by Ed Z. Ved

Created on: May 20, 2009

"Rock" holds the record for having the loosest definition of all genres. It can be divided into countless sub-categories. Different labels are assigned to different songs. If it's loud it's Hard Rock. If it's quiet it's Soft Rock. If it's about politics it's Punk rock, if it's about god, It's Christian rock. If there's a nerd playing guitar, it's Geek rock. If it's a goth, then it's

Emo. With no words it's Instrumental rock. If the artist doesn't have a record label, it's Indie rock. If it's about drugs, then it's Psychedelic rock. If it's done by a group of unkempt and socially detached rockers, it's grunge, and when iTunes doesn't know what it is, it is dubbed Alternative. The list goes on, but no matter how many times the genre is sliced into smaller pieces, we can't deny their common ancestry, and their common influences on society.

"Rock and Roll" first emerged as its own genre in the late 1940's, and the sensation hit the mainstream around the 1950's. It started out as up-tempo R&B with a stressed backbeat, but influences also include blues, country, folk and gospel. In 1956, Alan Freed, a disk jockey from Cleveland, Ohio was quoted saying: "Rock and roll is a river of music that has absorbed many streams: rhythm and blues, jazz, rag time, cowboy songs, country songs, folk songs. All have contributed to the big beat." That river of music was originally played with a piano, a saxophone, an upright bass, a guitar or two, and a drum kit. By the late 1940's and early 1950's however, the piano and saxophone gave way to rhythms and lead guitars, and by the mid 1950's the upright bass was replaced by an electric bass guitar.

The coining of the phrase "Rock and Roll" has been credited to Alan Freed. He used the phrase to describe the music he played in 1951 to his radio audience. He may have taken it from a song of the time, like Trixie Smith's "My Man Rocks Me With One Steady Roll," Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" or Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" However, the phrase "Rocking and Rolling" had been previously used in the black community as slang for dancing and sex. A combination of his musical influence, and need to spark interest in his listeners' minds most likely led to his devising of the name.

But it was the desire for money that led to the creation of the genre. In 1892, popular music started to emerge as marketable. Sheet music was the primary product of the time and publishing houses dominated the industry. Later, in 1914, the

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