The History of Rock 'n' Roll (TV Mini Series) Rock 'n' Roll Explodes (1995) User Reviews

Episode 1: Rock 'n' Roll Explodes

[ebiros2 · 7/10 · 21 October 2005]

Interestingly, in 1995, two 10 hour mini series about the history of Rock & Roll aired on television. One was this (produced by Time-Warner), and the other was PBS' "Rock & Roll". It is important to know that this is not the documentary that was aired on PBS. This is a lighter take on the history of rock & roll, focusing more on the entertainment aspect as opposed to the more "documentary" orientation of the series that aired on PBS.

This is the first of 10 part series on history of Rock n Roll. Each of the parts are arranged in chronological order and this episode deals with the very beginning of Rock n Roll from early '50s to mid '50s. All time early Rock n Roll greats like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Louis appears to show the formative years of Rock n Roll.

Rock music in the beginning was not widely accepted due to all of its players being of black ethnicity. Sam Phillips of Sun Records were recording black rock n roll musicians but couldn't break the barrier, until Elvis Presley walked in the door. Sam Phillips immediately knew that this was his ticket, and attached a band to Elvis to promote him as his star.

The first episode is based on these developments, as rock music gradually finds its way into mainstream America.

admirable beginning to series

[postmanwhoalwaysringstwice · 8/10 · 16 April 2007]

The ten episode series of documentaries, "The History of Rock & Roll" jumps off well with one entitled "Rock N Roll Explodes". During the sixty minute run of the program many legendary artists and otherwise recognizable names from the rock and R&B end of the music industry discuss the significance of the inception of rock music, as well as the possible meanings behind the phrase "rock & roll". The interview segments are intercut with a fantastic variety of archival footage from the true beginnings of rock music in the mid-1940's and early 1950's. This episode covers this period until the early years of Elvis Presley's popularity in the late 1950's. This first hour of the series shows promise for what should come from the following nine episodes, and stands as a good introduction to early rock music.

50sRock&Roll Is Immortal

[icet2004 · 7/10 · 26 February 2005]

I think that Father of the rock&roll is Fats Domino.he recorded his first record in 1949 and it's called 'the fat man' Fats means to rock&roll very much.without a question without him there would be nothing.he is the man who started it all.i love his 'Blueberry Hill' 'Whiskey Heaven','My Blue Heaven' and other songs + fats has been 56 years on the stage and he without a doubt one of the greatest pianist of all time.Chuck Berry is grandfather of the rock&roll he has been 50 years on the stage.he good showman,guitarist,songwriter, funny also,great voice i really his gait of duck it's funny.Elvis Presley is king of rock&roll i like his songs Jailhouse Rock,Suspicious Minds and Hound Dog and thats it.Little Richard is rock&roll him.i love his Tutti Frutti.he said that he king of rock&roll great call of course,but he is not king of rock&roll he is rock&roll.Bill Haley was comet he had a only one really big hit 'Rock Around The Clock' Gene Vincent was comet too.he had a only one really big hit too 'Be Bop A Lula'.Jerry Lee Lewis was wild man.one of the fastest pianist of all time.he was crazy.this is big surprise to me that Jerry Lee Lewis is still alive.he was very wild he drinker,junkie,criminal also he was in jail,but he's songs 'Great Balls Of Fire' and Honky Tonk Wine are immortal.Bo Diddley was good too.i like his song 'You Can't Such A Book By Looking At The Cover' it's classic song.then came Beatles.then Jim Morrison(The Doors),Janis Joplin,Jimi Hendrix and then Alice Cooper then Led Zeppelin then Queen and etc etc etc.my favorite rock singer is Chuck Berry before was Elvis.but favorite singer in whole world is ICe-T.

Series Gets Off To An interesting Start

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 3 March 2009]

In the opening segment of this first-of- 10 episode set, a bunch of recording artists describe rock 'n roll.

