Rock and Roll

Music accompanys people since the beginning of time. It occupies very important place in our contemporary world, where access to it is absolutely easy. But does it matter what we listen to and how often? How does the music affect us? For many years music has had the greatest influence on how teenagers dress, what hairstyle they have, how they talk and how they behave. “You can compare a man with a building surrounded by a high fence. Everything that a person lets through the gate into the building changes its interior” - says about his observations one of Russian philosophers and writers Andriy Maksymov. It is not known who first used the term “youth music”, but it started its existence along with the growing popularity of Rock and Roll and new trends in music culture dating back to the middle of 20th centurie.

Its ideology were much stronger than anything else and introduced a lot of changes that were not made by any other music genre even these that it is made of. Rock and RollEverybody knows what it is, an exceptionally captivating genre of music. Rock ’n” Roll was created in the United States at the turn of the 40’s and 50’s as a result of a combination of traditional blues, country, rhythm and blues, gospel and jazz. Influenced by many different types of music, Rock and Roll has acted as a novelty, paving the way for self expression and innovation. At the beginning, it was performed and listened to solely by African-Americans - it was an expression of rebellion due to the limiting of their civil rights. It was not just the next popular genre of music.An important factor of starting this music genre existing was the large migration of blacks from the south to the north in the 40’s. At first their music was called “race”, but, later became rhythm and blues to be more politically correct. The white Americans, including many young people, enjoyed the rhythm and blues genre, but, the black music and its artists were rarely heard by the bigger mass audience.

The situation changed when the DJ from Cleveland, named Alan Freed, has noticed that CDs with that music were eagerly bought so he began to promote it on the radio calling it ROCK’N’ROLL, name that was first used in 1951, that was taken from the song “My Baby Rocks Me with a Steady Roll”. In literal translation, it means “sway and spin.” An interesting fact is that “Rock’n’Roll” was a metaphorical term for sexual intercourse. The song “Rock Around the Clock” in Bill Haley’s version changed the face of then popular music. That was the first Rock and Roll song that reached the first place on the charts and began madness. Rock and Roll’s ideologyIn the United States the issue of discrimation was really visible and Rock and Roll music oppeosed this division. Time was bringing big popularity from day to day the music’s impact was growing around the world. Rock and Roll was a kind of manifestation of the youthful will to live, and its dynamics and rhythm were set to express the mood of the young generation and its rebellion against rigid social conventions, which hindered, in their opinion, to achieve the simplest and most important things: happiness and love. T

he songs titles and lyrics of early Rock and Roll hits, that were written mainly for the teenagers, were expressing youth’s feelings from this era. The lyrics were much more socially suggestive than in the other genres including the base of Rock and Roll. Simple music and lyrics were performed with incredible freedom and honesty. Spontaneous, sometimes defiant, and always deviating from the general banality, was the behavior of musicians on stage, which was initiated by Elvis Presley. Finally, the reception method itself - especially at concerts - was devoid of embarrassment. People began to talk publicly about the problems faced by ordinary people, the lack of mutual acceptance, racism and social divisions, as well as the current political situation, directly and mercilessly pointing errors to the rulers, which often resulted in stark consequences for the defiant artists. Young people identified more and more with their musical idols. Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin were mixing real life with narcotic visions, presenting the audience with something completely unknown to them. For example Jimmi Hendrix was one of the most colorful and expressive characters on the world music scene. His style and virtuosity in the use of electric guitar became an inseparable element of every piece of rock music to this day. Hendrix was also remembered as a person often repeating the lyrics of Faron Young’s song, which became a slogan of all rockers: “Live fast, love hard, die young”.

Adolescence is normally a time of rebellion against adult authority and the music was motivating teenagers to rebel against some traditional customs. In many cases it was direct opposition to the parents” common point of view that “children should be seen and not heard”. This Rock and roll attitude was offending some parents and caused them to perceive that music as something dangerous. Hollywood culture has used this gap between generations and captured the idea of Rock and Roll music. It was interesting for teenagers while shocking their parents. The most popular subculture In the second half of the 1960s, the most-known and most-characteristic youth subculture was created - a hippie movement. Long-haired hippies versus soldiers with rifles became an indispensable symbol of the 60’s, when Rock and Roll’s culture was opposed all wars and violence. Men had long hair, which was an expression of freedom and opposition to the necessity of military service. The hippies included in their trend the specificity of a new lifestyle. Life under the sign of free love, marijuana and LSD. It was a kind of revolution directed against traditional institutions and structures, family, church, school and whole state. They were an element of the sexual revolution, pacifist movements (“Make love, not war”) and ecological.

