Death of Rock 'n' Roll

@sleepwalker65, woah nelly! It is not I who consider Rock ’n’ Roll profane (even if it is, I STILL love it. Well, some of it, anyway), for gosh sakes. That term was used to make a point---that Little Richard, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, other Rockabillies felt a conflict between their upbringing and spiritual beliefs, and their involvement in Rock ’n’ Roll, which the Church considered The Devil’s music, and which IT referred to as profane. I thought that was obvious ;-) .

Two of our greatest singers---Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin---came from the Gospel world, and were denounced by the flock for their heresy---performing secular music.

Prior to modern times (sometime in the 19th Century, I believe), Classical music---music that has survived for one reason because of it being notated---was purely the music of the Aristocracy, the Kings etc. who were it's patrons. Composers were employees, and wrote the music needed for official ceremonies, as well as for the entertainment of the Royals, who were themselves often amateur musicians. J.S. Bach's day job was as a church organist, and his organ works were written for the Sunday Masses. That they survive as art is incidental!

The music of the proletariat was not written down (notated), but was passed down from generation-to-generation, sitting around fireplaces, at dances and taverns. The songs we now think of as "Folk" music (in not the literal, but rather largest sense of the word) survived by being kept alive by troubadours, traveling minstrels, etc. It was not until A.P. Carter, June Carter's Grandfather (Carlene's Great-Grandfather) notated and copywrote the songs he had grown up hearing the hillbillies in Tennessee singing (music brought to America by the English, Irish, and Scottish, mostly), and subsequently recorded by The Carter Family (considered the First Family of Country music), that that rural music made it out of the mountains and into the cities and towns of the rest of the U.S.A. and beyond. It is that Folk music that was one half of the recipe for making what became Rock 'n' Roll (see below).

It's not hard to understand therefore that at some point people look back, and embrace and celebrate that Folk music, later known as Hillbilly, Country, Bluegrass, Western Swing, and finally, which when mixed with the music brought to America and developed by African slaves and their ancestors---Blues, became Rockabilly---the first integrated music! It was that integration that first got Rock 'n' Roll banned by racist southern whites, who didn't want their kids listening to no n*gg*er music, even if it was being performed by whites (Elvis, etc.).

When I listen to any J.S. Bach, it has to be the last thing I play; no one can follow him. For an epiphany. listen to his Concerto for 4 Harpsichords And Orchestra. The counterpoint is mind-blowing; merely hearing it raises one's consciousness. But his music serves a much higher purpose (the glorification of God and his Son) than does Rock ’n’ Roll. The two cannot be viewed in the same light.

Some Rockers have quit performing R & R for spiritual reasons, most notably of course Little Richard. Others have struggled with their conflicts between the Sacred and the Profane; Jerry Lee Lewis, who was captured on tape by Sun Records’ Sam Philips opining that Rock ’n Roll was indeed Satan’s music. Elvis’ first love was Gospel, which he listened to and performed at home.

@fleschler, I understanding your being bored by what the music biz is currently pushing as Country music, but there is a thriving underground of real Country you may not be aware of. It is a community of songwriters, singers, and musicians playing authentic Country music, not Pop "Country". Their music is not heard on the radio nor rewarded at the ACA Awards TV Show, so they hold their own Americana Awards Ceremony annually (videos available on You Tube).

The community is comprised of names such as Jim Lauderdale (who has hosted most of the AAC shows), Buddy Miller (and his wife Julie), Emmylou Harris, Iris Dement, Patty Loveless, Marty Stuart, Chris Hillman (The Byrds bassist, his latest album produced by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers), Rodney Crowell, John Hiatt, Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, Johnny Staats, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, and many, many more.

In addition, many of the studio musicians and songwriters who were the foundation of the late-60’s/early-70’s Country-Rock and Singer-Songwriter music coming out of Los Angeles have relocated to Nashville. Even the great guitarist/songwriter/singer Al Anderson of Rock ’n’ Roll band NRBQ (a favorite of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Dave Edmunds) has done the same, to focus on a songwriting career.

Many of the above can be considered somewhat of "crossover" artists; not pure Country, but rather a mix of Country, Hillbilly, Bluegrass, Blues, and Singer-Songwriter. That is one reason the community has adopted the genre name Americana, the coverage of which is provided on the No Depression website.

Remember, most of the original white Rock ’n’ Rollers were southern hillbillies, who grew up listening to The Grand Old Opry on the radio (there was not yet any television), the cathedral of Country music in the 40’s/50’s/60’s. It was when in the mid-50’s they mixed that Hillbilly music with the also southern rural Blues, that what we now think of as Rock ’n’ Roll was created (ignoring for the sake of this discussion the fact that Big Joe Turner, Louis Jordan, and other black singers were already doing a very similar music as early as the mid-40’s). many of those white Rock ’n’ Rollers---Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Johnny Burnette---continued to dabble in Country, some even moving over to it completely. Old Rock ’n’ Rollers don’t die, they just go Country ;-) .