'History of rock and roll' redirects here. For the radio program, see. For the TV program, see.emerged as a defined musical style in the in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier, and, and was also influenced by, and traditional. Rock and roll in turn provided the main basis for the music that, since the mid-1960s, has been generally known simply as.The phrase 'rocking and rolling' originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean, but it was used by the early 20th century, both to describe a spiritual fervor and as a sexual analogy. Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became used more frequently – but still intermittently – in the late 1930s and 1940s, principally on recordings and in reviews of what became known as 'rhythm and blues' music aimed at black audiences.

• Rock 'n' Roll Origins & Innovators Ebook

In 1951, Cleveland-based disc jockey began playing this music style while popularizing the term 'rock and roll' to describe it.Various recordings that date back to the 1940s have been named as the first rock and roll record. Contents.The term 'rock and roll' The alliterative phrase 'rocking and rolling' originally was used by at least as early as the 17th century to describe the combined 'rocking' ( and ) and 'rolling' (side to side) motion of a ship on the ocean. Examples include an 1821 reference, '. prevent her from rocking and rolling.' , and an 1835 reference to a ship '. rocking and rolling on both beam-ends'. As the term referred to movement forwards, backwards and from side to side, it acquired sexual connotations from early on; the 'Johnny Bowker' (or 'Boker'), probably from the early 19th century, contains the lines 'Oh do, my Johnny Bowker/ Come rock and roll me over'.The 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep', with words written in the 1830s by and tune by, was recorded several times around the start of the 20th century by the Original Bison City Quartet before 1894, the Standard Quartette in 1895, at about the same time, and Gus Reed in 1908.

By that time, the specific phrase 'rocking and rolling' was also used by in with a religious connotation.A comic song titled 'Rock and Roll Me' was performed by Johnny Gardner of the Moore's Troubadours theatrical group during a performance in Australia in 1886, and one newspaper critic wrote that Gardner 'made himself so amusing that the large audience fairly rocked and rolled with laughter.' The earliest known recordings of the phrase were in several versions of 'The Jubilee', by both the Edison Male Quartet and the Columbia Quartette, recorded between 1896 and 1900.

It contained the lyrics 'Keep on rockin' an' rolling in your arms/ Rockin' an' rolling in your arms/ Rockin' an' rolling in your arms/ In the arms of Moses.' 'Rocking' was also used to describe the spiritual felt by worshippers at certain religious events, and to refer to the rhythm often found in the accompanying music.At around the same time, the terminology was used in secular contexts, for example to describe the motion of railroad trains. It has been suggested that it also was used by men building railroads, who would sing to keep the pace, swinging their hammers down to drill a hole into the rock, and the men who held the steel spikes would 'rock' the spike back and forth to clear rock or 'roll', twisting it to improve the 'bite' of the drill. 'Rocking' and 'rolling' were also used, both separately and together, in a sexual context; writers for hundreds of years had used the phrases 'They had a roll in the hay' or 'I rolled her in the clover'.By the early 20th century the words increasingly were used together in secular black slang with a, ostensibly referring to dancing and partying, but often with the subtextual meaning of sex.In 1922, blues singer recorded 'My Man Rocks Me (with One Steady Roll),' first featuring the two words in a secular context. Although it was played with a and was one of the first 'around the clock' lyrics, this slow minor-key was by no means 'rock and roll' in the later sense.

However, the terms 'rocking', and 'rocking and rolling', were increasingly used through the 1920s and 1930s, especially but not exclusively by black secular musicians, to refer to either dancing or sex, or both. In 1927, blues singer used the couplet 'Now we gonna do the old country rock / First thing we do, swing your partners' in 'West Coast Blues', which in turn formed the basis of 'Old Country Rock' by the following year. Also in 1927, traditional country musician, with his group the Fruit Jar Drinkers, recorded 'Sail Away Ladies' with a refrain of 'Don't she rock, daddy-o', and 'Rock About My Saro Jane'. Recorded 'Rockin' in Rhythm' in 1928, and Robinson's Knights of Rest recorded 'Rocking and Rolling' in 1930.In 1932, the phrase 'rock and roll' was heard in the film Asleep in the Feet. In 1934, had a pop hit with 'Rock and Roll' from the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round, where the term was used to describe the motion of a ship at sea.

