Rock n' Roll in the 50s

The creation of rock n' roll was one of the biggest movements ever in the history of music. The roots of rock n' roll came from african american blues and gospel. In the early fifties, as a way to break away from suburban life, teenagers found interest in african american rhythm and blues music.  In Cleveland, Ohio, disk jockey Alan Freed noticed this popularity of african american music in teenagers and decided to start radio show with rhythm and blues music. Just like he thought, the show became a huge hit and spread all over Cleveland. He later came up with the term rock n' roll for this new type of music. Soon rock n' roll boomed as white artist started making music with rhythm and blues sounds. Record labels were looking for young artist who could recreate the african american music. Out of Memphis, Tennessee came Elvis Presley, who was just what they were looking for. Elvis was the first rock n' roll super star who claimed the title of "king of rock n' roll." Beside Elvis many more big names emerged from rock n' roll such as Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Bill Haley.  Teens everywhere would hurry to buy the newest hits from their favorite artists. In the following years rock n' roll was growing even more popular in the younger generations, as well as getting criticized by the older generations. Many thought the type of music wasn't age appropriate for kids to be listening to. Parents thought rock n' roll was vulgar and dangerous. Churches referred to it as Satan's music. It was banned by many radio stations and schools across America. Rock n' roll contributed greatly to create the generation gap in the difference of music between kids and parents. Not only did rock n' roll change music, but also other aspects of culture, like television, dancing, and peoples personal views. Rock n' roll broke through many cultural barriers and lead the way to lots of others.

sources:
http://www.ushistory.org/us/53d.asp
http://www.unc.edu/~refisher/rockandroll.html
"The American Vision: Modern Times" Glencoe Textbook