In the meantime, Rock and Roll emerged as a genre in the American South in the 50´s. First starting as African-American Rhythm and Blues music (called Race Music); it became popular among the white audience thanks to DJ Alan Freed from Cleveland, Ohio, coining the term Rock and Roll. Rock and Roll comes as a natural evolution of Rhythm’n’Blues and the Blues brought by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Roy Gaines and other African American names.

Not only they did plant the seeds of rock and roll as we know it, but they also gave birth to a new beat, which would later be adopted by youngsters in the UK. However, this type of music was not consumed by the white population, due to prejudice.

Rock and roll was to become more popular as white musicians such as Elvis Presley, and Pat Boone among others started to record African American musician hits, with a white accent. Yet Black rock'n'roll artists such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard – probably the "real fathers of rock'n'roll were not even given credits. Just to illustrate what is being explained, Little Richard stated once about Tutti-Frutti: "They put Pat Boone's record on top of the dresser, and they put mine in the drawer under the socks - but I was in the same house."

The Alan Freed’s factor

Alan Freed, the disc jockey credited with naming rock & roll, was born Albert James Freed on December 15, 1921, near Johnstown, PA. In high school Freed formed a band known as the Sultans of Swing, in which he played trombone.

In 1942 Freed landed his first broadcasting job, at WKST (New Castle, PA). He took a sportscasting position at WKBN (Youngstown, OH) the following year. In 1945 he moved to WAKR (Akron, OH) and became a local favorite, playing hot jazz and pop recordings.

In 1949 Freed moved to WXEL-TV in Cleveland. Record store owner Leo Mintz convinced him to emcee a program of rhythm & blues records over WJW radio, and on July 11, 1951, calling himself "Moondog," Freed went on the air. At his "Moondog Coronation Ball" at the 10,000-capacity Cleveland Arena in March 1952, upwards of 20,000 fans (almost all black) crashed the gates, causing the dance to be cancelled. This is considered to be the first "rock" concert. It also marked the point at which Freed's audience began to include an increasing number of whites — who subsequently heard Freed refer to rhythm & blues as "rock & roll."

In September 1954 Freed was hired by WINS radio in New York. The following January he held a landmark dance there, promoting black performers as rock & roll artists. Within a month, the music industry was advertising "rock & roll" records in the trade papers.

Radio Luxembourg

Due to the tremendous power that the signal of Radio Luxembourg enjoyed throughout much of Western Europe, his choice of music encouraged imitation by many domestic groups. The record companies also bought time on Luxembourg to further promote the music of Little Richard, Chuck Berry and other African American artists. Who were the kids in England listening to these sounds at that time? We might say the ones that were growing up along with the reconstruction of a torn apart Europe.

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