Music of the United Kingdom (1950s)
Encyclopedia
Music of the United Kingdom began to develop in the 1950s from largely insular and derivative forms to become one of the leading centres of popular music in the modern world. By 1950 indigenous forms of British popular music, like folk music
, brass and silver bands, music hall
and dance bands, were already giving way to the influence of American forms of music including jazz
, swing and traditional pop, mediated through film and records. The significant change of the mid-1950s was the impact of American rock and roll
, which provided a new model for performance and recording, based on a youth market. Initially this was dominated by American acts, or re-creations of American forms of music, but soon distinctly British forms began to appear, first in the uniquely British take on American folk music in the skiffle craze of the 1950s, then in the beginnings of a folk revival that came to place an emphasis on national traditions and then in early attempts to produce British rock and roll
.
reached Britain from America through recordings and performers who visited the country while it was a relatively new genre, soon after the end of the First World War
. Jazz began to be played by British musicians from the 1930s and on a widespread basis in the 1940s, often within Dance bands
. From the late 1950s British "modern jazz", highly influenced by American bebop
, began to emerge, led by figures such as John Dankworth
and Ronnie Scott
, while Ken Colyer
, George Webb
and Humphrey Lyttelton
emphasised New Orleans, trad jazz
. Scott's Soho
club became a focal point of British jazz, seeing the best of British and international acts. From the 1960s British Jazz began to develop more individual characteristics, absorbing a variety of influences, including free jazz
, British blues
, as well as European and World music
.
, Guy Mitchell
and Frankie Laine
largely with orchestrated sentimental ballads, beside novelty records like "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
" re-recorded by British artist Lita Roza
. Some established British wartime stars like Vera Lynn
were still able to chart into the mid-1950s, but successful new British acts like Jimmy Young
who had two number one hits in 1955, did so with re-recorded versions of American songs "Unchained Melody
" and "The Man from Laramie
" or Alma Cogan
with "Dreamboat
". Many successful songs were the product of movies, including number ones for Doris Day
in 1954 with "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane and for Frank Sinatra
with the title song from Three Coins in the Fountain
, underlining the dominance of American culture in both film and music at this time, and arguably providing a mechanism for the transference of Rock and roll.
with jazz
, blues
and country
influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments which had originated as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. It became popular again in Britain in the 1950s, where it was associated with musician Lonnie Donegan
, whose high-tempo version of Leadbelly's "Rock Island Line
" was a major hit in 1956, spending eight months in the Top 20, peaking at #6 (and #8 in the U.S.). It was the first début record to go gold in Britain, selling over a million copies worldwide. The resulting short-lived Skiffle craze led to a profusion of British performers and played a major part in beginning the careers of later eminent jazz, pop, blues, folk and rock musicians, including early British rock performers Tommy Steele
, The Shadows
and The Beatles
.
The second British folk revival followed a similar American folk music revival
, to which it was connected by individuals like Alan Lomax
, who had moved to Britain in the era of McCarthyism
and who worked in England and Scotland. Like the American revival, it was often overtly left wing in its politics, and the leading figures, Ewan MacColl
and A. L. Lloyd
, were both involved in trade unionism and socialist politics. In Scotland the key figures were Hamish Henderson
and Calum McLean who collected songs and popularised acts including Jeannie Robertson
, John Strachan
, Flora Macneill and Jimmy MacBeath
. In Wales the key figure was Dafydd Iwan
, who founded the Sain
record label in 1969. The revival began to gain momentum in the 1950s with the establishment of a network of folk clubs
, like the Blues and Ballads Club in London in 1953 and a number of festivals, like that at Sidmouth
from 1955.
as a major international force in popular music in the mid-1950s led to its emulation in Britain, which shared a common language and many cultural connections. The British product has generally been considered inferior to the American version of the genre, and made very 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 very successful careers and there have been periodic revivals of this form of music.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, brass and silver bands, music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and dance bands, were already giving way to the influence of American forms of music including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, swing and traditional pop, mediated through film and records. The significant change of the mid-1950s was the impact of American rock and roll
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 provided a new model for performance and recording, based on a youth market. Initially this was dominated by American acts, or re-creations of American forms of music, but soon distinctly British forms began to appear, first in the uniquely British take on American folk music in the skiffle craze of the 1950s, then in the beginnings of a folk revival that came to place an emphasis on national traditions and then in early attempts to produce British rock and roll
British rock and roll
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...
