Where did Rock ‘n’ Roll come from:

[NiceBlue]

I remember when I was 9, back in 1956, hearing about this thing called “Rock ‘n’ Roll” and wondering where it came from. Well since then I learned that the music called “Rock ‘n’ Roll” existed long before the name did. According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Leo Mintz, an owner of a record store, started calling Rhythm and Blues records Rock ‘n’ Roll to eliminate the racial tone of the music. (https://case.edu/ech/articles/m/mintz-leo). The term Rhythm & Blues was coined in 1948 to replace the term “Race Music,” which was used to identify music directed toward an African American audience. At the same time there was a disc jockey by the name of Alan Freed working in Akron OH he and Mintz met. In July of 1951 Freed with the help of Mintz started the “Moondog Rock ‘n’ Roll House Party” on WJW-Am in Cleveland Ohio. So, the terms Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rhythm and Blues were both used to try and direct this type of music to more than one racial group by making it more acceptable to white listeners. Now, music performed by and listened to by African Americans (Race Music) has a long history possibly going back to 1619 in America and maybe even before that in Africa. That’s where Rock ‘n’ Roll came from.

Tom,

 

[NovenShade]

You’re absolutely right that the sound existed before the name. Rock ‘n’ Roll grew out of Rhythm & Blues, gospel, blues, and even country influences — all deeply rooted in African American musical traditions.
Figures like Leo Mintz and Alan Freed helped popularize the term in the early 1950s, especially through the “Moondog Rock ‘n’ Roll House Party” in Cleveland. But the musical foundation was built long before that by Black artists whose styles shaped what later became mainstream rock.
So in many ways, Rock ‘n’ Roll didn’t suddenly appear — it evolved, and the name just helped bring it to a wider audience.

 

[Praying Colonel]

There's an excellent podcast called "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs" that goes, way way back (Episode 1 is "Flying Home" by the Benny Goodman Sextet, a 1939 song). It goes through all the root music discussed above, and then some.

https://500songs.com/podcast/

 

[Micca]

Here's what is widely considered the first Rock 'n Roll record from March 1951. Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (band also known as Ike Turner's band.

 

[citruscurtis]

Well...missed that trivia question....loved Zemeckis spin on the history of rock and roll

 

[NiceBlue]

An important part of the story of Rock ‘n’ Roll is Congo Square in New Orleans. The owners of enslaved Blacks in early New Orleans were somewhat restricted by the Code Noir which required that these African Americans be given Sundays off to do what they will. They would meet together in a place called Congo Square to play music, string and percussion instruments, that were used in Africa, sing and dance and sell and trade goods. Ted Giaia’s book “The History of Jazz” has a good description of the happenings at Congo Square and the “ring shout” dances held there.

History of Congo Square, 1m12s

Same Story Different Countries 2m7s

Ring Shout 2m55s

The Stick Man may have come about due to laws forbidding enslaved persons from playing drums or other loud instruments for fear on the part of the enslavers that these instruments could be used to communicate rebellion. This was in response to the Stono Rebellion of 1739.

See here: https://iaamuseum.org/event/step-afrika-drumfolk/

Congo Square is now located in New Orleans in Louis Armstrong Park less than 2000 feet along Orleans St. northeast from St. Louis Cathetral.

Thank you for all who have replied so far.

Tom,

 

[NiceBlue]

The Second Line:

Historically in New Orleans a procession would generate a Second Line, with the First Line being the main, official part of the procession, a hearse for a funnel or the wedding party or the official band and the Second Line being made up of people spontaneity entering and dancing and playing music. See here:
New Orleans Second Line History - New Orleans & Company.



See here for a Second Line Wedding:

It is possible that the circular motion of the Ring Shout may have over time become the “Second Line of Jazz Funerals.” See here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_line_(parades).



Tom,

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Louis Jordan
and some others, but Louis Jordan could get little more crdit than he gets.
Listen to this intro by Carl Hogan's intro to just like a woman from 1947, pretty sure it was why Chuck Berry didn't sue other like the beatles when they stole it.
Song also has early guitar and paino solos, but i think there were earlier songs with those.

 

[NiceBlue]

Cogswel, I like Louis Jordan. He was with Chick Webb’s band at the Savoy in Harlem for a while before starting his own band.

Tom,

 

[NiceBlue]

The Cakewalk

Prior to emancipation, enslaved people performed a dance called the Cakewalk, in which they would imitate the polite formal ballroom dances of the wealthy whites in a very exaggerated manner. The plantation owners were the judges of the contest as to who performed the best and whoever won would be awarded a cake, thus the name of the dance. According to this website (https://www.npr.org/sections/codesw...ary-story-of-why-a-cakewalk-wasnt-always-easy) “. . . the slave owners might not have fully caught on that their slave might just have been mocking them during these highly elaborate dances.” From the contests performed by enslaved workers the Cakewalk moved to minstrel shows at times with white entertainers performing in black face. After emancipation, freed blacks joined the shows, although some still performed in black face. So, enslaved people imitated rich whites, then minstrel show whites imitated the enslaved person of the plantation, then freed blacks imitated the minstrel show whites. The result was that the cakewalk became popular, even in Europe with the French composer, Claude Debussy writing a piece entitled Golliwog's Cakewalk.

This video is about Ada Overton Walker, born in 1880 and known as the Queen of the Cakewalk.

Here are video examples of the Cakewalk.

7 minutes

4 minutes

3 minutes

Tom

 

[NiceBlue]

This brings us to Ragtime.

The term Ragtime or a Rag as pertaining to music is at least from 1897 and is perhaps in reference to the syncopated melody. “Syncopation is the accenting of a note which would usually not be accented.” This could mean that the “Melody is played on ‘weak’ beats” or the “Melody is played between beats.” See here: https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/understanding-music/syncopation/. Ragtime is not the only type of music that uses syncopation. The Library of Congress defines Ragtime as “A genre of musical composition for the piano, generally in duple meter and containing a highly syncopated treble lead over a rhythmically steady bass,” so the treble and the syncopated part would be played by the right hand and the steady bass by the left. Also, according to the Library of Congress, History of Ragtime “Ragtime was both exciting and threatening to America’s youth and staid polite society, respectively. The excitement came from syncopation – the displacing of the beat from its regular and assumed course of meter. Syncopation caused an individual to feel a propulsion, swing, and if played correctly, a musical looseness generally unknown to the public at large.” See here: https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200035811/. Ragtime also tended to be up-tempo.

Here is a 14-minute-long video by Allysia, entitled A Brief History of Ragtime Music

Tom,

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

So I have these record of Scott Joplin Live. The first time I listened to it I was blown away. It's a live performance of Scott Joplin but the sound is amazing like it sounds like it was recorded yesterday. that is because it was recorded like yesterday.. They used the piano rolls that were played by Joplin himself when creating the sheets used in player pianos.
So it is a live performance, though they elaborate and say many like Joplin might go back andd punch a hole or two afterward if they felt they missed a note. It also doesnt have the power (soft or hard) that the keys were being played with, but it is a live performance.