History of rock music

The history of rock music goes back some sixty years. During that time, rockers have used every instrument in existence in their songs, dozens of popular styles have been born and ceased to exist, and many subcultures like punk and goth have formed.

The initial stages
The origins of rock may be traced back to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, a fusion of blues, boogie-woogie, and country music.

Roy Brown coined the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll” in his 1947 song Good Rockin’ Tonight. The word did not relate to a musical direction at the time, but rather to a call to dance and continue in a sensual manner.

It’s still a mystery who was the first to record a rock ‘n’ roll song after all these years. Fans consider Fats Domino’s Fat Man from 1950 to be the first composition of the new genre, but Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats believe it all began with the Rocket 88 record from a year later.

The 1950s were a time of change.
Because rock and roll was initially a black people’s music, Elvis Presley’s songs became a huge hit. The white musician emerged onto the scene and became one of the most successful artists of the period with his debut hits. DJs had to explain what the white artist was singing when he initially appeared on the radio airways. Elvis was dubbed “The King of Rock and Roll” later on.

Little Richard and Chuck Berry were also prominent musicians in the genre during those years. The latter demonstrated how rock ‘n’ roll should be done, from the music to the stage performance, and it was because to Richard that future genres like “garage rock” and “punk” arose.

Link Ray utilized the fuzz effect on his guitar for the first time in his composition Rumble in 1957, making him the forefather of all “heavy” rock music styles (e.g., heavy metal).

Rockers were not just popular in the United States; the British rapidly adopted the new trend. Except that blues and country music impacted music in the United States, while popular skiffle inspired music in the United Kingdom. Even a future member of The Beatles, John Lennon’s first band, was playing skiffle at the time.

Of course, the Americans dominated the genre, but British performers occasionally outperformed their American counterparts in the charts. Cliff Richard and The Shadows’ song Move It was the first truly major success for the UK rock’n’rollers.

During the first part of the 1960s,
With the development of a new movement in rock – beat music – the Americans’ reign came to an end. The Beatles were the most well-known example of the style.

The Beatles released I Want to Hold Your Hand on November 29th, 1963, kicking off the British Invasion, a period in which British rock music began to dominate the foreign charts. Aside from The Beatles, the Invasion included The Zombies, The Who, The Yardbirds, and a slew of other bands.