Roll of Thunder

In the 1940s, the equivalent of a meteorite hit the American music industry, driving it into a new dimension of creativity and innovation. The predominantly white industry experienced exceptional African American artists in the last two decades, but nothing compared to the impact of Ray Charles. His art expression gave American music a new identity, and his raw talent rocked it into a new generation. Ray Charles is an influential and inspiring American figure because he created a new era of…

Riverside" features a solo section where she just shreds the guitar. Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s influences impacted people like Elvis Presley. She was born and raised in the south particularly in Arkansas. Many claim that she is the rightful Mother of Rock and Roll. That’s Alright Mama: Elvis Presley releases his first recording with Sun Records. In his first commercial recording with him, he sings "That's Alright Mama" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky". Elvis Sketch: Bernard Levine. The Day the Music…

American Bandstand/Dance Craze One of the events taking place in the early 1960’s that helped shape the music business and carries on today would be the American Bandstand/Dance Craze. The American Bandstand of the 1960’s introduced new televisions shows geared towards teens, allowing them to enjoy new hit records while incorporating dance, adding another form of entertainment other than just the radio (Covach & Flory, 2015, p. 116). This is where the popularity of dance crazes enjoyed by…

Rock Music Socially Impacted People in the Late 20th Century Rock N’ Roll took a big part of the late 1900s, specifically the 1980s. Rock music was an escape to the youth of people that have been through struggles in their life. Rock music was a genre that blew up overnight and was more appreciated with the connections of fans and artists as a whole. Rock N’ Roll influenced fashion and social attitudes of the 1980s. 1980s music was focused on rock songs, singers, and bands who reshaped the music…

The first reading mentions that most think that there are a lot of rock songs with political themes and rock songs that are essentially protest songs, and goes on to say that this doesn’t actually hold up. However, it mentions that there are a lot of songs with themes that are against some sort of authority or power. This seemed slightly contradictory and could easily be discussed in class. In addition to this, some people may view certain songs as protest songs, whereas other might just hear…

Hound Dog The first person who comes to mind when people think of rock and roll is Elvis Presley. He is often referred to a the the King of Rock. “Hound Dog” is one of Elvis’s early songs and is also one of his most popular. He recorded it in 1956 and it quickly became widely popular all across the United States and especially among teenagers. Teenagers were the driving force of the rock and roll because they now had spending money and they needed something to spend it on. Teenagers also had…

Introduction to the Glam Rock movement Glam Rock is a musical category as well as a cultural movement that developed in 1970 in Britain performers are most distinguished from other musicians by their theatricality and public personas wore tight fitting and bright costumes, extravagant shoes and usually makeup androgynous on stage performances, stereotypically masculine and feminine music often touched on taboo subjects like sexuality and gender identity fearless to to step over any social…

Indie rock was originated in United Kingdom in the 1980s and can be traced back to the burst of post-punk. The genre was said to have a lot of influence by the ethics and ideologies of punk music. The term “indie” had been around for a long time as it was is used to describe the independence of music. Indie rock is considered a genre of alternative rock, so the terms were used quite interchangeably. As much of alternative bands began to enter mainstream music, the term “indie” began to describe…

Popular Music 1950-1980 Throughout America’s history, the pattern of popular music has been quite divergent. As trends altered, so did the music people commonly listened to. However, during the timespan between 1950 and 1980, there were four genres that seemed to be more popular than others. These four included Tin Pan Alley, country music, music with strong African American influence, and contemporary styles. Without these popular music categories, this time period would not be the same.…

The History of the King Elvis Presley is a well-known name in pop culture, a synonym of talent, the man who “rose to fame in the mid-1950s—on the radio, TV and the silver screen—and continues to be one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll” (“Elvis Presley Biography”). Many people recognize his legacy as an icon but seem to be oblivious to the history behind the individual nicknamed as “The King”. Elvis Presley’s life is the story of a man that, despite his humble childhood, managed to gain…