Introduction
Rhythm and Blues—RnB—began as a strictly black music in the 1940’s that included a blend of genres such as rock, rap, Motown, doo-wop, club blues, and funk (Edward 2). The etymology of the genre was invented by Jerry Wexler a Billboard editor who sought to change the name of the genre from Black music to R & B in the late 1940’s. The music began from humble beginnings in Harlem, New York to become an instant success in other international stages, such as Britain. The first R&B artist to bring commercial success to the genre was Louis Jordan who blended Jazz instrumentals and social life vocals in the early 1940’s. Paul Williams, Big Jay McNeely were crucial in bringing about the instrumental style of the genre. Inkspot, Mills Brothers, and the Ravens created the vocal aspect in the genre, which resulted to a sub-genre called doo-wop in the fifties. The continued success of RnB is credited with emergence of other music genres such as rock and roll in the fifties, and hip hop in the seventies. Furthermore it impacted society through fashion, dancing, and language. Therefore, this paper will highlight the history of R&B in the early 20th Century emphasizing on crucial aspects and musicians that shaped the development of the genre.
Background of R&B before 1940
Between the periods of 1910 and early 1970s, thousands of African Americans departed from the South of USA in search for better wages, homes, and political freedom (Murray 6). These African Americans used rail transport to move to the northern cities of America, which included Chicago, New York, and Detroit. The travellers were a target group in the 1930’s by full-time musicians in bands or solo performers.
The Tin Pan Alley was another factor that promoted African music across cities in USA. “The Tin Pan Alley consisted of ‘New York City music publishers’ and songwriters who influenced the music to be heard in USA in the late 19th and early 20th Century” (Edward 5). Therefore, the popular music in the thirties was Blues and Jazz, which blended later on in the late thirties and early forties to form Rhythm and Blues. The musician credited with the blend was Louis Jordan in New York. At this period, the electric guitar, piano, and saxophone were used as major accompaniments resulting to the rapid commercialization of R&B music.
R&B in 1940’s
There was an increasing popularity of music that consisted instrumentals from Jazz and vocals from gospel, soul, or blues in the 1940’s. The World War 2 resulted into a rapid distribution of ‘race’ music, which facilitated the even distribution of Black music. Jazz and Blues was common with African Americans as they had an opportunity to highlight their social lives blended in jazz instrumentals. In 1948, the style of music where Jazz and Blues were blended was marketed as Rhythm and Blues. This era marked the origin of blended Jazz, gospel, and blues songs that were completely independent (Scaruffi 22). Louis Jordan is considered the pioneer of this style through his songs such as ‘Outskirts of Town’, and ‘Five Guys named Joe’. Furthermore, in 1948 he came up with a style called boogie-woogie, which consisted of piano based blues incorporated with vocals. The song that used the style was ‘Saturday Night Fish Fry’ that performed excellently in the Billboard charts. The Song was wild and included usage of eccentric narratives, such as the party adventure for the Saturday Night Fish Fry. The song was crucial as it included the basic elements of rock and roll, and an acoustic electric guitar (Murray 19). This was a significant milestone to rock and roll as it resulted in its origin.
RnB in the 1950’s
R&B in the 1950’s was associated with the usage of an acoustic electric guitar which led to the origin of rock and roll. During the 1950s, artists of rhythm and blues started to concentrate on a teenage audience as opposed to an adult audience (Murray 121). In the early 50’s, there was a unique style of combining gospel and blues that was a hit. The originator of this style was Johnny Otis who is credited with hits such as ‘Cupid’s Boogie’, ‘Gee Baby’, and ‘Mambo Boogie’. His best record is the ‘Willie and the Hand Jive’ associated with a dance style called the hand jive, a motion of complex taps and hand moves of body parts copying percussion instruments (Hoffman 35). The song made Otis record much success in the rock and roll category. Furthermore, the Willie Jive was a common dance in rock and roll.
In the late 1950’s the genre was very much commercial and was characterized with sold out concerts and countrywide popularity of R&B artists. An example was during a concert in Columbia when Perkins performance resulted into a riot. Asked what the reason for such behavior was, he commented that the music drove the fans insane. This showed the vast popularity that the genre had attained in less than two decades. Because of the popularity of R&B, film makers began taking advantage of artists’ popularity. Artists such as the Treniers, Big Joe Turner, and Fats Domingo all were involved in acting so that they would promote the movies (Hoffman 38). Furthermore, during this time rock and roll was increasing popularity but still linked with R&B. This was signified when two Elvis Presley songs made it in the R&B charts; ‘jailhouse rock’ at number 1, and ‘All Shook Up’ at number 5. This was a milestone as Elvis was the first non-African American artist to have a place in the R&B Billboard Charts. Still in 1959, black owned record labels originated and were hugely successful in propelling Blacks into the international stage.
