From Slavery to the Sixties: The Roots and Cultural Foundation of Rock Music by Vazzano

CHAPTER ONE REVIEW
1. In what ways did the music of African American slaves provide more than just entertainment? – –
2. Many slaves were forbidden to make or play drums. Why?
3. Where is the Mississippi Delta region located? Musically speaking, what makes this region so significant? –
4. In what ways did the slavery system remain intact long after slavery itself had been abolished? –
5. How and why did religion become so important in the African American community? —
6. Why was blues music frowned upon by much of the Southern black religious community? —
7. What made the cities of Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago, Illinois, vital to the growth and development of blues music? For example, how did the sound of Chicago blues differ from that of rural Mississippi blues? —
8. Based on the information given in this chapter, define boogie-woogie. —
9. Name three Chess blues artists.
10. How did the Great Migration impact the direction of blues? —
CHAPTER TWO REVIEW
1. Name the three so-called “fathers” mentioned in this chapter.
a) The “father of country music” —
b) “Father of bluegrass”
c) “Father of contemporary country music” –
2. What was the ethnic heritage of most Appalachian settlers in the eighteenth century? What kinds of music did they bring with them from the old country? —
3. What music industry terms eventually replaced “race” and “hillbilly”? –
4. What did the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers have in common? How did they differ from one another? —
5. How did radio help commercialize early country music?
6. What are the musical roots of bluegrass music? How does bluegrass differ from the music in which it is rooted?
7. Who best embodied the heroic image of the “singing cowboy”? –
8. How did honky-tonk differ from earlier stains of country music? —
9. Name three honky-tonk musicians. —
10. Draw a line from the recording artist on the left to the song associated with that artist on the right.

• Bill Monroe
• Hank Williams
• Merle Travis
• Jimmie Rodgers
• Ernest Tubb • “Cold Cold Heart”
• “Dark as a Dungeon”
• “Walking the Floor Over You”
• “Blue Moon of Kentucky”
• “Blue Yodel”

CHAPTER THREE REVIEW
1. What various styles of music blended together to form “jump blues”? —
2. Although R&B, or rhythm & blues, was a term used to describe black popular music in general, by the early 1950s the term was often used interchangeably with “jump blues.” Why? –
3. What city gave birth to jazz?
4. What decade in American history is known as The Jazz Age? Why? –
5. What decade defines the Swing Era?
6. How are swing and jump blues related? —
7. How are black gospel music and jump blues related? –
8. Who was the architect of the jump blues style?
9. Draw a line from the recording artist on the left to the musical style associated with that artist on the right.
• Louis Jordan
• Duke Ellington
• Mahalia Jackson • Jazz
• Jump Blues
• Gospel

10. What instrument did Louis Jordan play? —
CHAPTER FOUR REVIEW
1. How did the independent record industry aid in the growth of rhythm & blues during the postwar years? In what ways did independent labels differ from major labels?
2. How did the rhythm & blues on Atlantic Records differ from the sound of other late 1940s and early 1950s era rhythm & blues? –
3. What was distinctive about the records Ray Charles made for Atlantic Records in the 1950s? –
4. Why did New Orleans rhythm & blues have such a distinct regional sound? –
5. Describe how radio changed beginning in the late 1940s.
6. How did radio disc jockeys stay competitive in the late 1940s and 1950s? –
7. Why did rhythm & blues gain a reputation for promoting juvenile delinquency? —
8. Aside from rhythm & blues’ reputation for promoting juvenile delinquency, what are some reasons white pop radio stations did not promote the music in its original form? –
9. Describe how rock and roll, in its first incarnation, was really just another name for rhythm & blues. —
10. In what city did Alan Freed first make a name for himself in radio? —
CHAPTER FIVE REVIEW
1. Briefly give three specific examples of social conservatism in 1950s America. –
2. Name two reasons rock and roll was perceived as threatening by certain members of the establishment during the 1950s. –
3. Name three important recording artists who were discovered by Sam Phillips. —
4. What 1951 song, recorded in Sam Phillips’ Memphis studio, has been called the “first rock and roll record?” Why?
5. Which of the 1950s rock and roll stars discussed in this chapter might be called rock’s first great lyricist? What musical instrument is he associated with
6. During Elvis Presley’s Sun years, Sam Phillips had little choice but to market the singer as a –artist. Why? —
7. and — were two 1950s rock and roll stars known for, among other things, their outrageousness on stage. What instrument did they both play? –
8. Draw a line from the recording artist on the left to the song associated with that artist on the right.
• Little Richard • “Blue Suede Shoes”
• Chuck Berry • “Maybelline”
• Jerry Lee Lewis • “Rocket 88”
• Carl Perkins • “Tutti Frutti”
• Ike Turner • “Great Balls of Fire”

9. What was distinctive about Bo Diddley’s guitar technique?
10. What country-rooted style of music might be considered rock and roll’s first sub-genre?