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The common belief in America seems to be that Rock & Roll was white men's creation, that white men developed this style of music. Unfortunately, the true creators of this now "American" music have not been given the credit that they deserve. Rock & Roll came straight from the blues and jazz music styles of the African Americans. Countless examples could be given of White artists making money off the songs of the Black blues artists. Elvis's famous song Hound Dog was originally sung by blues singer Big Mama Thornton, and the Beatles' Roll Over Beethoven was sung by Chuck Berry. Even the Rolling Stones bit off a blues artist, naming their band after Muddy Waters song Rolling Stones. Muddy Waters said that "the blues had a baby and named it rock `n roll."
There is quite an orderly progression between the different types of music. The entire legend of Rock & Roll actually begins in Africa. When the slaves were brought from Africa to America and put to work on plantations, they brought with them deep African traditions and heritage. This included their religious beliefs and their music styles. In America, many slaves were converted to Christianity, but instead of forsaking their native traditions, they mixed them with the new Western thought. From these two traditions, they developed what is known today as the "Negro Spirituals."
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--Fredrick Douglas
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By singing these songs together as they worked in the fields, the slaves created a way to express their feelings and religious believes in a way that was all their own, free of white control. The actual musical elements of the spirituals have little deviation from the traditional music from West Africa. Although containing elements of their native religion, the spirituals spoke of their love of God, hope of Heaven, desire for freedom, disdain for slavery, and secret plans for escaping. Many of their religious songs also had anti-slavery connotations. Go Down, Moses is a good example of this:
The Fisk Jubilee Singers started in 1871, when Fisk University was struggling financially. The director, George White, borrowed money for the choir to go on tour. They traveled around the country, performing in front of white audiences to earn money for the school. The singers in the Fisk Jubilee choir ranged from fifteen to twenty five years of age. All the members were either former slaves or children of slaves. Through their tours, they eventually earned $150, 000, which was enough money to financially stabilize the university. The Jubilee choir sang slave spirituals in a time when many free African Americans were discouraged from singing such songs, because they were a reminder of slavery. This group popularized the spirituals, and eventually songs like Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen became Christian church standards.
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There were also completely secular work songs that the slaves sang. These were the same style of music, and both types of songs often consisted of a call and response singing system. One person would lead and sing a line, after which everyone else would sing the same line. Some of the secular songs were non-religious or anti-religious. They expressed disbelief in the slave holders' religion. Over time, the two types of songs split into gospel and the blues. The gospel genre has been characterized as the sacred type, while the blues genre has been called the profane. The blues was considered to be "Devil's music," and its musicians often were cultural rebels. One of the first and greatest gospel singers, Mahalia Jackson, said, "Blues are the songs of despair, but gospel songs are songs of hope."
The origin of the blues is considered to be the Mississippi Delta, although they were starting in all the major cities. The blues has gone through many different changes, creating several separate groups. One of the products of the blues is jazz, which is also an African-American musical form.
