Aural Fixation: What Is Rock and Roll?

Aural Fixation: What Is Rock and Roll?

“Aural Fixation” is a music-themed column I wrote for PopMatters.com from 2011-2013. They are no longer online there, but I have reformatted them here at the DMDB blog with additional videos, photos, and links, such as where to buy referenced albums. I have also used the title “Aural Fixation” for any essays I have written outside of PopMatters.com as well. To see the essays, check out the Dave’s Music Database Aural Fixation page. You can also purchase the essays in book format here.

Read the comments section of any Facebook post from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and you’ll be hammered with incessant whining about who has been overlooked for induction and, more annoyingly, who has been inducted that doesn’t belong. I challenged – politely, I might add – one of these complainers to offer his definition of rock and roll. This perfectly reasonable request worked him into a frenzy involving name-calling, trolling my Facebook page, and bashing hip-hop. You know what he didn’t do? Define rock and roll. He isn’t alone in his hell-bent agenda to play gate keeper for admission to the rock and roll big top. His inability to explain his vetting criteria, sadly, is par for the course. The arguments are generally no more sophisticated than “rap isn’t rock and roll” or “well, you know it when you hear it.” To be fair, the reason these self-appointed rock purists can’t offer a perfect definition is that one doesn’t exist. Rock and roll is generally defined as a genre which emerged out of the 1950s as an amalgam of R&B, country, blues, gospel, folk, and other genres. It is typically associated with a gravelly-voiced lead singer spitting out simple melodies and lyrics backed by electrically-amplified instruments such as guitar alongside a heavy beat provided by drums and bass. However, the wheels then start falling off immediately. Let’s look at the very first class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees in 1986, which included architects of the genre such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly. Would anyone argue they aren’t rock and roll? Of course not. Let’s key in on Elvis for a moment, however. He cranked out undisputed classics of the genre with songs like “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” and “Jailhouse Rock.” Let’s analyze a few of his biggest post-‘50s songs, however. “It’s Now Or Never” was based on the Italian operatic song “O Sole Mio” from the 1890s. “Are You Lonesome Tonight” was a traditional pop ballad which originated in the 1920s. “Crying in the Chapel” was a country gospel song first recorded in 1953. These are just three songs by the undisputed King of Rock and Roll which taken individually might not fit the conventional idea of rock and roll. How rigid are we going to be in adhering to the idea that rock is a guitar-driven genre? The first class of inductees included Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard whose instrument of choice was piano. Is anyone going to say “Great Balls of Fire” and “Tutti Frutti” aren’t quintessential rock songs? Let’s analyze two other inductees that year – Jimmie Rodgers and Robert Johnson. The former has been called the Father of Country Music and the latter is a blues legend. The Hall sent an important message from the onset – rock music doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It was born – and continues to grow – out of multiple genres. In the decades since the emergence of rock and roll, it became such a dominant force in shaping commercial music that the term “rock” became almost synonymous with the term “pop.” That means rock has absorbed pretty much every popular trend in music for roughly three quarters of a century. So what can we conclude? Rock and roll is driven by guitar. Or not. It focuses on upbeat songs from the 1950s and later. Or not. It is a separate entity from other genres. Or not. The problem in defining any genre of music is there are no absolutes. Rock and roll, in fact, may defy boundaries more than any other genre. Part of its character since its infancy is its rebellious nature, its proclivity for not sticking to the rules. Whining and complaining about something not fitting into one’s conventional ideas is about as un-rock-and-roll as it gets. For more essays, check out the Dave’s Music Database Aural Fixation page. Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Aural Fixation essays page” First posted 10/27/2023.