The History of Rock and Roll’s Development

A published author from Michigan, Scott Westerman is also a corporate executive and entrepreneur with experience in the telecommunications, technology, popular culture, and music sectors. The CEO of Ramirez & Clark, he founded RockAndRollRevisited.com. Through this website, Scott Westerman of Michigan explores a quarter century of music history largely relating to rock and roll.

A popular style of music, rock and roll (also written as rock ‘n roll) is a unique style of music that can be accessed and enjoyed by anyone. Typically consisting of three or four instruments, it often repeats the same chords throughout the song and feels uninhibited and spontaneous. While added backup singers, horns, and other sounds can increase the complexity of the song, this feeling is what sets rock and roll apart from many other genres.

The music originated in the 1950s and developed as a blend between country and rhythm and blues (R&B) music. R&B evolved from the blues, a musical genre harkening back to the work songs that African Americans sang in the South. Many of these individuals came to the United States as slaves and labored in difficult situations. The songs they sang fooled many plantation owners into thinking the music was happy.

While the seeds of rock and roll had existed for decades before its official creation, a mix of white spending power and African American culture fueled the genre’s growth in the 1950s. African American vocal groups like the Dominoes began combining gospel-style harmonies, aggressive R&B rhythms, and call-and-response singing. Disc jockeys further supported the spread of the genre by featuring it prominently on radio stations. Elvis Presley then became the face of rock and roll in 1954.

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