British rock and roll
Encyclopedia
British rock and roll, or sometimes British rock 'n' roll, is a style of popular music based on American rock and roll
, which emerged in the late 1950s and was popular until the arrival of beat music
in 1962. It has generally been considered inferior to the American version of the genre, and made little international or lasting impact. However, it was important in establishing British youth and popular music culture and was a key factor in subsequent developments that led to the British Invasion
of the mid-1960s. Since the 1960s some stars of the genre, most notably Cliff Richard
, have managed to sustain successful careers and there have been periodic revivals of this form of music.
, which also exposed some to the precursors of rock and roll, including boogie-woogie
and the blues
. From this emerged the skiffle
craze in 1955, led by Lonnie Donegan
, whose version of "Rock Island Line
" reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart
. Skiffle produced an Anglicised and largely amateur form of American folk song, chiefly notable for inspiring many individuals to take up music, among them many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat performers, among them John Lennon
and Paul McCartney
, who first performed together in the Quarrymen skiffle group in 1957.
At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll. For many this was initially through American films, including Blackboard Jungle
(1955) and Rock Around the Clock
(1955). Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets
hit "Rock around the Clock" and helped it to top the UK chart in 1955 and again in 1956. It also set off a moral panic
as young cinema goers ripped up seats to dance, which helped identify rock and roll with delinquency and led to it being almost banned by TV and radio stations, making it something of an underground youth movement, which was widely adopted by the Teddy Boy sub-culture. In the 1950s, radio in the UK
was almost exclusively in the hands of the BBC
. Popular music was only played on the Light Programme, and the playing of records was heavily restricted by "needle time
" arrangements. Nevertheless American rock and roll acts became a major force in the UK chart. Elvis Presley
reached number 2 in the UK chart with "Heartbreak Hotel." in 1956 and had nine more singles in the Top 30 that year. His first number 1 was "All Shook Up" in 1957 and there would be more chart-toppers for him and for Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Jerry Lee Lewis
in the next two years.
(usually credited as the first) and Tommy Steele
, who proved the most successful of this first wave, and one of the first to be tagged as "the British Elvis". He reached the Top 20 with "Rock with the Caveman" and number 1 with "Singing the Blues
" in 1956. Another response was to treat rock and roll as a joke - "Bloodnok
's Rock and Roll Call", recorded by The Goons, reached number 3 in the chart in late 1956. The bland, jokey, or wholly imitative style of much British rock and roll in this period meant that the American product remained dominant. However, this process was important in the orientation of the British record industry towards the youth market and group based music in general. In 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard
and the Drifters
reached number 2 in the chart with "Move It
", which managed to combine a bluesy rock and roll riff with respectable lyrics and attitude.
The success of "Move It" was partly due to an appearance on Independent Television's Oh Boy! (1958-9), which followed the BBC's tentative first attempt at youth music programming Six-Five Special
(1957-58) with a much more music orientated show that did much to promote the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde
, Johnny Gentle
, Vince Eager
, Adam Faith
and Duffy Power
. These and other British acts had a series of hits in the late 1950s. Cliff Richard, and as instrumental artists his new backing band The Shadows
, were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era. The Shadows, and particularly guitarist Hank Marvin
, were highly influential on a subsequent generation of musicians, helping to cement the line-up of drums, bass, rhythm and lead guitars for British bands. However, in retrospect their work tends to be seen as a bland imitation of American rock and roll. Notably Cliff Richard rapidly dropped much of his sub-Elvis, rock and roll image for a softer mainstream style, as can be seen in his first number 1, "Living Doll
" and a subsequent series of ballads that owed little to rock and roll.
Amid the limited vitality of late 1950s and early 1960s British rock and roll there were some more dynamic acts. These included Billy Fury
, whose rockabilly
-style compositions, aided by the guitar of Joe Brown
, on his 1960 LP Sound of Fury are considered some of the best work of the era. Tony Sheridan
, Vince Taylor
, and Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages
also produced some work that could be compared with American rock and roll. The only act to create what has been described as "a pre-Beatle rock classic", were Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, whose song "Shakin' All Over
" managed to become a rock and roll standard.
and Alvin Stardust
in the 1970s and Shakin' Stevens
in the 1980s, but a wider revival has been elusive.
bands like The Rolling Stones
and The Yardbirds
deliberately turned away from rock and roll towards its sources in America, and even the subsequent generation of beat bands
that owed much more to rock and roll, frequently covered songs by American artists like Chuck Berry
, but rarely used material from British acts. Early British rock and roll was undoubtedly an inspiration and influence on the instrumentation and shape of the beat music that spearheaded the British Invasion, but it had to be changed significantly into something new and vital in order to have any impact outside of its own borders.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, which emerged in the late 1950s and was popular until the arrival of beat music
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
in 1962. It has generally been considered inferior to the American version of the genre, and made little international or lasting impact. However, it was important in establishing British youth and popular music culture and was a key factor in subsequent developments that led to the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
of the mid-1960s. Since the 1960s some stars of the genre, most notably Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, have managed to sustain successful careers and there have been periodic revivals of this form of music.
