National Day 7/7
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2025 8:15 am
July 7 is National Day of Rock 'n' Roll on the National Day Calendar and it's time to put on your dancing shoes to dance the day away! On National Day of Rock 'n' Roll we plan to help you get your groove, starting with when rock 'n' roll first hit the charts.
This history of rock 'n' roll begins in the late 1930s from African-American music containing combinations of jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, and country music. By the 1940s, instruments like the saxophone and piano were added to the sound, intensifying the appeal. It wasn't until the 1950s that rock 'n' roll hit the mainstream music scene, causing a social shift in society. National Day of Rock 'n' Roll explores the impact this music genre has had throughout history.
When we think of the early years of rock 'n' roll we easily see a young Elvis Presley or Chuck Berry on stage performing before impressionable teens. We see images of girls screaming and some crying, too. Why did a music genre have such an impact on young adults and what does it mean today?
Many "adults" during this musical era viewed rock 'n' roll as an appalling and disgusting portrayal of what music should not be. Before this genre hit the stage, music was soft, mellow, and very wholesome. In fact, parents thought rock signified the rejection of morals. Most parents were trying to stop rock 'n' roll from being listened to.
Listening to rock meant young people were rejecting their parents' beliefs and expectations. Before rock, music was a separation of class, religion, and especially race. The rise of rock-n-roll would cause cultures to become intertwined, with young people looking at music as a way to go against their parents and mingle with anyone who enjoyed the same music as them.
Elvis Presley receives credit for making rock 'n' roll what it is today. His gritty, raw, and electric performances on stage mesmerized female audiences and made parents (and boyfriends) angry. By 1956, Elvis took the nation by force attracting teenagers to his concerts. However, the road to success wasn't an easy one for Elvis. During the first few years of his success, riots, parental protests, police monitoring and sometimes shutting the concerts down would be a regular occurrence during the first few years. Apparently, Elvis was at one time a security risk for the country, too.