Moral Certainty and Rock 'n Roll

As I grew up, there was more moral certainty in life. Jocks got all the girls; girls were all, well, girls; and, we all really did like Ike… that is, unless you secretly appreciated Adlai Stevenson’s intellectual capabilities. One decade into the 21st Century, it seems like there are more existential gradients of gray and little of the certainty from the Fifties remains in our daily lives.

A familiar example is Rock ‘n Roll – when I was a kid it was a sin and everyone with a real family knew it.  Wherever I was dragged in Christian circles, well-meaning believers pointed out the sinfulness  of every rock entertainer  from Little Anthony to Little Eva.  Well, everyone except my grandmother – she continued to patiently fight her battle against jazz and “big band” music.

The only way I had to listen to real rock - not the watered down version on WDGY -  was getting up at 2:00am to catch a “skip” coming in from Chicago. The female DJ’s “smoker voice” agitated my teenage imagination. Everyone knew that girls who smoked would do anything – maybe even vote for Adlai Stevenson!

My father tried to save me. I remember one night when he was driving me to an evening activity at my junior high school. He pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road and said he wanted to “talk.” The only other time I remember him doing this was when I had asked him for a definition of a “sob” after reading a speech by former President Truman (he had identified  several Russian leaders using almost that exact term). I seem to recall that my father’s definition of a sob was about as confusing as his criticism of music.

To give Dad credit, when attempting to convince me of the evil of Rock ‘n Roll he did not take the traditional tack. Instead, he tried to champion the benefits of Country Western and its general superiority over my low-brow music. When I pointed out that much of Country focused on drinking (alcoholic beverages) and falling in love with someone (who wasn’t exactly your wife), he ceded the point. However, he continued his defense based on the fact that Country Western music “told a story.”

Of course, depending on the type of Rock ‘n Roll, it also told a story.

Now for those readers who are a bit younger, you have to understand this was before there were at least 200 sub-genres of rock music. I am not making this up! OVER 200 types  are listed on Wikipedia. This was when you could divide Top 40 music into six basic categories: 

Songs about unrequited love: “Save the Last Dance for Me” (The Drifters); “Take Good Care of My Baby” (Bobby Vee); “I Will Follow Him” (Little Peggy March); “My Guy” (Mary Wells) and many, many more. 

Songs about the hope of future love: “The Shoop, Shoop Song” (Betty Everett); “Wishin’ and Hopin’” (Dusty Springfield); “Oh Pretty Woman” (Roy Orbinson); and, “Our Day Will Come” (Ruby and the Romantics). 

Songs about love gone bad: “My Boyfriend’s Back” (The Angels); “Runaway” (Del Shannon); “Mean Woman Blues” (Roy Orbinson); and, “The End of the World” (Skeeter Davis). 

Songs about loving to dance: “The Locomotion” (Little Eva); “The Twist” (Hank Ballard AND Chubby Checker); “Mashed Potato Time” (Dee Dee Sharp). 

Songs about being in love with surfing: Most recordings by the early Beach Boys; “Wipe Out” (The Surfaris) and “Surf City” (Jan and Dean). 

Songs about being in love with your car: “GTO” (Ronny and the Daytonas); “Maybellene” (Chuck Berry); and “Little Deuce Coupe” (The Beach Boys).

Admittedly, there was a brief fad of being in love with dead teenagers (occasionally referred to as “Splatter Platters”) like “Tell Laura I Love Her” (Ray Peterson) and “Leader of the Pack” (The Shangri-Las). And, admittedly, a few of them like “Laurie (Strange Things Happen)” referenced what seemed like paranormal activity. However, to their credit they all told a story making them the moral equivalent of any Country and Western song!

One song that seems to stand alone in this early Rock ‘n Roll, is “Chain Gang” by Sam Cooke. I doubt Sam was in love with the chain gang he reportedly saw while traveling in a car with his brother, however he was definitely impressed by them.

Believe it or not, there were a number of academic papers written about early Rock. My guess is this had something to do with the complexity of the Cuban missile crisis… perhaps, a bit too challenging for the same academics to write about.  I quote from one of them:  “Rock 'n' roll was for and about adolescents. Its lyrics articulated teenage problems: school, cars, summer vacation, parents, and, most important, young love. All aspects of the music—its heavy beat, loudness, self-absorbed lyrics, and (emotional) delivery—indicated a teenage defiance of adult values and authority.”

I am not convinced. As shown above, most of that early rock talked about love. It seems like that is hard to be against – whether you are an adolescent, parent or, even, political candidate. Although, admittedly, I have heard little love being expressed between the current Republican candidates for the presidency.

By the way, thinking of love, I should probably confess to Su that one of these songs has brought up a some feelings I still have for a former love. I really, really  loved that 1968 Pontiac Lemans. I still miss it.

Probably always will.