When musicologists describe rock ‘n roll as a fusion of country
music and blues, somehow they’re never specific about what kind of
country music they mean.
With all due respect to Chet Atkins, they don’t mean the countrypolitan variety that he pioneered – the kind that pushed bluegrass off stages and radio playlists all over the South.
See, there’s a reason Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, was one of the first inductees into the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame: because Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley shaped foundational rock licks out of the country licks they had learned from Monroe, at a time when bluegrass music was country music.
More proof of rock 'n’ roll’s bluegrass roots – and bluegrass music’s blues roots – can be found in this strangely-workable version of Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”, by The New High Country Boys.
Want more proof of the cultural fusion? Check out the sounds of tap shoes on the twisting senior citizens, who had probably just been flatfooting during the last number.
With all due respect to Chet Atkins, they don’t mean the countrypolitan variety that he pioneered – the kind that pushed bluegrass off stages and radio playlists all over the South.
See, there’s a reason Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, was one of the first inductees into the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame: because Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley shaped foundational rock licks out of the country licks they had learned from Monroe, at a time when bluegrass music was country music.
More proof of rock 'n’ roll’s bluegrass roots – and bluegrass music’s blues roots – can be found in this strangely-workable version of Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”, by The New High Country Boys.
Want more proof of the cultural fusion? Check out the sounds of tap shoes on the twisting senior citizens, who had probably just been flatfooting during the last number.
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