• There were many musical sources that made up rock and roll. In fact most and if not all the “artists who could have been considered rock and musicians prior to 1955” were black except for Bill Haley and his comets. We first have saxophone which was made famous as a rock and roll instrument by “Jackie Brenston’s solo on Rocket 88”. The electric blues guitar was introduced by T-Bone Walkers’ “Call It Stormy Monday”, and later perfected by Chuck Berry. Professor Longhair brought the piano into the rock and roll scene by playing a mix of “offbeat Spanish beats and Calypso down beats.
As for vocals go, they came mostly from rhythm and blues performers such as “Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker.” Ray Browns’ vocal talents also influenced Little Richard and Ray Charles.
• There were a few factors that led to the independent record labels being able to compete with the major labels. First was that fact that major labels assumed that audiences would always “respond favorably to gentle changes in popular styles.” The introduction of rock and roll threw this assumption out the window. Another factor that helped this was the introduction of “poorly capitalized independent radio stations that
Cincinnati is said to be the crossroads of blues and country. A local record producer named Henry Glover (who worked for Syd Nathan’s King Records) encouraged the different races (black and white) to experiment with each others music. This “early cross-pollination would yield rock n’ roll”.
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