Professor David Peimer
The Beat Generation, Part 2: The Birth of Rock and Roll: Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Others
Professor David Peimer - The Beat Generation, Part 2: The Birth of Rock and Roll: Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Others
- [Judy] So David, welcome, and over to you.
- Okay, thank you so much again, Judy, and to Lauren, and hi to Wendy, and thanks everybody for joining in on a Tuesday. Much appreciate and hope everyone’s well wherever you are and all over. There’s a slight bit of sun in Liverpool, UK, which is revolutionary. Okay, so, today I’m going to focus on a bit of a lighthearted fun topic for me, the birth of rock and roll, which I love, and many other kinds of music, jazz, classical, of course, blues, but particularly in the ‘50s, which does link a little bit to the beat generation of Kerouac, you know, and the others that I spoke about before. But this comes from a very different tradition to the whole Kerouac tradition. And I’m going to take a particular approach as we look at this, and I know, I’m sure there are many people who know an enormous amount about the birth of rock and roll in the '50s and so on, and with music. So, this is my particular angle in, if you like, and welcome all sorts of, you know, comments, feedback, suggestions. So, the question for me begins with, it says, post-war. War obviously ends in '45. We have a lot of Black GIs coming back and, pardon me, I’m going to use African-American and Black, because that’s the context of this period, as the phrase.
So, a lot of African-American GIs coming back after the war. Secondly, the beginning of the America superpower era, and America, you know, production, the generation of the middle class white, and the change in terms of Black American artists, and their life, basically, you know, and looking for jobs and employment, et cetera. So, I think the context of post-war, economic and power development in the States, and together with, you know, black beginnings of civil rights, you know, obviously tempered, I mean, in a minimal way, but the beginning of the black civil rights movement. And that’s important in terms of the role of music. And then, of course, the rise of the remarkable, unique, amazing teenager class. For the first time in human history, I think as far as I know, research-wise, teenagers become a specific group, and they have the money, they have an extra bit of leisure time, a lot, certainly amongst whites in America, and elsewhere of the times. And they have the passion and the hunger for something a bit different to the previous generation. So, the whole focus on youth, I think, is driven by the teenager phenomenon of the world, which we all love, and, you know, it just has a beauty of its own period.
Okay, that for me is the brief context. The other context is going to be, in a sense, the crucial role of black musicians coming from the South, coming from Chicago in particular. And the other part of the story is, of course, a couple of Jewish guys who are immigrants from Eastern Europe or Poland and other areas, a couple of them, the Chess brothers, Alan Freed, and the absolutely crucial role they played in the birth of rock and roll in the '50s. Okay, my first question is, how do we go from this guy Robert Johnson? For me, one of the most remarkable blues artists coming out of the States of any era, you know, again, way, way back in the last century. And Robert Johnson, and this captures the beginning, well, this captures a sense of the blues with the African American, the feeling, you know, after slavery, the beginning and working class, et cetera, working, trying to find work. And so, New Orleans and other parts in the South. And then, we want to see how we move from his kind of music to Chuck Berry.
♪ I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees ♪ ♪ I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees ♪ ♪ Asked the Lord above have mercy ♪ ♪ Save poor Bob if you please ♪ ♪ Mmmm, standin’ at the crossroad, I tried to flag a ride ♪ ♪ Standin’ at the crossroad, I tried to flag a ride ♪ ♪ Ain’t nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by ♪ ♪ Mmmm, the sun goin’ down boy, dark goin’ catch me here ♪ ♪ Oooo ooee eeee, boy dark goin’ catch me here ♪ ♪ I haven’t got no lovin’ sweet woman ♪ ♪ That love and feel my care ♪ ♪ You can run, you can run, ♪ ♪ tell my friend boy Willie Brown ♪ ♪ You can run, tell my friend boy Willie Brown ♪ ♪ Lord that I’m standing at the crossroad, babe ♪ ♪ I believe I’m sinkin’ down ♪
Okay, not quite sure how Angelina Jolie gets in, but she’s in the images there. So, how we go from this amazing artist for me, Robert Johnson and classic blues, as I said, coming out of slavery times, coming out of the African American in the South, plantation and so on. And then, how it progresses through jazz, big band, and of course, rhythm and blues, swing, all the different gospel, and country as well. All the different influences that come into rock from this to this. This is an amazing brief one, the only time John Lennon and Chuck Berry played together. Chuck Berry, in a sense, ends the ‘50s for me. If it begins way back in the early 1900s, and then at the end of the '50s, Chuck Berry is the link for me between the '50s and the '60s. And how John Lennon recognises this completely in a classic phrase of his in this clip as they sing a song together.
John, as we were saying earlier, although you had this admiration for Chuck for this many years, today was the first actual meeting.
Yeah, I met him. Yeah, I think he’s the greatest. I really love him. It’s an honour to be here backing him.
That’s very lovely. You want to handle this introduction?
Yeah, if you were to try to try and give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry, right. In the 1950s, the whole generation worshipped his music. And when you see him perform today, past and present, all come together, the message is hail, hail, rock and roll, right on.
Here he is, Chuck Berry.
♪ Long distance information, give me Memphis Tennessee ♪ ♪ Tryin’ to find a party, tryin’ to get in touch with me ♪ ♪ She did not leave a number but I know who placed the call ♪ ♪ ‘Cause my uncle took a message and he wrote it on the wall ♪ ♪ Help me, information, get in touch with my Marie ♪ ♪ She’s the only one who’d call me ♪ ♪ Here from Memphis Tennessee ♪ ♪ Her home is on the south side, high upon a ridge ♪ ♪ Just a half a mile from the Mississippi bridge ♪ ♪ Ah, Help me, information, more than that I cannot add ♪ ♪ Only that I miss her and all the fun we had ♪ ♪ But we were pulled apart because her mom did not agree ♪ ♪ And tore apart our happy home in Memphis, Tennessee ♪ ♪ Last time I saw Marie, she was waving me goodbye ♪ ♪ With hurry home drops on her cheek ♪ ♪ That trickled from her eye ♪ ♪ Marie is only six years old, information please ♪ ♪ Try to put me through to her in Memphis, Tennessee ♪
- Okay, so the fascinating question from me is how we get from Robert Johnson type of music, you know, classic blues coming out of that period, you know, ending with Chuck Berry, just at the cusp of the end of the '50s, beginning of the '60s. And that artists like John Lennon and others recognised that key pivotal role, remarkable role that Chuck Berry played, not only in the transition, but in helping generate the music of the '50s in terms of rock and roll. This is Chuck Berry’s guitar. Just an image of it here at the front. Okay, before going back to some of the musicians, just give an idea of some of the other important characters in this remarkable story of the magnificent shifts in the music, you know, and try and identify a couple of ideas about it.