.
Jazz
JazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
reached Britain from America through recordings and performers who visited the country while it was a relatively new genre, soon after the end of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Jazz began to be played by British musicians from the 1930s and on a widespread basis in the 1940s, often within Dance bands
British dance band
British dance bands developed a unique style of popular jazz and dance music during the 1920s and 1930s that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms thousands of miles away from the true origins of jazz...
. From the late 1950s British "modern jazz", highly influenced by American bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, began to emerge, led by figures such as John Dankworth
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
and Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
, while Ken Colyer
Ken Colyer
Kenneth Colyer was a British jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes.-Biography:...
, George Webb
George Webb (musician)
George Webb was a British pianist considered by many as the father of the traditional jazz movement in Britain....
and Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...
emphasised New Orleans, trad jazz
Trad 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....
. Scott's Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
club became a focal point of British jazz, seeing the best of British and international acts. From the 1960s British Jazz began to develop more individual characteristics, absorbing a variety of influences, including free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
, British blues
British blues
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
, as well as European and World music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
.
Traditional pop
In the early 1950s sales of American records dominated British popular music. In the first full year of the charts in 1953 major artists were Perry ComoPerry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
and Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
largely with orchestrated sentimental ballads, beside novelty records like "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
" That Doggie in the Window?" is a popular novelty song written by Bob Merrill and Ingrid Reuterskiöld in 1952. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Patti Page on December 18, 1952 and released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70070, with the flip side being "My Jealous Eyes". It...
" re-recorded by British artist Lita Roza
Lita Roza
Lita Roza was a British singer. Her 1953 number one hit record " That Doggie in the Window?" afforded Roza the privilege of being the first British female singer to top the UK Singles Chart, and the first Liverpudlian to do so.-Biography:Born Lilian Patricia Lita Roza in Liverpool, Lancashire,...
. Some established British wartime stars like Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...
were still able to chart into the mid-1950s, but successful new British acts like Jimmy Young
Jimmy Young (disc jockey)
Sir Jimmy Young CBE was a British singer, disc jockey and radio interviewer.-Early life:...
who had two number one hits in 1955, did so with re-recorded versions of American songs "Unchained Melody
Unchained Melody
"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. It has become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages....
" and "The Man from Laramie
The Man from Laramie
The Man from Laramie is an American Technicolor Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in the fifth and final of their Western collaborations, and their seventh collaboration overall. It was adapted from a story of the same title by Thomas T...
" or Alma Cogan
Alma Cogan
Alma Cogan was an English singer of traditional pop music in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed "The Girl With the Laugh/Giggle/Chuckle In Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era...
with "Dreamboat
Dreamboat
"Dreamboat" is a popular music song, the words and music to which were written by Jack Hoffman, ....
". Many successful songs were the product of movies, including number ones for Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
in 1954 with "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane and for Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
with the title song from Three Coins in the Fountain
Three Coins in the Fountain (1954 film)
Three Coins in the Fountain is the 1954 film that introduced the song of the same name, which became an enduring standard. It tells the story of three American girls looking for romance in Rome while employed at the American Embassy...
, underlining the dominance of American culture in both film and music at this time, and arguably providing a mechanism for the transference of Rock and roll.
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of folk musicFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, 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...
and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments which had originated as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. It became popular again in Britain in the 1950s, where it was associated with musician 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 high-tempo version of Leadbelly's "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...
" was a major hit in 1956, spending eight months in the Top 20, peaking at #6 (and #8 in the U.S.). It was the first début record to go gold in Britain, selling over a million copies worldwide. The resulting short-lived Skiffle craze led to a profusion of British performers and played a major part in beginning the careers of later eminent jazz, pop, blues, folk and rock musicians, including early British rock performers 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:...
, 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'...
and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
.
Folk music and roots revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
, to which it was connected by individuals like Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
, who had moved to Britain in the era of McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
and who worked in England and Scotland. Like the American revival, it was often overtly left wing in its politics, and the leading figures, Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
and A. L. Lloyd
A. L. Lloyd
Albert Lancaster Lloyd , usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s....
