The Rock and Roll of the 50’s and Elvis Presley

Well, from where we left, I consider Elvis as the one who created rock n’ roll, because no other artist has had the same impact and innovation on rock music and society as him. But first of all, let’s talk about the Rock n’ Roll of the fifties, the so-called “original Rock and Roll”.

This music attracted and took hold of the young generation of the United States as it shook their senses with a new rhythm, beat, energy and almost tribal passion and excitement they had never had before. At first only middle class “white” teenagers felt attracted to it and that it was their own (rocknrollzone.com), but with the fusion of “black” blues, Rock n’ Roll soon became music for everybody. Or maybe not for everybody: the society other than the teenagers, the elder people and the authority, completely disapproved it (rocknrollzone.com). Parents hated it; the cultural mix of white and black people presented Rock n’ Roll as “racial music” and caused its censure for being too rebellious, sexual and anti-social for the people in those years. The elder generation saw this music and heard it as a manifestation of evil itself (rocknrollzone.com).

The first stars to come up were musicians like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Carl Perkins. While Chuck Berry established the ground rules, Lewis and Perkins contributed with a country feel with Little Richard topping it all off with his showmanship. But if Elvis Presley is the King is because he put all these styles together in a way that changed popular music for all time: the original Rock n’ Roll consolidated (rocknrollzone.com).

Elvis possessed an amazing voice that could communicate any rock 'n' roll style almost to perfection; he connected with his music and his audience. His most successful era encompassed 1956-1963 (rocknrollzone.com). He mixed 'black' and 'white' styles and became popular and controversial because of his television performances. Teenage girls became hysterical over his sexual gyrations, particularly the one that got him nicknamed "Elvis the Pelvis" and which TV cameras were not permitted to film (imdb.com).

Rock n’ Roll music when it came up, besides from bringing new social attitudes, and rising a new generation of teenagers, brought new forms of artistic expression: new ways to perform and dance, as Elvis’ dances. A fifties’ Rock n’ Roll band used instruments such as basses, electric and acoustic guitars, drums, piano and saxophones to perform, typical of this new music. About dancing, the music’s rhythm and beat inspired new forms of it, many of which exist to this day (rocknrollzone.com).


My favorite Elvis Presley song ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYsPqoDPjCI

Works Cited

“History Essay: Rock 'n' Roll in the Fifties”. rocknrollzone.com. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Zone, n. d. Web. August 25, 2011.

“Biography for Elvis Presley”. imdb.com. IMDb, n.d. Web. August 25, 2011.