[78-L] Evolution of 'rock 'n roll'

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cary Ginell" <soundthink at live.com>
> Country music was the final ingredient needed to turn black music into 
> rock 'n' roll. Few blacks played country music, but Chuck Berry admitted 
> doing so, which is why I consider him to be the first black rock 'n' roll 
> artist (He's said on more than one occasion that "Maybellene" was his 
> attempt at playing the old Bob Wills fiddle tune "Ida Red"). Elvis 
> combined R&B and country in a way no one had done before. Can you name a 
> black version of a Bill Monroe song? I can't. The self-righteous 
> historians try to give blacks credit for rock 'n' roll the same way Wynton 
> Marsalis talks about jazz. It just wasn't that simple. Like almost every 
> new genre that is introduced, "it takes a village" to create something 
> new. Black music of the 1950s wasn't rock 'n' roll, but it contributed to 
> rock 'n' roll. You needed the other influences as well to complete the 
> stew, and that included country, gospel, jump, R&B, and blues. It is my 
> opinion that Haley did this first with "Rocket 88." Everyone
> has their own reasoning for naming one song or another as the turning 
> point of rock 'n' roll's development. This is mine. I'm not saying it's 
> right or wrong. It's just how I see the history.
>
It is still interesting to note that originally, "rock'n'roll" had a 
swinging, boogie-style shuffle
beat (a lot of Louis Jordan hits, like "Cal'donia," use this rhythm!). Chuck 
Berry, for one,
started changing this so that the 4/4 rhythm was more pronounced; however, 
his rhythm
section was good enough that the shuffle component was still present.

It is my opinion that the young drummers who played rock'n'roll in the 
1958-on period
were simply not competent enough to play such a subtle rhythmic form...so 
they
gradually changed it to the 1-2-THREE-4 rhythm that permeates "rock!"

Steven C. Barr
(listen to Berry on "swing" tunes like "Down the Road a Piece" to hear his 
unique
rhythmic style...!)