By Brooklyn Fears
African Americans have pioneered many of the popular contemporary genres that society knows and loves today. Genres that come to mind in response to that statement may be rap, R&B, and hip-hop. There is one genre in particular that has been completely whitewashed and its earliest recordings, are buried. One of the biggest lies in music industry history is that rock ‘n’ roll was invented by White musicians when in fact, it was not. Rock ‘n’ roll was birthed by a few queer Black women and spawned into something greater that was eventually colonized by White males, but Black women are back to reclaim their thrones as the founders of the rock genre.
Before there was Elvis, there was Big Mama Thornton. In fact, ‘Hound Dog’ has been speculated to be written by Thornton, and stolen by Elvis. A Black, and assumed to be queer woman, wrote and performed one of the most famous rock songs in history. Her version charted for years until Pressley recorded it, and reaped much more fame and fortune. (Mahon, 2011). Before Chuck Berry, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Black queer woman who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 for her contributions, or some may say, the invention of rock ‘n’ roll. Many music historians believe that Tharpe’s song “Strange Things Happen Everyday’ is the first recording of rock ‘n’ roll. Tharpe was such a technical guitar player, that in the wake of rampant White patriarchal supremacy, Tharpe was seen as “playing like a man”(Oliveira, 2022).
Without Odetta, there would be no Bob Dylan. After watching Odette sing beside Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington, Bob Dylan admitted that Odetta inspired him to sing folk music, and switch from playing electric guitar to acoustic guitar. (Rolling Stone, 2021). The Beatles covered The Shirelles, The Rolling Stones loved the Ronettes, and Keith Richards, himself, inducted the Ronnettes into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (Rolling Stone, 2021).
Although Black male musicians such as Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, and Prince remained prominent and legendary in the realm of rock ‘n’ roll, Black women and their catalogs were left behind. A number of attributes were at play in the 1960s, the decade after rock ‘n’ roll’s birth that reshaped its identity. Thus, the musical landscape shifted and became very political. At the height of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement was progressing as well. Both Black and White artists shared their grief. Notably, The Sherllies and The Vandellas protested the draft, however, White male artists such as Bob Dylan and The Doors were given more accolades for their anti-war tracks (Ellison, 1989).
Even though African American artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard basked in commercial success, many times these men were performing almost exclusively for White audiences. Notably, the only Black male artist to receive backlash publicly for performing to only White audiences was Jimi Hedrix. In the late 1960s, while playing a gig in Harlem, Hendrix was heckled on stage. Word had traveled that he had just played Woodstock, a massive festival that consisted of an extremely predominantly White audience. The Harlem concert was entirely African American, and many in the audience said they felt betrayed. The country was still encapsulated by the Civil Rights Movement at the time, and when Hendrix was interviewed about the incident in Harlem he stated, “I want to show them that music is universal, that there is no White rock or Black rock” (Devitt, 2020).
Elvis Presley dubbed the “King of Rock” was able to steal Black creator's tunes and got off nearly scot-free. Many at the time, and a few now recognize Pressley’s appropriation of Black music and Black culture. Pressley capitalized on the rhythm and blues pioneered by Black musicians and unfortunately proved to reap much more of the fame and fortune. (Asare, 2020).
Maureen Mahon, writer of the book "Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and Roll” explained that rock ‘n roll has West African roots. Mahon shared that the rhythmic intensity spawned from call-and-response, syncopation, and blue notes could have not come from Western European music. In fact, prior to the resurgence of rhythm and blues, Black artists that shared this percussive way of singing were often met with furrowed brows, as Mahon explained that these practices were often regarded as strange to White Americans. Mahon is adamant that these same sonic West African patterns are deeply woven through not only rock but much of today’s popular music (Devitt, 2020).
Mahon also theorized that some African American artists have the ability to sound “racially ambiguous.”' The example provided was that Shirley Owens of the Shirelles had a voice that was not “audibly black” or as the author mentions, “gospel sounding.” The Shirelles were so influential, that their track “Boys” was on The Beatles first record Please Please Me. As a result, rhythm and blues, now coined rock ‘n’ roll was widely accepted by White audiences, as White artists were covering or stealing Black artists' work. (Devitt, 2020)
However, there were still Black artists that were synonymous with rock ‘n’ roll and genre-bending such as Tina Turner. Turner began her musical career in a duo called Ike and Tina Turner. The band covered The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Stones favored the duo and brought them along on a tour where they massively appealed to the White Audience in the UK. Devitt, 2020).
Subsequently, the British Invasion flooded the United States, and rock ‘n’ roll was colonized. As the 1970s and 1980s progressed, many White artists took over rhythm and blues, and nearly pushed the Black community out. As The Beatles, The Kinks, and Pink Floyd gained popularity in the United States, Black artists in rock music were fizzling out. (Asare, 2020).
