Theo Verelst Rock 'n' Roll Page
Last
update: april 17, 2005
What's Theo Verelst got to do with Rock & Roll? Well, I am not an
american, and I wasn't born yet (1966) when rock was starting to happen
(halfway 1950's), but I sure knew rock and roll music when I was little
in the seventies, and I've always been into music more than a bit, both
as listener and as musician (synthesizer, keyboards, acoustic/electric
guitar, piano), partwise playing rock, and with an early interest in
rock 'n' roll music like the well known hits like 'rock around the
clock' because they sound so well and interesting.
Looking back into history, the earliest big hits in the genre as we
know it started in 1954 with "Shake
Rattle and Roll" by Bill
Haley and his comets, of course "Rock
around the Clock" (1955) by the same band, "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" by 'the king' Elvis Presley, "I'm in Love Again" and "Bluebery
Hill" by the master of the piano Fats
Domino, "See you later Alligator"
Bill Haley and his Comets
all from 1956, "Long Tall Sally"
by another king of Rock and Roll: 'Little'
Richard. Followed in 1957 by "All
Shook Up", "Too Much" "Teddy Bear" "Jailhouse Rock" Elvis Presley, the excellent "School Day" from Chuck Berry, and the infamous "Whole Lotta Shaking Goin' On", Jerry Lee Lewis (the nephew of the
still active preacher Jimmy Swaggart), "I'm
Walking" by Fats Domino.
Where does the term Rock and Roll or as it was spelled early on Rock
'n' Roll come from? I think it might come from the same language which
is used in the bible when Jesus calls Himself 'the Rock' (amoung
other things), and which may have refered to the ancients having big
rocks and uncoincidental piles of them as neutral places or shrines or
landmarks all over europe, which somehow must have 'rolled' in place
for no appearant reason (probably about 3300 bC).
(from "Hunebedden in Nederland")
Musically speaking of course the term speaks about the feelings and the
dancing associated with the music, and the drive to bring about changes
against the negative establishment. The roots are clear: R&B
(the old, right kind), jazz (especially notice that with Bill Haley),
blues (the rythms are present even with 'sweet home chicago' by the
blues greatest of all from before second world war: Robert Johnson),
stride piano (the rolling bass lines and 7th and octave highs), and
probably country and folk had their influences as well.
The famous 3 chords which allow as to play most of the rock and roll
songs (though certainly not sounding skillfully) lets say C, G and F
major, go back to church music from right after the middle ages, though
of course wih different rythms and melodies, but still, many songs can
be played with them, just like 'Rock around the Clock' is essentially a
blues scheme song, although with (luckily!) a lot of fairly complicated
Jazzy licks on top. It seems Rock has started out as Jazz rock, sort of.
When we look at what was happening in popular music in the 50's
there is no driving reason for Rock & Roll to suddenly emerge as
logical musical development, not at all. Most tunes from the charts are
fairly laid back, not uptempo, non agressive listening tunes, with not
much rythm or drive, and as it seems not too much pretence to change to
world, except for educational lyrics. Though there were dance songs and
various artists refering to the sort of happy, dancable country &
western style which can be made into sort of a rock rythm, the concept
of a strong and forward snare drum, a heavy 4/4 drum pattern, a solid
and strong and playfull bass, uplifting and heavily walking piano
rythms, and of course the ubeatable new solo and rythm electrically
amplified (radio tubes!) guitar were as it seems new and bright and
brillian ideas suddenly coming up in the charts, most conveniently
summed up by Bill Haleys' manly setting in of:
One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock,
rock,
Five, six, seven o'clock, eight o'clock, rock,
Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock, rock,
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight.
Put your glad rags on and join me, hon,
We'll have some fun when the clock strikes one,
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight,
We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'til broad daylight.
We're gonna rock, gonna rock, around the clock tonight.
When the clock strikes two, three and
four,
If the band slows down we'll yell for more,
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight,
We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'til broad daylight.
We're gonna rock, gonna rock, around the clock tonight.
When the chimes ring five, six and seven,
We'll be right in seventh heaven.
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight,
We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'til broad daylight.
We're gonna rock, gonna rock, around the clock tonight.
When it's eight, nine, ten, eleven too,
I'll be goin' strong and so will you.
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight,
We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'til broad daylight.
We're gonna rock, gonna rock, around the clock tonight.
When the clock strikes twelve, we'll
cool off then,
Start a rockin' round the clock again.
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight,
We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'til broad daylight.
We're gonna rock, gonna rock, around the clock tonight.
(Max C. Freedman & Jimmy de Knight - 1953 Myers
Music USA)
Like out of nowhere, no prior hit comparisons, though earlier New
Orleans based music, not as big cash hits, for instance by Fats Domino
clearly contain major elements from the famous genre. 'Maybelene' by
Chuch Berry (though I think based on an existing C&W song to some
extend) was very early, too. Of course Elvis was a style of his own,
and he started right after the first few big Rock and Roll hits with a
lot of number one songs, many in the new style, though also some more
ballad style songs.
The blues is of course one of the most influential music kinds,
probably most influential of all in the major part of western, modern
music it influenced, and it is clear from earlier blues records that
Rock and Roll almost comes from the blues, listen to Muddy waters and
BB King from before 1954 and that is clear (like "I'm Your Hoochie
Coochie Man" and "Please Love Me").
Some 30 sec (exact) excerpts from a few important Rock & Roll songs:
Shake Rattle And Roll Bill Haley and His Comets (30 sec. 1MB)
Maybellene
Chuck
Berry
(30 sec. 1MB)
Rock Around The Clock Bill Haley and His Comets (30 sec. 1MB)
School Day
Chuck Berry
(30 sec. 1MB)
We cannot omit to thank the one most influential blues inventor of all,
of which recordings are from before (!) second world war, Mr Robert
Johnson, of which here follows the last 30 seconds of "Sweet Home
Chicago", the same song as much later done my the famous Blues Brothers
in the Movie of that name, which is clearly a basic form at the root of
Rock and Roll:
Sweet Home Chicago Robert Johnson (30 sec. 1MB)
I made the above mp3's myself, at fairly high bitrate so they sound a
bit ok (but certianly not like a CD, so get one!), remember that for
sound impressions, you can visit amazon, which has samples of many songs of their online CD's.
In the seventies, Rock around the Clock was used for a famous
television show about the 50's, Happy Days, of which this was one of
the leaders (7MB mpeg):
In between, in the sixties, the world witnessed, next to the Beatles
(which also played Rock) to upcoming of tge more general Rock genre,
for instance of the Rolling Stones,
which took the style into a whole new place, where strong rythms are
combined with intelligent singing and complicated sounds and
orchestrations, while maintaining dancable rock and roll alike drum and
bass and upfront singing feel.
These songs are from '68:
Sympathy For The Devil Rolling Stones (30sec 1MByte)
Jumpin Jack Flash
"
"
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