Who's the most Influential 50s Rock & Roll artist?

[peterchecksfield]

Not included due to lack of space:

Gene Vincent (more popular in Europe than in the USA)

Everly Brothers (influential, but more pop than rock & roll)

Lonnie Donegan (not really a rock & roller)......

Little Richard would be my 2nd choice. As well as influencing soul singers like James Brown & Otis Redding, he was also a big influence on hard rock singers like Robert Plant, Noddy Holder & Ian Gillan (& Macca too!).

Bill Haley was the first rock & roller to have mass success outside the "rhythm & blues" charts, & without him it's doubtful that Elvis & all the others would've got on TV. I don't think he was very influential beyond this though.

Elvis Presley was the first rock (& roll) superstar, & inspired a great many to pick up a guitar for the first time. I still think both Chuck & Richard were more influential though, at least in ROCK (as opposed to pop singers).

Jerry Lee Lewis is my personal fave, but I think his influence has been more in his attitude rather than music (though both Tom Jones & Cliff Richard cite him as a major influence). The main reasons he hasn't been more influential is because he plays piano (& not guitar), & he's rarely written his own material.

Buddy Holly showed everyone how to do something a bit different with 3 or 4 chords, & also proved that you didn't have to look like a rock star to be a success.

Fats Domino was a big influence on ska & blue beat in Jamaica, which later led to reggae of course. So without Fats Domino we probably wouldn't have The Police! ; )

Bo Diddley, as well as many people imitating his most famous "beat", he was a pioneer in introducing weird effects into his guitar playing.

Carl Perkins was more or less just a one hit wonder, but without him George Harrison's playing would've sounded very different, & so would John Fogerty's!

Eddie Cochran's songs & sound can be heard in heavy rock, glam & punk, & he is arguably the 2nd-most influential guitarist on this list.

But my number one choice is Chuck Berry, as his influence can be heard in everyone from The Beach Boys to Led Zeppelin to The Sex Pistols to Oasis & beyond, & it's impossible to imagine rock music without his contribution!

[peterchecksfield]

C'mon, which fool voted for Jerry Lee Lewis?!

[Perk]

I think you covered it very well with your comments Peter. I had to vote for Elvis, because i think that most of them might have never gotten any exposure and remained an unknown without Elvis. Even though i agree that Chuck is one leg of the table that rock music stands on.

Perk

[peterchecksfield]

I had to vote for Elvis, because i think that most of them might have never gotten any exposure and remained an unknown without Elvis.

But the same could probably be said about Bill Haley...

There's no doubt that no-one in music had such an impact on the world as Elvid did in 1956 (not even The Beatles in 1964), but I don't think his musical influence had much impact beyond the early 60s, whereas some of the others & Chuck in particular kept on influencing new generations of musicians.

[Perk]

I had to vote for Elvis, because i think that most of them might have never gotten any exposure and remained an unknown without Elvis.

But the same could probably be said about Bill Haley...

There's no doubt that no-one in music had such an impact on the world as Elvid did in 1956 (not even The Beatles in 1964), but I don't think his musical influence had much impact beyond the early 60s, whereas some of the others & Chuck in particular kept on influencing new generations of musicians.

Chuck sure has made an enormous impact. I recall myself trying to learn guitar when i was young. What i wanted to learn first was "ta da da da da" ala Johnny B Goode and i wasn´t even aware of who Chuck was. There can´t be a rock guitar player who hasn´t played Chuck Berry!

Perk

[peterchecksfield]

There can´t be a rock guitar player who hasn´t played Chuck Berry!

I know a piano player who's very fond of Chuck Berry's songs too!

[Akiller]

I had to vote for Elvis, because i think that most of them might have never gotten any exposure and remained an unknown without Elvis.

But the same could probably be said about Bill Haley...
The roots of rock and roll was made mostly black rhytmn and blues artists and producers in the 40´s. White man´s own music was country and western and rockabilly, from which white men like Bill Haley and Sam Phillips developed rock and roll. The term ´rock and roll´was first launched in the media by black Dj Alan ´moondog´Freed

[Perk]

The roots of rock and roll was made mostly black rhytmn and blues artists and producers in the 40´s. White man´s own music was country and western and rockabilly, from which white men like Bill Haley and Sam Phillips developed rock and roll. The term ´rock and roll´was first launched in the media by black Dj Alan ´moondog´Freed

I think if we´re going back further in time it´s very difficult to cover all the influences that made it what it became. In my opinion it´s too many things involved to cover it by just saying the blues belonged to the blacks etc.

A Jerry Lee fan named Patrick Wall who used to post a lot before wrote a (in my opinion ) a good piece on this. Check it for the ones interested.

http://www.webspawner.com/users/miscpage/

Perk

[Perk]

The term ´rock and roll´was first launched in the media by black Dj Alan ´moondog´Freed

Actually there is a song from 1933 called "Rock & Roll" (not 100% of the year, but i think it was in ´33). So the term was there long before Alan Freed.

Perk

[peterchecksfield]

I had to vote for Elvis, because i think that most of them might have never gotten any exposure and remained an unknown without Elvis.

