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Post by JamesP on Jun 6, 2015 7:53:00 GMT -5
As I reminisce about the early Rock and Roll, it dawns on me that perhaps Rock and Roll was more of a statement of rebellion by the teen-agers of the early 50s into the early 60s when it was replaced and a statement of rebellion with the "folk movement". Reading a book "History of Rock and Roll in Ten Songs" (Which I personally found boring and inaccurate, but that is another topic)... I began to think about those years of 1952 through 1963 when Rock and roll was getting its legs. Those were rebellious times for teen-agers, having for the first time money enough to make a difference in the purchasing habits - of music, film, books, etc. Movies such as "Rebel without a cause", "Rock around the Clock" etc. were dramatic statements of rebellion, or perhaps the coming of age of the teen-ager.
It was a statement of rebellion for "white kids" to enjoy "black music". It was a statement of rebellion to disagree with parents on whether the dance associated with Rock and Roll was promiscuous or not. And those aforementioned movies fed the fire.
So what's your take? Rebellion, Innovation or amd I just plain nuts?
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Post by jmuscara on Jun 7, 2015 7:32:06 GMT -5
I think both. Though I wasn't there so what do I know?
The thing I think about that era was the affect WWII had on it. I think those kids were pent up! The other thing I think about that era (and I'm NOT trying to get political here) are the people who want to think the 50s were this ideal time in America and that everything was perfect. Yet, you had this underground swelling up of things like rock and roll, the movies you name, Betty Friedan's beginnings of the Feminine Mystique, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, etc.
Innovation? Hmmm. As I'm thinking about it, there were clear progressions from blues to rock and roll. Not so much revolution as evolution. But the popularity of it among young white kids was surely a big deal in the pre-civil rights era.
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Post by rooster on Jun 9, 2015 13:30:10 GMT -5
I voted both innovation and Rebellion. I think for those listening to and buying the music it was rebellion or at least rebellion played a part. For those creating the music, I think it was about finding new ways to express themselves. If one looks, for instance, at the evolution of Bill Haley's music there is a definite progression from his Country/Hillbilly Bop recordings to his Rock & Roll material.
rooster
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