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Rock music is a genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States.

What is the first band that could be determined as Rock?

I mean the first band that had some different features from the past genres and that determine the passage to this new gerne known as Rock.

I have some ideas, such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who...

Help me in this deep research!

Aaron
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Federico
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  • Interesting problem - even wikipedia skirts the issue, shifting from R&R through what it terms 'the British invasion' [which sounds odd to someone from there ;) a bit about garage rock [which never made the journey back across the Atlantic at all] then onto psychedelic & prog. It misses the main transition entirely - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music – Tetsujin Apr 06 '17 at 06:38
  • The Beatles were releasing two albums a year in the early 60's so if 'Hard Day's Night' & 'Can't buy me Love' aren't quite rock yet - 6 months later there was 'Help' & 'Ticket to Ride'. Not quite rock as we know it - but certainly nothing like it had gone before. The Stones' The Last Time or Kinks You Really Got Me might also be contenders. – Tetsujin Apr 06 '17 at 07:06
  • The Dave Clark Five were getting close as early as late '63 - early '64 with 'Glad All Over' & 'Bits & Pieces'. – DaveP Apr 06 '17 at 09:36
  • the yardbirds had an album in 1963 – Jared Jul 09 '19 at 05:31

4 Answers4

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If we are talking about 'Rock' distinct from 'Rock n' Roll', then it should have these features:

  • Power chords, or at least aggressive chords on guitar, featuring the minor pentatonic scale
  • Guitars are distorted (amplifiers)
  • Driving drums
  • A guitar solo would be a boon here

A lot of suggestions have been given to the forefathers of the early rock n roll landscape.

  • The Beatles were a pop band more than anything. None of their albums featured anything this driving until the White Album
  • The Dave Clark Five emulated the Beatles sound. They are, therefore, more pop (or rock n' roll if that offends some) than Rock
  • The Animals released House of the Rising Sun in early 1964. Wikipedia identifies this as one of the earliest Folk Rock songs. This song lacked distorted guitars (the organ was the prominent voice)
  • Surf Rock started as early as 1961. The signature guitar sound of Surf Rock lacked distortion (but featured reverb)

This leaves two real contenders:

  • The Kinks released 'You Really Got Me Now' in 1964
  • The Who released 'My Generation' in 1965, about a year later

Both of these songs satisfy the conditions above. Both have distorted guitars and angsty vocals. Both have guitar solos.

The Kinks, FTW.

EDIT: since there is discussion based on the comment to my first answer, I will put that back up here:

Chuck Berry is the first musician to play a guitar in a Rock fashion. Whether or not his backing band were all playing what you might consider Rock, none of us might be playing Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, etc. without Chuck Berry.

You have to mention his name as The Inventor.

Edit:

In 1958, Link Wray released Rumble, the only instrumental song to be banned on the radio. This song featured distortion and tremolo effects. I am unsure you could qualify his band as rock; while there are elements of surf rock, most of it sounds like county and soul.

Jason P Sallinger
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  • but rock ' roll is not rock - and had effectively died out by the early 60's. There was a hiatus, filled by The Beatles et al in 62, but that wasn't yet rock either. By the time The Who did My Generation in 65, that was clearly rock; but idk if it was first. – Tetsujin Apr 06 '17 at 06:24
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    @Tetsujin, to me rock'n roll is included in rock, don't you think ? – Bebs Apr 06 '17 at 13:26
  • @Bebs - in so much as they are related, one led indirectly to the other, sure - but if someone posted 'Chuck Berry' as an answer to 'who was the first rock artist', I could not agree. The re-worked answer is much more along the lines I was thinking... that it came from somewhere in 60's Brit pop, using elements first borrowed from R&R, but then discarding the elemental 12-bar structure for something fresh. No-one yet mentioned R&B, which has got to be a real contributing factor too. – Tetsujin Apr 06 '17 at 13:31
  • The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" is a strong contender from 1964, which they started playing when on tour with Chuck Berry according to wikipedia. – DaveP Apr 06 '17 at 18:19
  • Are we omitting surf rock here? Because I know such bands that predate 1964 by a fair bit. – Phillip Siebold Apr 07 '17 at 01:18
  • Craft an answer. I'd like to be educated. – Jason P Sallinger Apr 07 '17 at 01:40
  • I did research on The Animals and Surf Rock. I have amended my answer. – Jason P Sallinger Apr 07 '17 at 19:30
  • If we are going to omit surf rock, I don't think it should be omitted because of the lack of distortion on guitars. Perhaps by observation of its unique rhythm that sets it apart from what is typically termed "rock" in the classic form. I say this because I am certain one can find examples of surf rock that uses overdrive and distortion. – Phillip Siebold Apr 08 '17 at 03:08
  • I am sure also. But not until after November 1964. If you can find one, then the brass ring is yours. – Jason P Sallinger Apr 08 '17 at 03:11
  • Then we would be looking at some songs of the Del-Tones in 1961-1962 who while using reverb did overdrive their guitars. But I don't think it would count because the distortion is not being used to sustain the tone, a feature that opens up the guitar playing to more open strumming patterns. – Phillip Siebold Apr 09 '17 at 01:07
  • It is a good argument. Dick Dale's Misirlou (1962) is a pretty rockin tune. – Jason P Sallinger Apr 09 '17 at 01:25
  • ...as is The Ventures' 'Wipe Out' from 1963. – DaveP Apr 10 '17 at 09:39
  • The Animals didn't write House of the Rising Sun and I'd definitely label that one as blues. I'd rule out everything-Beatles pre "Helter Skelter" which wasn't released until 1968. – Amarth Feb 23 '23 at 19:33
  • I'd definitely agree that The Kinks - You Really Got Me (August 1964) is rock. Another earlier candidate might be The Islay Brothers (feat. Jimi Hendrix) - Testify (March 1964). Got some pretty dang rocky drums and guitars. I suspect one might dig up something even earlier by Little Richard or Chuck Berry, depending on how picky you'd be with the definition of "rock". – Amarth Feb 23 '23 at 19:43
  • The Rolling Stones was released in April 1964 and one might find something on that album that would qualify. It is blues:ish with some surf rock and with Chuck Berry covers like Carol (from 1958). – Amarth Feb 23 '23 at 19:53
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So this is a work in progress. I am quite versed in Canadian music but not so much rock & roll history so bear with me.

