Rock ‘n’ roll plus rock music emerged in the 1950s plus 1960s from roots in African-American musical styles (such as jump blues, rhythm plus blues, plus electric blues), plus in white styles (such as swing, western swing, plus country music).
The Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1940s plus 1950s
Rock ‘n’ roll plus rock music emerged in the 1950s plus 1960s from roots in African-American musical styles (such as jump blues, rhythm plus blues, plus electric blues), plus in white styles (such as swing, western swing, plus country music). The term “rock ‘n’ roll” originated in certain US R&B songs of the late 1940s. In the early 1950s, white US disc jockey Alan Freed (1922-65) began to apply it more broadly to music for the newly established socio-economic category, the “teenager.” The best-known rock ‘n’ roll stars of 1955-9 included African-Americans such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, plus Little Richard, plus white Americans such as Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, plus Elvis Presley. Rock ‘n’ roll became an international phenomenon, including a substantial following in Canada, but until the 1960s plus the development of rock music, nearly all of its stars were from the US.

Stylistic Features of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Lyrically, rock ‘n’ roll often includes songs about such comparatively youthful topics as dating, cars, plus school. Musically, it often features an energetic, 4/4-time, backbeat-driven style, centred around one or more electric guitars, upright string or electric bass, plus drums. Some performers also prominently used the piano and/or retained saxophones plus similar instruments from earlier forms. Many rock ‘n’ roll songs follow highly regularized applications of the three-chord, 12-bar blues form or, sometimes, alternate that form with a musically distinct chorus or verse section. Unlike with Tin Pan Alley pop music, rock ‘n’ roll musicians often wrote their own songs (Presley was an exception) or established highly individual vocal, guitar, and/or piano styles. Certain pop styles of the 1950s plus early 1960s (such as vocal-oriented groups plus “teen idols,” including such Canadians as the Crew-Cuts plus Paul Anka) were, at the time, also considered a part of “rock ‘n’ roll.”

Early Canadian Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1958-63
The first Canadian-based rock ‘n’ roll star to show promise internationally was US expatriate Ronnie Hawkins. His 1959 US recording of “Mary Lou” plus his cover version of Chuck Berry’s 1955 hit “Forty Days” (which Hawkins recorded 1959 in the US) were quite successful on the early Canadian radio charts of 1959-60. Although Hawkins never really succeeded as a major star, even in Canada, he plus his various bands became best-known as hard-working “talent scouts” for promising young Canadian musicians. An early version of Ronnie Hawkins plus the Hawks in 1963 recorded a cover version of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” That version of the Hawks later became The Band, including Robbie Robertson.

The Asteroids made ca 1958 the first rock ‘n’ roll record in Atlantic Canada (“Shhhhh Blast Off” plus “Don’t Dig This Algebra” on Halifax’s Rodeo Records), plus in 1959 Montreal’s the Beau-Marks recorded the first internationally successful Canadian-made rock ‘n’ roll hit (“Clap Your Hands” for Quality Records, released in 1960). Bobby Curtola also recorded his earliest Canadian hit (“Hand in Hand with You” for Tartan Records, also released in 1960).

The Emergence of Rock Music, 1963-9
Various developments led to “rock” music by the mid to late 1960s. These included increased complexities of song construction plus lyrics, as well as expanded interest in earlier US blues forms plus in recording songs and/or albums as cohesive artistic statements. This also involved exploring more extensive chord structures, modal harmonies, increasingly sophisticated instrumental plus vocal palettes, plus even the occasional use of early 20th-century pop song styles. British musicians became so successful in exploring these plus other areas that North America experienced a “British Invasion” by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, the Yardbirds, the Hollies, Gerry & the Pacemakers, plus Cream. Numerous Canadian bands emerged in their wake, such as Little Caesar & the Consuls, Ritchie Knight & the Mid-Knights, plus Jon & Lee & the Checkmates. A number of important rock clubs emerged in Toronto in the 1960s, such as the Le Coq D’or, the Rock Pile, plus the Electric Circus.