What Is "Rock and Roll" Exactly?

If you look at the list of inductees for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, you see a bunch of performers that you don't exactly think of as Rockers. They also include soul, blues, R&B and rap. You don't see folk singers in there (no Joan Baez or Peter, Paul and Mary) or country. But you do see Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, because even though they are folk and country performers respectively, they bridged the genres with rock.

Of course, The Hall of Fame does not own the phrase "Rock and Roll", but it is a good indicator.

And if you look up definitions, they talk about guitar, bass, drums and a strong beat. Which is why folk music doesn't make the cut (it's wimpy). I think those are good ingredients when attempting to settle on what exactly is considered "Rock and Roll".

But the best qualifier of all, which doesn't seem to get mentioned as much, is: "Do the cool kids like it?". I think that's really what it's all about. Rock and Roll is about what the youthful fans are into. And I'm not talking Hanna Montana. I said the "cool kids". That's why rap and hip-hop qualify.

And if it was all about beat and types of instruments, then Tom Jones would qualify. Hey, I love Tom. I like Dean Martin and Bing Crosby, too. And George Jones. But that ain't Rock and Roll, baby.

This rant all started when I said Elvis was the #1 Rock and Roll performer, with The Beatles at #2. Then I thought, well who's numbers three, four and five? Or maybe a top ten? Check my next blog and I'll give you my list. Aloha.