Fifteen years ago I wrote an article on Southern Rock for a regional magazine. In it I made the claim that "all rock is Southern Rock" because the roots of rock and roll were truly southern, and its something of which the South should be proud. Little did I know that this would be one of the most controversial statements I ever made.
Well, I am not a musician or involved in music in any way other than being an avid listener and consumer, as my Apple Itunes account will testify. After our CD player broke in our car at the time, my wife realized that the one thing worse than listening to me sing-along with a song was listening to me sing a capella.
Anyway, back to the origin of rock and roll in the South. Later known simply as rock or rock music, rock and roll evolved from a combination of country (mostly honky-tonk), blues (boogie-woogie) and jazz (be-bop and rhythm and blues) music. John Lennon once said "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry." Berry, although closely associated with Chess Records in Chicago, spent time in New Orleans (jazz), Memphis (blues), and St. Louis (where he awed crowds playing an occasional country song). If you prefer Bill Haley and the Comets as the originator of the genre, they were a western swing (a form of country music) band that occasionally added blues to the line-up. Think it was Elvis? He was born in Tupelo (MS) and moved to Memphis. Elvis combined his country upbringing with Beale Street Blues to get his early sound, but also added an element of gospel which the other performers didn't. Fats Domino? New Orleans with a heavy jazz and boogie-woogie influence.
The name Rock and Roll as it applies to music predates the formation of the genre and dates back to the 1920's, but the music it referred to was significantly different than rock and roll of the 1950's. At the time it was normally known as "race music," graciously renamed by Billboard in 1948 to rhythm and blues. Earlier references appear, but they tend to be a euphemism for sex.
Another element of rock and roll that is rarely mentioned is the invention of the solid-body electric guitar in California in 1946 (commercially available in 1950, the date frequently given). Before this, electric guitars were acoustic guitars amplified to the point where they could be heard when combined with drums and a piano in jazz.
Don't let the term rockabilly fool you. A Memphis sound that combined elements of rock and roll with country music it is distinct from early rock and roll.
