Rock 'n Roll

While the media is all ga ga over Michael Jackson, let me bring a couple of guys to your attention that deserve this sort of attention. 

Little Richard perhaps rightfully claims to have invented rock 'n roll.  He still appears in commercials today as a matter of fact. 

INterestingly as I looked this up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is divided on Little Richard and 

Chuck Berry.  As one anthology remarked, by the end of the 1950s only Chuck and Little Richard remained true to their roots. The others had morphed into something that would appeal to the larger masses without the hard driving six beats to the bar of Good Golly Miss Molly or Maybelline. it was this same born in the south, yes black rock and roll that inspired Jerry Lee Lewis, Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On. 

Before all this true class acts like Nat King Cole, who had his own television show in the early 1050s, Count Bassie, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong delighted audiences for decades....

Which led to Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, well we will save that for another time. 

A high school counselor in Dallas asked me if we offered a music major, nope I replied, too bad he said, that might actually interest the students. 

Well I cannot construct a music hall but we could have a course on Music and the American Culture, now there's history course for you, something for everyone, a carnival tonite, what do you think?  Take a look at the links above, no better yet, go to iTunes and listen to the first few bars of Good Golly Miss Molly and Maybelline.....everyone wants to come to America, no one wants to immigrate to the Mid East, every hear their version of a pop tune? America has exported its culture the world over, it is on display in the streets of Tehran as I write, yearning to be free.....an Iranian Woodstock, dream on. 

No wonder rock ' roll was branded as dangerous when introduced to America, it is, gets toes to tapping and finger popping, hmm, it is all about an alternate method of expression, after you listen to the tunes I mentioned, try what it replaced on the charts, Shrimp Boats are a Comin, hear the difference?

Comments

[Josefina Castillo]

I think music affects everyone differently…but I must say without music, I don’t think I could survive. I’m exaggerating, but music does help me get through the good and bad times. I think a music and culture class would be awesome. Learning any type of history can only help us not hinder us. I think those types of classes would help the students stay diverse, and help keep things rockin’.

[Dennis Elam]

Richard Dreyfuss played a professor in a tv series for a couple of seasons. He taught a discipline entitled American Studies. indeed, as California has set a cultural pace for much of America in my lifetime, surfing, Hollywood, clothing styles, today the TMZ Thirty Mile Zone is centered in Los Angeles, tag line, everything culturally that happens starts in this 30 mile zone.

I will take this as a massive endorsement to have more blog posts on music and culture!!!

Seriously India has its Bollywood and wonw Beswt Picture this year, every country imitates American culture. Russia has always run about 25 years behind the US...