http://www.boston.com/ae/...oe_turner/



Elvis? Roy Brown? Big Joe Turner?

Tomorrow some will celebrate the recording of Elvis's first single as the birth of rock 'n' roll. But 50 years later, the debate over who started it all rages on.

By Steve Morse, Globe Staff | July 4, 2004


The marketing arm of the rock 'n' roll business is trying to rewrite history.

BMG Records, which distributes the Elvis Presley catalog, has decreed July 5, 1954, as rock's birth date -- making tomorrow the 50th anniversary of rock 'n' roll. What's so special about that spot on the calendar? Elvis recorded his first single, "That's All Right," on that day in Memphis.

Much of the media is buying into the anniversary hype. Rolling Stone just released a special issue devoted to the musical milestone. So did England's respected Q Magazine. Even TV Guide includes a CD of "That's All Right" in its latest issue.

But something's not all right about this.

The splash is convenient for BMG, which is using the anniversary to push more Elvis product -- namely, a CD of Elvis during his early Sun Records period ("Elvis at Sun"), plus two Elvis DVDs and a compilation disc, "Memphis Celebrates 50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll." The city itself is capitalizing on the date by staging a concert tomorrow by Memphis singers Justin Timberlake and Isaac Hayes. Sun Studio will broadcast the recording session of "That's All Right" at 11 a.m. Central time tomorrow, and radio stations around the world will play it simultaneously.

But the marketing blitz, by BMG as well as other companies, reopens a nagging debate: Just when did rock really begin? It's an issue that has long been tinged with racism, specifically the notion that it took a white man to make it rock 'n' roll, whereas before it was only R&B and what was then described as "race music."

"I think Elvis was given a lot of credit for introducing rock to the masses because he was white and gorgeous," says singer Sheryl Crow. "Not to take anything away from him, but I think you could easily trace the true beginning of rock back to the late '40s and early '50s with artists like Big Joe Turner, who did `Shake, Rattle & Roll,' which was undoubtedly a rock song, as well as Ike Turner with `Rocket 88.' "

Crow is not the only artist to note that not enough credit is given to black music pioneers such as Roy Brown, Fats Domino, Ike Turner, Little Richard, Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, Bo Diddley, and Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, who wrote and first recorded "That's All Right" way back in 1946.

"A lot of people say `Rocket 88' " marks the birth of rock 'n' roll, Aerosmith's Joe Perry says of the 1951 release. "But it's hard to sit down and pronounce any day as the given day."

Still, the July 5, 1954, anniversary is being pushed regardless of any contrary beliefs.

"It's when rock started from a commercial standpoint," says Joe DiMuro, executive vice president of BMG's Strategic Marketing Group. "The song `That's All Right' brought true fanaticism to the masses," he adds. "You could argue that Bill Haley & the Comets also popularized rock before Elvis, but they never had the magnitude of Elvis. Elvis put rock on a pedestal."

The BMG executive is not alone in this perspective. Some music critics, such as Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times, agree with the significance of the "That's All Right" date. "You go from that record to John Lennon to Bruce Springsteen to U2 to Tom Petty to White Stripes," says Hilburn. "You don't get there from `Shake, Rattle & Roll' . . . or `Rocket 88.' " Adds rock historian Arthur Levy, a voting member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "Let's face it, rock 'n' roll would never have emerged . . . unless white hillbilly cats had started playing it."

That's a bold comment, and it slams the door on too much music that preceded Elvis. Rock 'n' roll is widely believed to be music of freedom, of partying, and of dancing to a sound that is heavy on the second and fourth beats of a 4/4 tempo. And such backbeat music was definitely going on long before Elvis.

"The term rock 'n' roll was already out there -- just like the term `sock it to me,' it was out there," says Boston's Peter Wolf, the ex-J. Geils Band singer, who is a serious student of music history. "It was a colloquial term and it evolved from be-bop lingo." Terry Stewart, CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, says, "Rock doesn't rise up from some primordial mud with one record. If it did, then why not with `Good Rockin' Tonight' by Roy Brown [1947], or `Rock This Joint' by Bill Haley [1952], or `Crazy Man Crazy' by Haley [1953]?" Even pop-music historian and acclaimed Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick admits, "Elvis was part of a revolution that could have happened without him."

