Music history of the United States in the 1950s blues and gospel music; with country and western and Pop. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, and is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music, though the terms "rocking" and "rolling" were being used in boogie-woogie and religious music for decades before that. The 1950s saw the growth in popularity of the electric guitar (developed and popularized by Les Paul). Paul's hit records like "How High the Moon," and "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," helped lead to the development of
The History of Rock and Roll contents The History of Rock and Roll contents The History of Rock and Roll is a radio documentary on rock and roll music, originally syndicated in 1969, and again in 1978 and 1981. It is currently distributed as a 2 1/2 minute short feature on internet networks. This list below reflects the contents of the more widely heard 1978 version of "The History of Rock & Roll". The "time sweep" is a 53-minute collage of number one hits from the Rock & Roll era. The original 1969 "History of Rock and Roll" timesweep closed with the final measures of the Beatles'