Historical Investigation

Justin Lepard
Mr. Caruso
Word count 1,935

Research question: To what extent did rock ‘n’ roll have an effect on American race
relations in the post-World-War-II era?
 A. Plan of the Investigation

What is the extent to which did rock ‘n’ roll had an effect on American race relations
in the post-World-War-II era? To answer this question, I will to look at crossover music
between white and black artists in the 50s, the ensuing biracial culture, and the effects it
had on the general public’s attitudes. I hope, by the end, to have established, by way of
looking at this decade, to suggest the plausible link between music and the civil rights
movement, although I will make no claim of causation.
To do this, I will use two main sources, Souled American: How Black Music
Transformed White Culture by Brian Ward and Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and
Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race Relations by Kevin Phinney. They are
academically written on the effects of music on American culture, and both provide
evidence for their own conclusions about the relationship between music and race.

B. Summary of Evidence

Harry Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 began a trend in the post-World-
War-era of federal recognition of black grievances.1 A February 1956 Gallup poll
showed that 71 percent of non-southern whites supported Brown v. Board, and northern
white conscious of the fifties was that of a support for black civil rights.2
Almost all pop music was influenced by other races, even those rooted in particular
forms: B.B. King, while always singing his “same old blues,” admitted to using elements
of other popular music in his.3 Frank Sinatra was the first white singer to sing with the
enthusiasm and energy of black singers.4 As one of the first white musicians to truly
utilize black influence in their music and an open (sometimes to the point of reckless)
supporter of civil rights, Sinatra earned favor with the black community.5 Nat “King”
Cole, influenced by Sinatra, was one of the first to “cross over” from black to white
music: his piano technique appealed to black audiences well adjusted to bop, and his
vocal style was embraced by middle America.6 Many other black musicians since Cole
have tried to imitate Sinatra, including Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, especially Sammy
Davis Junior, and Michael Jackson, who in his preteen years in the early 1970s was
pictured underneath a single streetlamp with the overcoat slung over his shoulder and the
Sinatra fedora on his afro.7 Ray Charles was the “living essence of black music in
America,” but he was also the embodiment of every style of music considered distinctly
American.8 Ray Charles led to the way to pop music “cross-pollinating” many different

1
Ward, Brian. Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race Relations. London:
University of California Press, Ltd. , 1998. Print. 126.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid., 143.
4
Phinney, Kevin. Souled American: How Black Music Transformed White Culture . Ann Arbor: Billboard Books,
2005. Print. 137.
5
Ibid., 139.
6
Ibid., 141.
7
Ibid., 142.
8
Ibid., 184.
sounds: gospel, hillbilly, and blues.”9 Elvis Presley’s music consisted of a harmonious
union of previous opposites: black and white, hillbilly and blues, and sleaze and
salvation.10
This period was arguably the most culturally racially integrated in American history,
with black and white teenagers buying records from black and white artists
indiscriminately.11 Between 1957 and 1964, 204 out of the 730 Top Ten hits on the
Billboard best seller chart were from black artists.12 Only five of twelve Rhythm and
Blues chart toppers were black, the rest were white.13 Before this time, Rhythm and Blues
albums were referred to as “race records,” but this changed with the success of the black
artist Faye Adams’ “Shake a Hand.”14 On July 14, 1960, radio host Shelley Stewart
played his weekly show for segregated audiences (two nights of the same show, this
evening white), and this time about 80 Ku Klux Klansmen showed up, ready to make
some trouble; when they tried, “Those 800 white kids… burst out those doors and
jumped on the Klan, fighting for me.”15 Audiences frequently mingled, even in the south;
a rope set up in the middle to segregate would come down and the audience members of
all races would all be dancing together.16 In the 1950s, a new biracial youth devoured
black pop, a fusion of rock ‘n’ roll beat and black vocal style. 17 According to period black
journalist Dan Burley, “Rock ‘n’ Roll today has no color line….”18 Because of
technology like radio, whites and blacks came into adulthood listening to roughly the
same music.19 Harry Weinger, the bass player for the band The Platters has said that,
“Because of our music, white kids ventured into black areas. They had a sense of fair
play long before the civil rights movement”20

C. Evaluation of Sources

Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm Blues, Black Conscious, and Race Relations was
written by Brian Ward, historian, and lecturer of American history.
This source is very valuable because it is written by a historian, not a musician, and
pays more attention to the effects of music on society than Kevin Phinney. He is also a
well credentialed historian, having gotten a PhD from Cambridge. Ward is a scholar with
a passion for the history of race relations in the U.S., especially in the 1950s.
The most important limitation is that this book, while quoting primary source
interviews and statistics, is a secondary source document, and Ward was not alive in the
era about which he writes.

9
Phinney., 157.
10
Ibid., 161.
11
Ward., 124.
12
Ibid.,
13
Ibid., 140.
14
Ibid., 128.
15
Ibid., 129.
16
Ibid., 130.
17
Ibid., 123.
18
Ibid., 135.
19
Ibid., 142.
20
Ibid., 128.
 The origin of this document is from a scholarly British historian of American History,
specifically civil rights, the south, pop culture and media. Being from England, he may
have a more holistic view of American history, possibly with less emotional patriotism
than a historian born in the U.S., can bring to light some elements of society that
American historians overlook or explain a different way.
The purpose of this source (at least the chapter from which I draw) is to find further
insights into the Civil Rights movement and the mindset of the era leading up to it.
Souled American: How Black Music Transformed White Culture is a book written by
journalist Kevin Phinney
The value of this source is that Phinney, unlike Ward, is more familiar with music
and musicians than culture; he has written about music and pop culture for more than
thirty years, and his book reflects that. Whereas Ward gives information on how the era
of people was affected by rock ‘n’ roll, Phinney describes more how the music industry
changed, and how specific musicians reflected a growing trend.
Two limitations are the same as the previous source: it is a secondary source
document, even if highly researched, and Phinney was not alive in the 1950s. In
addition, Phinney does not have the same credentials as Ward, having only an
undergraduate degree. Also, as a journalist, he may look more for exciting material and
overlook some less sensational elements of the era that a historian would not.
The origin of this source is an American born journalist with an affinity for the arts
and pop culture. This is especially helpful as a foil to Ward; Phinney is learned author
with a connection to music, not history, and so in conjunction with Ward can give us a
more complete picture of the era.
The purpose is to search for the significance of white musicians’ historical interest in
black music.