There is no denying that Elvis had talent (much more than onetime biographer Albert Goldman gave him credit for), but he also helped launch, however unwittingly, the ugly side of a trend. "Everybody ripped off black acts back then," says guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

Music pioneer Eddy "Chief" Clearwater points to Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" in 1947 as the possible beginning of rock 'n' roll (Wynonie Harris had a hit with it, Elvis also recorded it, and Bruce Springsteen later played it in concert). He further cites LaVern Baker and Louis Jordan, who did "Caldonia."

"America at the time wasn't ready for a black hero," says Clearwater, a Chicago native who headlines Johnny D's July 30. "No matter how good a black [artist] was, the time wasn't right for him to be accepted."

But rock was picking up steam, Guralnick says, through Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" in 1952 and releases by Fats Domino and Little Richard.

"Also, at the same time that Elvis was recording `That's All Right,' Ray Charles was working on `I Got a Woman,' which was as revolutionary as `That's All Right,' " Guralnick says. "But while some of those artists never got their full due, they did get more genuine attention because of Elvis."

That said, there's every reason to believe that Elvis, were he still around, might be skeptical of this 50th anniversary hype. He saw himself as "part of a continuum," Guralnick says, and always had a respect for the cultural diversity that preceded him. Long after he made it big, Elvis enlisted black artists such as the Sweet Inspirations for his Las Vegas show.

Frankly, it's encouraging to see BMG's marketing strategy being questioned. It suggests that people still care about the music and aren't going to accept being passive consumers.

"Many of the roots run deeper and are older than [BMG's] unfortunate marketing strategy implies," says Ruben Guevara, who just finished teaching a course at UCLA titled "Development of Rock: Slave Songs to Eminem." He argues persuasively that rock really had its start in Africa's ancient griot/poetry tradition and in African-American slave, work, and prison songs.

One might ask dozens of people to pinpoint rock's inception and get different answers from each. The bottom line is that it's not going to stop the marketing machine. All the 50-year-anniversary talk may be "just another promotion," according to Newbury Comics co-owner Mike Dreese, but it's also an opportunity for the Newbury chain to jump in and offer "50 essential rock albums" from the likes of AC/DC, Pearl Jam, and Metallica at discount prices.

Business is business. But it's not too late to remind audiences that rock was about artistic and cultural expression long before it became a commodity.

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
`
[This message was edited Mon Jul 5 10:21:22 2004 by Supernova]

Interesting article Nova. What's mindblowing is that some people still have their heads buried about where it all came from - even now folks can't face the truth. I wish more artists would speak up about it & often b/c without reminders there's ultimately gonna be parts of history virtually erased b/c of effective bullshit marketing & that's fucking scary

LoL
I thought; Fun! An architecture thread!

Well, kinda.

Good article, btw.

CalhounSq said:

exactly. it's all just so sad...

supernova, thanks for that.

Eddie Van Halen's quote ("Everybody ripped off black acts back then,") is interesting in it's omission of more contemporary theft. Specifically, the group they physically modeled themselves after and were probably influenced by to some degree - Led Zeppelin. These gents had to be hauled into court before they would own up to and pay up to the sources for some of "their" songs (Whole Lotta Love/You Need Love - Willie Dixon and The Lemon Song/Killing Floor - Howlin' Wolf). The Zeppelin rippage has become so legendary that it's even been referred to by pop culture cartoon icon Homer Simpson, "There's Jimmy Page, the greatest thief of American black music who ever walked the earth." Overstated but you get the point.

For further reading on the above:
http://www.turnmeondeadma...inals.html
http://www.furious.com/pe...irds2.html

The Birth of Rock and Roll.
Another chapter in the book of Fallacies Facilitated For Financial Favor?

No need for any choruses of "what u mad about?".
Not mad, but a bit melancholy.

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
~Aldous Huxley

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

CalhounSq said:

The mass media is a powerful thing when it comes to influencing and quite frankly brainwashing people who don't have the gumption to think, and research for themselves. And some people just don't want to acknowledge things like this. They're the same type of people who perpetuate the revisionism that Ronald Reagan was such a great US President.

theAudience said:

LOL!! Homer Simpson said that? I've missed so much by not watching that in recent years. Sounds like they really piled on Page.