In 1935, recorded 'Get Rhythm in Your Feet and Music in Your Soul' which included the lyric 'If Satan starts to hound you, commence to rock and roll / Get rhythm in your feet.' The lyrics were written by the prolific composer with Bill Livingston. Allen's recording was a on the label, but the tune was quickly covered by white musicians, notably with singer. Other notable recordings using the words, both released in 1938, were ' by, a swing number with on vocals featuring the lyrics '. Won't you satisfy my soul, With the rock and roll?' ; and 'Rock Me' by, a gospel song originally written by as 'Hide Me in Thy Bosom'. Tharpe performed the song in the style of a city blues, with secular lyrics, ecstatic vocals. She changed Dorsey's 'singing' to 'swinging,' and the way she rolled the 'R' in 'rock me' led to the phrase being taken as a, with the interpretation as religious or sexual.The following year, musician recorded 'Rockin' Rollin' Mama', which drew on the term's original meaning – 'Waves on the ocean, waves in the sea/ But that gal of mine rolls just right for me/ Rockin' rollin' mama, I love the way you rock and roll'.

In August 1939, devised a new dance called 'The Castle Rock and Roll', described as 'an easy swing step', which she performed at the Dancing Masters of America convention at the. The ' 1941 film featured actress singing a song starting out as a traditional lullaby which soon changes into a rocking boogie-woogie with lines like 'Rock, rock, rock it, baby.' Although the song was only a short comedy number, it contains references which, by then, would have been understood by a wide general audience.According to the, an early use of the word 'rock' in describing a style of music was in a review in magazine on July 21, 1938, which stated that ' 'Lullaby in Rhythm' really rocks.' In 1939, a review of 'Ciribiribin' and 'Yodelin' Jive' by with, in the journal The Musician, stated that the songs '. rock and roll with unleashed enthusiasm tempered to strict four-four time'.By the early 1940s, the term 'rock and roll' also was being used in record reviews by journalist and columnist. In the May 30, 1942 issue, for instance, he described Sister Rosetta Tharpe's vocals on a re-recording of 'Rock Me' with 's band as 'rock-and-roll spiritual singing', and on October 3, 1942, he described 's 'It's Sand, Man!'

As 'an instrumental screamer. Displays its rock and roll capacities when tackling the righteous rhythms.' In the April 25, 1945 edition, Orodenker described ' version of ' as 'right rhythmic rock and roll music', a phrase precisely repeated in his 1946 review of 'Sugar Lump' by.A double, ironic, meaning came to popular awareness in 1947 in blues artist 's song ', covered in 1948 by in a wilder version, in which 'rocking' was ostensibly about dancing but was in fact a thinly veiled allusion to sex. Such double-entendres were well established in blues music but were new to the radio airwaves. After the success of 'Good Rocking Tonight', many other R&B artists used similar titles through the late 1940s. At least two different songs with the title 'Rock and Roll' were recorded in the late 1940s: by in 1947 and in 1948. In May 1948, advertised 'Robbie-Dobey Boogie' by with the tagline 'It jumps, it's made, it rocks, it rolls.'

Another record where the phrase was repeated throughout the song was 'Rock and Roll Blues', recorded in 1949 by.These songs were generally classed as ' or, from the late 1940s, 'rhythm and blues', and were barely known by mainstream white audiences. However, in 1951, Cleveland disc jockey began broadcasting rhythm, blues, and country music for a multi-racial audience.