So, the first is these brothers here. These are the Chess brothers. In English, it was Leonard and Phil Chess, whose original names were Lejzor, please forgive my bad Polish pronunciation, and Fiszel. They came at the age of 7 and 11. 1928, they came from Poland. They go to Chicago, they’re Polish Jewish brothers. They open up a liquor store, make enough money, sell it, and they set up their own recording studio. And they noticed that the music coming from the south side of Chicago is the beginning of something that they instinctively or consciously feel is touching somewhere, American youth and many others. They are crucial in the whole development of early days, the beginning of rock and roll, The two Polish Jewish brothers, they sign up Chuck Berry, they sign Muddy Waters, they sign Howlin’ Wolf, who’s come from the South, you know.
They’re in contact with Sam Phillips, the guy who discovers Elvis, you know, down in the south. So, between them, Sam Phillips and another Jewish guy I’m going to talk about in a minute, Alan Freed, the DJ, these Jewish guys, not Sam Phillips are of really instrumental in seeking out emerging young African American talent, and this new kind of music developing through blues, big band, the sax, the piano into what’s the beginning of rhythm and blues in a sense, really rhythm and blues, which becomes rock and roll. And they are fundamental in the rise of electric, what became known as the Chicago sound of electric blues. So, they come out and they set this up. They start in 1948 with a song by Muddy Waters, the Great Muddy Waters, “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” who became a legend that we all know afterwards. So many of the African American artists also came through Sam Phillips in the South or came up on their own, because of the offer of employment in Chicago, rising city, you know, industrial city, et cetera, and other ways to look for employment, work, jobs.
So, many migrated to Chicago from the South. Muddy Waters also wrote a blues tune called “Rolling Stone,” which was a Chess release as well. And that’s precisely where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, they literally took the name, the words from Muddy Waters for the name of the band. What is important is that Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and the others began the transition of the music, transitioning to white teenagers in the States. And I don’t want to sound over romantic or idealistic, or naive, that’s for sure, but I do think it, part of the story that it is fundamental, is the movement between these African-American artists, where it all begins into the white middle class, white working class, upper class, and in particular, the teenage group that I mentioned earlier. Okay, the other guy that I’m going to just talk about a bit, really important, another Jewish guy, Alan Freed, lived from 1921 to 65, about young. And he was an American DJ. He also was a concert producer.
So, he first was a DJ in Cleveland, and then moved to New York City, and he carried on as a radio DJ, and he used radio to popularise nationally and internationally, these African American artists, singers, musicians. And this is from one of his concerts from the radio show, the Moondog radio show with Alan Freed, et cetera, with a couple of the names. He’s really fundamental in this whole amazing story of the birth of rock and roll. And he sees it partly as helping to break down racial barriers. He’s very aware of it in the US, and of course, pop culture. And he in fact, banned the white artists in the ‘50s who’re taking them black music, and making their own adapted versions, 'cause, you know, he’s saying it’s not the original source, and he wants to play the original, et cetera. Basically, there’s a bit of a clash set up there. His father is a Jewish immigrant from Russia, and his mother was Welsh American. He was in the Army, US Army in World War II, and also served as a DJ on the Armed Forces Radio. As I said, he was the first radio DJ, and concert producer, who promoted and produced rock and roll.
And in fact, he really worked through Radio, first in Cleveland, then New York City, to popularise the phrase rock and roll on mainstream radio. As he said, rock and roll, Israeli swing with a modern name. It began on the plantations. Look at the folk songs, and the blues, and the rhythm that comes with it, comes to be known as rock and roll. That’s Alan Freed. As I said, he saw himself as trying to work through teenage Americans, to bridge segregation between the races through his radio programming and live concerts. He insisted that the live concerts in the '50s that he organised and promoted were mixed, and not segregated. To quote him again, “Rock and roll is a river of music, which has absorbed many streams, rhythm and blues, R&B, jazz, ragtime, cowboy songs, some country songs, folk, all have contributed to the big beat of rock and roll.” And I think Alan Freed really understood, and was able to give it this under the sense, of not only the development, but he could see the different musical influences coming into this, very beginning, innovative style of music, and the kind of chord it was touching in the States and elsewhere.
Then, I want to come onto also this guy, who I think is quite amazing. Chuck Berry, Charles Edward Anderson Berry was his actual name. Born in 1926 and died only in 2017, and he’s known as the father of rock and roll. John Lennon said, “If I had to give rock and roll a name, I would call it Chuck Berry.” And John Lennon says, you know, the bridge between the '50s, and his generation of the '60s, for him and so many other white artists from Britain, from globally, America was Chuck Berry. The link, and how he developed rhythm and blues into his distinctive rock and roll sound. Through songs like “Maybellene,” which I’m going to play shortly, “Rollover Beethoven,” you know, “Rock and Roll Music,” “Johnny B. Goode,” 1958, '57, these songs, '55. He was born into a middle class African American family in St. Louis, and his break came when he travelled to Chicago looking for a recording contract. He’d heard about the Chess brothers, and he met Muddy Waters, you know, in a bar in the south side of Chicago. And Muddy Waters suggested, and set up a meeting with Leonard Chess. And Leonard Chess took him on board, signed him, and they produced and recorded “Maybellene,” which sold a million copies in the first go. Chuck Berry, Rolling Stone rated Chuck Berry in the magazine’s greatest of all time, you know, rock artist as number five of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Time Magazine and others, all sorts of similar responses. John Lennon, I mentioned.