Origins
In the 1950s Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of American troops in the country, and, although not enjoying the same economic prosperity as the US, had many similar social developments, not least of which was the emergence of distinct youth leisure activities and sub-cultures. This was most evident in the rise of the Teddy Boys among working-class youths in London from about 1953, who adopted a version of the Edwardian styles of their grandfather's generation. British audiences were accustomed to American popular music and British musicians had already been influenced by American musical styles, particularly in trad jazzTrad jazz
Trad jazz - short for "traditional jazz" - refers to the Dixieland and Ragtime jazz styles of the early 20th century in contrast to any more modern style....
, which also exposed some to the precursors of rock and roll, including boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
and the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
. From this emerged the skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
craze in 1955, led by Lonnie Donegan
Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
, whose version of "Rock Island Line
Rock Island Line (song)
"Rock Island Line" is an American blues/folk song first recorded by John Lomax in 1934 as sung by inmates in an Arkansas State Prison, and later popularized by Lead Belly. Many versions have been recorded by other artists, most significantly the world-wide hit version in the mid-1950s by Lonnie...
" reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Skiffle produced an Anglicised and largely amateur form of American folk song, chiefly notable for inspiring many individuals to take up music, among them many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat performers, among them John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, who first performed together in the Quarrymen skiffle group in 1957.
At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll. For many this was initially through American films, including Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
(1955) and Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock (film)
Rock Around the Clock is the title of a 1956 Musical film that featured Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed, The Platters, Tony Martinez and His Band, and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. It was produced by B-movie king Sam Katzman and directed by Fred F...
(1955). Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
hit "Rock around the Clock" and helped it to top the UK chart in 1955 and again in 1956. It also set off a moral panic
Moral panic
A moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics and credited creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of...
as young cinema goers ripped up seats to dance, which helped identify rock and roll with delinquency and led to it being almost banned by TV and radio stations, making it something of an underground youth movement, which was widely adopted by the Teddy Boy sub-culture. In the 1950s, radio in the UK
Radio in the United Kingdom
There are over 250 radio stations in the United Kingdom. For a more comprehensive list see List of radio stations in the United Kingdom.-BBC Radio:The most prominent stations are the national networks operated by the BBC....
was almost exclusively in the hands of the BBC
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
. Popular music was only played on the Light Programme, and the playing of records was heavily restricted by "needle time
Needle time
Needle time was created in the United Kingdom by the Musicians' Union and Phonographic Performance Limited, in order to restrict the amount of recorded music that could be transmitted by British Broadcasting Corporation during the course of any 24-hour period. Until 1967 the BBC was allowed to...
" arrangements. Nevertheless American rock and roll acts became a major force in the UK chart. Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
reached number 2 in the UK chart with "Heartbreak Hotel." in 1956 and had nine more singles in the Top 30 that year. His first number 1 was "All Shook Up" in 1957 and there would be more chart-toppers for him and for Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
in the next two years.
History
The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce exact copies of American records. These were often recorded with session musicians and, even if note perfect, lacked the energy and spontaneity that characterised American rock and roll. They were often fronted by teen idols co-opted an attempt to break into the suddenly emerging youth market. More grassroots British rock and rollers soon began to appear, many of them out of the declining skiffle craze, including Wee Willie HarrisWee Willie Harris
Wee Willie Harris is a British rock and roll singer. He is best known for his energetic stage shows and TV performances since the 1950s, when he was known as "Britain's wild man of rock 'n' roll".-Life and career:Working a job as a pudding mixer at Peek Freans' London bakery, Harris turned...
(usually credited as the first) and Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
, who proved the most successful of this first wave, and one of the first to be tagged as "the British Elvis". He reached the Top 20 with "Rock with the Caveman" and number 1 with "Singing the Blues
Singing the Blues
"Singing the Blues" is a popular song written by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The best-known recording was released in October 1956 by Guy Mitchell and spent nine weeks at #1 on the U.S...
" in 1956. Another response was to treat rock and roll as a joke - "Bloodnok
Major Bloodnok
Major Denis Bloodnok, IND. ARM. RTD. coward and bar is a fictional character from the 1950s BBC Radio comedy The Goon Show. He was voiced by Peter Sellers.-Basis of character:...
's Rock and Roll Call", recorded by The Goons, reached number 3 in the chart in late 1956. The bland, jokey, or wholly imitative style of much British rock and roll in this period meant that the American product remained dominant. However, this process was important in the orientation of the British record industry towards the youth market and group based music in general. In 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
and the Drifters
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
reached number 2 in the chart with "Move It
Move It
"Move It" is a song recorded by Cliff Richard and the Drifters . Originally intended as the B-side to "Schoolboy Crush", it was released as Richard's debut single on 29 August 1958 and became his first hit record. It is credited with being one of the first authentic rock and roll songs produced...
", which managed to combine a bluesy rock and roll riff with respectable lyrics and attitude.