, were both involved in trade unionism and socialist politics. In Scotland the key figures were Hamish Henderson
Hamish Henderson
Hamish Scott Henderson, was a Scottish poet, songwriter, soldier, and intellectual....
and Calum McLean who collected songs and popularised acts including Jeannie Robertson
Jeannie Robertson
Jeannie Robertson was a Scottish folk singer.-Hamish Henderson and Alan Lomax:It is not known where Jeannie Robertson was born but she did live at 90, Hilton Street in Aberdeen, where a plaque now commemorates her. Like many of the Scottish Travellers from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Ayrshire, she went...
, John Strachan
John Strachan (singer)
John Strachan was a Scottish farmer and singer of Bothy Ballads.John Strachan was born on a farm, Crichie, near St. Katherines in Aberdeenshire. His father had made his fortune by trading in horses, and had rented the farm. From 1886 John attended Robert Gordon's College as a boarder in Aberdeen....
, Flora Macneill and Jimmy MacBeath
Jimmy MacBeath
Jimmy MacBeath was an itinerant worker and singer of Bothy Ballads from the north east of Scotland. He was a source of traditional songs for singers of the mid 20th century Folk Revival in Great Britain.-Life:...
. In Wales the key figure was Dafydd Iwan
Dafydd Iwan
Dafydd Iwan , is a Welsh folk singer and politician. He was the president of Plaid Cymru .Dafydd Iwan Jones was born in Brynaman in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and is the elder brother of politician Alun Ffred Jones. He spent most of his youth in Bala in Gwynedd before attending the University of...
, who founded the Sain
Sain
Sain , in full – Recordiau Sain Cyf is a Welsh record label, which was in the Welsh folk revival....
record label in 1969. The revival began to gain momentum in the 1950s with the establishment of a network of folk clubs
Folk clubs
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk revival, but continue today there and elsewhere...
, like the Blues and Ballads Club in London in 1953 and a number of festivals, like that at Sidmouth
Sidmouth Festival
Sidmouth FolkWeek , is a folk festival held every year in the first week of Augustin the coastal town of Sidmouth in South West England. It offers a range of activities including concerts, ceilidhs, pub sessions, workshops, dance displays, and children's activities...
from 1955.
British rock and roll
The emergence of American rock and rollRock 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...
as a major international force in popular music in the mid-1950s led to its emulation in Britain, which shared a common language and many cultural connections. The British product has generally been considered inferior to the American version of the genre, and made very 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 very successful careers and there have been periodic revivals of this form of music.
See also
- 1950s in music1950s in musicFor music from a year in the 1950s, go to 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1950s....
- Early British popular musicEarly British popular musicEarly British popular music, in the sense of commercial music enjoyed by the people, can be seen to originate in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with the arrival of the broadside ballad as a result of the print revolution, which were sold cheaply and in great numbers until the nineteenth...
- Music of the United Kingdom (1960s)Music of the United Kingdom (1960s)Music of the United Kingdom developed in the 1960s into one of the leading forms of popular music in the modern world. By the early 1960s the British had developed a viable national music industry and began to produce adapted forms of American music in Beat music and British blues which would be...
- Music of the United Kingdom (1970s)Music of the United Kingdom (1970s)Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1970s built upon the new forms developed of music developed from blues rock towards the end of the 1960s, including folk rock and psychedelic rock...
- Music of the United Kingdom (1980s)Music of the United Kingdom (1980s)Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1980s built on the post punk and new wave movements, incorporating different sources of inspiration from sub-genres and what is now classed as World music in the shape of Jamaican and Indian music. It also explored the consequences of new technology and...
- Music of the United Kingdom (1990s)Music of the United Kingdom (1990s)Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1990s continued to develop and diversify. While the singles charts were dominated by boy bands and girl groups, British soul and Indian-based music also enjoyed their greatest level of mainstream success to date, and the rise of World music helped...
- Music of the United Kingdom (2000s)Music of the United Kingdom (2000s)Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 2000s continued to expand and develop new sub-genres and fusions. While talent show contestants were one of the major forces in pop music, British soul maintained and even extended its high profile with figures like Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse, while a...