Who Really Started Rock 'N' Roll

Rock and Roll

For my topic, Who Really Started Rock 'N' Roll, I read a book entitled, Rock and Roll: Examining Pop Culture. It was a really interesting book. The book itself was broken up into chapters, different ones about separate areas of rock music. It includes a wide spectrum of topics, not just limited to the music itself. Things from drug use by rock musicians to chapters about the effect that the Internet has had on rock music. To give a feel for the way it reads, it states in one chapter, “Rock music is junk food for the soul-a diet of sex, drugs, and non-stop pleasure-seeking which all to often is a deadly poison." (100) The book also lists some things that a reader might not realize. Things such as the genre originated from white musicians imitating African American beats and rhythms. Another interesting fact would be that political rock, rock poking fun at the government, was more common than disco, country rock, and other moneymaking genres. Not only until the 1970s did new genres flourish.

One particularly enjoyable thing about reading this book, was finding out how parents thought rock was destroying control and order within their youth. I got a real kick out of their opinion. They thought because of the suggestive lyrics, the children were being influenced badly. Something that also surprised me was that I, too, was someone who before reading this, didn’t realize who gave Elvis his rhythm, or The Beatles theirs. It was stars like Little Richard, and Chuck Berry who can be credited with this.

Another aspect of this book that I found interesting and clever was the fact that it was not written by one single person. The book is made up of a collection of different articles by different writers. This made the book perfect for my blog. There is an assortment of nineteen different subjects and categories. Each one sure to interest someone.