From the prehistoric time beginning from the 1950s and 1960s music has changed from different genres including; rhythm and blues, rock ‘n' roll, ballads, and many more. Consequently, the 1950s and 1960s rock ‘n' roll music were greatly influenced by the old genres such as blues and rhythm. Glenn C. Altschuler, in his book titled “ All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America ," gives an account of the influence of Rock ‘n' Roll music on the generation of the 1950s and 1960s and even the generations that followed. Glenn states that rock ‘n’ roll created many conflicts between gender and racial classes. This paper will try to discuss the types of conflicts and how the conflicts influenced the generations of the time by analyzing Glenn’s book; All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America. Glenn C. Altschuler is Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and the Dean of the Continuing Education and Summer Sessions at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Mr. Altschuler is also a Ph.D. holder from Cornell University, and he received his Ph.D. in 1976 in American History. Additionally, Mr. Altschuler has been a teacher and an administrator at Cornell since 1981. The book focuses on several topics including; how rock ‘n’ roll affected American culture from 1945 to 1955, how rock ‘n’ roll influenced the youth and their attitude though sexuality, generational conflicts, and race, the pop, and rock ‘n' roll culture wars, and lastly the continual power of the music.
Rock ‘N’ Roll and Culture
Rock ‘n' roll changed the culture of the young people in America during the 1950s and 1960s. According to Altschuler, during the 1950s rock ‘n' roll had swept the entertainment industry of the US to the point that even some Media houses and Newspapers had christened it as a "communicable disease” (6-7). It was the time that the World was in a Cold War, especially the US together with its allies with the Soviet Union together with its allies. President Harry Truman was confronting the complexity of the US stamping its authority of democracy (8). “ I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. We must assist free peoples to work out their destinies in their way.” President Truman said. The community and the parents began to wonder why the American youths were so addicted to the music to the point that they started to ban rock shows from being performed in their neighborhoods so that they could prevent the chaos that marred the shows. At the time, coincidentally, when the music genre was emerging African Americans were beginning to gain their civil rights (Potter). Consequently, in a rock ‘n’ roll performance that was done by Kenneth Myer in Massachusetts, the New York Times reported that a couple of White and African Americans were hospitalized following a brawl that erupted. The show reportedly was attended by tens of thousands of youths where some were stabbed and thrown in the subways.
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Similarly, Myer scrambled back onto the platform after he missed touching a live rail on the stage. The police lieutenant Francis Gannon said, "The ‘negro' youths were responsible for it. The fight was senseless…but we expect difficulty every time a rock ‘n' roll show comes in" (Altschuler 9). In another incident at the Paramount Theater in NY, however, the show was peaceful and in good order. The journalists and the police attributed the absence of chaos to the early arrival of the police who set up wooden barriers and separated the crowd from passers-by.
Rock ‘N’ Roll and Sexuality
In the next section, the book discussed the role of rock 'n' roll on the sexuality of the youth. Glenns suggests that the music genre was portrayed to promote integration and sexual behaviors, especially by some musicians' lyrics. For instance, “There’ll be fifteen minutes of kissin ’ / Then you’ll holler, please don’t stop / There will be fifteen minutes of teasin ’, / And fifteen minutes of squeezin ’ / And fifteen minutes of blowin ’ my top” sang the Dominoes (Altschuler, 72). The lyrics such as Dominoes' made many parents be frightened. Glenn reports that a campaign was initiated by the community and concerned parents to abandon the ‘filthy' lyrics. The parents lodged a campaign to ban the musicians and their lyrics by protesting to the record distributors, radio stations, and record stores. Parents wanted the records to be banned from playing in the radio stations, producing, and selling on the streets. According to Altschuler, parents argued, “the records were filthy and threatened to pollute, damage the reputation, and livelihood of the music genre” (73).
Rock ‘N’ Roll and Racial Prejudice
Another aspect of the influence of rock ‘n’ roll on youth Glenn points out is racial prejudice. During this time America was undergoing many changes in its endeavors to fight racial discrimination. There was the cold war that was shaping many aspects of democracy and human rights which the US champions in the world. Shi and George assert, “The US-Vietnam war sparked many protests and criticism which brought together unions of students’ bodies to criticize the war” (743). Shi and George state, “The Students for Democratic Society (SDS) began to criticize the US government for its involvement in the Vietnam War” (758). In his speech, Vietnam Anti-War , Paul Potter the president of the union criticized the US government. The students were championing for a democratic society. In his speech, Potter says, “…has provided the razor, the terrifying sharp edge that has finally severed the last vestige of illusion that morality and democracy are the guiding principles of American foreign policy” (Par. 2). He goes ahead to state that “What kind of system is it that allowed good men to work such evil?” (par. 15). “We must name that system. We must name it, describe it, analyze it, understand it and change it" (Porter, par. 16). Many rock ‘n' roll musicians changed their priorities from general topics to the Vietnam War. In another incident, the students demonstrating were dispersed by the police after stopping a rock concert, and the students started chanting, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Daley right over."
