Was Rock And Roll Responsible For Dismantling America 's Traditional Family, Sexual, And Racial Customs

Rock and Roll was the start of a new revolution in America. It introduced the world to many of the famous artists that continue to be a part of our lives today. "Artists who became popular in the 1950s such as Elvis, began to pave the way for others such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly" (The History of Rock 'n' Roll until 1960). With the introduction of rock 'n' roll, there came many new changes to the lives of many Americans. Rock and Roll was a major contributor for the change in teens' behavior in the 1950s because it encouraged new freedoms for teenagers, encouraged new fads among teenagers, and caused a generation gap.

The decade of the 1960s can be said to be a subversion of the United States. From the civil rights movements, anti-Vietnam war demonstration, Kennedy’s presidency, to the assassination of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, the impact of the surging social movements and political turmoils to the American society is extremely far-reaching. There has been a lot of researches on the various social movements in this period. However, people 's attention seems to be limited to another important cultural phenomenon of this period, that is the prosperity of rock & roll. This paper is intended to analyze the

Rock ‘n’ Roll began and evolved around the late 1940’s and 1950’s time frame. There were many groups that participated in the creation and origin of Rock ‘n’ Roll, however the two primary groups were rhythm and blues and country music. “The origins of rock ‘n’ roll are often described in a way that could be represented by an algebraic formula: r&b + c&w = r&r” (Garofalo & Waksman, 2016, p. 56). While the formula is rather simplistic, it ignores the many groups of individuals, social and cultural influences that impacted the formation of Rock ‘n’ Roll. As Rolling Stone’s Robert Palmer (1990) noted:

When the majority of the population thinks of rock 'n ' roll, most tend to correlate the beginnings of the rock genre with Elvis Presley or The Beatles. However, the greater part of the start of rock 'n ' roll must be attributed to the influence of African American culture and music. The African American culture initiated and impacted so many of the first genres in music that stemmed off into be many of the genres we still listen to today. Due to racism and discrimination many “race” artists were not recognized for their artistic abilities. Most African American musicians have become discredited due to white musicians covering African American songs and making it more popular. Rock ‘n’ roll was a collective effort of white and black culture and musicians but little credit has gone to the African American side of the genre. To truly understand how “race” artists were the people to help mold rock ‘n’ roll, you must go back to the very beginning of the start of the music business.

“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.

During the mid-1900’s many different types of music emerged and became popular. Each type of music that was popular brought along different social and political issues. Between 1950’s rock and roll, 1960’s psychedelic rock, and 1970’s disco, America was undergoing a great deal of changes. Among these three genres of music, rock and roll posed the greatest challenge to the status quo, with its bonding of African-Americans and white people in listening and dancing.

In the book, All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America, historian Glenn Altschuler submits that “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. A major arguing point that is heavily stated is that the early developments of rock ‘n’ roll, which were tied to the development of the Civil Rights Movement, was an integral part of the post-World War II culture in the United States. As the major thesis of his book, Altschuler argues that rock ‘n’ roll deepened an already existing divide present within families, and that the genre further transformed the culture of the country by placing sexuality at the center of American society. By arguing that

Rock and roll has developed a long way throughout the years from a dance craze in the 1950's to a political and cultural landscape that is recognized worldwide. Rock and roll has come to define the roots of teenage rebellion, people who don't follow the norms, and have disrespect for authority. The style of rock and roll itself is a melting pot of music, a combination of sounds that include jazz, country, blues, ragtime, gospel, swing, classical, and ethnic music. It can be a simple variation of three chords to a complex chromatic scale combination. It can convey emotions such as love, hate, fear, lust, sadness, joy, disillusion, or a strong sense of reality. Many things can be said about rock but the fact is that it is the most widely

Rock ‘n’ Roll and a Changing America In his book All Shook Up Glenn C. Altschuler attempts to tell the reader what rock ‘n’ roll is and how it changed America forever. Altschuler begins his book by describing how the vast majority of white parents viewed rock ‘n’ roll during this time. The majority of parents believed rock ‘n’ roll to be a “communicable disease” that caused their children to behave like hoodlums. The parents even began to ban rock ‘n’ roll shows from coming to their towns in hope that it would stop their children from listening to the music.

Rock 'n' roll is an important genre of music. It not only have the power to influence but also sustain itself throughout many generations. American society has been hugely impacted by rock 'n' roll consistently setting trends for pop music and persuading other genres of music. Rock 'n' roll has bricked the road for originality, creativity, and broad-mindedness. Artist have been allowed to speak on political issues and even perhaps have persuaded government. Rock 'n' roll has been attributed with desegregation of teens in the 1950's through the 1970's along with assisting black artist to being played on mainstream radio. Rock 'n' roll is responsible for helping cultures in several different parts of the world, specifically Europe. With many different styles existing such as: grunge, heavy metal, punk, classic rock, and alternative rock 'n' roll has allowed many music producing companies to surface and endorse artist that are still admired and acknowledged among countless audiences today. There are people that believe Elvis is still alive and if not for Little Richard the social scene in regards to blacks and

Glenn C. Altschuler’s All Shook Up: How Rock’ N’ Roll Changed America portrays a narrative on rock’ n’ roll and how this cultural phenomenon paved the way for the shift in American culture and politics as its origins are connected with some of the most significant historical changes in Post-World War II America and how it was essential to America’s Cold War culture as the music reflected everyday life of the 1950s including attitudes toward youth, race, ethnicity, gender, and class. “Rock’ n’ roll deepened the divide between the generations, helped teenagers differentiate themselves from others, transformed popular culture in the United States, and rattled the reticent by pushing sexuality into the public arena. Anything but a “great unifying

American society went through multiple changes after the first Great War and many more after the second. The Great War is known as World War I, which America did not join until 2-3 years after it started. American society is very diverse, so the likelihood of change was high. Americans are known for standing up for what they believe in. Therefore, when there was a prohibition on alcohol people stood up.

During the late 1950s and the 1960s, Rock and Roll blew up. The adults of this generation saw the new style of music as “socially disruptive and dangerous” (Kornhaber). It was also said that rock was the music of African Americans

A Deeper Analysis of Rock and Roll Music In the mid-1950s, people began to see a new form of music called rock and roll (rock n’ Roll). This later became known as rock which is characterized by a hard beat; mostly featuring an electric guitar with amplified sound. Early rock music was built on rhythm and blues and also country and western music. Rock’s popularity sky-rocketed during the British Invasion.

Rock N Roll exists today because of the endless feelings that is generated by us human beings and also because the image of all the artists throughout its history has left an impact on the memories of generations. From the wailing and screaming Chuck Berry who invoked his amped up electric guitar to the handsome southern boy Elvis Presley who gave Rock N Roll its boy image for many young teenagers looking for an idol outside of their home. Americas youth finally had an outlet to finally describe what they really felt when it came to love, having parties, terrible breakups, misunderstood thoughts, or strife’s at work and