The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock & Roll

The bands were judged partly on their ability to generate intense excitement at the end of a dance. For this, they needed at least one saxophonist who could blow hard and long at fast rocking tempos, and at least one singer who could match him, with a clear strong delivery.

The sound of a sax solo breaking loose from a series of driving riffs is one of the most exciting experiences of this century’s music.

The nature of the blues emphasizes particular qualities of character in its performers: they need to have a strong, consistent identity, and a persuasive way of communicating their thoughts and feelings. They may use menace or high-spirited exultation, humour or complete despair, gentleness or rough strength, to set particular moods on an evening’s

This was mostly crass stuff, impressive for its single–minded pursuit of the lowest common denominator, but generally lacking any originality which could be traced through to later records as any kind of “influence”.

“Alley Oop” sounded like a Coasters record, made while Leiber and Stoller were taking a lunch-break; it had some of the same ingredients, including an alley piano style borrowed from “Searchin’ ”, and a lyric about a figure from current American pop culture; but there was a sloppiness that Leiber and Stoller would have tidied up. And no wonder, as

In rhythm and blues, the soloists were generally more “selfish”, concerned to express their own feelings, depending on the rest of the band to keep the beat going and the volume up while they blew their hearts out and their heads off. In jazz, there was usually more interplay between musicians, more exploration into melody and harmony, less relianc

the whole character of the shouted blues was adult, in the tone of voice used by the singers, the assumptions behind their songs, and the sophistication of the musical arrangements.

A few versatile musicians and singers could be as effective in this role as when they were screaming, but most bands would feature a ballad singer and a shouter, a smooch tenor and a screamer.

Although he gave the impression of being as frantic and emotionally involved as Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the most controlled, self-conscious rock ’n’ roll singers, and introduced a sophisticated technique of varying the emotional pitch of his fast songs, building to intense peaks and then slackening off, dropping his voice to a wh