The success of "Move It" was partly due to an appearance on Independent Television's Oh Boy! (1958-9), which followed the BBC's tentative first attempt at youth music programming Six-Five Special
Six-Five Special
The Six-Five Special is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain.-Description:...
(1957-58) with a much more music orientated show that did much to promote the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky Wilde, Kim Wilde and Roxanne Wilde.-Career:Wilde was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in...
, Johnny Gentle
Johnny Gentle
Johnny Gentle is the stage name of John Askew . He was a British pop singer who is now best remembered for having briefly toured Scotland with the Silver Beetles - later known simply as The Beatles - as his backing group in 1960....
, Vince Eager
Vince Eager
Vince Eager is a British pop singer.As a teenager, he formed the Harmonica Vagabonds, later the Vagabonds Skiffle Group, with Roy Clark, Mick Fretwell, and bassist Brian Locking. The group reached the final round of a televised "World Skiffle Championship", and were offered a residency at the 2...
, Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...
and Duffy Power
Duffy Power
Duffy Power is an English blues and rock and roll singer, who achieved some success in the 1960s and has performed and recorded intermittently since then.-Career:...
. These and other British acts had a series of hits in the late 1950s. Cliff Richard, and as instrumental artists his new backing band The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
, were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era. The Shadows, and particularly guitarist Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
, were highly influential on a subsequent generation of musicians, helping to cement the line-up of drums, bass, rhythm and lead guitars for British bands. However, in retrospect their work tends to be seen as a bland imitation of American rock and roll. Notably Cliff Richard rapidly dropped much of his sub-Elvis, rock and roll image for a softer mainstream style, as can be seen in his first number 1, "Living Doll
Living Doll (song)
"Living Doll" is a song written by Lionel Bart made popular by Cliff Richard and the Shadows in 1959. It has topped the UK charts twice; in its original version and a new version recorded in 1986 in aid of Comic Relief....
" and a subsequent series of ballads that owed little to rock and roll.
Amid the limited vitality of late 1950s and early 1960s British rock and roll there were some more dynamic acts. These included Billy Fury
Billy Fury
Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...
, whose rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
-style compositions, aided by the guitar of Joe Brown
Joe Brown (singer)
Joe Brown, MBE is an English entertainer.He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and a UK recording star in the early 1960s...
, on his 1960 LP Sound of Fury are considered some of the best work of the era. Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan , is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist...
, Vince Taylor
Vince Taylor
Vince Taylor was a British rock and roll singer. As the frontman for The Playboys, Taylor was successful primarily in France and the Continent during the late 1950s and early 1960s, afterwards falling into obscurity amidst personal problems and drug abuse.-Early life:Born Brian Maurice Holden,...
, and Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages
Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages
Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages were a British rock group from the early Sixties, sporting an ever-changing line-up of musicians and a taste for horror themes and zany humour. Some regard them as forerunners of both The Sex Pistols and Monty Python...
also produced some work that could be compared with American rock and roll. The only act to create what has been described as "a pre-Beatle rock classic", were Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, whose song "Shakin' All Over
Shakin' All Over
"Shakin' All Over" is a rock and roll song originally performed by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. It was written by frontman Johnny Kidd and reached #1 in the United Kingdom in August 1960...
" managed to become a rock and roll standard.
Decline and revivals
British rock and roll declined sharply in the face of the new beat music after 1962. While some of the most successful acts, most notably Cliff Richard, were able to hang on to positions in the chart, British rock and roll virtually disappeared from the chart, as beat and then R&B based groups began to dominate. Many British rock and rollers continued their careers, and occasional bands specialised in the form, but mainstream success for the genre was rare. There have been periodic revivals of British rock and roll, including in the 1970s, with highly successful nostalgic pop acts like ShowaddywaddyShowaddywaddy
Showaddywaddy are a 1970s pop group from Leicester, England. They specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, and dressed as Teddy Boys.-History:...
and Alvin Stardust
Alvin Stardust
Alvin Stardust is an English pop singer and stage actor.-Career:...
in the 1970s and Shakin' Stevens
Shakin' Stevens
Shakin' Stevens, also known as "Shaky" is a platinum selling Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter who holds the distinction of being the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s . His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although it was not until 1980 that he saw...
in the 1980s, but a wider revival has been elusive.
Influence
In general early British rock and roll was a second-class product and made little impact on the American market, where British acts before 1963 were almost unknown. Even in Britain their significance was limited. British rhythm and bluesBritish rhythm and blues
British rhythm and blues developed as a major musical movement in the early 1960s in London and other urban centres in the UK as predominately young white male musicians attempted to emulate the style and recordings of African American rhythm and blues artists...
bands like The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
deliberately turned away from rock and roll towards its sources in America, and even the subsequent generation of beat bands
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
that owed much more to rock and roll, frequently covered songs by American artists like Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
, but rarely used material from British acts. Early British rock and roll was undoubtedly an inspiration and influence on the instrumentation and shape of the beat music that spearheaded the British Invasion, but it had to be changed significantly into something new and vital in order to have any impact outside of its own borders.