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

But others, such as Carl Perkins’s “Dixie Fried”, used the aggressive sound of rock ’n’ roll to convey a violent mood of drinking and potential razor fights.

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

A few versatile musicians and singers could be as effective in this role as when they were screaming, but most bands would feature a ballad singer and a shouter, a smooch tenor and a screamer.

The basis of Berry’s rhythm was an alternation of guitar chords comparable to the “alley” piano style of the Coaster’s “Searchin’ ”, but the effect was complicated by frequent lead guitar figures and by a piano that seemed to be played almost regardless of the melody taken by the singer and the rest of the musicians.

Although he gave the impression of being as frantic and emotionally involved as Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the most controlled, self-conscious rock ’n’ roll singers, and introduced a sophisticated technique of varying the emotional pitch of his fast songs, building to intense peaks and then slackening off, dropping his voice to a wh

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

With Little Richard, the rock ’n’ roll audience got the aggressive extrovert to enact their wilder fantasies, and his stage performance set precedents for anyone who followed him. Dressed in shimmering suits with long drape jackets and baggy pants, his hair grown long and slicked straight, white teeth and gold rings flashing in the spotlights, he s

the whole character of the shouted blues was adult, in the tone of voice used by the singers, the assumptions behind their songs, and the sophistication of the musical arrangements.

by the early fifties, adolescents really seemed to consider themselves a “new breed” of some kind.