The concept of Flower Power also emerged as a passive resistance to the Vietnam War during the late 60’s. Their were expressing a was for people to turn war into peace.They had not any permanent place to live in and freedom for them was a lack of coercion, family, and moral norms. They lived in harmony with nature and rejected norms that were in force in the adult world and replaced them with its own moral criteria, characterized by sophisticated freedom of morals, manifested by a free relationship to sex - instead of fighting, it is better to have sex. They lived in harmony with nature and rejected norms that were in force in the adult world and replaced them with its own moral criteria, characterized by sophisticated freedom of morals, manifested by a free relationship to sex - instead of fighting, it is better to have sex. Whole hippie’s comunity was a big family. The place of hippie meetings are various festivals, both musical and manifestations, anti-war protests. Hippie movement was created in the the counter-culture’s time and includes the ideals of Rock and Roll’s culture from the mid-20th century. The most important performers from the hippie music circle were The Doors, The Animals, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Joan Baez. The quintessence of their music was the compilation Woodstock 69’, which is a record of the best performances at the legendary festival.Woodstock Festival 69’Probably one of the most memorable events of rock music was the Woodstock Music and Art and Festival that was held August 15 - 17, 1969 on the farm owned by Max Yasgur, near Woodstock, New York. Its slogan was: Peace, Love and Happiness.

Despite of the fact that the festival was not advertised in the mass media, it attracted over 500,000 people. The Woodstock Festival symbolize changes in customs and culture.The American youth of the era of flower children, bored of the politics and dangers of the capitalist world, was looking for refuge in a variety of narcotic drugs. It was also thanks to the police that stopped fighting against drugs during the festival. There also was not any case of theft, robbery or rape. Woodstock was a spectacular event that realized all the aspects that hippies believed in - peace, music, and calm harmonious life. Woodstock was the only place where hippies could meet and feel united. They finally had the chance to become part of a utopian society. Woodstock festival was also the starting event of the era known as the counter-culture. During this time use of psychedelic drugs was huge. The event was also peak of using LSD. It was confirmed that the use of drugs was the largest in the 80’s. In spite of this all Woodstock Festival was a place where many different people with many different personalities have congregated connected by love for their music. “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” The Rock and Roll lifestyle was associated with sex and drugs. Rock stars was showing a tendency to very chaotic lifestyle. Musicians began to drink alcohol and use drugs in public places. Many early Rock and Roll’s stars were known as hard-drinking, hard-living people. When the stars” life became public, recreational use of drugs by musicians gained the reputation and acceptability by young people of this period. Many musicians including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Steven Tyler, Madonna, Ozzy Osbourne, Kurt Cobain, Lemmy, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, David Crosby, Dave Mustaine, David Bowie, Richard Wright, Elton John acknowledged fighting with addictions to dangerous substances like alcohol, cocaine or heroin. Many of these people have successfully undergone drug rehabilitation programs, but many others have died. In the early 1980s, the Minor Threat band became famous, and with it healthy style of life became popular. A simple philosophy of abstinence from drugs, alcohol, tobacco and sex has been limited for years and has became popular among young people. Rock and Roll started not only a lot of changes in society. Many musical genres that were created in the last fifty years found inspiration in Rock and Roll.

The different subgenres combined with its base music and later with the newly formed were created for the needs of people who wanted to make their own rules just like Rock and Roll did. This music needs context for functioning. Musicians has set itself their own path, a controversial doctrine, it all began to define appurtenance and was a communique for young people who wanted to emphasize their differences. Rock’n’Roll created a generation that wanted to change the world. In the 60’s hippies picked up the idea of transforming the world were creating a new lifestyle. This music has never been a unitary genre. It is associated with a sense of freedom, great creative freedom and mixing of different styles. The reasons why this music started existing and is much different than the other genres is not only a new style of playing it, but, also what is hidden behind songs lyrics from this era. Rock and Roll, as opposed to its predecessors, changed the face of youth music and introduced real changes in its generation.