Introduction
Rock and Roll had just started taking the U.S. by storm in the late 1940's and early 1950's. People had a HUGE reaction immediately to Rock and Roll. Everywhere you'd go, there'd be someone playing Rock and Roll music out of a radio of some sorts. Here is a list of some songs that were sung in the 1950's.
1- Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley 2- Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis 3- Walkin' After Midnight - Patsy Cline 4- Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets 5- Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly 6- What'd I Say - Ray Charles Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. Elvis had a twin brother that was stillborn (born dead) and that forced Elvis to grow up as an only child. His parents were Vernon and Gladys Presley. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his parents, in 1948. His musical influence came from the country and pop music of the time. Jerry Lee Lewis is known for his amazing energetic stage presence. Jerry was born on September 29, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana. At age 9, Jerry was playing the piano, Jerry became a rockabilly star and signed with Sun Records. He had a special talent for playing piano. At around age 10, Jerry's father mortgaged the house to buy little Jerry a piano. He was a self-taught pianist. Patsy Cline's name isn't actually Patsy Cline, her birth name was Virginia Patterson Hensley. She was born on September 8, 1932, in Winchester, Virginia. She helped to break the music gender barrier. Patsy performed at a rather young age with her silky-smooth voice. Her mother, Hilda, was only 16 when she married Patsy's father. Patsy's father was more than 25 years older than his wife. Before they split up, the happy couple had three children. Around the age of 8 years old, Patsy, taught herself how to play piano. She found her passion for singing at around the age of 16, and then dropped out of school to work. She used her free time to sing and she entered numerous contests and sang on local radio stations. William John Clifton Haley, Jr. was born on July 6, 1925, in Highland Park, Michigan. He's an American singer and songwriter most famous for his 1955 hit "Rock Around the Clock." He was looking to grab teenagers attention with his music, and he dropped the cowboy music and changed the groups name from the Saddlemen to Bill Haley and His Comets. Bill signed with his first major label, Decca. disappointingly, Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" did not sell tremendously as he'd thought it would. In 1955, it was reissued as a song included in the soundtrack of Blackboard Jungle. Buddy Holly was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas. He was an American singer and songwriter, and was a well seasoned performer by age 16. His songs "Peggy Sue," and "That'll Be the Day," might as well have made him a rising star. When he was 22, a tragic plane crash in 1959 ended his life and career. Ray Charles Robinson was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia. His father was a mechanic and his mother was a sharecropper, when Ray Charles was an infant they moved the family to Greenville, Florida. Charles witnessed his brother's drowning death. After his brother's death, Charles began losing his sight and was blind by the age of 7. His mother sent him to a state-sponsored school, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida. He learned to read, write and arrange music in Braille. He learned to play trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, piano, and organ. His mother died when he was 15 and toured on the "Chitlin' Circuit," where he also picked up a love for heroin. |
Pictures (in order from top to bottom): Elvis Aaron Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Patsy Cline, William John Clifton Haley, Jr. Buddy Holly, Ray Charles Robinson.
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