Freed, familiar with the music of earlier decades, used the phrase rock and roll to describe the music he aired over station (850 ); its use also is credited to Freed's sponsor, record store owner, who encouraged Freed to play the music on the radio. Originally Freed used the name 'Moondog' for himself and any concerts or promotions he put on because he used as his regular theme music a piece called 'Moondog Symphony' by the street musician. Hardin subsequently sued Freed on grounds that he was stealing his name, and because Freed was no longer allowed to use the term Moondog, he needed a new. After a night of heavy drinking, he and his friends came up with the name The Rock and Roll Party because he already was using the phrase Rock and Roll Session to describe the music he was playing. As his show became extremely popular, the term became widely used to describe the style of music.Development of the musical style. See also:Rock and roll music emerged from the wide variety of musical genres that existed in the United States in the first half of the 20th century among different ethnic and social groups. Each genre developed over time through changing fashion and innovation, and each one exchanged ideas and stylistic elements with all the others.

The greatest contribution came from the musical traditions of America's black population , with an ancient heritage of oral storytelling through music of African origin, usually with strong rhythmic elements, with frequent use of ' and often using a ' vocal pattern. Was modified through the experience of slavery, and through contact with white musical styles such as the folk, and instruments, such as the Spanish guitar. New styles of music emerged among black Americans in the early 20th century in the form of,. According to the writer:'Rock 'n' roll was an inevitable outgrowth of the social and musical interactions between blacks and whites in the South and Southwest.

Its roots are a complex tangle. Bedrock black church music influenced blues, rural blues influenced white folk song and the black popular music of the Northern ghettos, blues and black pop influenced jazz, and so on. But the single most important process was the influence of black music on white.' By the 1930s, such as, and, were developing, essentially jazz played for dancing, and in some areas such as New York City processes of social integration were taking place. According to Palmer, by the mid-1930s, elements of rock and roll could be found in every type of American folk and blues music.

Some jazz bands, such as 's, increasingly played rhythmic music that was heavily based on blues riffs. In Chicago, blues performers formed into small groups, such as, and explored the use of amplification. In the Midwest, jump bands developed instrumental blues based on riffs, with saxophone solos and shouted vocals. In Nashville and elsewhere, country music played by white musicians such as incorporated blues styles, and in some cases was recorded with (uncredited) black musicians. In Texas and Oklahoma, bands, such as, combined elements of big band, blues and country music into a new style of dance music. As musicians from different areas and cultures heard each other's music, so styles merged and innovations spread.

Increasingly, processes of active cross-fertilisation took place between the music played and heard by white people and the music predominantly played and heard by black people. These processes of exchange and mixing were fueled by the spread of radio, and later and, and the expansion of the commercial popular music business. The music also benefited from the development of new and techniques from the 1930s onward, including the invention of the, first recorded as a virtuoso instrument. In 1946In 1938, promoter and record producer staged the first ' concert in New York City to highlight black musical styles. It featured pianist and singer, whose recording of ' helped spark a craze across American society for 'boogie woogie' music, mostly played by black musicians.

In both musical and social terms, this helped pave the way for rock and roll music. Economic changes also made the earlier unwieldy; left 's orchestra the same year to form the Tympany Five. Mixing of genres continued through the shared experiences of the World War II, and afterward a new style of music emerged, featuring 'honking' saxophone solos, increasing use of the electric guitar, and strongly accented boogie rhythms. This ' encompassed both novelty records, such as those by Jordan, and more heavily rhythmic recordings such as those by.Increasingly, the term 'rocking' was used in the records themselves, and by the late 1940s frequently was used to describe the music of performers such as whose records reached the top of the newly christened 'rhythm and blues' charts.In 1947, blues singer recorded ', a song that parodied church music by appropriating its references, including the word 'rocking' and the gospel call 'Have you heard the news?' , relating them to very worldly lyrics about dancing, drinking and sex.

