How I Learned To Love Rock And Roll

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I have been spending quite a lot of time listening to rock and roll (and other music from the rock and roll 'era' c.late 50s). This was sparked by a sudden and complete infatuation w/"Chantilly Lace" by the Big BOPPER.

So I wanted to ask - what do my fellow Poptimists think about rock and roll? Do you like it? Do you listen to it? How does it stack up next to pop now (or pop from a more recent then)? Is it pop at all? Is it rock? Does the path of listening to rock and roll lead inexorably to the Stray Cats? etc. etc.

Here are some things about rock and roll which relate to other Poptimist concerns:

- The tracks are generally very short.
- They are often quite goofy.
- They sound like they were done very quickly.
- They mostly came out on single.
- There was a hell of a lot of it.
- There are a lot of boys with guitars around.
- Rock and roll is pretty old.
- Chunks of it are very revered.
- It gets revived a lot.

HMMMMMM. Over to you crazy comments box cats!

Comments

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Great guitar solo in Rock Around The Clock though.

[koganbot]

Yes, though the solo is the jazz. (And I think Kat is underrating Mr. Comet; he's half in r'n'r and half not there yet, and that halfness seems as valid a predicament as any other; though for those in the predicament, he isn't half as good as Louis Prima.)

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

It wasn't a predicament for Prima - it was just a move to try to retain a youthful audience, make everything faster and wilder. I think he was at least as inspired by people like Wynonie Harris, who certainly predates rock 'n' roll, as he was by that genre, in his move away from his Armstrong-jazz roots, which he never left behind. His material remained jazz-pop standards.