The History of Rock and Roll

He repackaged musical ideas from black R&B, blues, country, and gospel. Dance was a big part of his stage presence, and all that came from Southern white redneck churches. Charismatic denominations such as Pentecostal, Foursquare, Church of God, First Assembly of God, 'Hardshell' Baptist, and Wesleyan Holiness practiced speaking in tongues and dancing when members were "slain in the spirit", claiming that the Holy Spirit was scripting their dance moves, when in fact they were simply copying each other. Wild, contorted movements that seemed unnatural were considered the most impressive. These churches were always in the minority down South, except in the most remote rural areas, so most Americans had never seen anybody move their legs that way until Elvis hit the big time.

Note the white socks in the Milton Berle Show video, which make the footwork easier to see on a small TV. Michael Jackson grew up watching Elvis on TV, and copied several dance ideas from him, including the socks. Possibly the only time a black person ever stole dance moves from a white guy? During the fifties and sixties, black church services were somewhat calmer and more civilized by most people's standards than rural "white trash" churches in Mississippi.

Church was so important to Elvis and his musical background that his childhood church has been relocated one block to the historical park built around his childhood home in Tupelo:



High energy music services on Sunday and Wednesday often lasted well into the night.

Elvis grew up in this tiny shotgun shack:

 

My interest in him is all about his impact on music history. Being a fan during his glory days was never an option for me. His career started long before my parents met, and he was more or less an overweight has-been by the time I was ready to put away my Walt Disney and Sesame Street records.

Any hardcore music fan would get something out of seeing Elvis' collection of gold and platinum records, the largest collection on display anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, at Graceland. Will it ever be equaled? I doubt it.

The rectangular building at the bottom of the pic is completely filled with awards, and there are quite a few more on the lowest level of the main house.

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Also, all his exotic cars (including the iconic pink Cadillac!) and both jet airplanes are in a museum across the street.

I feel kind of bad for Elvis because he was such a sheep among wolves. Having personally grown up in a small town that was somewhat less isolated from the world than Tupelo was in 1956, I have some idea how much culture shock he must have experienced when he made it big at a young age. He was in no way prepared to deal with sophisticated, worldly people. I don't think he ever completely made that adjustment. When he died, he was just a big kid at heart, surrounded mostly by people who only liked him for what he could do for them.

I think he always wanted fame and fortune in the same way that the average 11 year old boy wants them.

One of the coolest Chuck Berry stories is about how he used to fuck as many white women as possible whenever he was on tour, but he always first had them pose nude with him, smiling, for a Polaroid picture. That was for his safety, in case anybody ever had a change of heart later and accused him of rape.

Every musician has their personal flaws that are best ignored, but it's completely impossible to ignore one that big. He can make all the bitter comments about Elvis that he wants, because America can't hate Jerry Lee Lewis any more than it already does. His image is not going to rebound any time soon, regardless of talent.

What do all three of these guys have in common? All of them grew up and started their careers along the Mississippi River. Back then, there was so much musical creativity in those river towns where transient people from different cultures exchanged ideas. First, it was ragtime and jazz in New Orleans, then the blues, R&B, and rock evolved rapidly in Memphis. Even today, all the big Mississippi River towns have a different feel from the rest of the US.

 

I've been thinking a lot about how all these timing and location issues fit together.

Bill Haley was from a small town in Pennsylvania, an unlikely spot if you look at the national music picture in 1951, but he was influenced at a distance by what was going on in Memphis at the time. Record sales figures from his band's cover of "Rocket 88" recorded in Philadelphia undoubtedly encouraged him to do more rock and less country music.

It would be four more years before Chuck Berry had his first big hit (Maybellene), but my favorite from his catalog came later, the semi-autobiographical Johnny B. Goode (1958).

Studio original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFo8-JqzSCM"]Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode - YouTube

Live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ROwVrF0Ceg"]Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode (Live 1958) - YouTube

I had to smile when I read online that Chuck has been married to the same woman since 1948. Tolerant woman, for sure.

He had a one year head start on Jerry Lee Lewis' recording career, but Lewis didn't have a big hit until 1957, when Elvis had already arrived on the national scene. I don't know why Jerry Lee didn't record this one sooner, since he and his band had been performing various versions of it for years in live shows. After a quick run-through to give Sam Phillips a chance to adjust his recording mix, the band was ready to record the final version that was released to the world:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojbd1jFDJBw"]Jerry Lee Lewis - whole lotta shakin goin on(Lyrics) - YouTube

Live version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yRdDnrB5kM"]Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On (1957) - YouTube

 

Thanks Meagain and Karen. 1939 here--so I too saw it all happen and switch from the big band era to all the sub-genres we have now. But hey brother--------no mention of my man Little Richard?? He and Jerry Lee are my favorites.

 

Oh yeah--early Ray Charles. Like Night time is the Right Time, etc.