I'll never omit to acknowledge what Zep did, they're a prime example. But at the same time I can't stop listening to 'em, they were so creative with their theft.

Elvis didn't invent rock 'n' roll (little r, little r) music. But he may have invented the Rock & Roll (big R, big R) culture and lifestyle that has shaped many apsects of the last 50 years.


no musical style has been invented, not rock, classical, jazz, blues, punk, country, swing, pop, r&b, soul, gosepl, etc. by anyone. rock and roll music wasn't invented by any of the people given credit for inventing it. it evolved naturally just as music always has. certainly there were people instrumental in moving it forward as a form of musical expression and art and given it boosts of popularity and credibility along the way, but at every step of the way, it was merely adding a layer or a key change or an instrument or a drum pattern on top of what already existed.


it's like arguing over who invented the wheel. is it the guy that put rims and hub caps on it? or the guy that put a rubber tire over it? no... it's the caveman who found a round rock and started rolling it down a hill. hell, he didn't invent it either. he just put it to use. same with music.



tiny E(dit)
[This message was edited Mon Jul 5 16:09:14 2004 by GrayKing]

Supernova said:

I don't watch The Simpsons regulary either but I heard the quote while my daughter was watching that particular episode. Homer was riding the London Millennium Wheel during a family vacation to England when he spotted "Jimmy Page" and made the statement.

Now when your malfeasance becomes so universal that it qualifies for a skewering by Homer Simpson...your shit be stankin'.

They are by no means the only culprits. To me the sad part is that they would have been just as successful (popularity and finacially) had they given credit where credit was due from the start. Something Clapton has always done to the best of my knowledge. (Hmmm, I guess you'd have to ignore the obvious Albert King musical references in Strange Brew)

And I also admit to groovin' to their "creative theft".

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Sting, when he was with The Police, remarked during a 1981 interview,:" every time America invents something new in music, it comes from the Blacks; then America ignores or turns its' back on it until it comes from overeas or someone in middle America re-does it , and consequently they think it's great..."

GREAT READ!!!!

Supernova said:

OH YEA... "Let's put him on Rushmore! He was awesome!!" WTF???

This is where rock n roll history gets a little iffy for me, and where I think Elvis gets a little too much heat. Of course, he didn't invent it, but I don't think he ever claimed to have done so. NPR was playing some radio interviews with Elvis last year and in one of them he openly admitted that the music he sang originated in black American culture. It's dangerous to place blame in this sort of situation, but media (if you ask me) are the ones that attribute the "birth" of rock n roll to Elvis. He never did so himself.

Nobody here has blamed Elvis personally for anything. The article states "BMG Records, which distributes the Elvis Presley catalog, has decreed July 5, 1954, as rock's birth date...", "The splash is convenient for BMG, which is using the anniversary to push more Elvis product..."

That's what was being commented on. The corporate crackpots perpetrating the fraud for financial gain.
You've got folks that have no idea of music history past Britney. That's what's so dangerous about it.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Typo-edit.
[This message was edited Tue Jul 6 11:38:33 2004 by theAudience]

theAudience said:

well, really, why should they? if that's what's hot when they're a kid. rock & roll is about youth and the present. not the elderly. turning it into a history class?


i see your point, but it's not like English or History. we'll all survive if kids don't know the history of modern American popular music.

theAudience said:

Yeah, I get that. Wasn't saying that was the comment, but it sorta leads in that direction and is a general criticism of Elvis. But I agree with you.

I love Led Zep, but I have NEVER understood why they never gave credit to the people who were THEIR OWN idols.

When the levy breaks-Memphis Minnie
Nobodys fault but mine-Blind Willie Johnson
How many more times-this song has a part where it surges into 'The Hunter'.

They were a fantastic band, and did some great interpretations, but BOY some of their actions SUCKED. I wonder how they would feel if bands were covering their tunes and not giving credits?

theAudience said:

You got it.

nikkhendrix said:

Well... thats the funny bit...In the mid 80s when the Beastie Boys and others sampled Page's riffs and Bonham's beats, Plant was allegedly OUTRAGED.I guess what goes around, comes around,eh?

I love Zeppelin, but their rip-offs are legendary....