Introduction
I'm proud to be a first year Baby Boomer! Rock & Roll & I grew up together! Join me on a musical tour--Part I of my personal Rock & Roll History: The Fifties! The Grade School Years!Early 1950S-Square Music
In the Early '50s, I was Square! I was just a kid! Besides, the parents still controlled the airwaves. Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, and Perry Como were the last superstars of the (Shiver) BRR era-Before Rock and Roll!
Every Saturday night, our family would gather in front of our very first TV to watch Your Hit Parade! But the fifties weren't all idyllic, family togetherness, stay at home mom, Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver wholesome Happy Days! No!
McCarthy started his House Un-American Activities witch-hunt, blacklisting hundreds of innocent writers and performers. We were not only involved in the Korean War and the Cold War. We were also preparing for WW III by holding school air raid drills and building back-yard bomb shelters.
Segregation/Rhythm & Blues
Radio was as segregated as the diners, buses, and schools. Common practice was for whites to "cover" (re-record) the black artists' rhythm and blues hits. Pat Boone re-made Little Richard's Tutti Fruiti and tried to turn Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" into "Isn't That a Shame"! That would have been a shame!
Birth of Rock & Roll
According to Little Richard, R & B stands for "Really Black". A few rebel DJs started playing Rhythm and Blues on the white stations late at night. The teens loved it! In 1954, DJ Alan Freed coined the phrase "Rock & Roll" and it soon caught on. The next year, "Rock Around the Clock" became the first official #1 rock and roll hit!
And then came a crossover artist to help further the breakdown of the musical racial barriers. A crossover artist who combined country and blues and rock with a move that shook the world! (Demonstrate and sing) "I'm all Shook Up..." (Thank you very much!)! Ed Sullivan offered Elvis $50,000 for 3 performances-a record in 1956! However, Ed received so much flack about the infamous pelvic motion that Elvis' third appearance was shot from the waist up only!
Still Square
Meanwhile, I was still Square! When girlfriends asked, "Which Bobby do you prefer?", they expected Rydell or Darin as the answer. The only Bobby I knew was a Mouseketeer! I tried to get "hip" by listening to a rock station, but I soon got bored! They played the same songs every day! Heck, every hour! Can you say Payola?
My parents assisted my attempted conversion to "Hipness" by buying a record player-one that played real records--like on the jukeboxes! (Hold Up) 45s! My first 45 was Pat Boone's "Love Letters in the Sand"-the #1 hit of 1957! (Gee! Was I getting more "cool"!?)
In 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik, and grown-ups were concerned about losing the Space Race! But teen-agers were more interested in another launching--"Dick Clark's American Bandstand! At last, Salvation for the "Hipness-Impaired"! Every day after school, the Bandstand "Regulars" would teach us the latest dances. Highest praise on the "Rate-a-Record segment? (Hold mike) "It's got a great beat!" (other voice) "And you can dance to it!"
Dance Demonstration
Mostly we danced "rock and roll". But we varied it with dance crazes like "The Stroll", Chubby Checker's "The Twist", the "Cha Cha Cha" and my favorite, "The Mashed Potato"!
Conclusion
In the late 50s, Rock & Roll experienced a series of setbacks.
Elvis was drafted. Little Richard gave up rock for the ministry. Chuck Berry was jailed. Jerry Lee Lewis was ostracized for marrying his 13-year-old cousin.
In 1959, came the final tragedy of the Fifties- Buddy Holly and other rockers were killed in a plane crash. According to the song American Pie, that was "the day the music died"!
But the music didn't die! An era may have died! But the music lives on! Rock & Roll is here to stay!
(Exit to music!)
copyright ©2001 Louise Wolfe, CH@Home Toastmasters
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