The song became much more successful the following year when recorded by Wynonie Harris, whose version changed the steady blues rhythm to an uptempo gospel beat, and it was re-recorded by Elvis Presley in 1954 as his second single. A craze began in the rhythm and blues market for songs about 'rocking', including 'We're Gonna Rock' by, the first commercially successful 'honking' sax record, with the words 'We're gonna rock, we're gonna roll' as a background chant. One of the most popular was ', first recorded by in May 1949, and a R&B top 10 hit that year. Preston's version is often considered a prototype of a rock-and-roll song, and it was covered in 1952 by., Haley's bass player, claimed that this was one of the songs that inspired to coin the phrase 'rock and roll' to refer to the music he played.Freed first started playing the music in 1951, and by 1953 the phrase 'rock and roll' was becoming used much more widely to market the music beyond its initial black audience. The practitioners of the music were young black artists, appealing to the post-war community's need for excitement, dancing and increasing social freedoms, but the music also became very attractive to white teenagers. As well as 'rocking' rhythm and blues songs, such as the massively successful and influential ' recorded by and his band but credited to singer, the term was used to encompass other forms of black music. In particular, vocal harmony group recordings in the style that later became known as 'doo-wop', such as ' by and ' by, became huge commercial successes, often for the new small independent record companies becoming established.

These included, and.The adoption of rock and roll by white people was hindered by racist attitudes. As said about his father and uncle:They'd buy their clothes on, at Lansky Brothers, where all the black people shopped. Right outside Memphis, there was a voodoo village, all black-real mystic kind of people. A lot of real old line southern people called my dad and my uncle white nigger.

Nobody was doing rock-and-roll in those days except people they called white trash. See also:, and 1920s. 'My Man Rocks Me (with One Steady Roll)' by was issued in 1922, the first record to refer to 'rocking' and 'rolling' in a secular context. recorded 'Shake That Thing' in 1925. ', a first recorded in 1926 by, contains the lines 'That's all right mama / That's all right for you / Mama, that's all right / Most any old way you do', later famously used by for his song ', subsequently covered by as his first single. 'Honky Tonk Train Blues', by foreshadowed 'Pine Top's Boogie Woogie' a year later, perhaps not coincidentally since Lewis and Pine Top had recently been roommates.

Like Pine Top's later recording, it contained most of the elements that would be called Rock and Roll thirty years later, except with piano instead of guitar. 'Sail Away Ladies' and 'Rock About My Saro Jane' were recorded by and his Fruit Jar Drinkers on May 7, 1927. 'Sail Away Ladies' is a traditional tune, with, in Macon's version, a vocal refrain of 'Don't she rock, daddy-o', which in other versions became 'Don't you rock me, daddy-o'. 'Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o' later became a hit in the UK in 1957 for both the. Macon is thought to have learned the song 'Rock About My Saro Jane' from black at Nashville in the 1880s, although believed that the song dated from the mid-19th century.

' by, recorded on October 10, 1927, was a best selling blues, suggested as one of the first million-seller records. Its melody line was later re-used and developed by in 'Going to Move to Alabama' (1929) and (') (1947) before emerging in ', (1954) and its lyrical content presaged 's '.

It contains the line 'It takes a rocking chair to rock, a rubber ball to roll,' which had previously been used in 1924 by in 'Jealous Hearted Blues', and which Bill Haley would later incorporate into his 1952 recording 'Sundown Boogie.' . 'It's Tight Like That' by with pianist Georgia Tom , recorded on October 24, 1928, was a highly successful early record, which combined bawdy rural humor with sophisticated musical technique. With his Chicago Five, Tampa Red later went on to pioneer the Chicago small group ' sound, and Dorsey became 'the father of '.

'Pine Top's Boogie Woogie' by, recorded on December 29, 1928, was one of the first hit ' recordings, and the first to include classic rock and roll references to 'the girl with the red dress on' being told to 'not move a peg' until she could 'shake that thing' and 'mess around'. Smith's tune derives from 's 1925 recording 'Jimmy's Blues', and earlier records had been made in a similar style by and others.

A hit 'pop' version of Smith's record was released by in 1938 as 'Boogie Woogie'. ' by and brother, Uaroy, recorded in 1929, was a rhythmic country blues with small group accompaniment. Researcher has stated that this 'could be considered the first rock 'n' roll recording'. The brothers also recorded rhythmic gospel music.

