MUSIC OF THE 50's

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• In the 1950's, the music industry of the United States was dominated by rock and roll, Doo Wop, pop, swing, rhythm, blues, country and 'rockabilly'.

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• Classic pop replaced big band and swing music at the end of World War II thanks to a man at Columbia Records; Mitch Miller.

Miller instead put country, Western, rhythm, blues, and folk music into music's mainstream by having many of his label's biggest artists record songs in a style that was similar to 'Pop' traditions.

Thanks to Mitch, artists like Frank Sinatra, Buddy Holly, and Elvis Presley gained popularity for their unique and integrated sound. Other popular artists included Bill Haley, Nat King Cole, and Chuck Berry.

In April 1956, Elvis Presley topped the Pop Charts with his first RCA single "Heartbreak Hotel". By the end of the year he would be the first artist to have ever had nine singles in the Hot 100 at one time.

By 1957, Rock and Roll artists began to appear regularly on the popular music charts. And by 1959, the Rock and Roll records accounted for more that 43% of all records sold.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• "1950's Decade Overveiw" ~ rockmusictimeline.com
• "1950's in Music" ~ en.m.wikipedia.org
• "The 1950's" ~ rollingstone.com