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

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”.

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.

In almost every respect, the sounds of rhythm and blues contradicted those of popular music. The vocal styles were harsh, the songs explicit, the dominant instruments – saxophone, piano, guitar, drums – were played loudly and with an emphatic dance rhythm, the production of the records was crude. The prevailing emotion was excitement.

Little Richard, and virtually every other rock ’n’ roll singer, abandoned himself in his efforts to express his devotion, but in Lewis’s voice there was almost always an edge of cynical detachment or even derision, as if he was suggesting how ridiculous the idea of total love was by exaggerating the styles of expressing it.

“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

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

In Britain, TV producer Jack Good decked him out in black leather like an extra from Marlon Brando’s The Wild One and created the basis for a cult legend; but the reality was more mundane – the usual tale of too much drink and lost money.

“It’s Only Make Believe”, and his gasping, end-of-the-world vocal seemed to bring an end to the era of innocence that had opened with “Young Love”. Now the message was, we can’t dupe them any more: People see us everywhere They think that you really care But myself I can’t deceive I know it’s only make believe

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.