Editing Rock and roll (section)

== British rock and roll ==
{{Main|British rock and roll}}
[[File:Tommy Steel 1957.jpg|thumb|[[Tommy Steele]], one of the first British rock and rollers, performing in Stockholm in 1957]]
In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture.<ref name=Unterberger>{{AllMusic|class=explore|id=essay/t571|first=Richie|last=Unterberger|label=British Rock & Roll Before the Beatles|access-date=June 24, 2009}}</ref> It shared [[English language|a common language]], had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the [[Teddy Boy]]s and the [[Rocker (subculture)|rockers]].<ref name="D. O'Sullivan, 1974 pp. 38–9">D. O'Sullivan, ''The Youth Culture'' (London: Taylor & Francis, 1974), pp. 38–9.</ref> [[Trad jazz]] became popular in the UK, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including [[boogie woogie]] and the [[blues]].<ref>J. R. Covach and G. MacDonald Boone, ''Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 60.</ref> The [[skiffle]] craze, led by [[Lonnie Donegan]], used amateurish versions of American folk songs and encouraged many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing.<ref name=Broken2003>M. Brocken, ''The British folk revival, 1944–2002'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), pp. 69–80.</ref> At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including ''[[Blackboard Jungle]]'' (1955) and ''[[Rock Around the Clock (film)|Rock Around the Clock]]'' (1956).<ref>V. Porter, ''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 192.</ref> Both movies featured the [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] hit "[[Rock Around the Clock]]", which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached the [[Billboard Hot 100|US pop charts]] – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956 and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency.<ref>T. Gracyk, ''I Wanna Be Me: Rock Music and the Politics of Identity'' (Temple University Press, 2001), pp. 117–18.</ref>

[[File:Cliff Richard 1960.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|[[Cliff Richard]] became an early British rock and roll star with his 1958 hit "Move It".]]

The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. More grass roots British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including [[Wee Willie Harris]] and [[Tommy Steele]].<ref name=Unterberger/> During this period American Rock and Roll remained dominant but in 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when [[Cliff Richard]] reached number 2 in the charts with "[[Move It]]".<ref>D. Hatch, S. Millward, ''From Blues to Rock: an Analytical History of Pop Music'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1987), p. 78.</ref> At the same time, TV shows such as ''[[Six-Five Special]]'' and ''[[Oh Boy! (TV series)|Oh Boy!]]'' promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like [[Marty Wilde]] and [[Adam Faith]].<ref name=Unterberger/> Cliff Richard and his backing band, [[the Shadows]], were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era.<ref>A. J. Millard, ''The electric guitar: a history of an American icon'' (JHU Press, 2004), p. 150.</ref> Other leading acts included [[Billy Fury]], [[Joe Brown (singer)|Joe Brown]], and [[Johnny Kidd & the Pirates]], whose 1960 hit song "[[Shakin' All Over]]" became a rock and roll standard.<ref name=Unterberger/>

As interest in rock and roll was beginning to subside in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was taken up by groups in British cities like [[Liverpool]], [[Manchester]], [[Birmingham]], and [[London]].<ref name=Harry>[http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/about/founders-story2.shtml Mersey Beat – the founders' story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224172126/http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/about/founders-story2.shtml |date=February 24, 2021 }}.</ref> About the same time, a [[British blues]] scene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such as [[Alexis Korner]] and [[Cyril Davies]] who were inspired by American musicians such as [[Robert Johnson]], [[Muddy Waters]] and [[Howlin' Wolf]].<ref name=Allmusic700>V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds, ''All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues'' (Backbeat, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 700.</ref> Many groups moved towards the [[beat music]] of rock and roll and rhythm and blues from skiffle, like the [[Quarrymen]] who became [[the Beatles]], producing a form of rock and roll revivalism that carried them and many other groups to national success from about 1963 and to international success from 1964, known in America as the British Invasion.<ref name=AllMusicBI>{{AllMusic|class=explore|id=style/d379|label=British Invasion|access-date=August 10, 2009}}</ref> Groups that followed the Beatles included the beat-influenced [[Freddie and the Dreamers]], [[Wayne Fontana]] and [[the Mindbenders]], [[Herman's Hermits]] and [[the Dave Clark Five]].<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Ira A. |last=Robbins |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/80244/British-Invasion |title=British Invasion (music) |encyclopedia=Britannica |date=February 7, 1964 |access-date=April 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221235217/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/80244/British-Invasion |url-status=live }}</ref> Early [[British rhythm and blues]] groups with more blues influences include [[the Animals]], [[the Rolling Stones]], and [[the Yardbirds]].<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Unterberger
| first = Richie
| author-link = Richie Unterberger
| editor-last = Erlewine
| editor-first = Michael
| editor-link = Michael Erlewine
| encyclopedia = [[All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues|All Music Guide to the Blues]]
| section = Blues rock
| year = 1996
| location = San Francisco
| publisher = [[Miller Freeman, Inc.|Miller Freeman Books]]
| isbn = 0-87930-424-3
| page = [https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob00erle/page/378 378]
| url = https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob00erle/page/378
| title = All music guide to the blues : The experts' guide to the best blues recordings
}}</ref>