Today we are going to describe such an important decade as the 50's which were a time of changes and the music of this decade reflected the cultural changes that were happening while still were remaining the social norms of the past. After the harmful effects of World War II, and another conflict,The Korean War,against North Korea in Southeast Asia which would last until the middle of 1953, the United States was about to embark on a musical journey that would change the face of music for decades. Racial tensions, due to the murder of a young in Mississippi that supposedly had whistled a white woman and Rosa Parks's arrest that refused to yield her seat to a white in a public bus, were being arrived with the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement and music reflected many of those tensions.
World War II
The Korean War
Civil Rights Movement
Rock 'N' Roll is defined by Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. Carl Perkins was one of the pioneers and his style is often referred to as "Rockabilly" because it combined country and R&B music with rock influences, the same as Buddy Holly or Gene Vincent. Elvis Presley is considered to be the "King of Rock 'n' Roll" by many and rose to fame after a professional relationship with Sam Phillips who wanted to market "black music" to white audiences. Elvis was the mainly responsible for the popularization of rock music and he symbolized the Rock 'n' Roll style and teenage rebellion of the 1950's. Also, he covered the song "Blue Suede Shoes" written by Perkins and it was very famous. Even so, it is important to remember the original African-American artists who created the genre and were pushed out of the rock scene like Chuck Berry. Whereas, Rhythm And Blues appeared from the jazz music of the 1940's and it combined jazz, doo-wop, blues, and gospel to create a unique sound during the decade. It also encouraged the creation of such genres as Rock 'n' Roll, soul, Motown, and funk music. Many R&B artists of the decade were originators of rock music and a lot of the songs of rock music enjoyed time on the R&B hit parade during the decade. This genre is mainly composed by African-American musicians like Lloyd Price with many white artists and musical groups like Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the Chordettes and the Crew-Cuts becoming R&B songs into traditional pop songs with a more mainstream sound.
Carl Perkins
Elvis Presley
Lloyd Price- Personality
The Chordettes- Lollipop
Both Rhythm & Blues (R&B) and Rock 'n' Roll popularized "black" music and many African-American musicians had the prominence and enjoyed success, but as I said before, many others were forgotten or denied access to audiences through segregation. It has to be said that a lot of people believe that during the fifties many of the white artists stole music from African-Americans and used it for their own benefit in a way that the original artists could not. Others believe that the popularization of R&B and Rock 'n' Roll only helped to finish with the trouble between blacks and whites and further the Civil Rights Movement.
In the other hand, Traditional Pop And Standards is refers to the music that was popular before rock music came into the mainstream and also to music that was popular at the same time during the rest of the decade but stayed mainly free of rock influences. Some traditional pop artists were Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and Patti Page. Many of the artists were interpreters of pop standards like Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra (as my partner mentioned in the 30's post), who would take the old famous songs and put their own individual style into it. This genre was greatly influenced by jazz, swing and big band. Whereas, Country is defined by Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Cash’s music had a rockabilly influence and his songs often focused around a certain theme, including life, sorrow, humour and relationships. Hank Williams was and continues to be a country music icon of the decade. He helped to popularize the "Honky Tonk style"- characterized by the piano and ragtime sound combined with country and rockabilly harmonies; and to create the "Outlaw Country genre" – a style which included songs about spirituality and rowdy times. Country music also served in order that artists as Connie Francisca, Frankie Laine, and Pat Boone, could record one or two singles with a country influence.
Patti Page- Young at heart
Perry Como- Hot Diggity
Johnny Cash- I walk the line
Hank Williams- Howlin' at the moon
Before finishing this pot, a example of a film is "Grease" which reproduce the 50's music. Also, a month ago there was a rock festival called the 21st Rockin' Race jamboree in Torremolinos, Malaga, Spain which reproduce the 50's and 60's music.
Grease- You're the one that I want
We hope you have enjoyed this post and that you very much for your visit.
Best regard!
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