The place had been you in ’52? If among the many 25,000 who attended the world’s first rock ‘n’ roll live performance 70 years in the past this month, you didn’t hear a lot music. Rock ‘n’ roll’s official coming-out social gathering on March 21, 1952 at Cleveland Area ended through the first set. The overflow crowd stormed the venue (capability: 10,000), inflicting the police to convey the night time to an abrupt finish. Civic leaders heaped scorn on the present’s promoter and grasp of ceremonies, native disc jockey Alan Freed. It was the primary time Freed incurred the wrath of the political and cultural institution. It might not be the final.
Rock ‘n’ roll’s first nice evangelist and martyr, Freed turned related to the style on July 11, 1951, when he began internet hosting a radio present with the aim of exposing white youngsters to the music. Sponsored by document retailer Leo Mintz, the present was initially known as “Freeditorium,” however its host quickly adopted the goofy on-air nickname “Moondog” and the present was retitled “Moondog Home.”
The playlist featured what was referred to as “race music” earlier than Billboard journal renamed it “rhythm and blues” in 1949. The tunes had a heavy beat conducive to dancing however had been not often loved by white audiences previous to Freed.
It was not simply the music that Freed launched to the broader world. He additionally gave it a brand new deal with.
Initially, Freed used “rock ‘n’ roll” as an adjective to explain his radio present. However quickly he utilized the time period to the rhythm and blues information he spun for his listeners. The time period turned ubiquitous. Then Freed turned ubiquitous.
Decamping for the media capital of the world in 1954, Freed’s New York radio present was heard in quite a few North American and European markets. So robust was the general public’s identification of Freed with the music he championed that many listeners mistakenly assumed he was Black. That modified when Freed turned a movie and tv star as he chaperoned rock ‘n’ roll into new media.
A superlative showman, Freed targeted closely on the rock ‘n’ roll stage reveals he used to interrupt field workplace information. Like his radio viewers, the crowds at Freed-organized concert events had been racially built-in. The thought of Black and white youngsters dancing collectively disturbed mother and father of each races, and Freed and rock ‘n’ roll got here beneath intense criticism.
Maybe racial segregation would have finally subsided regardless. However rock ‘n’ roll accelerated that change. And greater than anybody, Freed accelerated rock ‘n’ roll.
Like many rock ‘n’ roll stars, Freed died younger. His demise at age 43 from alcoholism was the fruits of a spectacular fall from grace that worsened when Freed’s title turned synonymous with the time period “payola.”
However his profession was already in decline by then. As rock ‘n’ roll’s recognition soared, it turned more and more dominated by white artists (e.g., Elvis) and milquetoast DJs (e.g., Dick Clark).
At the moment, the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame and Museum’s presence in Cleveland is essentially the most seen tribute to Freed’s musical legacy. Sadly, Freed’s civil rights legacy lacks official recognition. Having introduced fame to numerous Black artists, Freed deserves a spot within the Nationwide Civil Rights Corridor of Fame.
Furthermore, the Rock Corridor has been too busy inducting rap artists to recollect the seventieth anniversary of Freed’s revolutionary radio present or Freed’s one hundredth birthday which handed final yr with out remark. However it was a rap group, Public Enemy, who greatest summed up Freed in music: “Alan Freed the waves as a lot as Lincoln freed the slaves.”