Shi and George in their book titled “ America: Essential Learning Edition” noted that the Secretary of State when addressing the Harvard grandaunts said, “ An essential part of any successful action on the part of the United States is an understanding on the part of the people of America of the character of the problem and the remedies to be applied. Political passion and prejudice should have no part” (748). Unfortunately rock ‘n' roll, according to many parents, fueled the gap in the racial discrepancy that existed between the whites and the African Americans. In some instances, there were court cases that were trying to shape the future of America concerning racial integration (Potter). For instance, in the case of Topeka, the court concluded that racially segregating students in the school was illegal and unconstitutional” (Shi and George 756).
Additionally, t he complainants had the view that segregating public schools failed equality test, depriving children the right to equal protection by law. This case paved the way for many civil rights of the African Americans. This can be attested when the jury said that “ We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place” ( Shi and George , 756). In another situation, Potter states that the speech by Martin Luther King which aimed at creating an America that is democratic and everyone was accorded the utmost respect and human rights regardless of racial affiliation. Also in Central High School, the court had given direction the laws allowing segregation to be abolished. The president, in 1957, gave an executive order to disperse people who were protesting against the court order (Shi and George, 690). Glenn gives us a snapshot of the influence of rock ‘n' roll in racial, historical events. Altschuler suggests, “Some of the musicians, during this time, did not support their race” (87). Some of the artists Glenn calls out include Antoine “Fats” Domino and Nat King Cole, who at some point refused to perform in venues that were segregated.
Rock ‘N’ Roll and Generational Conflict
The book also points out the generational conflict caused by rock ‘n' roll. The elderly people and parents did not comprehend the behavior of their children and why they were so much drawn into listening to rock ‘n’ roll music (Altschuler, 98). As a result, the community believed that rock ‘n' roll created the drift that existed between parents and their children. The parents were convinced that the music created an antagonism of the youth to adult expectation and authority.
Consequently, the music instilled into the youths, erratic emotional intensity and conformity to a norm of their peers (Altschuler 99). Glenn argues that rock ‘n’ rock was a teenager’s music that was performed by them. Arguably, parents asserted that rock ‘n' roll encouraged youths to defy the orders and advice of their parents. Although, Glenn refutes such accusations by stating that the youths at that time had the same behaviors even before the coming of rock ‘n' roll music. Furthermore, the youths were just in some phase they had to go through as young people.
The Evolution of Rock ‘N’ Roll
People started to criticize rock ‘n’ roll that it had created a lull in the industry as most young people started carrying their radios everywhere to listen to the music (Glenn, 81). Moreover, the music records of rock ‘n’ roll at this time had replaced live performances of comedians, actors, and musicians. Youths were buying many records during 1954 and 1959 that led to triple sales of rock ‘n' roll records from 214 million and 613 million Dollars denying live-performances the audience. As a result, this trend angered the American Federation of Musicians because they believed that they were not permitted to appear for promotions and interviews on radio studios.
In response, the American Federation of Musicians instigated war on rock ‘n' roll records and musicians by reporting them to American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. They claimed that the music was manipulating the media using their records. This made the public to start believing in their negative notions about rock ‘n’ roll music. Several radio stations were forced to switch to other genres of music such as polka, novelty, pop, ballads, and many more to avoid negative publicity. Shi and George say, "The music that changed America in the 1950s and '60s, rock ‘n' roll continues to solidify youth consciousness and bring meaning and order to the lives of millions of people" (752). The fading of rock ‘n' roll music led to its sprouting in other places such as England. From the tours, the British rock ‘n' roll musicians made in the US led to the rise of rock ‘n' roll again in the US late 1950s.
Conclusion
The book All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America addresses some of the important topics in America during the Post-World War II and during the Cold War period. The happenings during the 1950s and 1960s paved way form realization of the essence of democracy and human rights in America. The cases, protests, and the impacts of rock ‘n' roll changed the perspective of the American communities concerning racial prejudice, immoral practices such as those influenced by artists. As Shi and George say, “ More than three hundred thousand people went to Bethel, New York to experience the ‘Woodstock Music and Art Fair’" (751). Consequently, racial segregation and profiling is a dangerous trend and tradition that should be banned entirely in a country that seeks to champion equality and equity among its citizenship.
Works Cited
Altschuler, Glenn C. All Shook Up: How Rock N Roll Changed America . New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Potter, Paul. “Paul Potter's Speech.” Rebels with a Cause . Rebels with a Cause. 17 Apr. 1965. Web. 27 Nov. 2018.
Shi, David E., and Tindall, George, B. America: The Essential Learning Edition . New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.
