The History of Rock 'n' Roll

Good Rockin' Tonight (1x2)

Fecha de emisión: Oct 14, 1995

Disc Jockey Alan Freed was the first to call it "rock 'n' roll" - but it was Elvis Presley who gave the new music sex appeal. During the summer and fall of 1956, the Hillbilly Cat transformed old-fashioned rhythm and blues into a new kind of music, breaching the boundaries between country and blues, folk and pop, black and white. "Good Rockin' Tonight" recounts the glory days of rock's first golden age. In rare footage of legendary performances. Buddy Holly sings "Oh Boy", Little Richard wails "Lucille" and Jerry Lee Lewis pumps out a frenzied version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". Dick Clark recalls the origins of American Bandstand and Fabian looks bacon his early fame. For a spell, rock was dominated by teen idols and countless dance crazes like the Twist, but as clips of Ben E. King and of Phil Spector's Ronettes remind us, there was still more to rock 'n' roll than cute white boys trying to be the next Elvis. That the imitators should keep on trying is no surprise. One need only look again at Presley's classic TV shows. This chronicle includes clips from his steamy version of "Hound Dog" on the Milton Berle Show in June 1965 and his stunning performances on The Ed Sullivan Show three months later. Here - as Bono of U2 puts it - is "the big bang:" rock's mythic moment of primal self-creation. - Jim Miller