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Queued up on the turntable is what many music experts consider to be the first "Rock & Roll" song, "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston from 1951.
Scroll down to follow the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll.

Alan Freed (1921-1965)

Alan Freed is commonly referred to as the "Father of Rock 'n' Roll" due to his promotion of the style of music, and his introduction of the phrase "Rock and Roll" On July 11, 1951, Freed began playing rhythm and blues records on WJW, Cleveland, Ohio. While R&B records were played for many years on lower powered, inner city radio stations aimed at African-Americans, this is arguably the first time that authentic R&B was featured regularly on a major, mass audience station. His on-air manner was energetic, in contrast to many contemporary radio presenters of traditional pop music, who tended to sound more subdued and low-key in manner. He also began using the phrase "Rock and Roll" to describe the music he played.

The two major ingredients involved in the origin and evolution of "Rock and Roll" were the intruduction of the 45 RPM record by RCA in March, 1949 and Alan Freed's pioneering introduction of "Rock and Roll" to main-stream America. Between the years 1949 and 1954, popular AM radio play and the "Top 10 Record Charts" were dominated by mostly white singers and their middle-of-the-road tunes. But on July 17th, 1954 something musically ground-breaking took place. For the very first time, a "Rock and Roll" song made it onto the Billboard Top Ten Chart. It was "Sh-Boom" by the Chords. This was the beginning, and by January, 1957 almost all top 30 Billboard songs were catagoized as "Rock and Roll". In the span of only 30 months the whole popular music landscape changed completely. The graph below illustrates month-by month how this new music made its impact on the popular record charts.

BILLBOARD Top Ten Charts from July, 1954 to December, 1956
(RED indicating the position of a "Rock And Roll" song)
Jul 1954Aug 1954Sep 1954Oct 1954Nov 1954Dec 1954 Jan 1955Feb 1955Mar 1955Apr 1955May 1955Jun 1955 Jul 1955Aug 1955Sep 1955Oct 1955Nov 1955Dec 1955 Jan 1956Feb 1956Mar 1956Apr 1956May 1956Jun 1956 Jul 1956Aug 1956Sep 1956Oct 1956Nov 1956Dec 1956
1111111111 1111111111 1111111 111
2222222222 2222222222 22222222 22
3333333333 3333333333 3333333333
4444444444 4444444444 44444444 44
5555555555 5555555555 555555 5555
6666666666 6666666666 666666 6666
7 777777777 7777777777 777777777 7
8888888888 8888888888 88888888 88
9999999999 9999999999 999999999 9
10101010101010101010 10101010101010101010 10101010101010 101010
Rock Around The Clock Bill Haley & Comets
First Number One Rock and Roll song to hit the charts, July 9, 1955