How are you?
Following the last week, I am going to
start my 56th lecture.
I had conducted music lectures at Art
Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December
2017. I am going to introduce the lecture by
the lecture’s order every Saturday.
Following the “History of Jazz”, which
lasted for 11 weeks until last week, I will lecture for 6 weeks with a new
topic of “History of Pop Music” from this week. The first topic of “History of Pop Music”
for this week is the '1950s'. It is a summary of the contents of “56th ACJ
Music Academy, History of Pop Music: 1. 1950s”, which was introduced on July
23, 2016.
In the United States, the 1950s was a time when
Rock and Roll, Classic Pop, Rhythm and Blues, Country and Rockabilly was very popular.
‘Rock and Roll' was a genre that dominated pop music
in the late 1950s. It was born and developed in the United States during the
late 1940s and early 1950s, and rapidly spread to other countries. Rock and
Roll is a genre of popular music from musical styles such as gospel, jump
blues, jazz, boogie woogie, rhythm and blues and country music.
Alan Freed, who
was a disc jockey in Cleveland, Ohio in 1951, used the term 'rock and roll' for
the first time for expressing rhythm and blues music when he began introducing
rhythm and blues music to audiences of various races.
Alan Freed
Chuck Berry is regarded
as one of the pioneers of Rock and Roll music, and he created and developed
elements that differentiate Rock and Roll by introducing guitar solo and
showmanship.
Chuck Berry
The Rock and Roll era began with the film "The Blackboard
Jungle", which was released in 1955. Bill Haley and His Comets' "(We’re
Gonna) Rock Around the Clock", which was included in the film, provoked a
sensation in the United States.
The poster of film "Blackboard Jungle" (1955)
Elvis Presley debuted as a singer in the
mid-1950s and became a leading musician in Rock and Roll with TV appearances,
films and released albums.
Elvis Presley
'Classic Pop' dominated the music charts in the
first half of the 1950s. At this time, Patti Page released "Tennessee
Waltz", the greatest hit at the time, and Nat "King" Cole
dominated the music charts throughout the era with songs such as "Unforgettable",
"Mona Lisa" and "Too Young". However, the popularity of
Classic Pop dropped as Rock and Roll entered the mainstream.
Patti Page
For ‘Rhythm and Blues’, Little Richard made serial
hits of Rhythm and Blues songs, starting with "Tutti Frutti" and
"Long Tall Sally" in 1955 and 1956, affecting singers such as James
Brown, Elvis Presley and Otis Redding.
Little Richard
'Blues', along with the passionate playing style of
musicians like Bo Diddley, had a major influence on the mainstream of American
popular music in the 1950s. Ray Charles and Fats Domino contributed to bring Blues
music to the popular music stage, and Fats Domino in particular presented “Boogie-woogie”
style that was greatly influenced by Rock and Roll.
Fats Domino
For 'Country' music, Country music stars in the
early 1950s include Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Chet Atkins and Kitty Wells. Kitty
Wells released her hit song "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk
Angels" in 1952 and this song was the first single to be ranked number one
on the American Country Chart as a female solo singer.
Kitty Wells
“Nashville sound” in the
late 1950s was a response to the Country genre, which was constantly eroded by
rock stars. Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves were early pioneers of the Nashville
sound style and had great success in the 1960s. One of the early Nashville
sound hits was Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me”.
Don Gibson
In the early 1950s, 'Rockabilly', the fusion of
Rock and Roll and Country, was born and it became the most popular genre to Country
music fans in the 1950s. The representative musicians include Carl Perkins,
Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly. However, in 1958, as many Rockabilly musicians
returned to mainstream style or created their own styles, Rockabilly gradually
disappeared from popular music area.
Buddy Holly
As another music genre, Jamaican-American musician Harry
Belafonte popularized the Caribbean music style “Calypso”. This music style excited
the world after the release of the traditional Jamaican folk song "Banana
Boat Song" from his album “Calypso”, released in 1956, and Belafonte was
called "The King of Calypso".
Harry Belafonte
You can also review this lecture from
following media.
Next week, I will lecture 2nd topic of
“History of Pop Music” for "1960s."
Thank you.
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