Bob Dylan called Chuck Barry, the Shakespeare of rock and roll. Bruce Springsteen, “Chuck Berry was the greatest pure rock and roll writer who ever lived.” Leonard Cohen, we are all in the footsteps. Sorry, “We’re all a footnote to Chuck Berry.” So, all these huge remarkable artists of '60s, recognised the role of Chuck Berry in linking the '50s, '60s, and what he contributed to a distinctive rock and roll sound in the '50s, developing in particular from rhythm and blues of the '40s, up tempo jazz, swing music, bit of gospel, country and western, and a bit of traditional folk. It’s stuff we saw earlier coming from Robert Johnson. The phrase rocking and rolling interestingly comes from the late 19th century, beginning of the 20th, phrased about the movement of the ship on the ocean. Sailors would talk of the rocking and rolling of the ship. Then later, we come, you know, obviously in the '50s to Elvis. I’m going to show a video very shortly. His first great song, his first great album to hit the big time, “That’s All Right Mama.” But that’s more for the south, and it’s when he does “Hound Dog.”
That’s when he becomes huge and national within six months of starting as an ex 19-year-old truck driver in Memphis. And he went to meet Sam Phillips, you know, and said, “I can sing like ain’t nobody else can ever sing.” And 19 years old is when Elvis began, and he’d been listening to the black artists of Memphis and the South for a good few years as a teenager. And what Sam Phillips wanted was a white guy, and in Phillips words, could sing and moved, and really sing and move, you know, like these African American guys. Then, of course, we come onto Bill Haley, “Rock Around the Clock,” then Big Joe Turner, “Shake, Rattle, and Roll,” Little Richard, who influenced Ray Charles so much and so on. So, this is a bit of a real like, brief survey, if you like, of some of the pathway that this music took, and these extraordinary individuals who each contributed in their own way, Fats Domino and others. And the fundamental shift between the sax or the pianos, and to taking up of the electric guitar, and, of course, the drum. So, the beat is the drum, and the beat is always being spoken about.
And the ancient old roots of the drum are fairly obvious to everybody. But, does it link to the beat generation of Kerouac or any of the others? Does it matter? Maybe in a way of slight little bit of youth rebellion or speaking to youth, a bit of youth exuberance, I think, actually more than the sense of rebellion. I think exuberance, celebration of youth post-war, celebration also of the economic development, you know, in the States, and I don’t think it’s too idealistic to say the beginning of hope to integrate the races, at least through some of the music in any way. You know, I don’t think it’s going too far to say that I think the music helped, and the attitude of the musicians, people like Alan Freed in insisting in the mid '50s, you know, that all these concerts would be integrated, not segregated, the harmonies, the melodies, the tone quality, all of that coming together in these people. In an interview, Elvis spoke about his biggest influence, I’m quoting, “Biggest influence was black gospel, and the rhythm and blues of the black artists I grew up with or I heard of in Memphis.
And I listened to on the radio every day from a young kid.” Okay, so, that’s just to give you, you know, a very brief idea. Then, of course, I’m going to come onto you in a moment. Here, Elvis, at a very young age, 1920, just at the beginning of a remarkable, extraordinary gifted singer and talent. Little Richard and others, who’ve contributed incredibly. Okay, I’m going to select quite a few little clips from this amazing documentary on the birth of rock and roll. And going to start, you know, the other question is, were the white singers Doris Day, Pat Boone, and some of the others, were they naive? Whole different world of singing and crooning compared to what, you know, these black artists were beginning, and the white artists picked up very quickly. Okay, we’ll begin here. ♪ You ain nothing but a hound dog ♪
[Narrator] Gradually, records by the top black artists began showing up on juke boxes where white kids congregated. ♪ I heard the news, there’s good rocking tonight ♪ ♪ Well, I’m going to hold my baby as tight as I can ♪ ♪ Tonight she’ll know I’m a mighty man ♪ ♪ I heard the news, there’s good rocking tonight ♪
[Narrator] Rhythm and blues was a combination of several black musical styles. From jazz and big band music, it took its rhythm and beat. From blues and gospel, its emotional intensity. ♪ I’m like a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store ♪ ♪ I’m like a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store ♪ ♪ I can look at you baby, tell you ain’t no child no more ♪ ♪ Well, I get over the hill, way down underneath ♪ ♪ Well, over the hill, way down underneath ♪ ♪ You make me roll my eyes, baby make me grit my teeth ♪ ♪ I said shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll ♪ ♪ Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll ♪ ♪ Well, you won’t do right to save your doggone soul ♪
[Presenter] The Moondog Show!
Hi, everybody, how you all? This is yours truly, Allen Freed, welcoming you to the Big Feet One.
[Narrator] Eventually, a few white DJs began playing rhythm and blues records, specifically for teen audiences. Some using the term rock and roll to hide its black origin. Among the most prominent was the Cleveland DJ, Alan Freed.
So, there you get a glimpse of Alan Freed, beginning the enormous contribution that he made to the popularisation, and spread of rock and roll. Freed was the first really, again, I know I’m repeating, but it’s so important, to really put it onto radio, which meant, you know, national and much later, international exposure for these artists as well as this kind of music. And he suffered quite a bit later, a little bit later in his life for this. Okay, I want to move on to one of the guys who contributed one of the, I guess almost the anthems of rock and roll, Bill Haley and The Comets. They’re interestingly white. ♪ Five, six, seven o'clock, eight o'clock rock ♪ ♪ Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock rock ♪ ♪ We’re going to rock around the clock tonight ♪ ♪ Put your glad rags on, join me, hon ♪ ♪ We’ll have some fun while the clock strikes one ♪ ♪ We’re going to rock around the clock tonight ♪ ♪ We’re going to rock, rock, rock ♪
[Narrator] “Rock Around The Clock” was just a moderate success when first least in 1954. But its subsequent choice as the theme song for the movie “Blackboard Jungle,” not only made the song the year’s biggest hit, it catapulted Bill Haley and rock and roll to national attention. ♪ We’re going to rock around the clock tonight ♪
[Narrator] Bill Haley had given kids everywhere, a music that spoke their language. ♪ We’re going to rock around the clock tonight ♪ ♪ We’re going to rock, rock, rock ♪
Well, now what do you think?
