Music-p7

David

**Music of the 1950’s**
The Music in the 1950’s consisted of mostly Rock ‘N’ Roll. A normal band would have a guitarist, bassist and drummer. Occasionally the bands would also have a piano player. Then they had some country and soul. Country was always sad and consisted of usually an acoustic guitar instead of electric. Soul was very energetic and had a lot of meaning to it. All this music was inspired by these artists listed here. Elvis Presley was a great influence on rock music. He had a lot of great talent. Elvis Presley was born on January 8th, 1935, in Tupelo Mississippi. When Elvis was a kid he was brought into a musical life of country and rhythm blues. He liked music a lot and recorded his first song, "That’s alright Mamma", in 1954. He was a local superstar and progressed from there. Later, he died in 1977 of drug abuse in Graceland Memphis. Johnny Cash is one of the greatest artists of all time. He mostly played country with a little rock. Johnny Cash was born on February 26, 1932, in Kingsland Arkansas. He came from a poor family. He taught himself how to play the guitar and compose his own songs. He made his first record in 1955 and had some great songs such as "Hey Porter" and "Folsom Prison Blues". Johnny died in 2003 right after he made his last record. Jerry Lee Lewis was one of rock ‘n’ roll music’s first artists. He played straight original rock and country. Jerry was born in 1935 in Ferriday Louisiana. Jerry had a very tragic life. He recorded his first album in 1956 and his song "Great Balls of Fire" made him famous. In December of 1957 the public found out he married his 13-year-old cousin. People didn’t really appreciate him after that. It got even worse after that. One of his sons was killed by drowning and his other son got killed in a car accident. Jerry is still alive today but is in poor health. James Brown was a very big influence in music because he was one of the first black artists. He was the godfather of soul and was very energetic. He played rhythm and soul and was very good at it. James was born on May 3rd, 1933, in Barnwell South Carolina. He was born into poverty. He recorded his first album in 1956 and great hits such as "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud". After that he spent years in prison for assault on his wife. James died last year in December. Buddy Holly lived a short life but he was very talented. He played original rock and was very good at the guitar. Buddy was born on September 7th, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas. He played the piano but switched to guitar when he was eleven. He recorded his first album in 1957 with "That’ll Be the Day". He inspired many rock artists and the Beatles actually took their name as a tribute to Buddy’s band the Cricket’s. Buddy died in a plane accident on February 3rd, 1959, at the age of 22.

Rubel, David. "Presley, Elvis." //World Book Online Reference Center//. 2007. [Place of access. Date of access.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar444845>.] Harden, Lydia Dixon. "Cash, Johnny." //World Book Online Reference Center//. 2007. [Place of access. Date of access.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar098400>.] "Lewis, Jerry Lee." //World Book Online Reference Center//. 2007. [Place of access. Date of access.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar723979>.] McLeese, Don. "Brown, James." //World Book Online Reference Center//. 2007. [Place of access. Date of access.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar079035>.] McLeese, Don. "Holly, Buddy." //World Book Online Reference Center//. 2007. [Place of access. Date of access.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar259470>.]
 * Work Cited**

Book: Epstein Dan. The 50's Pop Culture, Chelsa House, 2001

[|**elvis-aaron-presley.com/**]

[|**www.search.com/reference/Johnny_Cash**]

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[|**www.rialtosquare.com/.../james_brown.htm**]