About Music: The Origins of Rock’n’roll
Julia, our Student Ambassador in Brazil, is passionate about music and is running our Music Club.
The phrase Rock’n’roll originated from ”rocking and rolling,” one used by marines in the 17th century that meant the rocking of the ship, and used by African-Americans with religious connotation. These are some of the many starting points of the musical genre now known as “Rock”.
But as popularity spiked with the term “Rock and Roll” (1951) it started to be mentioned on the radio by Alan Freed (disc-jockey), when referring to rhythm and blues music, and tons of artists used the term for their own songs simply with the meaning of dancing. Yes, you read it right, the term was known as an acceptable form of “dancing” without any other meaning. Alan Freed started airing “Rock and Roll” just as a modern name for swing!
It is impossible to talk about Rock’n’roll without talking about both cultural appropriation and uniting youth across racial lines. Alan, for example, did his best to air original songs written by the artists themselves. At the time it was controversial as he prioritised airing Black artists instead of waiting for covers made by White artists, honoring the real composers and attracting an even more “rebellious” gaze to the Rock genre!
The Rise of Rock as a Genre
“Rock and roll” music originated in the twentieth century. It started to emerge in the United States during the 50’s, mainly deriving from heavy blues and jazz, also inspired by gospel and traditional folk music. The mixture of gospel style harmonies and call-and-response singing is what actually started to form a completely new genre, where the songs were focused on earthy subject matter and powerful rhythms.
During the 60’s it started to develop into the worldwide sensation known as “Rock” and it was when “Rock and Roll” started to be considered a serious musical genre and not only the dancing style. It was also when this music genre helped unite youth across racial lines. It helped merge cultures into something that would last for years, help some, shock some, and change lives, but it was definitely the starting point for change.