That was crazy music man, that’s crazy.
That music is fancy, man. It’s fancy. You guys stick that music all the way. Rock and roll is cool, man and you know it.
Okay, just to give us a little info, a sense of how Bill Haley, although he never ever reached these heights again of this, the one great song of his, he realised so early on, and could come up with the song. So, we see the influence all the way through from early blues using all the different elements, coming up this, okay. Sam Phillips is the next important character in the story. As everybody knows, you know, he’s working in Memphis, and he sets up Sun Records. And he’s recording a lot of the black artists in the South. And always in his mind, he’s looking for a white guy who can sing and dance or move to sound authentically, and I use that word advisedly, like some of the African American artists that he knows and he’s recording. And, of course, that’s when this 19-year-old comes into his office, and we’re going to play the very, very first stuff of gentle Elvis.
[Narrator] Year old Memphis truck driver, who spent all his free time hanging around Sam Phillips studio.
[Sam] That’s different, that’s a top song, man, in the bag.
[Narrator] When Elvis Presley first walked into the Sun Studio, he knew he was special. Elvis told Sam Phillips, he didn’t sing like nobody. And he was right. ♪ Well, that’s all right, mama ♪ ♪ That’s all right for you ♪ ♪ That’s all right mama, just anyway you do ♪ ♪ Well, that’s all right, that’s all right ♪ ♪ That’s all right now mama, anyway you do ♪ ♪ Well, mama she done told me ♪ ♪ Papa done told me too ♪ ♪ Son, that gal your foolin’ with ♪
[Narrator] Elvis Presley’s first record, “That’s All Right,” caught Memphis by surprise. Sam Phillips had found his man. Now he had to make him a star. ♪ Train I ride, sixteen coaches long ♪ ♪ Train I ride, sixteen coaches long ♪ ♪ Well that long black train got my baby and gone ♪ ♪ Train train, comin’ down, down the line ♪ ♪ Train train, comin’ down, down the line ♪ ♪ Well it’s bringin’ my baby ♪ ♪ ‘Cause she’s mine all, all mine ♪ ♪ She’s mine, all, all mine ♪
I think he’s fabulous.
Fabulous?
Fabulous. He’s a king.
[Reporter] What you think of Elvis?
He’s great.
[Reporter] Is that all, just great?
No, he’s everything.
Okay, the very, very beginning of a 19-year-old truck driver earning, you know, a couple of dollars a week, Elvis, and this extraordinary young kid going on to what everybody knows. But what for me is how Elvis at such a young age could understand and integrate to his singing, into his body, total understanding, instinctively or consciously it doesn’t matter. And take the whole of rock music another step further in a similar way, I think to Chuck Berry and, you know, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley and some of the others. And the contribution, not only as a huge international icon of the 20th century, but the contribution to music, and understanding from gospel, blues, the very early days through to what he brings uniquely. That for me is the really interesting part. And if I can be indulged for just one moment, it’s many years ago when I had long hair, and I did some theatre workshops in, you know, some of the more rural parts of Zululand, you know, grew up in Durban.
Anyway, so, took a, you know, group of theatre people down. We did some workshops with some people, you know, in some of the areas there. And so, I thought, okay, well let’s start with just some, you know, singing and dancing music. So, I put on all sorts from South African music to African music to, you know, the Ishma Lowe’s, you know, classic African jazz, I mean so many of the black artists, then the African American artists, others, even some classical Beethoven. Nothing, no real response until I put this kid’s music on, purely out of desperation, 'cause I was losing nothing worse than doing a work theatre workshops and losing your audience, losing them.
And I put his music on, and within a couple of minutes, everybody’s up and dancing, and, you know, humming along. Most people didn’t understand, could speak a rudimentary English. Very few had rarely heard of Elvis. I’m going back a long time. And yet the response, and when I asked afterwards, you know, this workshop then went on for over an hour, and they all just said the voice, something in that voice. And it’s what Dylan said later in the '70s, Dylan said something about Elvis’s voice, Frank Sinatra’s voice. You know, Dylan was so aware of all the different aspects and that’s what was picked up in this theatre workshop, which I did. And at a very young age, I broke all politically correct stereotypes in thinking what to do wherever. Okay, moving on from Elvis, we go on to Chess brothers in Chicago, and the contribution of Chuck Berry, and the sound of electric blues.
[Narrator] The electric blues. Could be heard above the den in the noisy honky tonks where blacks congregated. One of these clothes was owned by two brothers, Phil and Leonard Chess, who had started a company to record best of these urban bluesman.
[Artist] I love you babe.
Let’s run one down.
Rolling master A, master A, take one.
[Producer] Here we go, rolling.
