More importantly, reaching beyond the fact that parents didn't dig it at all (which is always a good barometer of whether it's good or not, they more that they dislike it ... well, you know the story) was that it was directly addressed to the problems of teen-age America without condescension, patronizing attitudes or trivializing the trials & tribulations of adolesence. And you could dance to it.
Preachers railed against it, the govt. local & national tried to ban it, parents hated it and segregationists saw it as coming of the apocalypse, the end of the world cloaked in jungle rhythms, honking saxophones and boogie woogie beats. To that end of it, r 'n' r music has done as much or more to break down barriers both visible and invisible, between the races as any laws enacted in the 50's did or could have even hoped for. I've read stories of performers crying out in tears of happiness seeing the ropes come down on segregated dance floors and black and white kids mixing it up together. An uncommon event in the 50's and one that still held the distinct possibilities of landing all those involved in jail or run out of town on a rail or worse.
The mainstream success of R N R music gave a voice to the youth movement. With it came a sense of belonging, of something uniquely their own, something that addressed teenaged problems and frustrations for the first time in such a way that only another teenager could possibly understand and what was even better was that it was teens doing the talking. Ironically, one of the first great spokespersons for teen aged culture was Chuck Berry. It didn't matter that he was black, an ex-convict & pushing 30. With tunes like "School Days," "Too Much Monkey Business" & "Oh, Baby Doll," he had his finger firmly on the pulse of day to day teenage life from city to country, coast to coast, sea to shining sea.
While it's true that many of this first generation of rockers had seen their own adolescence come and go long ago, there were others who were well aware of their highly unique iconic status and of being in the position to help teenagers to vent their anger, frustrations and increasing sense of alienation to a world that really could've given a shit less. One such individual was the late great rocker: Eddie Cochran.
Article comments
1 - SFC SKI
Excellnt little history lesson, and Eddie Cochran is one of my favorites.
2 - mike hollihan
Great post and followup to part one. May I pick a nit, though?
The earliest rock'n'rollers weren't baby boomers, but the generation born in the opening days of WWII. As you note, Cochran was born in '38. The first rock'n'roll youth of the mid and late Fifties were kids during WWII. If you were 16 in '57, you were born in '41.
The baby boom wasn't "tapering off" in the Fifties either, but well underway. The so-called "baby boom generation" includes folks born as late as '64. (I was born in '57 and can just barely remember Elvis and the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show.)
Sorry to be so pedantic, but common wisdom tends to smear and confuse the issues here and it bothers me.
3 - Shark
Great stuff, Saxman. Might be valuable to turn some new fans onto Cochran.
re: minor quibbles, etc.
-- While the baby boom years can vary in designation, there seems to be a slight consensus for 1949 through 1964. (...and I believe it was some 49 million of us born in that time frame?)
The "earliest rock music" in my experience can be found as early as 1936 with "Jangled Nerves" by the great Fletcher Henderson. Admittedly, it's not a guitar-based thingy, but the chords, the frenzy, the testosterone, and the rhythm are there. Check it out.
4 - Shark
PS: It COULD be argued that American Punk officially began in 1953, when the following dialogue was uttered onscreen during the Marlon Brando film "The Wild One"
Girl: What're you rebelling against, Johnny?
Johnny: Whaddya got?
YES!
5 - Eric Olsen
another rockin' post HW, thanks!
Re the baby boom issue: HW didn't call Eddie a baby boomer, he said the baby boom was tapering off through the '50s, which since the term "boom" implies an original impetus -- which was in this case the end of WW2, the euphoria and relief of victory, the G.I. Bill, booming economy, etc -- I don't think it incorrect, but certainly open to debate, that the boom tapered off through the '50s.
The Baby Boom is '45 to '64, by the way: all those happy and horny military people returning home is what kicked it off.
6 - Eric Olsen
Here's my take on "Summer time Blues," by the way.
7 - sydney
YA thats a great song.
Better versions by blue cheer and, more recently, Rush, though.
8 - Eric Olsen
I vote Eddie, then the Who
9 - Marty Thau
Good one HW. You left out one thing -- some of us were smoking pot back then in the day.That's when the drug thing actually began.
10 - SFC SKI
That's only the best known Eddie Cochran song, but not the best in my opinion.
