in the U.S. and brought rhythm and blues-influenced music to an international audience. Its success led to a dilution of the meaning of the term "rock and roll", as promoters were quick to attach the label to other commercial pop.

Rock 'n' Roll started off in the early-to-mid 1950s in the United States of America. African-American artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Fats Domino played predominantly to African American crowds. While these key early rockers were indisposed to racism, local authorities and dance halls were very much divided upon racial lines.

Mainstream acceptance of rock and roll came in the mid-1950s when what Bo Diddley describes as 'ofay dudes' (or Caucasians) signed to major labels and started covering their material. Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash often toured and played together in dance halls and clubs across the US and Britain.

Towards the end of the 1950s "chessboard" crowds (both black and white patrons) would emerge at Rock and Roll concerts as fans discovered the original artists of the songs they knew from television and the radio, such as Little Richard's Tutti Frutti. The genre ignited British enthusiasm for rhythm and blues and the development of British rock. The 1960 name The Fabulous Silver Beatles was partly a tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets, and was later shortened to The Beatles.

Surf music

The rockabilly sound influenced the West Coast development of a wild, mostly instrumental sound called surf music, though surf culture saw itself as a competing youth culture to Rock and Roll. This style, exemplified by Dick Dale and The Surfaris, featured faster tempos, innovative percussion, and processed electric guitar sounds. In the UK, British groups included The Shadows. Other West Coast bands, notably The Beach Boys, Mr. Shears and the Wavettes, and Jan and Dean, slowed the tempos back down and added harmony vocals to create the "California Sound."

British rock

In the United Kingdom the Trad jazz movement brought visiting blues music artists to Britain. Lonnie Donegan's 1955 hit "Rock Island Line" helped to develop the trend of Skiffle music groups throughout the country, including John Lennon's "The Quarry Men" , the 1957 precursor to [The Beatles]]. Britain developed a major rock and roll scene, without the race barriers which kept "race records" or Rhythm and Blues separate in the U.S.

Cliff Richard had the first British rock 'n' roll hit with "Move It", beginning the different sound of British rock. At the start of the 1960s his backing group The Shadows was one of a number of groups having success with Surf music instrumentals. Rock 'n' Roll' was fading into lightweight pop and schmaltzy ballads, but at clubs and local dances British rock groups were starting to play with an intensity and drive seldom found in white American acts, heavily influenced by Blues-rock pioneers like Alexis Korner.

By the end of 1962 the British rock scene had started, with groups drawing on a wide range of American influences including Soul music, Rhythm and Blues and Surf music, playing for dancers doing the Twist. First reinterpreting standard American tunes, these groups then infused their original rock compositions with increasingly complex musical ideas.

The Beatles brought together an appealing mix of image, songwriting, and personality. In mid-1962 the Rolling Stones started as one of a number of groups increasingly showing blues influence such as The Animals and The Yardbirds, and in late 1964 The Kinks, followed by The Who, represented the new Mod style. Eventually, British rock groups began to explore Psychedelic styles musical styles that made reference to the drug subculture and hallucinogenic experiences.

After their initial success in the UK, The Beatles launched a large-scale US tour to a frenzy of fan interest known as Beatlemania. The Beatles first visit to the US in 1964 included an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show). In the wake of Beatlemania other British bands headed to the US, notably the Rolling Stones, The Animals and The Yardbirds. Throughout the early and mid-1960s

1960s garage rock

The British Invasion spawned a wave of imitators that played mainly to local audiences and made inexpensive recordings, a movement, later called Garage Rock. Some music from this trend includes Nuggets. Some of the better known band of this genre include The Sonics, ? & the Mysterians, and The Standells.