I Love Rock and Roll

I'm not normally one to insist on neat generic classifications of musical styles. Or the type who has to have a book or movie fall solidly into one specific genre. It's like those birdbrain critics who say dumb crap like, "The director doesn't know whether he is making a comedy or a serious picture". Not everything is easily pigeonholed. Thank God.

However, I do think that the term, Rock and Roll, signifies an approach to music. To me, rock and roll is raw. Primitive. Lusty. Dangerous.

Over the years just about anything was considered rock and roll. Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and yes, Joan Jett. They rock, sure, but where's the roll? It's like getting a meal of meat and potatoes, and it's all well and good, but where are the rolls?

Rock and Roll began at a time when wild hillbillies discovered the rhythm of black ethnic music. Put these elements together and it turned into a distinctly American phenomenon called Rock and Roll.

Like later phenomena like Punk or Grunge, the real, true life of rock and roll was only a few years old before it became diluted and toned down for sensitive dispositions. That Neil Sedaka crap came along and took the life out of rock and roll. Where it was once rebellious and infused with the exploding libido and anger of discontented youth, it became clean and wholesome.

The Beatles were a rock and roll band before they expanded their musical horizons, but that was later, and their sound had the heavy influence of the Skiffle movement in England.

Few groups really embraced the true essence of rock and roll. Certainly not things like The Stray Cats. Their sound was always too clean, too polished. Sure, Brian Seltzer is an excellent guitarist, but gifted guitar players are a dime a thousand in the music biz. And with rock and roll, it's not always about musical proficiency, but the raw approach of unbridled passion and insanity.

For me, the greatest rock and roll band of all time is The Cramps. They came into prominence in the burgeoning days of Punk in NYC, but their roots were pure rock and roll. And unlike just about very other long-running group, The Cramps never betrayed their deranged roots. Their music did tighten up as the years went on, but they maintained the essence of what rock and roll stood for when it was born. Which many feel is a song called Rocket 88, by Ike Turner's Rhythm Kings.

In short, what many call Rockabilly is what I consider to be genuine rock and roll.