The Graves brothers, with an additional piano player, later were recorded as the Mississippi Jook Band, whose 1936 recordings including 'Skippy Whippy', 'Barbecue Bust' and 'Hittin'the Bottle Stomp' were highly rhythmic instrumental recordings which, according to writer Robert Palmer, '.featured fully formed rock and roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock and roll beat'.1930s. ' by, recorded on July 16, 1930, was one of a series of recordings made by the biggest early star of country music in the late 1920s and early 1930s, based on blues songs he had heard on his travels. 'Blue Yodel No. 9' was recorded with an uncredited (cornet) and (piano), foreshadowing later collaborations between black and white musicians but which at the time were almost unprecedented.

' by (later known as the Georgia Washboard Stompers), recorded in 1932, was a virtually out-of-control performance, with a rocking and unusually high energy. It opens with a repeated one-note guitar lick that would transform into a chord in the hands of, and others. This is just one of many recordings by spasm bands, and that have the same wild, informal feel that early rock and roll had. After the original recording by the in 1917, 'Tiger Rag' had become a as well as widely covered in dance band and march orchestrations. 'Good Lord (Run Old Jeremiah)' by Austin Coleman with Joe Washington Brown, from 1934, was a frenzied and raucous recorded by and in a church in, with the singer declaiming 'I'm going to rock, you gonna rock.

I sit there and rock, I sit there and rock, yeah yeah yeah.' Music historian wrote that 'the rhythmic singing, the hard-driving beat, the bluesy melody, and the improvised, stream-of-consciousness words. All anticipate key aspects of rock 'n roll as it would emerge some 20 years later.' Red' by, recorded on April 18, 1936, was a hit record made by a small group of jazz and blues musicians assembled by for the specific purpose of making commercially successful dance records. Viewed at the time (and subsequently by jazz fans) as a novelty group, the format became very influential, and the group's recordings included many with sex and drugs references. ' (recorded on November 23, 1936), ' (recorded on November 27, 1936), and other recordings by, while not particularly successful at the time, directly influenced the development of and, when reissued in the 1960s, also strongly influenced later rock musicians.

' was recorded by with and His Orchestra in 1937. Its lyrics mentioned a kind of music called 'rock and roll': 'Every night/You'll see all the nifties/Plenty tight/Swingin' down the fifties/Now they're all through with symphony/Ho ho ho, rock it for me!/Now it's true that once upon a time/The opera was the thing/But today the rage is rhythm and rhyme/So won't you satisfy my soul/With the rock and roll?' . ' by, arranged by and recorded on July 7, 1937, was based on a 12-bar blues that builds in rhythmic intensity and features, like many of Basie's other records, the of (drums), (bass), and (rhythm guitar) that 'all but invented the notion of swing through their innovations'. ' by, also from 1937, written by, featured repeated drum breaks by, whose musical nature and high showmanship presaged rock and roll drumming. 'Rock Me' by, recorded on October 31, 1938, was important not only for its lyrical content, but for its style. Many later rock and roll stars, including, and, cited Tharpe's singing, playing, and energetic performance style as an influence.

Tharpe performed the song with pianist at the concert presented by in on December 23, 1938. She also re-recorded the song with 's band in 1942, and columnist described her vocals as 'rock-and-roll spiritual singing'. ' by and the Texas Playboys, recorded in 1938 by a band, featuring electric guitar. The tune was recycled again some years later by in '. ' by and, recorded on December 30, 1938 was an up-tempo, non- with a hand-clapping and a collation of verses. 'Rocking the Blues' by the Port of Harlem Jazz Men, a group comprising, John Williams and, was an upbeat instrumental issued in 1939 as no. 3.1940s.

' and 'Jivin' the Blues', both recorded on May 17, 1940 by, the first of the two musicians who used that name, are examples of the very influential and popular rhythmic small group Chicago blues recordings on 's Bluebird label, and among the first on which drums (by Fred Williams) were prominently recorded. ' by the Orchestra, a smooth rocking boogie number, was recorded in August 1940 with drummer 'Eight Beat Mack' sharing the vocals with the song's writer. The song would later become a rock and roll standard. The 'eight beats' in McKinley's nickname and the popular phrase 'eight to the bar' in many songs indicate the newness of the shift from the four beats per bar of jazz to 's eight beats per bar, which became, and remains, characteristic of rock and roll. Bradley also recorded the first version of Raye's ', later recorded with greater commercial success by, whose biggest hit ' also contains numerous proto-rock and roll elements. ' was recorded most famously in 1942 by and His Orchestra, with solo by, recreated and refined live. This became a model for rock and roll solos ever since: emotional, honking, long, not just an instrumental break but the keystone of the song.

