of rebellion against the values held by the parents. This in turn led to the discovery of a need for a specialized "mass-market adolescent subcultures At that time, rebellious white teenagers had already begun to take an interest in the rhythm and blues records of black
artists. This type of music was particularly attractive 4 because it provided exciting rhythms for youthful dancingAs this type of music became more integrated into the world of white popular music, it became a genre of its own, known as rock and roll.
In the late 1950's, there were both black and white stars in rock and roll music, such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Little Richard, and Buddy Holly. At that
2Richard Welch, "Rock and Roll and Social Change," Historv Today 40 (February 1990): 33.
4H. Wiley Hitchcock, Music in the United States: A . Historical Introduction (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: PrenticeHall,, 1974), 258.
time, an important social change took place in American history which was coincidental with the integration of black and white musicians in rock and roll. In fact, Richard Welch in History Today has called this development "one of the most profound cultural changes in American history.,,5 The merging of racial influences in 1950's rock and roll undoubtedly had a positive impact on the civil rights movement which took place in the United States during the late 1950's and 1960's. Such integration made it easier for the younger generation of Americans to overcome and rise above some of the feelings of racial prejudice which had existed in the past. For example, as noted by Welch, "it seems likely that such developments predisposed at least a majority of younq whites to accept the Supreme Court's outlawing of legal segregation in 1954.,,6
The rock and roll industry underwent a number of important changes during the 1960'
...