[Narrator] Chess Records had a number of hits on the rhythm and blues charts, but by 1955, the Chess brothers, like other independent producers, were seeking ways to adapt this music to the expanding rock and roll market. Chuck Berry was just what the Chess brothers needed, the leader of a popular East St. Louis rhythm and blues trio, Berry had come to Chicago seeking a recording contract. Arriving at Chess Studios, Berry impressed Phil and Leonard with his articulate vocal style, and a guitar sound that was part blues, part country and pure rock and roll. ♪ Maybellene ♪
[Narrator] Overnight, Chuck Berry became a national star. ♪ Why can’t you be true? ♪ ♪ You done started doin’ the things you used to do ♪ ♪ As I was motorvatin’ over the hill ♪ ♪ I saw Maybellene in a Coupe de Ville ♪ ♪ A Cadillac a-rollin’ on the open road ♪ ♪ Nothin’ will outrun my V8 Ford ♪ ♪ The Cadillac doin’ about ninety-five ♪ ♪ She’s bumper to bumper, rollin’ side by side ♪ ♪ Maybellene, why can’t you be true ♪ ♪ Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true ♪ ♪ You done started back doin’ the things you used to do ♪
Okay, from Chuck Berry, you can see the development of that distinctive rock and roll style, given how some of the others are starting to develop it. And, of course, the electric guitar. Then to go on, Ed Sullivan also played a crucial role, not only when The Beatles arrived in the States, but in the development and showing a lot of these artists, as I’m sure everybody knows, on really important role by Ed Sullivan. And he would go out to the areas, you know, hearing and listening, and finding some of the acts, and the artists as well. You know, huge respect. Okay, want to move on to Mr. Bo Diddley. One of the great classic songs. Trademark. Feel The Drum. ♪ Bo Diddley buy his baby diamond ring ♪ ♪ If that diamond ring don’t shine ♪ ♪ He going to take it to a private eye ♪ ♪ If that private eye can’t see ♪ ♪ He better not take the ring from me ♪ ♪ Bo Diddley caught a nanny goat ♪ ♪ To make his pretty baby a Sunday coat ♪ ♪ Bo Diddley caught a feral cat ♪ ♪ To make his pretty baby a Sunday hat ♪
Okay, you can see the audience is white, black, a lot of it mixed. Bo Diddley was also signed by the Chess brothers and was on their record label. Just showing you part of the whole contribution that the two brothers made. Then, the next one I want to go on to, who made an incredible contribution. You know who’s music I love as well is Mr. Fats Domino. ♪ Ain’t that a shame ♪ ♪ You’re the one to blame ♪ ♪ Oh well, goodbye, although I’ll cry ♪ ♪ Ain’t that a shame ♪ ♪ My tears fell like rain ♪ ♪ Ain’t that a shame ♪ ♪ You’re the one to blame ♪
[Interviewer] In fact, how’d this rock and roll all get started anyway?
Well, what they call rock and roll now as rhythm and blues, I’ve been playing for 15 years in New Orleans.
Okay, it’s the first comment, I think, is classic and so important. You’ve been playing it in New Orleans, which is where it came from for 15 years called it rhythm and blues, which is transitioning into what we know as rock and roll, Huge contribution that he makes with not only that classic song, but others. Okay, then the contribution briefly of a young gentleman from Georgia, Macon, Georgia. Little Richard.
♪ She knows just what to do ♪ ♪ She rock to the east ♪ ♪ She rock to the west ♪ ♪ But she’s the girl that I love best ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bom-bom ♪ ♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪ ♪ She almost drive me crazy ♪ ♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪ ♪ She almost drive me crazy ♪ ♪ She knows how to love me ♪ ♪ Yes, indeed ♪ ♪ Boy, you don’t know what she do to me ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪ ♪ Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bom-bom ♪
I didn’t want to record songs like “Tutti Frutti” and other songs like that, that don’t make a lot of sense, you know. But the recording director went out, thank goodness, he told me to go ahead and do it because it was going to be a hit. So, I said, all right, I didn’t believe it, but we went ahead and recorded it anyway.
And it was a hit.
It was a hit. ♪ Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bom-bom ♪ ♪ I got a girl, her name’ Daisy ♪ ♪ She almost drives me crazy ♪ ♪ I got a girl, her name’ Daisy ♪ ♪ Almost drives me crazy ♪ ♪ She’s gone cookie, history ♪ ♪ Birdie named Suzy is the girl for me ♪ ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rutti ♪
Okay, there we have one of the great contributions of Little Richard, and what happens when this white guy tries to do a cover version, and the kind of thing that, pardon me, Alan Freed was so against, okay, which is really sanitising the fundamental feeling. Also, what’s happening a lot is that the snare drum is obviously replacing the sax or the piano. Not for some of the artists, you know, like Jerry Lee Lewis and so on, but for most of them developing at this time. Of course, inevitably in most societies is going to be a reaction. And we see a bit of the reaction against rock and roll in the next old clip. ♪ In Boston, in Pittsburgh, PA ♪ ♪ Deep in the heart of Texas ♪ ♪ And round the Frisco Bay ♪
Why I believe that is because I know how it feels when you sing it. I know what it does to you. And I know of the evil feeling that you feel when you sing it. I know the last position that you get into in the beat. Well, if you talk to the average teenager of today, and you ask them what it is about rock and roll music that they like and they’ll, the first thing they’ll say is the beat, the beat, the beat. ♪ Sweet little sixteen ♪ ♪ She’s just got to have ♪ ♪ About a half a million ♪ ♪ Framed autographs ♪
The obscenity and vulgarity of the rock and roll music is obviously a means by which the white man and his children can be driven to the level with the niggers. ♪ Her wallet filled with pictures ♪ ♪ She gets ‘em one by one ♪ ♪ Become so excited ♪ ♪ Watch her, look at her run, boy ♪ ♪ Oh mommy, mommy ♪
Rock and roll has got to go.
They’re even organising a group to fight rock and roll.
This rock and rolls musical noise, symptomatic of a decadent and irresponsible youth.
I’ve been looking into this rock and roll stuff, and believe me, what I see disgusting.
We’ve set up a 20-man committee to do away with this vulgar, animalistic nigger, rock and roll bop.
They’ve refused to call that the communist ideology. I think we hit it fairly on the head. ♪ Cause they’ll be rockin’ in Boston ♪ ♪ Philadelphia, PA ♪ ♪ Deep in the heart of Texas ♪ ♪ And round the Frisco Bay ♪ ♪ All over St. Louis ♪ ♪ Way down in New Orleans ♪ ♪ All the cats want to dance with ♪ ♪ Sweet little sixteen ♪
[Narrator] By the end of 1955, Elvis Presley had become popular throughout the south. But he still hadn’t produced a national hit. Nevertheless, sensing his raw talent, RCA with the help of manager Colonel Tom Parker, bought Presley’s contract from Sun Records, and launched a massive campaign of press and television appearances.
Hello?
Hi, Gardner Calling.
I have Elvis Presley on the phone, hello?
Hello.
Hello, Elvis. Just one moment.
Hello, Elvis. You know, less than two years ago, you were running $14 a week as a movie usher, and then $35 a week for driving a truck in Memphis. Today, you’re the most controversial name in show business. What do you keep in mind mostly? I mean, some of the songs you’re going to do or some of your plans, or what? What goes through your mind?
