The Birth of Rock Part 7

The Birth of Rock Part 7

from TeachRock.org

THE FORTIES TRANSITION​

Before Rock and Roll, there were a host of artists and recordings, in a few different genres, that shared the spirit and feel of Rock and Roll. Big Mama Thornton's guitar-driven Gospel, Hank Williams' lean, story-driven Country, Howlin' Wolf's rough Blues: all have strong ties to the music that was yet to come. But perhaps Rhythm and Blues is the most closely related to Rock and Roll. In Fats Domino's view, Rock and Roll was just a new name for the thing he'd been doing since the late 40s.​

​ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What did R&B bring to early Rock and Roll, and how was early Rock and Roll different?​

​All popular music comes from somewhere. But when innovative music gets on the radio, the television, or to the public’s ears and eyes in some other fashion, it often sounds like it appeared from nowhere; like it landed on the doorstep and had no parents. But whether Punk, Hip Hop, Hard Rock or any other music, it all came from somewhere.

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So, too, was the case with early Rock and Roll. What Elvis did pre-existed him—even if the way he put it together did not. As this lesson will suggest, one crucial “parent” to early Rock and Roll was Rhythm and Blues, or R&B. As Fats Domino said in the mid-1950s, “What they call Rock and Roll I’ve been playing in New Orleans for years.” Many would agree with him. The subject of this lesson is the music of which Fats Domino speaks: the R&B of the pre-Rock and Roll era.

​What was R&B, and where did it come from?

The answers to that question are many and certainly crucial for any deeper understanding of the Rock and Roll story. The short version has it that when the Swing bands went out, due in part to the wartime economy and the daunting costs of keeping a large ensemble on the road, smaller combos became popular. Those smaller combos had a sound that many described as more “raw.” Artists like Louis Jordan emerged in this moment, influencing a number of Rock and Rollers, Chuck Berry among them. As the R&B recordings reveal, these smaller combos retained the emphasis on horn sections, but, by virtue of being smaller groups of players, their sound left more musical room for other instruments. That being the time when electric guitar technology was getting more advanced, this meant that when the guitar players got more space, they met it with more volume. Thus the R&B sound edged toward Rock and Roll.

Open Ended

"We had a little bit of a rough time trying to get our artists to do anything resembling the blues. They were more singers like LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown . . . the [New York City-based] bands we had were composed of players from the big jazz bands and swing orchestras who had become studio musicians. They were not at all like the kind of musicians who were playing the blues in Chicago, like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and all those people. When we had these musicians try to play in an authentic blues fashion, it didn’t work. The result, however, was quite intriguing. What emerged was music with a blues feel, but with a particularly Northern, urban influence."

-Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records.

What kind of music was he looking for?

Open Ended

"We had a little bit of a rough time trying to get our artists to do anything resembling the blues. They were more singers like LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown . . . the [New York City-based] bands we had were composed of players from the big jazz bands and swing orchestras who had become studio musicians. They were not at all like the kind of musicians who were playing the blues in Chicago, like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and all those people. When we had these musicians try to play in an authentic blues fashion, it didn’t work. The result, however, was quite intriguing. What emerged was music with a blues feel, but with a particularly Northern, urban influence."

Why do you think he wanted a “Blues” sound?

Open Ended

"We had a little bit of a rough time trying to get our artists to do anything resembling the blues. They were more singers like LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown . . . the [New York City-based] bands we had were composed of players from the big jazz bands and swing orchestras who had become studio musicians. They were not at all like the kind of musicians who were playing the blues in Chicago, like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and all those people. When we had these musicians try to play in an authentic blues fashion, it didn’t work. The result, however, was quite intriguing. What emerged was music with a blues feel, but with a particularly Northern, urban influence."

Why couldn’t he find it in New York City?

Open Ended

"We had a little bit of a rough time trying to get our artists to do anything resembling the blues. They were more singers like LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown . . . the [New York City-based] bands we had were composed of players from the big jazz bands and swing orchestras who had become studio musicians. They were not at all like the kind of musicians who were playing the blues in Chicago, like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and all those people. When we had these musicians try to play in an authentic blues fashion, it didn’t work. The result, however, was quite intriguing. What emerged was music with a blues feel, but with a particularly Northern, urban influence."

What could he find?

Open Ended

"We had a little bit of a rough time trying to get our artists to do anything resembling the blues. They were more singers like LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown . . . the [New York City-based] bands we had were composed of players from the big jazz bands and swing orchestras who had become studio musicians. They were not at all like the kind of musicians who were playing the blues in Chicago, like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and all those people. When we had these musicians try to play in an authentic blues fashion, it didn’t work. The result, however, was quite intriguing. What emerged was music with a blues feel, but with a particularly Northern, urban influence."

What kind of musicians specifically was Ertegun able to find to play on records?

Open Ended

How would you describe the sound of Muddy Waters’ music?

What do you think Ahmet Ertegun liked about Muddy Waters’ music?

What were the reasons Ertegun said he couldn’t record music like Muddy Waters’ in New York City?