11 - HW Saxton
HEY!Thanks to all of you who responded.
It's much appreciated. Shark I've never
heard the Fletcher Henderson piece.I'll
investigate for sure. As some examples
of music hitting on the Rock N Roll tip
in the 30's/early 40's I'd throw these
up for consideration: "Ding Dong Daddy
From Dumas" by Benny Goodman.It swings
like mad and it has a Gene Krupa drum
break that would make Keith Moon envious
as hell. Also Slim Galliard along w/bass
player Slam Stewart did a song called:
"Slim Slam Boogie"in 1939 that has Slim
playing licks that sound just like Chuck
Berry in spots or at least the T Bone
Walker riffs the CB was so enamored of.
But the earliest best cut I can think of
that rocks like muthaf****r is called:
"Guitar Boogie" by The Mississippi Jook
Band.This band is essentially the Graves
Brothers (Roosevelt and Uaroy)with the
addition of the Delta piano king Cooney
Vaughn on a few cuts. It is raucous and
fully formed stomp down party music full
of Rockin' N Rollin' riffs & hi-energy,
as can be noted by some of their song
titles:"Bar B-Q Bust","Hittin The Bottle
Stomp","Alligator Crawl" and "Dangerous
Woman". Truly rockin'! It's easily the
earliest most prototypical Rockinroll I
have ever heard.
I could also add Milton Brown, Bob Wills
Shelly Alley,Adolph Hofner and host of
other Western Swing cats as examples of
proto rock n Roll but that's another
post. Again thanks to all who read this.
12 - HW Saxton
PS: I neglected to mention that the MJB
cuts were recorded back in 1936.It's for
sure the earliest rock n roll recordings
I know of.
13 - godoggo
Comment #1: "the country was slowly and surely headed into another depression"? That can't be right.
Comment #2: I was deeply disappointed the first time I looked into the promise of a "Free Punk" in the Red Devil ads.
Comment #3: If my name were HW Saxton, I would have gone Hessian all the way.
14 - godoggo
FREE PUNK
We have laid the common punk beside our fat punk to give you some idea of why we like our fat punk so much better. It has a bigger head on it that when you light it will make it much easier to ignite your item.
15 - Shark
Saxman, thanks yet again: you're a wealth of obsure musical info! I'll have to check out those I've never heard of!
And mentioning: "...Milton Brown, Bob Wills, Shelly Alley, Adolph Hofner and host of other Western Swing cats as examples of proto rock n Roll..."
---gets you a mention in my will! That's some of the greatest music EVER made, imho.
PS: I'm such a fan, I made a pilgrimage to Milton Brown's grave. (check out the Texas background -- out in the middle of a beautiful nowhere).
16 - HW Saxton
Mr Shark, Yer a gentleman and a scholar.
Thanks for the pic of Milton's gravesite
it's an excellent shot.Is that anywhere
near where the wreck happened?
I love the desolation and emptiness of
Texas.Especially out in West Texas. It's
so vast and the sky is huge.I like the
minimalist aspect of the beauty of wide
open spaces.Hard to explain in words but
I think you understand what I'm trying
to say.
I love Western Swing as well.It's a very
overlooked/underappreciated link in the
history of R'n'R music.Moon Mullican was
hammering out R'n'R (for all practical
purposes)in the late 1940's and banging
out something real damn close to it with
Cliff Bruner's band in the late 1930's.
On a closing note:Is there anything left
of the Crystal Springs Ballroom?. I made
a pilgrimage to the Longhorn Ballroom on
a trip to Dallas once. I didn't dig the
Big 'D'. Too many yuppies,strip malls,
East Coast types trying to be Texans etc
etc. But Ft. Worth was really cool. Much
more laid back & funky, the overall vibe
was just much cooler. Thanks again for
the pic man.
Best Regards,
Harold
17 - Temple Stark
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18 - John Waghorn
Can anyone give me the chrods to EDDIE COCHRAN Somethin-Else
Thanks
19 - Gary Brimer
For HW Saxton...
I too am looking for remnants of the old Crystal Springs Ballroom. I live in FW and could go by if i just had the address...I know it was around Roberts Cutoff and White Settlement...