Cleveland Rock n' Roll Music

ROCK ‘n ROLL MUSIC - CLEVELAND

    How does a white DJ become lauded as the Father of Rock & Roll and a city that was not home to the first commercially marketed "Rock & Roll" hit record be chosen as the best location for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? There’s an only-in-Cleveland answer to one of those questions and a racism in America answer to the other.

    Since the 1930s, the Black slang terms “Rock n' Roll” meant engaging in sex. Historical evidence points the famous black R&B bandleader Louis Jordan, as the first person to describe his music genre as "Rock 'n Roll" in the 1940s, when he worked primarily in NYC and Philadelphia. Jordan was one of the first black recording artists to achieve a significant "crossover" in popularity with the European American audience, scoring simultaneous Top Ten hits on the white pop charts on several occasions. After Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Louis Jordan was probably the most successful black bandleader of his day.

    Alan Freed, a European American former musician and disc jockey in Cleveland that liked a good party, affectionately coddled Rhythm & Blues music by Black folks. Given the state of racism in America, he knew that calling it “Rhythm & Blues”, "Jump Blues" or “R&B” on the airwaves would draw the ire of the white majority parents who overheard the music. Freed also knew “R&B” would reduce record and concert sales for those R&B artists whom he came to like and respect. So he cleverly figured out an “end-around” to popularize the music for consumption by the larger white market. After listening to a number of R&B records, in 1952 introduced the term "Rock 'n Roll" to the larger white market as a catchphrase that would penetrate the homes of white youth. That moniker went right over the heads of most white parents until it exploded around them like Hip-Hop did in the 1990s.

    On his 1952 radio show, Freed interspersed more sanitized versions of R&B by Black and white groups, which he carefully lumped together as “Rock ‘n Roll.” That Freed could have such a show and successfully promote an interracial genre to young white kids speaks to Cleveland’s relative social progressiveness compared to most other American cities at that time. He could never have pulled off such a show in St. Louis, Washington, Baltimore, Houston, Memphis or Atlanta at that time.

    Conincident with the rise of Alan Freed, the first Rock ‘n Roll hit intentionally marketed for crossover success, Rocket 88, was released in 1952 by Sun Records in Memphis. That song was written and arranged by Ike Turner with vocals and lead guitar provided by Jackie Berensten. It clearly was Rhythm & Blues enhanced with lead electric guitar and youthful repetitive lyrics that Black & White audiences could both dance to.

    That said, a 1952 Rock 'n' Roll concert Freed promoted at Cleveland Stadium had to be canceled when it was overrun by nearly 75,000 fans. By 1954, Freed had moved to a late-night show on WINS radio in New York City – a bigger stage for him and the genre. In April 1954, Bill Haley and the Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock" credited with making Rock 'n' Roll a worldwide hit especially when it was chosen as the theme for the film Blackboard Jungle, co-starring Sidney Poitier. It sold 22 million records -- a impressive number even by today’s standards.

    By getting around white a parents before they knew what hit them, Rock ‘n Roll led to booming career growth for re-packaged R&B artists. But it also meant that its evolution would evolve from a black musical art form into a form with more rewards for its predominantly white audience. Though some embarassing oversights remain, the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Museum recognizes most of the genre’s Black originators and innovators.

    Greater Cleveland Artist Reviews & Audio Clips courtesy of:

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Gerald Levert review
Gerald Levert audio
O'Jays review
O'Jays audio1
O'Jays audio2
O'Jays audio3
Ruby and the Romantics review
Bobby Womack review
Dazz Band/Mike Calhoun review
Dazz Band/Mike Calhoun audio
Edwin Starr review
Edwin Starr audio1
Edwin Starr audio2
Frank McComb review
Sly, Slick & Wicked review
Sly, Slick & Wicked audio

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