This timeline is neither exhaustive and can never be complete. However, if there is one thing I learned in the process of making this timeline and learning about Rock 'n' Roll and American Society, it is that history and culture don't move in a linear fashion. The different parts of a story work as layers--building upon each other. When I think about the story of Rock 'n' Roll, I think about the word "imbricated" meaning "interleaved" like the slates of a roof. To me, different parts of Rock 'n' Roll history, although some more pivotal than others, play off of each other to make an amazing picture. For this reason, I have used 5 different spans to try to show how different layers of history overlapped to make Rock 'n' Roll what we know it to be today.
According to the American Library website, Edison invented the phonograph, thus changing audio media forever. The first words Edison spoke into the phonograph were from "Mary Had A Little Lamb." When he played them back and heard his own voice he was astonished.
The oldest recording company in North America. Founded in 1887. Housed artists like Bob Dylan and Miles Davis. Continues to this day.
According to the website Parlor Songs, the industrial heart of the Music Industry during the mid to late 1800s. Sing-songwriters gathered to sell sheet music as that was the primary medium. Central location was in New York City.
From the Library of Congress and an essay entitled "The History of Ragtime": this genre of music grew out of Tin Pan Alley and was made popular by Scott Joplin. It featured a syncopated rhythm. Defining exactly what Ragtime is--is not easy. Most scholars of the music argue that Ragtime is not dance music.
According to the website Red Hot Jazz, Jelly Roll Morton, born Ferdinand Lamothe, thought himself to be the inventor of Jazz music. While that fact is debatable, the fact that Morton was a fantastic jazz composer is not. As a teenager, Morton grew up playing the "boogie woogie" in whorehouses--probably there earning his interesting name.
According to The Blues website through PBS, Blues music includes both Delta and Urban Blues. Came into popularity after WWII with black young people. WWI blues singers like Handy, Bessie Smith, and Ma Rainey gained popularity. with urban blues. Artists like Son House and most notable Robert Johnson made popular Delta Blues.
According to Biography the website, Rainey is considered the "Mother of the Blues" Recorded 100 records for Paramount. She was born Gertrude Pridgett and became one of the first performers to incorporate blues vibes into her repertoire. Her music had served as inspiration for Langston Hughes, Sterling Cooper and many other writers.
According to the website Biography, Handy is considered the "Father of the Blues" and considered the first person to write a blues song. he wrote the song "Memphis Blues"--largely considered the first blues song ever composed.
According to the website African Age, the Great Migration happened as a result of social, economic, and political changes. African American families moved to such cities as Chicago, New York, and Detroit. As a result of this move, some African American men opted to join the military when World War II began.
According to the website Mississippi Blues Trail, Paramount Records is famous for recording race and hillbilly music and popularized famous musicians such as Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson. The compnay recorded a large range of genres, but it is widely known for its blues artists.
According to the Jimmie Rodgers website, he is considered the first star of Country Music and "The Father of Country Music." Known as "The Singing Brakeman" and "The Blue Yodeler." His influence on country music has touched all types of genres from blues to gospel to rockabilly to rock 'n' roll itself. He died at age of 36 of tuberculosis.
According to the website Red Hot Jazz, Smith is considered the "Empress of the Blues" Most of her lyrics were suggestive, but not to the casual listener. Smith was one of biggest African American stars in the 1920s, attracting both white and black audiences.
According to a website called festival films, the film industry was separated by race as everything else was. Race films were made for black audiences that usually had little to no budget. These films, however, housed many of the great performs, such as: Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Waller.
According to GenDisasters.com, this disastrous flood in 1902 spurred the migration of great blues musicians from the Mississippi River Delta up Route 61 settling as far north as Chicago. Even though this natural disaster cost many lives and money, it led to the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll.
From a project out of George Washington University, the stock market crash on Black Tuesday left many Americans destitute. Economy did not turn around until 1939. The swift downturn left Americans destitute.
According to the website Flat World Knowledge, radio in the 1930s became a mass medium giving voices to those suffering from different natural disasters. Music on the radio came alive in this time. Never before had Americans experienced entertainment like this. Live performances of music were popular during this time.
According to American Roots Music and PBS, John Lomax was responsible for preserving America's root music. He traveled to prisons and farms to capture American folk music from African Americans who were preserving it. He was a member of the Library of Congress. He was responsible for discovering musicians like Huddie Ledbetter.
According to a website called Riverwalk Jazz, although the Benny Goodman Trio had not been the first interracial group to record together, they were the first to perform together in 1936 at the Congress Hotel.
A man shrouded in mystery, but acclaimed as the best blues musician that ever lived. Supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for talent on the guitar. Only recorded twice in his life. Died after being poisoned while at a gig. He was 27.
According to the Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood, the term "teenagers" was nonexistent in the 1900s and 1910s. Until after the end of World War I, this stage between childhood and adulthood began showing itself as more children were staying in school rather than going to work. By the end of World War II it had become normalized and teenagers began adopting their own personality. With the cultural and economic changes after the war, teenagers' parents were better off financially--giving teenagers more time and money to spend on what they wanted.
According to the national World War II museum online, World War II was a conflict involving countries from all over the globe. It was mainly divided between Allied powers and Axis powers. The US became involved after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During the war, conditions at home in the US were tight as people sought to do their part to help troops over seas.
According to the website culture catch, when Columbia introduced LP, or Long playing Records, it revolutionized the audio experience by slowing down the rpm.
Country Western music. Was largely rural until after World War II when it reached nation popularity. Characterized by traditional values. Performed by white musicians. Music style was clear, honest, down to earth, and had a nasal timbre.
