The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock & Roll

The nature of the blues emphasizes particular qualities of character in its performers: they need to have a strong, consistent identity, and a persuasive way of communicating their thoughts and feelings. They may use menace or high-spirited exultation, humour or complete despair, gentleness or rough strength, to set particular moods on an evening’s

Fats Domino was the singer, whose apparently eternal and universal appeal defies musical analysis. His records were simple, convincing, memorable, and danceable. While a steady rhythm pounded from his full-chorded piano playing, a band led and arranged by his producer Dave Bartholomew played easy riffs that emphasized the dance beat, and Domino san

unlike the lyrical, warm instrumentalists in the dance blues, the instrumentalists in rockabilly responded more violently to unpredictable inflections in the singer’s voice, shifting into double-time for a few bars to blend with a sudden acceleration in the singer’s tempo.

The sound of a sax solo breaking loose from a series of driving riffs is one of the most exciting experiences of this century’s music.

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Vincent had a definitive white rock ’n’ roll voice – reedy, urgent, vulnerable

In rhythm and blues, the soloists were generally more “selfish”, concerned to express their own feelings, depending on the rest of the band to keep the beat going and the volume up while they blew their hearts out and their heads off. In jazz, there was usually more interplay between musicians, more exploration into melody and harmony, less relianc

Country rock was comparable to the vocal group style of rock ’n’ roll – and unlike the band styles – in that it seemed to be a spontaneous, informal sound, created by a few friends who had no evident musical training but a determined spirit “that had to come out”.

Rock ’n’ roll expressed the spontaneous, personal response of singers to city environments.