Fifties Backgorund

Roots - 1950's

"People all over the world have problems. And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die"

- B.B. King

Born from pain

As fundamental as the expression of pain and sorrow itself, the blues was an intimate insight into the everyday life of an African American in early 1900's America. Originating from the south, the blues could by the 1920's be heard at every street corner around the Mississippi delta. Accompanied by a guitar, or their voice alone, skilled black blues musicians begun to migrate up the river with dreams of making it big in the northern cities. It was around this time that the word began to spread. The word of man so talented at the blues, that it was said that his skills were acquired, in exchange for his soul, in a deal with the devil.

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson, circa 1935 (© 1989 Delta Haze Corporation>)

Robert Johnson's 1937 song "Cross Road Blues" is considered one of the most important songs in the evolution of modern western music. Johnson's pain-soaked music was later embraced by the 1960s blues revival in Britain, decades after his mysterious death in 1938. Along with Johnson, black blues musicians had by the 30's and 40's emerged in the music scene of cities like Memphis and Chicago.

Radio allowed groups of blues musicians to express their music to a larger audience, now accompanied with a microphone and electric guitar at hand. In a time where black people had to sit in the back of the bus, and racial segregation permeated the American society, radio stations aimed towards a black audience became central for the Afro-American culture. As the blues took influence from other popular music at the time such as jazz, country and western, jump blues and swing these radio stations became the cradle of the genre later know as rhythm and blues (R&B).

Rhythm and blues

The R&B sound can be traced back to the black female voices of the 20's and 30's. The most influential of them all, Bessie Smith's, went on to inspire voices such as Billie Holliday, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. Post WW2 50's America rolled around, and white teenagers became increasingly drawn to the exciting sound and feel of R&B. Out of fear and concern of how this music might effect their youth, racial stereotypes began circulating in white communities. The idea that black men are especially driven sexually, and should be kept away from teenage girls, is rooted in deep systematic racism and misunderstanding. Results of this narrative , believe it or not, can be seen in the rock scene for decades to come.

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith, 1936 (Public Domain)

Technological leaps

As crowds grew, so did the demand for instruments that could be heard across an entire venue. Although the modern microphones had been around since the early 1900's, it would take another 50 years until the modern electric guitar would appear in the mid 1950's. The two most popular, being the Les Paul and the Fender Stratocaster, revolutionized live blues, jazz, R&B and rock at the time. The fact that these two can be seen on gigs to this day, with their design largely unchanged, is a testament to their inventors talent and hard work.

Les paul playing on a les paul guitar

Les Paul playing his Gibson Les Paul, 2008 (Wikipedia Commons)

Patent of first strat

Patent of first Fender guitar with a tremolo, filed 1954 by Leo Fender (Wikipedia Commons)

Rock 'n' roll

The year is 1955 and the movie Blackboard Jungle premieres, depicting an interracial high school friend group rebelling against school authorities. As the opening credits roll, Bill Haley’s "Rock Around the Clock" can be heard and turns theaters into dance halls all across America. It’s association with juvenile rebellion and urge to separate from the adult generation skyrockets the song to nr. 1 on multiple chats; the world has just had its first taste of rock and roll. And not long after, the American music scenery is swept of its feet by two

Bill Haley and His Comets

Bill Haley & his Comets, 1966 (Photo: Stadtarchiv Kiel [CC BY-SA 3.0 de])

men in particular: Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry - history's first rock stars.

The Pioneers

Rock and roll legends Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley bursted onto the scene overflowing with charisma and an arsenal of outrageous and provocative stage-moves. Having spend his earlier years in Mississippi, Presley took both cultural and musical influences from black communities, which could be heard in his music throughout his career. Berry, as many other blues and R&B musicians at the time such as Albert King, Muddy Waters and Etta James, was discovered by the great Leonard Chess at Chess records. Thanks to his rock and roll sound, "The Father of Rock and Roll" struck big early on with his Chess records produced "Maybellene". As Chuck Berry is duck-walking across the stage and Elvis’ hips are gyrating to the beat of "Jailhouse Rock", the American youth was given their own voice, identity and channel to explore themselves, separate from their parents generation. It simply cannot be stressed enough how much these two would go on to influence both culture and music in the western world

Little Richard

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Little Richard - Tutti Frutti

Elvis Presley

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Elvis Presley - Hound Dog

Chuck Berry

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Chuck Berry - Maybellene

Around this time, across the Atlantic, two teenage schoolboys from England began writing songs together, their names: John Lennon and Paul McCartney...