Emergence of Rock, and Elvis: Difference between revisions
Created page with "The previous They were mostly segregated into their own separate markets (Pop, C&W, and R&B), but for a short time (1954-1956) the barriers between those categories dissolved completely. '''Crossovers''' were songs that were from one specific market that started to chart in a different market. Most often this happened with R&B songs, moving into the Pop charts. Some examples: "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" - Lloyd Price "Earth Angel" - The Penguins "Crying in the Chapel" - The..." |
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The previous They were mostly segregated into their own separate markets (Pop, C&W, and R&B), but for a short time (1954-1956) the barriers between those categories dissolved completely. | The previous [[Rhythm & Blues, Country & Western, Pop|topic]] detailed some of the styles that lead to rock and roll. They were mostly segregated into their own separate markets (Pop, C&W, and R&B), but for a short time (1954-1956) the barriers between those categories dissolved completely. | ||
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'''Crossovers''' were songs that were from one specific market that started to chart in a different market. Most often this happened with R&B songs, moving into the Pop charts. Some examples: | |||
* Lawdy Miss Clawdy - Lloyd Price | |||
* Earth Angel - The Penguins | |||
* Crying in the Chapel - The Orioles | |||
As always, when there's money to be had, big business will rush in and take over. In this case, major record labels moved in and commissioned cover versions of popular R&B and C&W songs to be performed and recorded by Pop artists. While there were cases of Pop & C&W tunes being covered by R&B artists (Doris Day's "Secret Love" was a Pop tune that was covered by the Moonglows and "Crying in the Chapel" posted above was actually a cover of a C&W ballad), '''most''' of the time it went the other way. R&B hits were bought and covered by Pop artists. Often, the two versions would be on the charts at the same time, sometimes even the same chart ("Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino, and a cover by Pat Boone, were both in the top of the Pop charts at the same time). | As always, when there's money to be had, big business will rush in and take over. In this case, major record labels moved in and commissioned cover versions of popular R&B and C&W songs to be performed and recorded by Pop artists. While there were cases of Pop & C&W tunes being covered by R&B artists (Doris Day's "Secret Love" was a Pop tune that was covered by the Moonglows and "Crying in the Chapel" posted above was actually a cover of a C&W ballad), '''most''' of the time it went the other way. R&B hits were bought and covered by Pop artists. Often, the two versions would be on the charts at the same time, sometimes even the same chart ("Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino, and a cover by Pat Boone, were both in the top of the Pop charts at the same time). | ||
Revision as of 18:47, 11 September 2024
The previous topic detailed some of the styles that lead to rock and roll. They were mostly segregated into their own separate markets (Pop, C&W, and R&B), but for a short time (1954-1956) the barriers between those categories dissolved completely.
Crossovers were songs that were from one specific market that started to chart in a different market. Most often this happened with R&B songs, moving into the Pop charts. Some examples:
- Lawdy Miss Clawdy - Lloyd Price
- Earth Angel - The Penguins
- Crying in the Chapel - The Orioles
As always, when there's money to be had, big business will rush in and take over. In this case, major record labels moved in and commissioned cover versions of popular R&B and C&W songs to be performed and recorded by Pop artists. While there were cases of Pop & C&W tunes being covered by R&B artists (Doris Day's "Secret Love" was a Pop tune that was covered by the Moonglows and "Crying in the Chapel" posted above was actually a cover of a C&W ballad), most of the time it went the other way. R&B hits were bought and covered by Pop artists. Often, the two versions would be on the charts at the same time, sometimes even the same chart ("Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino, and a cover by Pat Boone, were both in the top of the Pop charts at the same time).
In reality, the "serene and safe" mid-1950s were chaotic where the popular music scene was concerned. Crossovers, covers, and a new phenomenon of "sound a likes" made for confusion, and rapidly became the musical arena for the youth. Up until now, the popular culture music, movies, television, and radio programming had been controlled by the older generations. But "rebellious teenagers", who didn't really have any real cause to rebel against, started to develop their own movies, dress code, slang, hairstyles, and behaviors, and started exerting influence on musical styles and culture.
Two popular movies "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Blackboard Jungle" served to exemplify this new youth movement. Particularly the music that opened "Blackboard Jungle" - called "Rock around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets. You should all know this from last week's listening. This is widely considered to be the first real popular "Rock" song. This was an R&B hit song that Bill Haley covered, and when first released it flopped. But when the movie became popular, so did the song:
- Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around the Clock
As a personal aside, I (and presumably most of you) have heard this song quite a few times before this class. I first heard it at a 7th or 8th grade dance party thing. I had (until this course) never heard the original
Links to an external site.: First The Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show and then The Milton Berle Show, Elvis was working up to the Ed Sullivan show, biggest in the nation at the time. At first Ed Sullivan said that Elvis would never be on his show, but when The Steve Allen Show beat Ed Sullivan in the ratings when he had Elvis on, he changed his mind. Again, these sentences were informed from this article here