Johnny Cash in the 1950's by Dylan Starks

In 1954 a nobody in the music industry entered the recording studio to Sun Records and persisted on getting a recording session. This nobody was Johnny Cash. Little did the recording studio know, that Johnny Cash was about to become a major piece of the music scene emerging from Memphis, Tennessee. While his first recording “Hey Porter” failed to make the charts, he soon followed it with “Cry,Cry,Cry” which cracked the billboards top 20 and at its height was at 14. After made the charts for the first time he was able to string out multiple hit singles, “So Doggone Lonesome” and “Folsom Prison Blues” both made the top ten. “But Cash's fourth chart single proved to be his career song. "I Walk the Line" shot to Billboard's No. 1 position and remained on the record charts for an incredible 43 weeks, ultimately selling over 2 million copies.” (Bill Miller) “I Walk the Line” made Johnny Cash a house hold name and launched him to celebrity status. “The success and his association with Phillips allowed Cash to join an elite group of artist that included Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis—they were known as “The Million Dollar Quartet” (Johnny Cash 2). With the quartet Cash was touring the country and doing over 200 shows a year. In 1957 Cash released his debut album titled “Johnny Cash with his Hot and Blue Quitar” solidified his place in the music industry for years to come. Johnny switched labels in 1958 in hopes of more artistic freedom. The switch in labels can explain why later in Cash’s career would have gospel and blues influences.  Cash would go on to have success in the 60’s and continue to make music until his death in 2003. However it was his work in 50’s that would define his career and make him the legend.   

"Johnny Cash." 2012. The Biography Channel website. Nov 20 2012, 02:07           

Miller, Bill. "The Official Johnny Cash Website - JohnnyCash.Com." The Official Johnny Cash Website - JohnnyCash.Com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. 

Sam Cooke in the 1950s by Ricardo Garcia

January 22, 1931- December 11, 1964 (33 years)

Samuel cook or better known as Sam Cooke was from Clarskdale, Mississippi who touched many hearts with his outstanding music. Cooke was very talented with his wide variety of music as he sung American gospel, R&B, soul and pop music. He also was a songwriter and an entrepreneur. Samuel Cooke didn’t live life to his fullest as he was shot in the torso in a Los Angeles Hotel; nevertheless, he was considered the king of Souls for his distinctive vocal abilities and the impact on the modern world of rock music. 

Cooke began his career singing gospel with his siblings in a group when he was nine years old. Soon he became the lead singer of his group as the year went by and soon he would ride solo and further his career. His first pop single, "Lovable" (1956) which was a remake of the gospel song "Wonderful", and was released under the alias "Dale Cook" in order not to isolate his gospel fan base; as there was a considerable shame against gospel singers performing secular music. However, it didn’t fool anyone. Cooke's unique and distinctive vocals were easily recognized. Art Rupe, head of Specialty Records, the label of the Soul Stirrers, gave his blessing for Cooke to record secular music under his real name, but he was unhappy about the type of music Cooke and producer Bumps Blackwell were making. Rupe expected Cooke's secular music to be similar to that of another Specialty Records artist, Little Richard (Guralnick, 2005).

                                                        Lovable By: Sam Cooke

                                               Wonderful World By: Sam Cooke

 His contribution in music led to the rise of amazing artists today like Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, and many more. “He was the opposite of Elvis: a black performer who appealed to white audiences, who wrote his own songs, who controlled his own business destiny.” (Wolff, 1995).

He was soon inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame in 1986 and ranked him #16 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. In 2008, Cooke was named the fourth "Greatest Singer of All Time" by Rolling Stones. Also In June 2011, the City of Chicago renamed a portion of East 36th Street near Cottage Grove Avenue as the honorary "Sam Cooke Way" to remember the singer near a corner where he hung out and sang as a teenager (Guralnick, 2005). Samuel Cooke will always be remembered in the world of Rock N’ Roll as one of the great elites of all time. 

                                                       Cupid By: Sam Cooke 

Works Cited:

Guralnick, Peter. Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. New York: Little, Brown, 2005. Print.

Wolff, Daniel J. You Send Me: The Life and times of Sam Cooke. New York: W. Morrow, 1995. Print.

Chuck Berry

Lara Henney

One of the earliest rockers, Charles Edward Anderson Berry was pivotal for rock as we know it today.  Born in St. Louis, he grew up with a large family, a talent with the guitar, and a love for blues.  In high school he won a talent contest playing the song “Confessin’ the Blues” and he later went from playing a four string guitar to a six string guitar.  He tried to find work at clubs in St. Louis, anywhere he could.  And while the blues attracted a black audience he also liked the hillbilly sound.  So that coupled with his lyrical talent and flair he earned himself a place in the Cosmopolitan Club and became quite the attraction.  He then went on to try and make records in Chicago and with his song “Maybellene” he was broadcast across the country, giving birth to rock’n roll and influencing many artists to come.  Not only that but he was embraced not only by blacks but by whites across the country.  There came more hits like “Thirty Days,” “Too Much Monkey Business,” and “You Can’t Catch Me.”  He was in demand everywhere and appearing on TV and movies.  

