Rock and Roll of the 50’s
The explosion of Rock and Roll music had it’s birth in the early 1950’s with breakout acts like Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent and Bill Haley & His Comets. Before the Rock and Roll inception, the music industry was littered with crooners like Perry Como who did not create music for the teenage generation.
The music industry was changed forever with the 1954 recording of the Elvis Presley record ‘That’s Alright (Mama)’. A well-known list of acts followed this new Rock and Roll trend and became household names. Popular singers like Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry all found success in the mid to late 1950’s.
Rockabilly came to be known as the white artists’ version of Rhythm and Blues music and helped to shape the Rock and Roll sound. A popular wave of vocal groups, mostly African American, helped to create Doo Wop music which was another addition to the Rock and Roll style. This period was the first in American 
History that African American musicians topped the national music charts. Groups like The Platters, The Coasters, Little Anthony and the Imperials and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers helped to broaden the musical course for future musicians.
The Rock and Roll trend continued until 1959 known as: ‘The Day the Music Died’. Famous singers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, JP Richardson (The Big Bopper) were all killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa. Shortly afterwards, the famous radio Payola scandal was uncovered and changed the way music was promoted to radio stations.
This is believed to be the end of the early Rock and Roll era that gave way to the British Invasion.
