“You can intellectualize many aspects of rock ‘në roll but primarily it’s not intellectual. Its music, that’s all,” says Jann Wenner, the founding editor of Rolling Stone Magazine. Gonzo journalist Lester Bangs holds a similarly ludicrous opinion and says “Rock and Roll, at its core, is merely a bunch of raving [explitive].” In my opinion, a lack of knowledge of the origins, history and cultural impacts of rock ‘në roll music improvises their parochial views.
Unfortunately, Wenner and Bangs are not alone in viewing rock ‘në roll as intellectually detestable and revolving around unbridled sex and pernicious drug abuse. However, I believe it is important to keep in mind the cultural impacts of rock ‘në roll and the paramount role it has played in eliminating racial discrimination in the United States.
Rock ‘në roll music diminished social segregation as white children found themselves to be joyfully singing to tunes that were produced by African American musicians. This music placed an overwhelming emphasis on lyrics and created a new genre of music, one that advocated for social cooperation and racial equality. Expressing their disapproval through the lyrics of their music, African American musicians successfully painted a vivid picture of how their hopes and passions had been chained by the menace of racism. Rock ‘në roll musicians sparked feelings of sympathy and compassion amongst the youthful white population of America and gradually put an end to racism after centuries of slavery and unfair treatment.
Rock ‘në roll aided the elimination of racism primarily on two grounds. First, it imposed tremendous financial costs to institutions or businesses that engaged in racism. Radio stations that did not play rock ‘në roll music were losing out on audiences. Second, it created a political voice in the country for the social acceptance of African Americans. “It was only when rock and roll became popular among the youth of America that the politicians’ wrath came in the form of a Congressional investigation of an activity (rock ‘në roll musicals) that was harming no one,” says The Future of Freedom Foundation President Jacob Hornberger. He adds; “The world of racial separation for which adults longed in the 1950s was disintegrating among their children. And it was occurring not as a result of government coercion but in spite of it.”
He further says that the market process was also bringing whites and blacks closer together in other ways. Buddy Holly, who created some of the most beautiful music ever written, shocked the black audience at the Apollo Theater in New York City. (No white act had ever played the Apollo!) And they loved him! White teenagers were flocking to see Chuck Berry sing “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Maybellene,” and “Sweet Little Sixteen.” And, horror of horrors, white and black musicians were even travelling together!
We must acknowledge that rock ‘në roll musicals acted as a catalyst in softening racial discrimination from the American society in the post-World War II era. We must recognize and pay homage to these cultural impacts instead of disregarding them, as recognition and acknowledgement from the fabric of a progressive society.
The inextricable relationship between rock ‘në roll and a lifestyle characterized with sex, drug abuse and yuppie-loving partying should not be allowed to undermine the genre’s historical significance. Those who criticize rock ‘në roll at public forums, including Wenner and Bangs, must be asked; if agents of social change are not intellectual then what is?