Features I will be focusing on:

  1. There is no headliner. The headliner is the band. So no Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. No Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks.

  2. The drummer must tour with the band. Bands in the early days of rock n roll did not have a consistent drummer as they were often forbidden in some of the venues that would hold rock & roll concerts. This was a major reason for the prominence of individual headliners in the early days.

  3. The band must have begun as a rock n roll band. This excludes bands like The Four Lads (who began as a doo-wop band).

  4. I will posit that rock & roll is in fact rock and try not to separate "classic rock" and "oldie rock" as others may be wont to do. I posit this as rock bands through the years do in fact turn back and play these tunes with the understanding that they are in fact rock & roll.

  5. I will posit that rockabilly is not rock & roll as it has a unique development pattern stemming from the late 1930s early boogie period. Songs with pronounced backbeats are rock & roll, songs without are to be reviewed for further study.

  6. The minimum components of any candidate band will have at least one guitarist, one bassist and one drummer. Any further instrumentalists must not overwhelm these components, but compliment as in creating a sustaining tone or creating rhythmic embellishments. There may or may not be a vocalist or two (or more!)

So, the first band.

The Four Frantics were formed in 1955 but as far as I can tell, their first recording was in 1959.

This is not a complete answer, suffice to say, but it will be a launch pad when I find more when I take a bit more time to look at what is out there.

Phillip Siebold
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  • 'rockabilly is not rock & roll'? Not having that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H2Rl5NMf2o – DaveP Apr 10 '17 at 09:16
  • That's got a boogie bassline. It is a good tune though. From a year earlier we get this with a more rocking bassline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM4GkJnOu8o – Phillip Siebold Apr 11 '17 at 00:50
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    "The band must have begun as a rock n roll band." Just wondering why that's a requirement. Are the Bee Gees not a disco band because they started off playing soft rock? Did James Brown not originate funk music because he first came to fame as a soul singer? – Joe Kennedy Apr 14 '17 at 23:26
  • I excluded them because this question was about when rock separated and became distinct from other genres. I thought it was a good distinction point because such a band who did start out as a rock band would be designed for rock and roll and less something else. – Phillip Siebold Apr 14 '17 at 23:34
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The Frantics are not Rock. Rock has a feel or essence that can't be measured on paper. It's deep and strong and true to itself. It's heavy guitars have no room for pop, rockabilly etc. We didn't get the full experience until we heard Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple and a few others. My personal choice for the epitome and beginning of Rock is Led Zeppelin's albums I (Jan. 1969), and II (Oct. 1969). No one before them is stronger.

Glorfindel
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Norma
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  • Using your own definition, Hendrix predates Zeppelin. One would have to be mad not call the Are You Experienced album (1967) rock :) – Amarth Feb 23 '23 at 20:03
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The Beatles definitely weren't the first band. The reason being that their whole band layout is inspired by Buddy Holly and the Crickets (who are also the reason for their name being after an insect). Buddy Holly was super influential on virtually every rock 'n' roll band of the 1960s and, in my opinion, kickstarted the whole band concept.

Volhosis
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