Little Richard's Influence on Rock 'N' Roll History

To which they did not approve. They felt it had a rebellious nature. And lead to teens not being more defiant, and less conforming. But most of all they hated who played the music. Most of the musicians and music writers were African American. Even though they had earned the respect of many people while fighting in WWII, their culture was still shunned by most of the public. But Rock was all about being insobordinate. The fact that the parents hated it made it even more popular among the teens. The parents might have had their own little pet names about it calling it as blues legend B.B. King said in an interview with The Guardian, the “Black Chittlin' circuit.” But to the youth it was just music. The acceptance of this generation was going to bring a new opportunity for Black America in the fight for civil rights.

In order to break away from the social norms of the real world, teenagers at this time in history found themselves attracted to rock and roll music as sort of an escape from reality. As a parent during this time I would despise their fascination with rock n roll music because of the negative influences that comes with it such as hedonism and pessimism. A teenager during this time would have

“The rise of rock ‘n’ roll and the reception of it, in fact, can tell us a lot about the culture and values of the United States in the 1950s. According to historians James Gilbert, there was a struggle throughout the decade ‘over the uses of popular culture to determine who would speak to what audience, and for what purpose”. At the center of that struggle, rock ‘n’ roll unsettled a nation had been “living in an ‘age of anxiety’” since 1945” (p.15). Altschuler talks about how music and race interlock with one another. Rock had become a “highly visible and contested arena for struggles over racial identity and cultural and economic empowerment in the United States” (p.35). Other chapters within the book state the battles involving sexuality, generational conflicts, as well as other social issues. The author states ideas that are somewhat problematic. For example, he states that there is a myth that rock ‘n’ roll went into a “lull” following the payola hearings (the practice of record promoters paying DJs or radio programmers to play their labels ' songs) of 1959 and did not come about again until the arrival of the Beatles in 1964.

In a time where racial integration rarely ever occurred, especially in the South, “early rock-and-roll music, which boasted black and white artists and black and white fans… drew on both black rhythm-and-blues and white country influences… [this] symbolically reproduced the best hopes of many activists”(Ward). This seemingly insignificant occurrence was actually very significant in that it was one of the first instances in the time period of the Civil Rights . The occurrence brought about a new change for the way society works. Known as the movement that brought both races together, it allowed the race and people of white descendants to view the other side of blacks as the same humans that white people are. The civil right movement was happening at the same time as rock & roll was being revolutionized by African Americans, the connection seen was stated as “The threat integration posed to white Americans by the Civil Rights Movement was magnified as Rock & Roll gained popularity with white teenagers. Identifying correlations between the evolving musical style of Rock & Roll and the societal changes, attitudes and expectations engendered through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s”(Ward). The changing ways of the youth toward an African American Rock & roll allowed the most of the population to have an open

“Rock music is important to people, because it allows them to escape this crazy world. It allows them not to run away from the problems that are there, but to face up to them, but at the same time sort of DANCE ALL OVER THEM. That 's what rock and roll is about” (Pete Townshend). The concept of rock and roll music had eased into the music industry in a time after a crippling war and a great depression. The mid to late 20th century was home to innovation, rebellious teens, and a devastating war..The introduction of rock music has influenced our country and molded it in many ways as the genre progressed and has found a place in our culture.

Censorship has long been an issue in Rock and Roll music. Although our American society celebrates “classic” rock that emerged in the 60’s and 70’s, today, artists such as: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Doors, The Sex Pistols, and Bob Dylan were harshly judged for their music and image they projected because some members of society feared they were too suggestive, or just completely inappropriate. These rebellious artists fought against their music being censored in the best ways for their bands.

Music has been a major part of the American life in the United States since its victory for independence against the British in the later part of the 18th century. As time, has passed in the United States different verities of music appeared and with each new verity came a changed that ushered in a new style of music. The 1940’s to the 1960’s was a time when the genre of music called Rock ‘n’ Roll appeared and along with its appearance came conflicts and arguments. Glen Altschuler in his book, All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America, does a tremendous job at providing an analytic and well formatted narrative to discusses all the conflicts and arguments that came with the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll and how this music either supported

It was led to believe that affluent white teenagers were listening to this music that causes them to become defiant, disrespectful to authority and menace to society. Rock and roll is a mixture of a combined of different sounds of African-American musical harmony and upbeat background. It was a new blend of music emerging from 1948- 1951 because of the young generations needed to express their own identity. I, concur with Judge Hilda Schwartz “rock n roll did not cause riots or juvenile delinquency (Altschuler, p. 5, 2003)”; teenagers riot and juvenile delinquency exist long before this new music

Through their music, they were able to freely discuses social issues and frustrations with the war on a mass scale. In addition, young people were able to listen to this music and feel connected as a generation united against the war. The sparked protest around the country and birthed the music festive known as Woodstock. In Crossroads, Michell K. Hall examines popular culture in the United Sates between the 1950’s and 1980’s. One of those parts of popular culture was music.

America’s attitude regarding race alone created the culture of rebellion that we now associate with Rock n Roll. Following the abolition of slavery, America

Tupelo MS is where it all began. The birthplace of Elvis Presley, it is also the birthplace of rock-n-roll and the transformation of American culture. Now, as it was then, this small town in the north-eastern corner of the state of Missouri is rather off the beaten track. But it still attracts a steady stream of visitors, from boomers reliving their greatest years to millennials trying to understand what the fuss was all about.

Although the decades have passed, and the times have changed rock ‘n’ roll holds a legacy that will forever impact the lives of people as a whole. Foundations Of Rock n’ Roll After World War 2, the world was faced with a bipolar world of the two winners: the USSR and the US (Scaruffi, 2005). The world was left with international bitterness and resentment and unlike other wars, a war on ideology. The war changed almost every aspect of life, because ideologies and morals began to shift and change. The post-War era had brought along with it many new technologies such as the boom of cars, computers and even

In the 1950’s R&B began to define the sound of Rock n Roll which was about intense social and racial pride. Such artist as Little

Each year, new books declare rock and roll to be an active force in the moral collapse of American culture. To many, rock and roll has come to be seen as a social menace (Pattison 175-77).

Music is an important part of life. Its role as a form of art and entertainment is a significant one but more important is that it serves to reflect and reinforce societal norms and values. It is not only used to entertain but also serves as a form of social commentary (Baran, 2009). For instance, the emergence of Rhythm and Blues (R&B) in America after the Second World War was a means of advancing the black race and it helped blur the line between white and black as more young white people became aware of the distinctions that existed in the society. The Hip-hop and rap of the 1980s and 1990s had almost the same effect, awakening in Black Americans a sense of