He invested in real estate but was also discovered to have become involved with an underage girl that was also a prostitute he got into some major trouble.  He was sentenced two years in jail but while he was there the British Invasion happened, multiple British artists having Berry’s style and major influence.   Over the years he was out of jail he still went on strong, taking on a hippie like style in the 60’s and earning his first golden record.  Later on however he got into some more trouble with tax evasion, landing him in jail.  He was then done except for some sloppy performances and wrote an autobiography and released an rockumentary.  

Despite his lows Chuck Berry still has had a great amount of influence on rock'n roll through history. Chuck Berry’s distinctive style and flare is still seen in rock today.  He practically created the rock’n roll beat and the “Chuck Berry guitar intro”.  It was the great rock and roll figures Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley that established rock as a musical genre that would last for years to come. 

John Lennon- “If you were going to give rock’n roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’” 

Erlewine, Stephen T. "Chuck Berry." All Music Guide To Rock. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Miller Freeman, 1997. 180-82. Print.
Gates, David. "The Roots Of Rock." Newsweek 129.22 (1997): 72. Military & Government Collection. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.

Elvis Presley in the 1950s by Emily Neid

Elvis Presley, also know as “The King of Rock and Roll” single handedly changed the course of music and culture in the mid 1950s. Presley was a white southerner who’s influences included the “pop ballads and country music of his day, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on Memphis’ historic Beale Street as a teenager” (Stanley). According to Rolling Stone Magazine, "it was Elvis who made rock 'n' roll the international language of pop” (Stanley). 

Presley performed this music with a natural hip swiveling sexuality that made him a teen idol and a role model for generations of cool rebels. Presley was “repeatedly dismissed as vulgar, incompetent and a bad influence,” (Bartrand). However the force of his music and image signaled to the mainstream culture it was time for a change. His dance moves, music, attitude, and clothing came to be seen as embodiments of rock and roll. Elvis’ music was very heavily influences by Christian Gospel, African-American blues, and Southern country.

 America was dazed by his singing, which didn’t quite fit with the era’s squeaky-clean bill of fare. Elvis wasn’t the first one to sing rock and roll style, so he can’t be credited with the invention of it. But, his version of this new music became extremely and widely popular during the 1950s. Because of Elvis, rock and roll spread across the country, making it popular to wide audiences, especially teenagers. Elvis really did have a strong influence on the youth culture. In the 1950s, teenagers had begun to think of themselves as being different from their parent’s generation. Because of the economic prosperity of this period, teenagers could enjoy a disposable income that they could spend on themselves instead of contributing toward their family’s survival. Because his career went through so many changes, he was popular with different types of people for different reasons. Even after his death, his popularity remains strong among a wide variety of people. This wide popularity, as well as his important role in American musical history, makes him a cultural icon.

 

MLA Citation

Bartrand, Michael T. “Elvis Presley and the Politics of Popular

Memory.” Southern Cultures. Vol 13 issue 3, pg 62. 2007. Web.

Stanley, Alessandra. “Elvis Presley Repackaged.” Rolling Stones

Magazine. 25 Apr 2002. Pg 30. Web. 

"Little Richard" by Audrey Renfro

"Little Richard" by Audrey Renfro

Richard Penniman, more commonly known as Little Richard, is one of the most iconic and influential rock-and-roll artists of all time. This is mainly due to the fact that he actually “helped invent rock-and-roll” (Watrous, “Back to Basics, Little Richard Is Happy at Last”). The 1950s was a time of major change in America, as well as in the rest of the world. During this time, the Civil Rights Movement was becoming more and more active, especially with the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. The Board of Education, which made the concept of “separate but equal” illegal in schools. The shift in musical genres greatly attested to this change in the American individual.

As an African American, Little Richard proved “that African Americans could lead in music when [his song] ‘Tutti Frutti’ hit the air” (Kirby 145). Little Richard “made a strain of American extremism, all Saturday-night hysteria, a regular part of international mass culture” (Watrous). Little Richard’s incredible ability to entertain and perform allowed him to arise “as a cultural icon” (Kirby 150), which gave him the opportunity to transform pop culture through the emergence of rock-and-roll. Little Richard’s fame and success is not only socially important due to the fact that he is an African American who paved the way for the success of other African American artists, but he also influenced many white artists, such as The Beatles. Thus, Little Richard was not only successful in the African American community, but he was successful in the white community as well. He even appeared, as himself, in a few films in the 1950s. 

The success and influence of Little Richard’s music allows him to be considered as “the architect of rock-and-roll” (Watrous). So, without Little Richard, rock-and-roll may have never been created. Since rock-and-roll of the 1950s influenced the emergence of so many other genres of music that are present today, it is plausible to conclude that without Little Richard, music today would not be the same.  

Sources:

Watrous, Peter. "Back to Basics, Little Richard Is Happy at Last." The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Dec. 1992. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/arts/back-to-basics-little-richard-is-happy-at-last.html>.

Kirby, David. Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. New York: Continuum International Group, 2009. Print.

 

 



"Tutti Frutti"

 

"Long Tall Sally"

 

"Ready Teddy"