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Rock sprang from Rock n’ Roll Music
By Dr. Thushara Senanayake
Now that you have read the evolution of Rock and Roll, let’s see how the offspring of this genre - the most successful one - Rock (just simple rock without the roll part) came into being.

Although many used both terms Rock and Roll and Rock inappropriately and mixed more frequently, for the real musicologists, Rock is a different genre, which had distinctive qualities that the Rock and Roll didn’t have, since Rock sprang from the Rock and Roll. So termed this new genre, (now it is not so new).

In the early days, ie., in the early 1960’s, it was the Beatles and the Rolling Stones who pushed this music, Rock, to the heights. At least, they were the pioneers although very many acts also contributed in their own ways.
As Rock and Roll became a global phenomenon, with Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley as its stars, numerous young music enthusiasts started following them. A certain number of them learned how to play guitars and drums and started idolizing the likes of Chuck Berry. With this development saw many young enthusiasts coming to front as performers - some individually, some in groups.

Since Rock and Roll originated in the USA and later branched out, in the early 1950s, this type was a strange experience to the Britishers. In 1956, Rock and Roll swept England (and the other parts of Europe as well). With the jukebox and movies behind it, Rock and Roll started spreading all over the continent.

The film Blackboard Jungle featured a ground-breaking song called “Rock Around The Clock” (as performed by Bill Haley and the Comets). Then came Elvis Presley’s films King Creole and Jailhouse Rock. Radio Luxembourg, on the other hand, broadcast this “new kind of” music all over the continent since it featured one of the most powerful transmitters.

In the same time, the uptempo Rock and Roll spawned an offspring that more of less had the “kicking” “feeling” of the core, but veered away from its usual speed that is “measured” in BPM (beats per minute). The songs became slow (but nice) and those reflected the state of the souls of teenagers. Themes ranging from solitude to abandonment, from bad luck to depression gave way to such slow songs, which later termed the ballads. (Example - Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel”).

Adding a back drop to these latest developments were the already existing “Doo Wop” and Rhythm And Blues. All these had been a strange audio experience to the ears of Europeans, but in no time, they grabbed all styles at once.

However, by the end of the late 1950s, Rock And Roll became too soft with the acts like Paul Anka (“Diana”), Ricky Nelson (“Hello Mary Lou”) and The Everly Brothers (Wake Up Little Susie). These people with a vocal style based on sweet harmonies taught the lessons to upcoming young British hopefuls.

As the tours by Fats Domino, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincet stimulated the British and the other European youth, performers like Chuck Berry started inspiring a new set of budding musicians. In Liverpool, the seaport town of England, a movement of “Stiffle” - a kind of hillbilly blues - had become a dominant force by that time. As a seaport serving America, Liverpullians had the opportunity to hear the music coming from America before fellow Englishmen. As the sailors brought new rhythm and blues, doo wop and rock and roll records, the people in Liverpool was so fortunate to experience the new sensation before all the others.

As the “new sound” grew stronger, people switched from skiffle to rock and roll etc. One of the leading artists of such a calibre was Lonnie Donegan, who is a student of the famous traditional musician Chris Barber.

By 1957, a young “hopeful” named John Lennon had become a strong follower of Lonnie (and the new style). In the same year, this Lennon “guy” met another young musician Paul McCartney. John invited Paul to be a member of his group (more or less “skiffle”) durarrymen. Together they wrote songs, rehearsed and drafted and fired musicians and ultimately became the Beatles. The catalyst of many generations to come in the future.

Using their wild imagination and mixing a lot of “trad” and “contemporary” styles, the Beatles trod in a “Soundscape” which no one has manipulated. At the same time, again inspired by the sounds of Chuck Berry and the rock and roll, in London, a group called Rolling Stones were making waves with sounds somewhat similar to the Beatles. The only difference between the sound of the Beatles and the sounds of the Rolling Stones was the latter contained more hard and heavy vibes.

The Beatles and the Rolling Stones became role models in the sixties with lot of bands and musicians following them. At the same time, a young singer by the name of Cliff Richard blazing a trail in the territory of music, again, the vibes of which was more or less similar to the Beatles.

All these three acts and the others who took “Juice” from them delivered a range which differed from rock and roll but at the same time, sounded similar to rock and roll. And with time, this evolved into a new genre, which was termed “rock music”.

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