Rock and roll sprouted from a variety of influences, fertilized by the soil of Cuban Jazz, watered by the Blues, and fed by a European immigrant influence. As America has changed over the decades, rock has changed with it and adapted to the many events and moods of history. As a starting point, we can observe the popular influence of Afro-Cuban rhythms in the big band dance numbers of the 1940’s. These polyrhythmic patterns encouraged unforeseen dance partners of mixed races, such as Cuban Pete and Millie, who performed in many New York clubs as a duo that invented new steps to the Mambo every week. Cuban Pete would be called an African-American today, and his partner was Millie, the white daughter of Italian immigrants. This wave of Cuban tolerance ended abruptly with the closing of Cuba to the outside world, but the musical influence of Afro-Cuban rhythm has continued to grow, although embedded into popular songs under other names.

Popular music in the 1950’s and 1960’s was non-Cuban in attitude, just as many Americans became anti-Cuban with the advent of Castro’s regime. The music of Elvis borrowed elements from the Blues, from folk ballads, and from Gospel styles that were prevalent in and around the Memphis area. The underlying dance beat in many early Rock and Roll hits can betray a Latin or Cuban influence occasionally, but listeners will find that it is difficult to detect. This was a deliberate effort on the part of record producers, who did not want to be associated with a musical style that was connected to communism. Many other styles such as Doo-Wop were popular in the early days of Rock and Roll, deriving a large following from European immigrant populations in the urban northeast.

British bands such as the Rolling Stones reintroduced a jangly blues guitar style that had its roots in the American South, sometimes overlaid on a syncopated dance beat. Consider the song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” and you can detect a Latin cha-cha-cha beat accompanied by a blues guitar style. As the influence of Doo-Wop faded, fewer vocal harmonies and a more rebellious singing style became the norm for rock groups. This style was borrowed from soul singers such as James Brown, who sometimes shouted the words rather than harmonizing. A percussive style of guitar-playing had its influences from blues, jazz, and gypsy guitar players; names such as Jelly Roll Morton, Bo Diddly, and Jango Rinehart were pioneers in this area.

How does the human ear get used to these new sounds? Does Eric Clapton’s guitar sound a bit like Muddy Waters? In other words, it’s not so novel if the sounds are based in an earlier experience. For example, if the children of the 1940’s heard Mom and Dad listening to big band music on vinyl records, they already would be familiar with the infectious latin dance beat. When that younger population starts to stake their own claim on a musical style, they are often remixing the old familiar beat with a new melody and words that reflect a later culture.

Many trends that seem new in Rock and Roll are actually a return to a basic dance beat from the 1940’s, with a new flourish added in the melody. This recycling pattern of Rock and Roll animates itself in many forms, such as the reintroduction of brass instruments in pop music during the late 1970’s, in such bands as “Chicago.” Since rock is such an adaptable art form, it does indeed appear to live on, to recycle and reanimate classics of the past with a new twist for today’s audience. Just ask Carlos Santana, who has successfully blended the medium of bluesy rock with an international flair for many decades.