According to the website Biography, invented by Les Paul, the solid body electric guitar is the defining instrument of Rock 'n' Roll. By the 50s and 60s it was widely accepted and used by many famous musicians. The electric guitar made Rock 'n' Roll what it is today.
According to the website Rock Hall, Muddy Waters, born McKinley Morganfield, Waters made the trip Mississippi to Chicago in the 1940s. He is one of the more important figures in the development of Electric Blues.
Founded in 1942 by Johnny Mercer, this record company continues to thrive today. Some of its famous artists are The Beatles, Judy Garland, and many others.
According to the website Sputnik Music, this album by Frank Sinatra is considered the first album with a central theme: or concept alum. It also achieved #100 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums. Sinatra's album could even be called the first "album" since it had a cohesive theme.
According to Rolling Stone's website, Sinatra was of the most successful singers of the post-World War II Era. He was a teen aged girl's idol. He is considered the first Rock Star before Rock 'n' Roll. Sinatra famously hated Elvis and Rock 'n' Roll for being, what he thought, to be the complete opposite of what music should sound like. After Elvis passed, however, Sinatra came to see Elvis for what he truly was.
According to the Literature Network, the beat generation did much as artists and writers to push boundaries in the censorship of art. Homosexuality was acceptable with beats. The generation began in the universities as students began to question what they were taught in school and at home. The beat writers were influenced by and influenced jazz in their writing. When the beat movement faded in the 60s it was replaced by hippies especially in New York. Some notable beat writers were Allen Ginsberg (friend and influencer of Bob Dylan), Jack Kerouac and others.
According to a US history website, after World War II, the US experienced a boom in the economy as a result of the mobilizing that the American people did during the war. "Winning" the war also did much to bolster US pride. As corporations grew, citizens began making more but working less. For this reason leisure time took a higher priority.
Rhythm and Blues record company originally called Juke Box Records. Signed musicians like Sam Cooke and Little Richard.
According to the website The History of Rock, the most important Indie Label in Rock 'n' Roll history. Signed artists like Etta James, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and others. Founded by Leonard and Phil Chess.
According to Atlantic Records website, the company was founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, this label housed artists like Ray Charles and Otis Redding.
According to Culture Catch's website, Columbia Records introduced the 12 inch long playing vinyl record and changed the way artists thought about presenting their work to the audience.
According to a blog called History's Dumpster, RCA records introduced this after the innovation of long playing records came an even slower rpm: 45--became the standard for singles. Singles for different genres were colors. 45s were cheap and fun to trade with others.
According to Rock Hall's website, Alan Freed is credited as the Father of Rock 'n' Roll, or with naming Rock 'n' Roll first on the radio. Was a disc jockey. He was involved in the Payola Scandal and eventually drank himself to death.
According to Rock Hall's website, born Ellas Bates, Bo Diddley sometimes called "The Originator" is most famous for inventing the "Bo Diddley Beat." This beat has been sampled across genres and is still used today.
Wholesome musicians for mainstream popular music, Les Paul and Mary Ford's sound is characterized by their layering of guitars and vocals. This layering affect was invented by the duo.
According to Rock Hall's website, the first crossover artist to enjoy success. Signed with Imperial Records was Fats Domino. He sold more records than anyone else in the 50s other than Elvis.
According to History.com, the process of paying DJs in 50s to play music on the radio. A scandal in the late 50s and early 60s left Rock 'n' Roll banned from some stations. Alan Freed was tried and convicted of bribing DJs.
Founded by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tenn. the recording service at first gave people the opportunity to record demos in a professional studio; later it would become Sun Records. Sam Phillips discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and many others.
According to the website Jazz House, Ike Turner with the Kings of Rhythm came to Sam Phillips with a broken speaker to record a record that would be dubbed the first ever Rock 'n' Roll record. The distortion from the broken speaker gave the record that rock sound.
According to Sun Records website, the influential record label started by Sam Phillips in 1952 is most aptly nicknamed "The Delivery Room of Rock 'n' Roll." The company signed musicians like Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.
According to the Drifters' official website, possibly the greatest of the vocal groups of the 1950s was that of the Drifters. The group had four great lead singers.
According to the Rolling Stone website, Johnny Cash was originally a singer of Southern Baptist hymns. Famously, Cash visited Sam Phillips in Memphis and played him some hymns. Phillips then told Cash to go out and sin and then come back. Cash did what Phillips said and went on to sign with Columbia Records. Now he is a rockabilly icon.
Developed in 1954 with the invention of the transistor in the 1940s, transistor radios made portable music accessible to the public. Material to make these radios was cheap making them inexpensive and readily available to even the poorest of Americans.
According to Chuck Berry'd website, he was heavily influenced by country music. Showy performer--had a duck walk when playing the guitar. Most thought he was white when listening to him. Perceived as non-threatening.
According to the wesbite All Music, Richard was perceived as a wild man, less tame than Domino and Berry. Songs were not as appropriate for mainstream audiences. Today, however, he remains iconic in his performance, outfits, and makeup.
According to Biography.com: lauded as the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Presley grew to fame during the late 50s covering songs from white and black artists and making them his own. His fame is largely related to his crossover ability. Elvis meant different things to different people: to young people he was a symbol of rebellion and to parents he was a symbol of evil. He played in his early Sun Record days with Scotty Moore and Bill Black. His contract with Sun Records was eventually terminated for a hefty price, and he moved to RCA Records.
According to the History Channel's website, Buddy Holly was an iconic Rock 'n' Roll musician who has inspired artists since his tragic death in 1959. The Crickets even served as model for The Beatles.
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