Well, everything has happened to me so fast in the last year and a half till I’m all mixed up, you know, I mean, I can’t keep up with everything that’s happening.
Your style of gyrating while you sing has been bitterly criticised, even by usually mild and and gentle TV critics. Now do you bear any animosity towards these critics?
Well, not really. Those people have a job to do and they do it.
[Interviewer] And do you think you’ve learned anything from the criticism level that you have?
No, I haven’t.
You haven’t, huh?
Because I don’t feel that I’m doing anything wrong. ♪ You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog ♪ ♪ Cryin’ all the time ♪ ♪ You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog ♪
[Narrator] America soon discovered Sam Phillips’ king, that white man in the negro field and in negro beat. ♪ When they said you was high-classed ♪ ♪ Well, that was just a lie ♪ ♪ When they said you was high-classed ♪ ♪ Well, that was just a lie ♪ ♪ You ain’t never caught a rabbit ♪ ♪ And you ain’t no friend of mine ♪ ♪ You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog ♪ ♪ Cryin’ all the time ♪ ♪ You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog ♪ ♪ Cryin’ all the time ♪ ♪ Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit ♪ ♪ And you ain’t no friend of mine ♪
Okay, for me, that moment with Elvis where he comes into “Hound Dog,” and you know, as the narrator saying there, when he moves from more the South, and the popularity into national, and completely global, all within six months, which is quite extraordinary in this 19-year-old to 20-year-old’s career. I want to just, what’s happened here, sorry, just something’s happened with the, I can’t get the, oh, hell, this will come up in a moment. I want to move from Elvis back to Chuck Berry, and then with “Rollover Beethoven,” one of the great classic songs of his. You see again the contribution of the music and the beat, and then a little bit of satire, which is fantastic fun on the whole of rock and roll. ♪ You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog ♪
[Narrator] By the end of 1956, rock and roll had created a revolution that could not be stopped. Teenagers everywhere went rock and roll crazy. ♪ You know my temperature risin’ ♪ ♪ And the jukebox blowin’ a fuse ♪ ♪ My heart beatin’ rhythm ♪ ♪ And my soul keep a-singing the blues ♪ ♪ Roll over Beethoven ♪ ♪ And tell Tchaikovsky the news ♪ ♪ I got the rockin’ pneumonia ♪ ♪ I need a shot of rhythm and blues ♪ ♪ I caught the rollin’ arthritis ♪ ♪ Sittin’ down at a rhythm review ♪ ♪ Roll over Beethoven ♪ ♪ They rockin’ in two by two ♪ ♪ Well if you feel it and like it ♪ ♪ Go get your lover then reel and rock it ♪ ♪ Roll it over then move on up just a trifle further ♪ ♪ Then reel and rock with one another ♪ ♪ Roll over Beethoven ♪ ♪ And dig these rhythm and blues ♪
I have another one here, a popular song of the day, and I’m going to simply recite it for you, if I may, as a poem. Just drink in the simple beauty and the profundity of the sentiment. Be-Bop-A-Lula, she’s my baby. Be-Bop-A-Lula, I don’t mean maybe. She’s the one that’s got the beat, she’s the one with flying feet. She’s the one that walks around the store. She’s the one that gets more and more. Be-Bop-A-Lula. She’s my baby. Be-Bop-A-Lula. I don’t mean maybe. Be-Bop-A-Lula. She’s my baby love, my baby love, my baby love. ♪ Well, Be-Bop-A-Lula ♪ ♪ She’s My Baby ♪
[Narrator] Most record executives-
Okay, I love that little piece of satire, loving satire. But we start to get a sense of how rock and roll has become so mainstream. It’s up for satire, it’s up for ridicule, which is fantastic, like all art movements should be, and many social cultural movements in my opinion should be as well. ‘Cause then it’s strong. You know, if it can take being ridiculed, of course. I don’t have time for Jerry Lee Lewis, “Great Balls of Fire” and other songs, and Buddy Holly, but two of the most important and really significant persons, guys who also contributed to this. Bob Dylan, at a very young age, spoke about that he actually managed to hear Buddy Holly at a concert, you know, near where he grew up, and the importance of that and the effect.
So, just to give you a little taster in a sense of the early days, the beginnings of rock and roll, where it came from, how developed with these extraordinary artists, having taken in the influences of the past and like all great artists, taking it a whole step further themselves, and working together with producers. The sense of experiment of trying, of inventiveness based on the culture of the time of black and white Americans, post-war, the '50s, the teenager phenomenon, the rise of America as a global economic and superpower, and in a way a celebratory spirit. Not only a kind of naive spirit of rebellion. 'Cause I think for these black artists it’s very different. You know, it’s celebratory. It’s got a dream. John Lennon said at the end of the '60s, you know, in 1970, the dream is over. Of course, the '50s dream, early days of rock and roll was going to be over, but the roots of it were planted, you know, and the legacy lives on with us today and forever. And I want to just play out with where we began, with Lennon and Chuck Berry, and another song of these two remarkable artists coming together. The song’s “Johnny B. Goode.” You see the incredible connection between these two. The respect.
John, as we were saying earlier, although you had this.
[Lennon] I’ve got it, I’m ready.
Johnny?
Yes.
Let’s be good.
Okay. ♪ Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans ♪ ♪ Way back up in the woods among the evergreens ♪ ♪ There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood ♪ ♪ Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode ♪ ♪ Who never ever learned to read or write so well ♪ ♪ But he could play a guitar just like a-ringing a bell ♪ ♪ Go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Oh, Johnny B. Goode ♪ ♪ He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack ♪ ♪ Go sit beneath the tree by the railroad track ♪ ♪ Oh, the engineer would see him sittin’ in the shade ♪ ♪ Strummin’ with the rhythm that the drivers made ♪ ♪ The people passing by, they would stop and say ♪ ♪ “Oh my, but that little country boy could play” ♪ ♪ Go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go, go, go ♪ ♪ Oh, Johnny B. Goode ♪ ♪ His mother told him someday you will be a man ♪ ♪ And you will be the leader of a big ol’ band ♪ ♪ Many people comin’ from miles around ♪ ♪ To hear you play your music when the sun go down ♪ ♪ Maybe someday your name will be in lights ♪ ♪ Johnny B. Goode ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ I said go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ Go Johnny, go ♪ ♪ Go, go, go, go, Johnny B. Goode ♪
Okay, I’m going to hold it there. And thank you everybody so much for this brief little journey through some of the important moments at the beginning of rock and roll.