The Sextet had a popular hit in 1939 with a more subdued version of the song, featuring electric guitarist. The book What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record? By and Steve Propes discusses 50 contenders as the 'first rock and roll record', the earliest being 'Blues, Part 2' from the 1944 live album, also featuring Jacquet's saxophone but with an even more 'honking' solo.

' by, recorded in 1942, is an early classic by this hugely influential guitarist, often cited as the first song in which he fully found his sound. Credits Walker as inspiring him to take up the electric guitar, but his influence extended far beyond the blues to jazz and rock and roll. Among other innovations, 'Mean Old World' has a two-string guitar lick where Walker bends notes on the G string up to the notes on the B string, which would be used by Chuck Berry in ' and other songs. ', first recorded by and then by and others, seems to have been the first song to which the phrase 'right rhythmic rock and roll music' was applied by magazine in 1945. Jordan, by the time of his recording of the song, was an established star, whose novelty performances had been influenced in particular. Jordan's 1944 disc ' had been the first record by a black performer to top both the.

Big bands became increasingly less economically viable, and smaller groups such as Jordan's Tympany Five became more popular. Many of his recordings, including ' (recorded in January 1946) and ', were hugely influential in style and content, and popular across both black and white audiences. See also: Views on the first rock and roll record The identity of the first rock and roll record is one of the most enduring subjects of debate among.

Various recordings dating back to the 1940s and 1950s have been cited as the first rock and roll record. A number of sources have considered the first to be ', which was recorded in 1951 by and his band, but credited to his saxophonist and the song's vocalist. According to 's Joan Anderman, most rock historians cite it as the first, while The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll and the website of the said that it is 'frequently cited' and 'widely considered the first', respectively. People in the have also called it the first, among several others. 'Rocket 88' is cited for its forceful backbeat and unrefined, distorted electric guitar. By contrast, writer and musician Michael Campbell wrote that, 'from our perspective,' it was not the first rock and roll record because it had a rather than the rock rhythm originally characteristic in Chuck Berry's and Little Richard's songs, although he added that 'Rocket 88' had basic characteristics of rock music such as the emphasis on guitar and distortion. Its characterization as a rock and roll or rhythm and blues song continues to be debated.

Questions whether it was really an R&B song 'with an unusually fast, bottom-heavy eight-to-the bar boogie rhythm and a great lyric about cars, booze and women'.The music historian wrote that 's earlier 1949 song ' is a 'much more appropriate candidate' than 'the more frequently cited' 'Rocket 88', primarily because of the presence of loud electric guitar work on the former song. Palmer wrote that 'Rocket 88' is credited for its raucous saxophone, boogie-woogie beat, fuzzy amplified guitar, and lyrics that celebrate the automobile. However, he regards 'Rock Awhile' to be a more appropriate candidate for the 'first rock and roll record' title, because it was recorded two years earlier, and because of Carter's guitar work bearing a striking resemblance to Chuck Berry's later guitar work, while making use of an over-driven amplifier, along with the backing of boogie-based rhythms, and the appropriate title and lyrical subject matter. Roger Wood and also have cited 'Rock Awhile' as the first rock & roll record. Others have taken the view that the first was 's ', or ' 1948 version; the song received greater exposure when Elvis Presley covered it in 1954. 's 1944 song ' has also been viewed as among the first.Most rock historians have cited 's 1953 song ' as the first rock and roll record to reach the Billboard charts. Haley's ' released in 1954 was the first rock and roll record to achieve significant commercial success and was joined in 1955 by a number of other records that pioneered the genre.