R&B in the 1960 up to the 21st century
R&B in the 1960’s was characterized by Sam Cook a gospel soul singer. His hit that defined R&B in the sixties was ‘Chain gang’ a song that enjoyed success in pop charts, R&B charts and International Charts like UK. The theme of the song was formed from Cook meeting an actual chain-gang of inmates on the road. According to Whitburn (2), Cooke offered them several packets of cigarettes after feeling sorry for them. This was a significant era for R&B as it was the first time a musician formed his own label and released a successful hit that toped charts of other genres and international ones. Sam Cook’s songs were influential to other music genres like Hip hop, soul, and rock when they used cultural issues in the society to come up with themes for their songs.
Three main musical styles marked the 1960s in the history of America and they included Motown music, southern soul, and Chicago soul (Appell and Hemphill 33). Each of these music styles had its own key aspects and artists who made them popular. At the end of the 1960s, several black Americans began to articulate changes in cultural views, which later helped in development of another musical style; funk. Funk emphasized on rhythm as the most important aspect of the genre of music while de-emphasizing harmony and melody. In addition, disco was part of the musical style, which eventually dimmed the popularity of funk. In Britain, R&B success was accompanied with the growth of the mod-subculture. The mod-subculture is associated with tailor made suits and scooter riding; hence influencing sports and fashion (Scaruffi 47).
In the seventies, R&B was a term used to collectively identify with funk, disco, and soul. The funk style of R&B was a popular in the 70’s and this was emphasized by artists such as Family Stone and George Clinton. Furthermore, in the 1980s and early 1990s, artists such as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Prince developed a new musical style borrowed from funk and other styles of dance. During this period, rap was the most remarkable development in popular music. Among the examples of early R&B hits include “Teardrops from My Eyes” by Toombs Rudy. This hit single had rhythm as required by the musical style of blues and this aspect made the song different from other popular songs of that time. The song was presented with an up-tempo and an upbeat making it stand out among others of that time. The method used to present this song introduced black American artists to a more powerful style of performing music.
In addition, in the mid-nineties scratching and sampling was a key component of R&B music. The samples contained songs from R&B artists in the early fifties and sixties. They continued with this trend with a strong emphasis of continuing its massive commercial success. This trend has continued in the 21st century where R&B integrated diverse styles such as hip-hop, dancehall, and pop (Appell & Hemphill 35).
Conclusion
The early and mid-20th century resulted in emergence of many music genres which were linked to each other. R&B originated from Jazz, Blues, and Gospel which then rumored to result in the origin of rock and roll. In my opinion, this genre of music changed the musical styles for the better with the introduction of rhythm and the slow motion of the music. The social and political disturbances in the mid-20th century are seen as the major motivators that led to development of R&B into what it is today. Many of the black Americans that moved to the cities during the periods of war brought the emergence of the new musical style of rhythm and blues. These songs had an impact on the society that lived during that time because they reflected the changes experienced during the war. Some of the different styles that worked to harmonize the genre of rhythm and blues included jazz, funk, rap, and Motown soul among others. The rhythm in the songs worked as significant and distinguishable elements of the genre of music. Electric guitars and tape recorders had remarkable influence on rhythm and blues. Since their beginning, rhythm and blues have changed greatly and artists have refined this genre to make it better. Significant changes have been seen in sound recording with musical instruments improving with the latest technology.
Works Cited
Appell, Glenn and Hemphill, David. American popular music: A multicultural history.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2006.
Edward, Mark. What is R&B? A definition of the genre.About.com, 2011.
Hoffman, Frank. Rhythm and blues, rap and hip-hop.Infobase Publishing, 2006.
Murray, Jill. Rhythm and blues. Canada: Doubleday, 2010.
Scaruffi, Piero. A History of Popular Music.Omniware, 2005.
Whitburn, Joel. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004.Record Research, 2004.
YouTube links
‘Chain gang’ by Sam Cooke. Available at: < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmZdvVnMXCc >
‘Saturday Fish Fry’ by Louis Jordan. Available at: < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzeEAKygIPM >
‘Willie and the hand Jive’ by Johnny Ortis. Available at: < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Wzpjg6K9E >