But the same could probably be said about Bill Haley...
The roots of rock and roll was made mostly black rhytmn and blues artists and producers in the 40´s. White man´s own music was country and western and rockabilly, from which white men like Bill Haley and Sam Phillips developed rock and roll. The term ´rock and roll´was first launched in the media by black Dj Alan ´moondog´Freed

I'm not disputing any of this, but this poll is about most influential, not who invented it, & Bill Haley was the first person to bring it to international radio & charts.

[Perk]

However it´s amusing to wonder how history would have turned out if Elvis never had existed, while Bill Haley scored with "Rock Around The Clock". Would the others really have gotten as famous as they have become?

Perk

[peterchecksfield]

However it´s amusing to wonder how history would have turned out if Elvis never had existed, while Bill Haley scored with "Rock Around The Clock". Would the others really have gotten as famous as they have become?

Maybe not the white artists, but Fats, Chuck, Richard & Bo all had U.S. pop hits in 1955, the year before Elvis did.

[Perk]

However it´s amusing to wonder how history would have turned out if Elvis never had existed, while Bill Haley scored with "Rock Around The Clock". Would the others really have gotten as famous as they have become?

Maybe not the white artists, but Fats, Chuck, Richard & Bo all had U.S. pop hits in 1955, the year before Elvis did.

I´m not updated on them chart vise but were there really any bigger no 1 hits, besides Fats perhaps? They could have become only small one hit wonders without Elvis who made rock & roll big. They could have never have been heard of afterwards. Neither had become faves by Beatles, Stones etc.

I´m glad it didn´t happen that way though

Perk

[peterchecksfield]

However it´s amusing to wonder how history would have turned out if Elvis never had existed, while Bill Haley scored with "Rock Around The Clock". Would the others really have gotten as famous as they have become?

Maybe not the white artists, but Fats, Chuck, Richard & Bo all had U.S. pop hits in 1955, the year before Elvis did.

I´m not updated on them chart vise but were there really any bigger no 1 hits, besides Fats perhaps? They could have become only small one hit wonders without Elvis who made rock & roll big. They could have never have been heard of afterwards. Neither had become faves by Beatles, Stones etc.

I´m glad it didn´t happen that way though

Perk

Some of their best-known & biggest records were hits in '55 (Ain't That A Shame, Maybelline, Tutti Fruitti, Bo Diddley), & I'm sure they would've gone on to have more big hits without Elvis. Rock & roll broke big in the states in '55, & Elvis didn't make it until '56. But it was Elvis who seemed to persuade most the whites (Jerry, Carl, Buddy, Gene, Eddie, Ricky, etc) to try to make it as a rock & roller. And of course no young white girls put posters of Fats, Bo or Richard on their wall. They wanted someone younger, prettier & WHITER, like Elvis, Jerry & Ricky.

But you're right that being faves of The Beatles & The Stones (etc) made a big difference. In fact Chuck Berry seemed to influence hardly any other guitarists in the 50s, & it wasn't until a bit later that he influenced so many people. Elvis' influence seemed to be biggest in the 50s, especially in the UK when almost everyone (Cliff, Marty, Billy, Tommy) tried to be "The British Elvis". No-one in the UK tried to be Elvis in '64.

[Perk]

However it´s amusing to wonder how history would have turned out if Elvis never had existed, while Bill Haley scored with "Rock Around The Clock". Would the others really have gotten as famous as they have become?

Maybe not the white artists, but Fats, Chuck, Richard & Bo all had U.S. pop hits in 1955, the year before Elvis did.

I´m not updated on them chart vise but were there really any bigger no 1 hits, besides Fats perhaps? They could have become only small one hit wonders without Elvis who made rock & roll big. They could have never have been heard of afterwards. Neither had become faves by Beatles, Stones etc.

I´m glad it didn´t happen that way though

Perk

Some of their best-known & biggest records were hits in '55 (Ain't That A Shame, Maybelline, Tutti Fruitti, Bo Diddley), & I'm sure they would've gone on to have more big hits without Elvis. Rock & roll broke big in the states in '55, & Elvis didn't make it until '56. But it was Elvis who seemed to persuade most the whites (Jerry, Carl, Buddy, Gene, Eddie, Ricky, etc) to try to make it as a rock & roller. And of course no young white girls put posters of Fats, Bo or Richard on their wall. They wanted someone younger, prettier & WHITER, like Elvis, Jerry & Ricky.

But you're right that being faves of The Beatles & The Stones (etc) made a big difference. In fact Chuck Berry seemed to influence hardly any other guitarists in the 50s, & it wasn't until a bit later that he influenced so many people. Elvis' influence seemed to be biggest in the 50s, especially in the UK when almost everyone (Cliff, Marty, Billy, Tommy) tried to be "The British Elvis". No-one in the UK tried to be Elvis in '64.

As Little Richard said in an interview, they kept his record of "Tutti Frutti" in the bottom of the drawer, and Pat Boone´s on top. All to keep it white! The great black musicians were held back a lot.

I guess the European fans & upcoming performers as the Stones opened up the doors a lot for the great black performers. I recall Chuck saying on Aspel & Co show interview that when he first came over to Europe he was asked if he was Jamaican or..???? He was surprised that he wasn´t considered just BLACK! He thought they had differences over here ..haha!

Perhaps this is part of it all too, how they became such legends.

Perk