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What was the first Rock and Roll record?

This essay explores one of the most argued questions in recent pop music history; what was the first Rock and Roll record? There are many candidates for the title of the first Rock and Roll record, but it is arguable whether such thing exists. In discovering what the first Rock and Roll record is, it is important to first examine the factors that surrounded and enabled the emergence of Rock and Roll and the musical influences. When we take a closer look at American history up to 1954, which is usually considered the year when Rock and Roll began , it becomes obvious that only a complex interplay of various factors could lead to an emergence of Rock and Roll. The essay will then investigate what the main characteristics of Rock and Roll are and who the main candidates for the first Rock and Roll record are before musically analysing these songs to determine if there is in fact a first Rock and Roll record.

It is considered that Rock and Roll began in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s . Whilst many believe Elvis Presley is the ‘King’ of Rock and Roll, some consider it a stretch to dub him the creator of a genre that mixed musical styles that were around long before Elvis .
According to Mr David N. Townsend, author of ‘Changing the World: Rock ‘n’ Roll Culture and Ideology, the origins of Rock and Roll started with slavery. To gain a clearer understanding of what Rock and Roll was, therefore, it is important to firstly understand what slavery was . Townsend says that ‘slavery... mixed the radically different elements of two cultures...bringing to white, rural, agrarian America a series of rhythmic and vocal traditions that originated on the other side of the planet in Africa, and adding an important spiritual, melancholy, sensibility that grew up by itself in the slaves’ imprisoned of slaves’ . This is evident in songs such as Elvis Presley’s ‘That’s alright (Mama)’ and ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’...