D. Analysis

There are several interpretations of the evidence given above. Kevin Phinney argues
that “In the calm between WWII and the threat of communism rising in the East, popular
music took a backseat to other concerns…. Music was… hardly a galvanizing force.”21
Yet on the other side of the spectrum, musician Carl Perkins equated the work of rock ‘n’
roll artists to that of politicians; rock ‘n’ roll, even in the south, had no color line, and
hence popular music is just as good a gauge of social tendencies as political decisions or
actions.22 Meanwhile, scholar Suzanne E. Smith argues that black activism in Detroit
runs directly counter to the idea that people like Nat “King” Cole and Malcom X had no
contact with each other; music had an important role of communicating the movement. 23
Another scholar offers generally that music is a medium through which the events of
modern times are sorted out and assessed.24 Certainly some artists even became quasi-
activists. In 1945, Sinatra sponsored an Oscar-winning documentary short called “The

21
Phinney., 136.
22
Bertrand, Michael T. Race, Rock, and Elvis. Urbana-Champaign : The Board of Trustees for the University of
Illinois , 2000. Print. 41.
23
Smith, Suzanne E. Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit . Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1999. Print. 145.
24
Ramsey, Guthrie P. Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop (Music of the African Diaspora).
London: University of California Press, Ltd. , 2003. Print. 98.
House I Live In,” which featured Sinatra himself preaching racial harmony to
schoolchildren.25
As far as social equality is concerned, some of it was already happening as a direct
result of music. In 1956 NBC “risked” it by giving Cole a variety show.26 It started as
just fifteen minutes but within a year grew to an hour after reviews suggested that “if the
company could hold out long enough, advertisers would see the wisdom in reaching
millions of black and white music fans devoted to the show.”27 Ultimately, shaky support
(even though a few daring advertisers began highlighting the show, and celebrities did
guest appearances, NBC kept switching the line-up which made the show hard to follow)
convinced Cole to decline a renewal.28
Also remember that this period was arguably the most culturally racially integrated in
American history29, and the 1956 Gallup poll. Despite continued attempts to segregate
music in the south, voluminous amounts of black music had as large a white following
that continued to erode segregation of American popular culture.30 Even though the same
technologies (record, jukebox) allowed segregation to continue, because one did not need
to go to mixed race concerts to hear the music, audiences frequently did mingle, even in
the south.31 Southern white adults may not have liked it, but there is strong evidence to
support a mid-century biracial youth likely as ready to accept egalitarianism within
society as within music.
Several links have been made between music and race: Sinatra and his film, southern
whites tearing down the rope segregating audiences at dance halls, and white teenagers
caring more about the music they were to hear from Shelley Stewart than their Klansmen
elders. Because politics and political analysis of race relations often seclude themselves
from the arts, the role of pop culture on ideas, music is often overlooked as a significant
element. This is why some authors contend that music had no impact. And yet this is
folly: music clearly is far more influential on attitudes, especially on youth, than politics
ever are. And attitudes are essential in actual race relations; they are the driving force
behind all political conversation. Music of different races had an influence on musicians,
and hence the music industry, and hence both the musicians who took political stances
and the audiences who loved them all the same, just for the sake of their music. This is
the extent to which rock ‘n’ roll had an impact on race relations.

E. Conclusion

The two decades following World War II marked a unique time in the history of pop
culture. “Black” and “white” music, previously kept to its own race, became
unrecognizable as musicians of both races “crossed-over” to the sounds of the other.
White music was influenced by black origins and singers like Nat “King” Cole
influenced by white. This was a continuation of a trend to support egalitarianism among
races in America. The young generation was especially influenced by this trend in music,
25
Phinney., 139.
26
Ibid. 141.,
27
Ibid.
28
Ibid.
29
Ward., 124.
30
Ibid., 134.
31
Ibid., 130.
and bought records of different races indiscriminately, danced without care of race, and
contributed to a growing mindset of racial egalitarianism. This attitude reflected by
young music lovers came long before the politics of race caught up. The fact that this
historically significant time in music preceded and then overlapped with the civil rights
movement is not a coincidence. The effect is unquantifiable, but it is clear that music had
a significant impact on the national mindset of America’s youth, and this mindset is
linked to the political movement to follow. Those who assess civil rights and race
relations in this era must keep in mind the unprecedented conversion of black and white
in musical and pop culture and its influence.

F. Sources

Bertrand, Michael T. Race, Rock, and Elvis. Urbana-Champaign: The Board of Trustees

for the University of Illinois, 2000. Print.

Phinney, Kevin. Souled American: How Black Music Transformed White Culture. Ann

Arbor: Billboard Books, 2005. Print.

Ramsey, Guthrie P. Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop (Music of the

African Diaspora). London: University of California Press, Ltd., 2003. Print.

Smith, Suzanne E. Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit.

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999. Print.

Ward, Brian. Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and

Race Relations. London: University of California Press, Ltd., 1998. Print.