u/Moni3

The term “rock and roll” is interchangeable with other genres: R&B, rockabilly, blues, gospel, soul, country, folk, metal, jazz, hip hop, disco, pop, punk, and so many others.

Because:

Some genres exist on music charts. Those measure sales within specific markets. Billboard does not recognize “rock and roll” as a market, and neither do other charts. “Rock and roll” is music that has landed on R&B, jazz, country, gospel, pop, middle-of-the-road, adult contemporary, Top 40, rock, alternative, college, and other charts.

Other genres are created by academics to define and explain, critics and the music industry to interpret and sell, and artists to label themselves and what they make. The term “Rock and roll” was created by artists to describe partying and sex. A radio DJ named Alan Freed used it to describe music and then popularized it promoting it to young people. He used it interchangeably with R&B, marketed it energetically, and created sensational moments in the music industry that made a lot of people a lot of money, and subverted a lot of social and artistic expectations.

Genres naturally overlap. What separates them might be trivial: language, class, race, or lyrical content for example, which when performed by someone in a different language, of a different class, or race, with a different set of lyrics qualifies it as a different genre.

 

Rock and roll is not simply a musical style. It has musical, social, and commercial elements that must exist simultaneously. To avoid more abstract and confusing explanations of rock and roll that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame provides, below are the essential elements of rock and roll that is the basis of a concrete definition.

 

Musical characteristics

• Majority of songs are no more than 5 minutes long, usually between 2 and 4.
• Lyrics are primarily in English. Lyrical content is varied.
• Tempo can be upbeat or laid back. Volume can be loud or soft. Loud and energetic is common. Ballads are common.
• Instruments commonly include guitars (acoustic, lead electric, bass), rhythm guitar, upright bass, piano or keyboards, drum kits and varied percussion, horns (especially saxophone). Multiple vocal styles exhibited, including spoken word and rap. Blues chord progressions are common. Backbeat is common. Improvisation is common.
• Musicologists can complete this one with explanation of music commonly within specific mode(s) and keys, as in, majority of music is composed in Ionic mode(?) in keys of X. Y, and Z.
• Band sizes are commonly three to five members but can (rarely) expand into the teens. Solo performers often use session musicians. Accompanying production may be minimal or intricate.
• Virtuoso level skill is common but not necessary to succeed. Passion in performances and lyrical content often supplants musical skill.
• Performances can include sitting still in an acoustic setting or huge ear-piercing pyrotechnic displays in arenas, yet both kinds are often deeply moving.

Social characteristics

• It is subversive. Legally, morally, artistically, politically, or socially.
• Established authority finds it threatening. Legally, morally, artistically, politically, or socially.
• It is disseminated through mass media: radio, television, film, internet, and social media.
• Performances are often large energetic social gatherings.
• It is heavily marketed toward youth with disposable income. Music executives, producers, and artists often (try to) create or participate in social zeitgeists (trends, fads, crazes, fashions, political movements). Cultural relevance is strongly linked to overall success and influence.

Commercial characteristics

• It is a form of popular music which means it is funded by mass sales rather than government grants, private patrons, or other means.
• It is intrinsically linked to business and commerce. Commercial success is virtually necessary to be considered influential.
• It transcends regional pockets, social segregation, and chart markets. Some charts are separated based on race and class. Others on lyrical content. These separations commonly become irrelevant in rock and roll.

Got a soil test and used it on solids left by ducks in a pool over some months that dried out in the sun. I call it Duck Stuff and I used it on everything I planted this spring: trees, flowers, peppers, beans, tomatoes, etc. It's a fine powder that I sprinkled over the seedlings.

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I didn't know how high the nitrogen was so I held off using it again until seeing test results. But I think I'll sprinkle a second round.

Yes, the children's author.

He was a musician and songwriter before the children's books.

"A Boy Named Sue" and "25 Minutes to Go" by Johnny Cash

"Sylvia's Mother", "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone", by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, who recorded a few of Silverstein's songs first.

"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" by Marianne Faithfull. In my head canon, this is the sequel to "Sylvia's Mother" but 20 years later.

"One's on the Way" by Loretta Lynn -- one of the songs that got her in trouble with country music stations because lyrics were about birth control and feminism

"Put Another Log on the Fire" by Tompall Glaser, a pensive statement about feminism maybe

"Marie Laveau" by Bobby Bare

"The Taker" by Waylon Jennings

"Queen of the Silver Dollar" by Dave & Sugar (IMO best version) though Dr. Hook and Emmylou Harris recorded it too and they're both extraordinary.

These were all hits in the 1970s.

"The Smoke-Off" by Uncle Shelby himself about the fastest joint rolling competition in the world, which I heard on the radio in central Florida right after Hurricane Andrew (1992), where the radio station did a promotion that if you donated a certain amount to the Red Cross or some similar relief fund they'd play anything, and I mean anything, you requested.

For discussion and consideration.

May I submit:

Freddie Mercury, The Great Pretender (cover of the Platters from 1955) or really I Want to Break Free by Queen would be just as good -- the video.

Elton John, Someone Saved My Life Tonight

The Kinks, Lola

Rock and Roll is red-blooded American masculinity! Or is it?

Consider not-straight artists who might not have addressed their sexuality in art like Little Richard, Dusty Springfield, the Go-Go's, Janis Joplin, Judas Priest, Queen Latifah, Whitney Houston, and a bunch of others. Unless they did, then please give examples we might not know about!

Also all the straight artists who are gay icons like ABBA, Donna Summer, Madonna, Cher, et al. What is it about them that drives right into the brains of LGBT people? And straight ones too who maybe just aren't as enthusiastic?

Behind the scenes folk too. Brian Epstein and Jann Wenner. We generally know the least about managers, agents, and journalists. Guilty myself.

Rick Wakeman of Yes contributed the piano in Cat Stevens' Morning Has Broken.

I'm surprised the piano survived Joe Hunter of the Motown session band The Funk Brothers in Marvin Gaye's Pride and Joy.

Fats Domino doing pretty much anything, but here's A Whole Lotta Lovin' for illustration.