During the late '40s and early '50s the nation learned to dance to a whole new sound - a combination of the blues, country music, jazz and gospel music - coined Rock and Roll by Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed. Early rock 'n roll either had a piano or saxophone as the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s. The beat is essentially a boogie woogie blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, the latter almost always provided by a snare drum.
With musicians like Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Hank Williams redefining the entertainment industry and Carl Perkins pioneering the creation of rock music with "Blue Suede Shoes" (I know we all know it as an Elvis song but it was a chart topper when it was written and first recorded by Perkins, too). And speaking of the king, his music typifies the 1950s musical revolution!
I love '50s music! The liveliness, the clean lyrics, the happy, optimistic tunes! I've been listening to it all day today and had to restrain myself from dancing in my chair at work! (that would have been slightly embarassing)
Instead of a playlist, because you'll be reading all night if I try to list all the ones I'd like to and I would hate to leave off a really great song, I suggest going to pandora and creating a "'50s rock and roll station" like I did today! It'll have you swingin' with the spatula!
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