Black artists had no choice but to evolve and invent other popular genres, pop, and R&B, that fused light touches of rock elements. Tina Turner herself tried to escape the box of R&B and tried her best to appeal to rock audiences. Turner and her manager tried to market her as a multifaceted artist, but because she is African American, White America still categorized her as an R&B musician. (Devitt, 2020) Still, Turner’s impact has spanned across all genres for decades.
As the 1980s and 1990s progressed, African American artists were often boxed into the pop and R&B labels, as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Huston dominated the late-century charts. The 1990s witnessed the first taste of contemporary hip-hop and rap, two genres also pioneered by African Americans. It spawned from early pop and R&B in the 1970s and slowly gained more popularity at the turn of the century with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, and Biggie, carrying the hip-hop and rap torches.
As the early 2000s rose, acts such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Drake commanded the pop and R&B scenes. At this point, rock ‘n’ roll was almost exclusively White, and it has only slightly become less White in the past two decades.
The new century witnessed TV on the Radio, Alabama Shakes, and Bloc Party, three Black lead rock bands with commercial success as indie groups. Generation Z saw an uptick in Black rock artists as well such as Willow, Meet Me @ the Altar, Arlo Parks, and the Nova Twins, all female-fronted acts.
Other superstar contemporary pop queens Beyoncé, Doja Cat, and SZA have all embedded rock musical and visual aesthetics at some point in their careers, proving their multifaceted musicianship. Doja Cat covered Hole’s rock track, “Celebrity Skin” in 2022 after reworking her smash-hit “Say So” into a haunting guitar-driven rendition for the 2020 EMA’s, headbanging in dark makeup and a torn dress. In 2022, SZA dropped a surprise sophomore release that featured the track 'F2F', a song that had many fans eager for more rock tracks from the singer.
Beyoncé collaborated with Jack White with “Don’t Hurt Yourself” off of Lemonade, a record that depicted heavy themes of infidelity, Black feminism, and the African American experience. In the live version of the track, Beyoncé features a sample from a Malcolm X speech which states, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” A quick run through Google Scholar will show endless examples of the record's cultural impact. Marquis Bey, of the Indiana University Press, dissected Beyoncé's “Don’t Hurt Yourself” and the act of Beyoncé unapologetically being herself and expressing her Black femininity. Bey writes that Beyoncé showers herself with power, love, and Blackness by utilizing African American vernacular English, comparing herself to the late and great Malcolm X, and stirring up religious discourse by feminizing God. The song was praised for its liberation and self-loving of African American women and depiction of Afrofuturism. (Bey, 2017).
Beyoncé reigns as the current Queen of Pop but she has Sister Rosette Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock ‘N’ Roll to thank. If it were not for the brave African American women of the 1940s picking up a guitar and “playing it like a man” society would not have the beloved rock ‘n’ roll that is so cherished today. Although songs of Big Mama Thornton were stolen by White male musicians, her name resides in the Blues Hall of Fame. However, she has still yet to be a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee.
Rock ‘n’ roll’s impact on Black culture has been abstract, due to its colonization. It was a lie for many years that rock music was a “White genre” and was for “White people.” This was the result of the whitewashing of the genre’s history. After all, Elvis was the household name in the 1950s, and Sister Rosette Tharpe was not as popular. Jimi Hendrix was accused of betrayal by Black folks because the African American community saw it as a “White genre.” However, it was musicians like Hendrix, Tina Turner, and Price, who felt rock’s impact and wanted to take back what was once theirs. Now, Generation Z is unapologetically creating music that feels authentic to them, as there has been a resurgence in many young Black rock artists.
It is a deep shame that White artists have appropriated this vital piece of African American culture. True musical historians understand and cherish the Black women who carried this movement on their backs. Although the genre remains predominantly White, there is hope for young African American individuals to take back rock music and shape it into their own. This world does not move without Black creativity, and society will be forever grateful to the African American pioneers who spearheaded the rock ‘n’ roll genre.
References
Asare, F. (2020, October, 30). What Happened to Rock Music’s Black History. Varsity.co.uk. https://www.varsity.co.uk/music/20097.
Bey, M. (2017). Beyoncé's Black (Ab)Normal: Baaad Insurgency and the Queerness of Slaying. Black Camera, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 164-178. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/blackcamera.9.1.10.
Devitt, J. (2022, November 23). The Black Women Behind Rock and Roll. NYU.edu. https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2020/november/the-black-women-behind-rock-and-roll-.html
Ellison, M. (1989). Black Music and Vietnam War. Vietnam Images: War and Representation. 57-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19916-7_4.
Mahon, M. (2011). Listening for Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton’s Voice: The Sound of Race and Gender Transgressions in Rock and Roll. Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture University of Nebraska Press, Vol (15). 1-17. 10.1353/wam.2011.0005.
Oliveira, B. (2022, February 10). Rock ‘n’ Roll Was Invented by a Queer Black Woman. Visions-inc.org. https://visions-inc.org/rock-n-roll-was-invented-by-a-queer-black-woman-by-beca-oliveira/
Who Shaped Rock and Roll. (2021, February 10). RollingStone.com. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-pictures/black-women-who-shaped-rock-112 2749/.