The 1950’s – The Birth of Rock & Roll.

During the early 1950s, the American Popular Music Charts were mostly dominated by the leftover stars and bands from the big band era. Those included singers such as Doris Day, Frankie Laine, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, and Nat King Cole, along with band leaders like Mitch Miller and Percy Faith, among others. The Rhythm and Blues Charts consisted of artists who performed mainly for African American audiences in cities and the South, featuring music mostly made by and for black Americans.

Late in the 1940s, a new crop of young stars took centre stage. Rock evolved from R@B and Jump Blues. Louis Jordan was performing a form of high-energy Rock late in the 1940s. Seek out his songs: “Caledonia” from 1945 and “Choo Choo Ch’Boogle” from 1946. They are indeed very close to what we know as rock. Listen to Jimmy Preston’s “Rock the John” from 1949, and another forgotten Rock star, Cecil Gant, who, in 1950, released “We’re Gonna Rock.” predating many of the now iconic artists and even the phrase “rock-and-roll.” Listen to Gorley Carter, a Jump Blues artist and Peter Johnson. So, who invented Rock-n-roll?

Rock and Roll reflects Black artists performing folk, R@B, Boogie Woogie, Swing, Jump Blues, and Gospel, all melded together into a joyous, energetic melange. Now, White artists adopted this sound.

White pop artists started singing these songs and became popular on the Pop charts. Rock and Roll as we know it today was now appearing frequently on the Radio. The original versions of many of these hits also moved from the R&B charts to the US Pop charts.

In 1953, Bill Haley and his Comets —a former western swing band—had converted to a more R&B sound. The first to reach the pop charts with a rock & roll song, they took their single “Crazy Man Crazy” to #12.

In 1955, Bill Haley and his Comets made the first #1 Rock & Roll hit with the song “Rock Around the Clock.” The teenagers responded fast to this new “rock” sound. The rising format of Top 40 radio and the Pop Music Charts were mostly filled with “adults’ music,” and rock & Roll was still seen as a strange new thing. In 1955, Chuck Berry’s Maybellene and Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti made their mark, some claiming them to be some of the most influential rock recordings of the time.

Many city and southern white teenagers started to love the music and made it a part of their youth as they moved away from authority.

Elvis Presley released his first Rock song, “That’s All Right,” in 1954, too, and rock and roll dominated the popular music charts of 1956. Elvis had the #1 position on the US charts for an unprecedented 25 weeks. He also launched a record nine singles into the Top 100. R&B artists continued to crossover to the pop charts, and rockabilly erupted out of the South. Carl Perkins’ single “Blue Suede Shoes” is the first country song ever to appear on the R&B charts. People in the UK are also finding out about rock & roll. Cliff Richard peaks at #2 on the UK Charts with “Move It,” which is regarded as the first rock and roll hit produced outside the U.S. The Stroll becomes the first dance craze for rock and roll.

February 3rd, 1959, known as “The day the music died,” is remembered in Don McLean’s 1971 song, American Pie. Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. Richardson, called the Big Bopper, died in a plane crash with their pilot, Roger Peterson. This plane crash took the lives of three of the biggest stars in rock music at that time.

By 1960, Phil Spektor was revolutionising rock production with his “Wall of Sound”. Instrumental songs were still impacting the Pop charts. Other black R&B artists, like the vocal group the Orioles, also had crossover success in 1953 when their #1 R&B hit “Crying In The Chapel” reached #11 on the Pop Charts. More crossover hits by black R&B artists like Fats Domino and The Platters started reaching the top of the pop charts.

White artists, such as Pat Boone, The Crewcuts, and Georgia Gibbs, gained success with R&B song covers, transforming them into pop hits. Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley all planted their feet firmly into rock history. Even Hank Williams Sr. made his contribution. Listen to “Move on Over.”

Even though the big record companies were slow to recognise the trend, smaller record labels such as Sun from Memphis, Ace from Jackson, MS, Vee-Jay from Gary, IN,
Chess from Chicago, Speciality Records from Los Angeles, Atlantic from New York, and others quickly realise the opening opportunity and begin releasing Rock and Roll
records by new artists they have signed.

Rock and roll got its first national #1 hit in 1955 when Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock” reached the top of the US and UK Pop Charts. Black R&B performers Little Richard and Chuck Berry also achieved major US Pop hits that year. Artist and repertoire men from major label RCA, scouring the countryside for their rock and roll artist, purchased the contract of Memphis singer Elvis Presley from regional label Sun Records. April 1956 saw the top of the Pop Charts with Elvis Presley, riding high on his first RCA single, “Heartbreak Hotel” By December, Presley was to become the first artist to hold nine singles within the Hot 100 concurrently.

Presley’s success on the Pop Charts helped both black and white rock & roll artists. By 1957, rock and roll was often on popular music charts. Rock’s influence spread fast, affecting radio, movies, TV, fashion, attitudes, and language around the world.

In 1959, Tamla Records was founded in Detroit. This label became Motown in 1976. Sam Phillips opened Memphis Recording Service in Memphis, Tennessee. He started recording famous electric blues and R&B artists such as Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, and Ike Turner. Phillips then went on to sign artists and start his own record label called Sun Records. He gained much success with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others.

Another landmark of 1959 was the deaths in a plane crash of three leading stars: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson). This event is known as “The Day The Music Died”, was revered in the song “American Pie”, released in 1971 by Don McLean.

Rock appealed to rebellious teens for its energy, excitement, and rebellious spirit. Rock and Roll grew from its Southern and Urban blues roots and became the main music style much loved by black and white teenagers. It helped reduce racial separation between black R&B charts and white Pop music in the US.

In Cleveland, Ohio, a disk jockey named Alan Freed launched his “Moondog Show.” He had begun playing fast rhythm, blues songs, lively jazz music, and Western swing. His programming captured many youngsters – white and black – across the nation. Freed is popularly credited with giving that mix of musical style a name – “Rock & Roll.” Freed was also quick to realise the popularity and started promoting Rock stage shows as early as 1952 in Cleveland.

Initially dismissed as a fad, rock music proved its staying power. Teen culture drove the music
industry, from record and jukebox sales to radio airplay. As the decade closed, rock music became
the most prevalent musical style; by the end of the fifties, rock and roll accounted for 43% of
all the records sold. Rock-n-roll wa embraced, too by television, film, and radio. This helped to
spread the genre widely.

Advances in music technology were significant in the early ’50s, as the solid-body electric guitar
became commercially available and was rapidly adopted by R&B artists and, later, Country and
Pop artists. The 78 RPM record gave way to the LP (long-playing) vinyl album, and the 45 RPM
single was introduced, soon becoming the standard for jukeboxes.

Top 30 for the 1950s.
1: Elvis Presley
2: Frank Sinatra
3: Nat King Cole
4: Miles Davis
5: Perry Como
6: Harry Belafonte
7: Bill Haley & his Comets
8: Johnny Mathis
9: Thelonious Monk
10: Frankie Laine
11: Doris Day
12: Pat Boone
13: Fats Domino
14: Eddie Fisher
15: Ella Fitzgerald
16: Patti Page
17: Louis Armstrong
18: The Platters
19: Dean Martin
20: Dave Brubeck
21: Tony Bennett
22: The Kingston Trio
23: Four Aces
24: Little Richard
25: Chuck Berry
26: Sonny Rollins
27: Art Blakey
28: Johnnie Ray
29: Duke Ellington
30: Sarah Vaughan
Source: Rock Music Timeline https://www.rockmusictimeline.com/1950