[Judy] Thank you. David. Do you have time to look at some of the questions?
Yes, sure.
[Judy] There are quite a few. So, I don’t think we’ll get through all of them.
Q&A and Comments:
- Sure, no problem. Okay, thanks, Clive. Ain’t no cure for the summertime frogs, definitely.
Charlie, yeah, exactly.
Alan, thanks for that. We’ve just heard that. Hot and humid in Toronto. Under 10, thanks, really.
Okay. Clive, interested in the history of popular until punk.
Tony Palmers, yeah, it’s wonderful there.
Thanks Clive.
Q: Romain, where is jazz?
A: Jazz coming from the South, in particular, New Orleans, this is probably another whole talk, Romain. Let me hold on that. It’s a whole big talk, but it’s improvisational quality for me besides the actual instruments, you know, the sax and the others. The improvisational quality, which is freeing up and liberating, you know, certain structures, I guess, after the original blues. And also jazz is, you know, the original blues is more linked to slavery times. Jazz is moving more into a celebratory time.
Sharon, okay, thanks. Just poured a drink and dancing.
Great. Lydia, I was one of the local teenagers. Weren’t we all? Fantastic. Bit of Elvis and Chuck Berry. Yup, pedal pushes.
Carly, who’s the woman who looks like Angelina Jolie? It is Angelina Jolie. The pictures are put together much later based on the Robert Johnson original recording. Recording, but the visuals put much later.
Sue, how ironic timing. Great, thanks so much, Sue. Sue. Okay, thanks. Bet Chuck Berry got his backs up front. Absolutely, you wouldn’t have pitched.
Clive, I know it. One of worst performances of Yoko, that’s for sure. And notice in the last clip, the sound engineer switched the sound off for Yoko. So, the sound doesn’t come through. And if you look carefully in this clip, the eyes of Chuck Berry when he hears that, you know, I mean Yoko’s fantastic in her own way, but it doesn’t meld with Chuck Berry’s music. You can see his eyes suddenly surprised. Lennon’s singing is flat. It’s also such an old recording, and so classic.
Audrey, Robert Johnson, brilliant on the guitar, you know, and extraordinary what he contributed to guitar.
Yeah, Cheryl, tell you what.
Yep, Robert Johnson, the Stones. Absolutely, I mean so many of the ‘60s took so much. I mean, Dylan’s right, you know. These were the Shakespeare that they all took from. Leonard Cohen, Dylan Springsteen, you know, they’re all talking about, this is their inheritance completely.
Alan Freed, they were really exceptional, Margaret. And the fact that he insisted, and in fact, I didn’t have time to mention, but he died at a young age, and what happened there was some, I think, anyways, semi trumped up charges, you know, so-called conflict of interest if he’s making money as a concert promoter, and as a radio DJ, and you know, the records are selling. And he died a broken guy at a young age,
Alan Freed, after having given so much to radio, to the music. And there’s another couple of clips which didn’t have time for, but to show how much the conservative figures at the time, you know, launched this anti-campaign. And Alan Freed was one of the main targets and suffered, as I said, died broke and young. He was the number one star of rock and roll.
Eileen, we can debate that until, you know, Rosh Hashanah next year. Great, I’ve mentioned the great Buddy Holly, and I had a couple of clips, absolutely.
Q: Herbert, who would I consider the top five performers?
A: Wow, we have to go through the '60s all the way to now. But I certainly loved, you know, Dylan, Lennon, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, what can one say? There are just so many of them and others. That’s another whole long conversation.
Q: Elizabeth, did rock and roll the monetization of pop genre?
A: Well, Chuck Berry’s classic song “Rollover Beethoven,” I don’t know if it belt a body blow. I think it just takes music in another whole magnificent direction. You know, it’s like James Joyce or Marcel Proust with, you know, stream of consciousness type of writing in novels. It just takes literature or Sam Beckett with theatre. It just takes literature into a whole another world, which I think is more appropriate for its times. And Shakespeare in his own time, in the classics, and classical music, you know, one has to link it always to the historical context, I think, and the economic.
Q: Alex, can you imagine the empowerment?
A: Yup. Survivors would’ve come back from Europe having killed white Germans. Absolutely, Alex, I can’t stress that enough. Thank you. Taking the Germans prisoners, you know, being prison guards on these Germans who, you know, the master race and all that madness. And then racial inequality, and of course, as you say, the self-confidence. And I think it’s so underestimated what the black GIs brought back to America in particular, and how that influenced and changed the attitude to, you know, people with a slightly darker coloured skin globally. I really, really do. Coming from these GIs without a doubt. And so many other stories interestingly are coming out now and being written about those early GIs.
Q: Linda, thanks. Any truth to the notion rock and roll was a code?
A: Yep, absolutely, it was the truth of all the code in the South.
Q: Martin, rhythm and blues. Rhythm is pretty obvious, why the blues?
A: Well, you know, the saying, the blues when you’re feeling miserable, down and trying to lift your spirits. Lilly, great. I know what fun. Yeah, the music, I know it. This is a little bit of a nostalgic memory trip for all of us, I guess.
Karen, the clear producer show aint too proud from The Temptations, went to Broadway, fantastic.
Barbara, my late husband and I was dancing “Rock Around The Clock.” Can you believe it? Done in the early '50s? I mean, this is like, 70 years later. Let’s look at the impact of these guys, you know, from Bill Haley to Fats Domino, to Bo Diddley. You know, Buddy Holly, all of them 70 years later. Big Mama Thornton. She’s fantastic, Cheryl, thanks.