 

Being the largest American city throughout most of our early history, Philly was a leader in everything. Musically, it gained a lot of lost momentum after Memphis was past its prime, giving Detroit some serious competition.

Damn, 1955 was a busy year! That was Little Richard's big splash in the music world. But... with him being a black piano player, it brings up the question of where to draw the line between rock and R&B. I guess a case could be made either way. Guitar-oriented rock is easier to define.

Like Elvis, LR's musical background was very heavy on gospel. Quite a few LR original songs were played on black radio stations, while covers by Elvis were hits on white stations.

Studio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13JNjpNW6c"]Little Richard - Tutti Frutti - YouTube

Live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kM1khne_sg"]LITTLE RICHARD - Tutti Frutti - YouTube

Gotta give all the racists another option! Actually, I like the faster tempo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyWPK0RVVM"]Elvis Presley - Tutti Frutti - YouTube

Personally, I would put him in the blues / R&B category, with Fats Domino (who also "arrived" in 1955). In a different thread, I could make a case for Ray Charles being the ultimate blues singer.

 

No one could scream like Little Richard, and no one could squeal like the Godfather of soul!
Michal Jackson and Prince owe a huge debt to both...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eoSXpNZD9o"]Mother Popcorn - James Brown - YouTube

 

I love James Brown's backing band

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKxP_Lx_MOY

 

Keep a'knockin'but you can't come in (my favorite)-------OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW---YEAH BABY! Everything and everyone you guys mentioned was the background music of my high school and young " adult"life. Thanks.

 

In '49, I would sit in my grandmas new Ford and listen to gospel singers from LA. They hollered and carried on just about (almost) like Little Richard! I knew something was coming that was going to change the music scene from Eddie Fisher, Frank Sinatra, Patti page, the big bands and the rest of it. As far as Elvis--I liked Blue Christmas and that was about it.

 

By who? My fav got to be a 60s version (probably Quicksilver Messenger Service)

 

By Little Richard----------

 

Wanted to share Quicksilver's version, I found 2 on youtube but neither are the exact same as the one I have... I'm now listening to their version of Baby I'm gonna leave you which is also too great to not mention :biggrin: I feel right away it has been too long since I put this on!

 

Anybody who has trouble waking up in the morning needs a James Brown alarm clock. Nobody can sleep through that!

They sound a lot like Earth, Wind, and Fire. :cheers2:

And also by Elvis, on his second album. But... Little Richard didn't write that one. Those guys were using a lot of the same songwriters.

I inherited original copies of the first two Elvis albums from my grandmother. My parents didn't want them.

Elvis brought a lot of money and interest to rock music stations, artists, and record stores, helping many future rockers get their careers going, and drawing more musicians into it.

He was also the first singer to get rock star attention and make rock star money. His private four motor jet was the same size as Richard Nixon's Air Force One. When he wanted to eat at his favorite Memphis restaurant (end of the South Main Street trolley line, east side of the street) he would have to pay them to stay an hour after closing time, so they could lock the front door and sneak him in through the kitchen. Otherwise, two or three dozen screaming and crying teenage girls would block the waitress from being able to get to him, and they wouldn't let him eat. Security people had to watch his front and back yard day and night, chasing down fans who had climbed the security wall.

Nobody would want to live like that. Elvis once said that he would pay a million dollars just to get to live for one day like an ordinary person, free to go anywhere and do anything he wanted, like everybody else took for granted. He didn't know what that freedom was worth until he lost it.

Too bad he couldn't send a few nutty fans over to torment Jerry Lee.

I didn't understand what anybody liked about Elvis until I went back and looked at the old footage from before I was born. To me and my friends at school, he was just fat, pathetic, Elvis the has-been, who didn't know he wasn't cool anymore. We assumed Memphis was a terrible place just because he liked it.

Unlike a lot of his original competitors who had prison records and a little bit of a crazy edge to their personalities, I think Elvis in his prime would have been a big teddy bear on a date. He was a former church boy who didn't want to disappoint his mama. He was taught how to treat a Southern lady.

He was such a fish out of water with the Hollywood crowd. A former bodyguard told a story about Latia bombshell Natalie Wood running from Elvis' hotel suite in tears, slamming the door and cursing him for rejecting her body. "I'm the best fuck in Hollywood!", she screamed to whoever happened to be in the hall. Girls in Tupelo didn't act like that, so she surely scared the shit out of him. His mama didn't warn him about wild California women, because she didn't know anything about them.

If you ever get a chance to go to a small town Southern black church, do it! The music is incredible! Seems like every one of those little churches has 2 or 3 girls who sound just like Jennifer Hudson, but with no future in a music career. Nothing unique or original about them, but OMG, what range and power!

White redneck charismatic services are interesting too, if you've never seen one, but you really need to know somebody and get invited. They're leery of outsiders. You also need a good poker face. It's hard not to react to some of the craziness. Those people will do anything to get attention, from each other.

 

I'd like to compliment you on your knowledge. Not only here--most everywhere. Appreciate that. --Joel