Along with 'Rock Around the Clock', several rock critics also have pointed to Presley's ' from 1954 as a candidate for the first rock and roll record.The 1992 book What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record? By and Steve Propes discusses 50 contenders, from 's 'Blues, Part 2' (1944) to Elvis Presley's ' (1956), without reaching a definitive conclusion. In their introduction, the authors claim that since the modern definition of rock 'n' roll was set by 's use of the term in his groundbreaking The Rock and Roll Show on New York's in late 1954, as well as at his Rock and Roll Jubilee Balls at St. Nicholas Arena in January 1955, they chose to judge their candidates according to the music Freed spotlighted: R&B combos, black vocal groups, honking saxophonists, blues belters, and several white artists playing in the authentic R&B style (, ).

The artists who appeared at Freed's earliest shows included orchestra leader, the, and,. That, say Dawson and Propes, was the first music being called rock and roll during that short time when the term caught on all over America. Because the honking tenor saxophone was the driving force at those shows and on many of the records Freed was playing, the authors began their list with a 1944 squealing and squawking live performance by with in Los Angeles in mid-1944. That record, 'Blues, Part 2,' was released as Stinson 6024 and is still in print as a CD on the Verve label. Several notable jazz greats accompanied Jacquet on 'Blues', including Paul Leslie and Slim Nadine (the monikers employed by Les Paul and Nat 'King' Cole, respectively, in order to appear at the JATP concert incognito).In 2004, Elvis Presley's ' and Bill Haley's ' both celebrated their 50th anniversaries. Felt that Presley's song was the first rock and roll recording.

At the time, Presley recorded Big Joe Turner's ', later covered by Haley, was already at the top of the. Felt that while there were rock and roll records before Presley's, his recording was the moment when all the strands came together in 'perfect embodiment'. Presley is quoted as saying: 'A lot of people seem to think I started this business, but rock and roll was here a long time before I came along.' Also formative in the sound of rock and roll were.

From the early 1950s, Little Richard combined gospel with New Orleans R&B, heavy backbeat, pounding piano and wailing vocals. Referred to Little Richard as being the artist that started a new kind of music, which was a funky style of rock and roll that he was performing onstage for a few years before appearing on record in 1955 as '.' Chuck Berry, with ' (recorded on May 21, 1955, and which reached # 1 on the R&B chart and no. 5 on the US pop chart), ' (1956), ' (1957) and ' (1958), refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar intros and lead breaks that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. Early rock and roll used the chord progression and shared with boogie woogie the four beats (usually broken down into eight eighth-notes/quavers) to a bar. Rock and roll however has a greater emphasis on the than boogie woogie. 's 1955 hit ', with its B-side ', introduced a and unique guitar style that inspired many artists without either side using the 12-bar pattern – they instead played variations on a single chord each.

His more insistent, driving rhythms, hard-edged sound, and signature beat (a simple, five- rhythm), have remained cornerstones of rock and.Others point out that performers like and were recording blues songs as early as 1946 that are indistinguishable from later rock and roll, and that these blues songs were based on themes, chord changes, and rhythms dating back decades before that. ' 1947 cover of 's ' is also a claimant for the title of first rock and roll record, as the popularity of this record led to many answer songs, mostly by black artists, with the same rocking beat, during the late 1940s and early 1950s. 's 1939 recording ' is close to 1950s rock and roll.

Also was recording shouting, stomping music in the 1930s and 1940s, such as ' (1944), that in some ways contained major elements of mid-1950s rock and roll. Pushing the date back even earlier, blues researcher has stated that 'Crazy About My Baby' by and his brother, recorded in 1929, 'could be considered the first rock 'n' roll recording'.By contrast, musician and writer argued that because rock and roll was 'an evolutionary process', it would be foolish to name any single record as the first. Writer similarly felt that, 'It is impossible to discern the first modern rock record, just as it is impossible to discern where blue becomes indigo in the spectrum.' Music writer remarked that the long-debated question is useless and cannot be answered because 'criteria vary depending upon who is making the selection.' References Inline citations.

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