All Shook Up: How Rock 'N' Roll Changed America (Pages 136-192)

Title: All Shook Up: How Rock 'N' Roll Changed America
Author: Glenn C. Altschuler
Pages: 136-192
Chapters: 5-6

SUMMARY: Rock & Roll died after ASCAP led assaults. Politicians and parents tried to bring the music down in any means. With "Elvis in the Army, Buddy Holly dead, Little Richard in the ministry, Jerry Lee Lewis in disgrace, and Chuck Berry in jail," rock and roll in America was dead (Altschuler 161). However, not for long, in England, bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones secured the music; altered it in their own way and smashed it into American markets. This was the great British Invasion. Little Richard on the other side began to loose his rock vibe and turned to the moral of Christianity and churches. Soon enough, his divorce with his wife brought him back to the industry and joined with The Beatles in early '60s in Liverpool. Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gal, which gave Anti-Rock 'n' Roll people the power to use this as a weapon to wreck his career. He was open about it and so was Myra. This brought a downfall to Jerry's career. He lost his fans, record labels tried to cover him but failed. On the other side, Chuck Berry was arrested for violating the Mann Act, bringing a Mexican-Indian minor to U.S. to work for immoral purpose. The Beatles brought Chuck berry back by singing his songs that inspired them. While other rock 'n' rollers were ruined by scandals, Elvis stayed patriotic as a private in the army. Motown Records started to release their singles with black artists like Berry Gordy and reached mainstream during the '60s. The Beatles copied '50s American Rock 'n' Roll artists and approached teenagers in America without annoying adults. They became the hit and Elvis Presley was like 'dandelion tea' compared to The Beatles.

QUOTATION: "Compared to the Beatles' '100-proof elixir,' even Elvis was mere 'dandelion tea,' " (Altschuler 182).

REACTION: Who knew the Beatles furtively took the style and music from Americans, sold it to Americans and won the heart of Americans? Although in the end it came down to the Beatles, lets not forget all those great yet tragic Rock 'n' Roll artists of '50s inspired them. The Beatles basically took away the raw, anger and other immoral things from American Rock 'n' Roll music and collaborated their originality into it and made it a great music. The long fight against Rock 'n' Roll led by parents around the nation and politicians was settled down by the Beatles. Parents weren't annoyed anymore and teenagers were still happy to hear the music. The Beatles = The Great Compromisers.