Origins of rock and roll "Rock and Roll" Harris. These songs were generally classed as "race music" or, from the late 1940s, "rhythm and blues", and were barely known by mainstream white audiences. However, in 1951, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed began broadcasting rhythm, blues, and country music for a multi-racial audience. Freed, familiar with the music of earlier decades, used the phrase rock and roll to describe the music he aired over station WJW (850 AM); its use also is credited to Freed's sponsor, record store owner Leo Mintz, who encouraged Freed to play the music on the radio. Originally Freed used the name
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"