Music in the 1950s
Rock N Roll
Rhythm and Blues
Rock ‘n’ Roll was a new genre of music in the 1950s and was thought to be a mixture of Rhythm and Blues and Country but with an edge. It was blamed by the older generation for encouraging rebellion among the youth, who happened to be the dominant audience. The youth of the 1950s loved the defiance towards the society that the genre advertised and even begun to dress like the artists who sang of this, such as Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley is acclaimed as the person responsible for making Rock n Roll the phenomenon it was, nicknamed the “King of Rock n Roll” even influencing other artists, like Australia's Elvis Presley of the decade Johnny O'Keefe. Other popular artists with the Rock ability include Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and Gene Vincent, but there is conflict when mentioning who was responsible for the creation of Rock n Roll due to the fact that the genre was originated by artists of the African American heritage who were restricted in recording music of this genre. These artists include Little Richard and Chubby Checker.
Rhythm and blues was a blend of jazz, blues and gospel with icons of the genre includes Ray Charles, Little Richard and The Ravens. Rhythm and Blues in the 1950s is thought to have been a major guidance to the creation of Rock n Roll. The icons of RnB were the artists that were originators of the rock n roll genre, which were silenced by record labels and pushed into the Rhythm and Blues genre, due to the requirement made by Rock n Roll producers for a somewhat ‘white only’ genre . In fact there is hardly a difference in style and tune between Rock n Roll and RnB and many Traditional Pop artists chose the RnB songs over Rock n Roll to convert to mainstream songs.
Country
Traditional Pop Music
Country music was heavily dominated by Johnny Cash in the 1950s, but another popular artist was Hank Williams. Country music was a combination of Rock music, swing, boogie and humour that told real tales that people could relate to such as love, and events in life.
Traditional Pop music in the 1950s was a combination of original songs, and hits that were previously made famous by another artist but were recorded to their own version. Many have called Pop music in the 1950s as music that was known before the creation of Rock n Roll, which was not in any way similar to Rock n Roll. Pop Music icons of the 1950s included Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennet, who combined simple lyrics with a memorable tune influenced by big band and jazz music and often acquired their own Television shows or had appearances on popular programs.