Rock 'n' roll

Rock and roll is the earliest form of rock music, originating in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and deriving from rhythm and blues. The name "rock and roll" comes from an African-American vernacular reference to sexual activity. Segregation existing in the Southern United States at the time meant that 'rhythm and blues' was used to describe the 'black' or 'race' version of the music, with its jazz-derived instrumentation including pianos and saxophones, while the 'white' (European American) form of the music, with its emphasis on guitars, is what is often nowadays often called rockabilly.

Black rock 'n' roll (as it is often abbreviated) musicians include Fats Domino, Little Richard and Lloyd Price; Elvis Presley, Johnny Burnette and Carl Perkins are among the white ones.

See also

• Rock music