Origins of rock and roll that inspired Alan Freed to coin the phrase "rock and roll" to refer to the music he played. Freed first started playing the music in 1951, and by 1953 the phrase "rock and roll" was becoming used much more widely to market the music beyond its initial black audience. The practitioners of the music were young black artists, appealing to the post-war community's need for excitement, dancing and increasing social freedoms, but the music also became very attractive to white teenagers. As well as "rocking" rhythm and blues songs, such as the massively successful and influential "Rocket 88" recorded by
Rock & Roll Band record contract before their first live gig." Billy Baker of the "Boston Globe" called "Rock and Roll Band" "one of the biggest rock anthems of the 1970s." Scott Tady of "Beaver County Times" described "Rock and Roll Band," "Smokin'" and Boston's first four singles as having "helped set the foundation for classic-rock radio." "Boston Globe"'s Sarah Rodman credited "Rock and Roll Band" as one of the songs that helped drive sales of "Boston" to over 17 million copies. "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide" called "Rock and Roll Band" a "cleaned-up boogey ["sic"] crowd pleaser..." Jamie Reno of "San Diego"