THE ROOTS OF ROCK'N ROLL ( ANA C.)

"BLUE CHRISTMAS" by ELVIS PRESTLEY


Rock'n roll comes from the work songs the slaves sang while they were working on the southern plantations in the US in the 19th century. The slaves couldn't use their native language or African instruments because their masters wanted to prevent them from expressing themselves, communicating or rebelling. They had to use English. Nevertheless, they managed to communicate by creating a new kind of music, the Gospels. As they couldn't express themselves directly, they used biblical stories in order to communicate hidden messages of rebellion.
The Blues was born after slavery was abolished in 1863. But in spite of the abolition of slavery, Blacks were still discriminated and there were laws of racial segregation in the south of the US. This went on until Martin Luther King fought for their civil rights in the 1960's.
Jazz was born in Louisiana at the beginning of the 20th century. Jazzmen were poor, therefore they used brass instruments left over by the army after the civil war or cheap instruments, like the banjo.
Rock n' roll was born in the 1950's with black performers. Elvis became the King of Rock'n roll. He was white, and yet he sang like a black man.