Margaret, remember “Rock Around the Clock?” Yup, huge effect. The Everly Brothers. I know, I really like them. And, you know, the Simon Garfunkel, how they took up their one main song, stunning. And the Everly Brothers influenced the Beatles, and so many others with amazing harmonies, beautiful music around sad topics. You know, Paul Simon and so many others. They’re fantastically, The Everly Brothers.
It’s Valerie. Norman against Jo, yeah, yeah. Preceded Alan Freed by insisting a non-segregated, yeah. But Alan Freed, I guess the contribution being a DJ and having such broad access, especially when he was in New York through the radio. Sun, Elvis Sun records tour.
Leslie, yeah, absolutely. Hillary, Sam Phillips secretary. We saw Elvis’s potential. Yes, thanks, Hillary.
Don Everly died two days ago. I know, when I was preparing this, I mean, I think it was '84, '86, I can’t remember. Don Everly, the last Everly brother, I know. And the harmonies with his brother was, as you say, inspirational, Jerry. Elvis was pretty formed. I think his best work was 1920, '21, '22. The phrasing, the rhythm, that charisma and that voice. As Dylan said, those people in Zululand said, you know, that voice, this is like 70 years ago again. The early Elvis, you know, and he wasn’t just taking what others had written. Okay, “Blue Suede Shoes” was written by Carl Perkins, and Elvis takes it and, you know, completely, makes it rarely not only his own, but gives his own unique contribution. But so much, he also contributed 'cause of that understanding from an early age, 13, 14 of, you know, where the music’s coming from and what he’s listening to.
Jane, have you heard Jimmy Preston and the President’s recording of “Rock The Joint?” It could be. Yeah, I agree. But I think Bill Haley, I would disagree. I don’t know if it’s a poor imitation. Okay, but I hear your opinion.
Louie and Stan, the teens. Okay, the big bands. Absolutely, you know, the big band sound to try to show little glimpses of, you know, for R&B. Yolandy, Bob Dylan. Yeah, I did Bob Dylan quite a few months ago. Always happy to do Bob Dylan, any of them again, fantastic.
Elvis’s mother Gladys was Jewish, yup. Thanks, Naomi for the reminder.
Chuck Berry, he was the first. The Chess brothers in Chicago, they took the south side sound, and they saw it was emerging. The use of the electric guitar, what became known as electric blues. Chuck Berry was the first to really take it, and push it that step further into rock and roll. Sam Phillip,
Karen. I wasn’t allowed to listen to rock at home. I was going to be a goodie two shoes. Okay, I got it through my sister, my dear sister who lives in Jerusalem, and my other sister lives in Toronto. You know, they used to get the records, and I used to listen through that. Laurie, the music gets to my soul. I know, just a pure joy of this. For me, it’s that spirit of youthful joy, exuberance, you know, and the bit of rebellion and the other stuff, et cetera. You know, that’s ancient history in a way. But when one goes back to the source, and sees how these guys put it together, it’s quite remarkable. And how these tunes just stick from, you know, so long ago,
Alex, yeah. The beat from Bo Diddley not faded away from the Stones. Yup, these guys, you know, originality sometimes is lack of information. They certainly borrowed, stole, took, grew from each other.
Ronald, thanks. I know, my youth also.
Hindy, how we used to actually dress up. I know, the skirts, everything. Bernard, yeah, music of our youth. And the Cleveland Ohio. Yolandy, “Sway” by Dean Bob Martin. Yeah, a lot of these others were the hit parade. But this was the emerging new music to come, you know, I guess classical music also one can see it, you know, a certain approach and then a new one comes, and, you know, for me it’s just part of the whole amazing treasure box, how different art forms develop.
Okay, thanks, Dawn. And then, Hillary, Fats Domino. I know, fantastic. “Aint It a Shame,” such an amazing song, and underestimated that musical ability there. At least he got the Domino. At least he got the royalties.
Okay. Ruth, Naomi, Linda, most of the audiences were whited. These were often recorded in small community centres. So, these were not the huge rock concerts in massive stadium of the '60s, or the massive auditoriums of the '60s. So, that’s why a lot of the audiences were white because the filmmakers would’ve been white. They had access to it. A lot of the black artists weren’t even allowed into recording studios. Sam Phillips was a white radio engineer in Memphis in the '50s. And he was the first to allow black artists to come and record. They weren’t allowed into the white studios.
Great point, Linda and Steve, thanks. Brenda, Elvis, yeah.
Thank you, Sharon. I know all the memories and the words. Can you believe the words and the sound of these songs? They’re like, you know, they’ve burnt into all of my imaginations.
Moira, Monty. Yeah, it’s American, black American slang to have sex.
Shashek, okay, especially for your father. That’s wonderful, yeah. Havart, “Hound Dog.” I know, three lines repeating the same words. I know, so, it’s one thing when you read it as a poem, I love the piece of satire. It’s another thing when you record it. It just shows, you know, how one can make these porous overlaps between art forms. Alabama whites. Well, some of them may have hated rock and roll. Yeah, okay.
David, I think we need to take one or two more questions and that’s it.
Okay, Laurie.
That mind.
All right, do not come to South Africa. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, be gone.
Audrey. Okay. After five minutes, okay, the sound, okay. We’ll try and do something, I’m not sure Barry. We’ll see what happens.
Rock and roll’s about liberation. Yeah, good point. Liberation, revelation of the libido. Yeah, I think that’s, as you say, Karen, thanks. I think it was, but also the fact that it came, I think from black roots was the other part that was a bit threatening, that it wasn’t sanitised in a certain way.
Absolutely, Louis Jordan, I know, and the young 14-year-old that sang the great song. I’m not a juvenile delinquent, Frankie Lindon, there are so many others.
Okay, but you know, we have to make choices. Been dancing, okay. All right. Okay, that’s it.
[Judy] Thank you so much, David. I was dancing around the kitchen while I was listening to you today, and I suspect quite a few others were as well.
Okay, great.
So, thank you to everybody who joined us today. And thank you David, and we look forward to your next.
All right, thanks so much.
Okay, thanks Judy, everybody.
[Judy] Thanks everybody.
Take care, ciao, ciao.
Bye bye.