I like best what guitarist Rick Osasek of "The Cars" said: "Juvenile delinquents played rock 'n roll in the '50s and wore leather jackets; in the '60s hippies played it; in the '70s there was juvenile delinquents but that was an old word so they called it 'punk;' then they cleaned it up with New Wave and they put on a tie ......but it's all about music and songs, ya know? Whatever songs are popular at the time."

For the remainder of the hour, we see and hear presentations by a number of singers, some extremely famous like Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones ('64 - wow does Mick Jagger look young!), Jimi Hendrix and more.

Personally, the ones I enjoyed the most were Elvis Presley singing "Money Honey;" Muddy Waters doing "Got My Mojo Working;" Buddy Holly on "That'll Be The Day;" Little Richard doing a gospel number and later "Ready Teddy;" Ruth Brown's "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean;" Louis Jordan's "Caledonia;" Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll;" Ray Charles on "I Got A Woman;" Chuck Berry's "Mabelline;' Pat Boone doing "Tutti Fruitti," and Billy Haley and The Comets, "Rock Around The Clock."

I thought I knew R&R history but had forgotten that Jordan was the real "father of rock 'n roll" in the 1940s. I was surprised to hear Jagger say he and Kieth Richards liked country music as much as blues. Speaking of the British, it was a bit shocking to see how Bill Haley was so big in England, provoking riots and everything!

The longest and nicest tribute in here was for Ray Charles, who could sing anything and make it sound special.

"And you're not going to beat Rock 'n' Roll Music! - Jerry Lee Lewis

[classicsoncall · 10/10 · 20 September 2017]

For a series encompassing something as voluminous as the history of rock 'n' roll, one might be tempted to ask - where does one begin? The folks at Time-Life Video and Television probably asked themselves the same thing, and figured why not start at the beginning. This ten part series kicks off with a quick overview of the rock 'n' roll genre before getting down to the nitty-gritty, with on screen comments from a broad range of performers and industry folks like Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Little Richard, Ray Manzarek and many, many others.

It was interesting to hear different personalities discussing their personal musical influences. For Jagger it was Muddy Waters and his Chicago, blues infused sound; for Springsteen it was country performer Hank Williams. Little Richard reached all the way back to his gospel roots, describing how the sound of a black church choir made him feel - "It made my big toe shoot up in my boot"! I can't think of a more colorful description.

With various performers discussing their influences, it started me thinking about who the real King of Rock 'n' Roll might be. The term is generally applied to Elvis Presley without much push back, but I don't think it's that simple. Elvis would have listened to Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and it's probably fair to say that all three could probably share the mantle. Others would obviously make the same claim for their own personal favorites, but it's probably not worth fighting over. Rock 'n' Roll shares a rich history with many of it's predecessors - rhythm and blues, gospel, country and even the impromptu voices of blacks working in the cotton fields of the South.

This first chapter of the series closes with a quick look at Elvis Presley, serving as a nice segue into the next one in which Presley dominates the first half. At first, I didn't quite connect with the choice of U2's Bono featured in an opening segment singing one of his hits, but as the documentary proceeded, it made more sense. The message of the series appears to be that Rock 'n' Roll, whether you like it or not, is something that will continue to exist, 'with or without you'.

The most surreal image of this opening chapter - Pat Boone singing 'Tutti Frutti'. Try getting that out of your head once you've seen it.

This DVD completely left out 1 important artist

[Princeboy99 · 5 February 2007]

I really enjoyed this DVD collection. It covered a lot on the developments of rock and roll music. It had lots of good vintage footage and talked about many great artists. I know it is not easy to cover all the great artists in such a long time span but seriously folks...how in the world did this collection completely disregard Prince?! Are you kidding me? This cannot by any means be a complete "History of Rock and Roll" collection if it cannot even mention Prince. That was a huge mistake by the people who made this DVD. Prince has been quite possibly the most influential artist/musician of the past 25 years. He writes his own music, produces his music, arranges all of his music, can play all the instruments on his records, the guy can dance, sing in many different ranges, he won an Oscar for Purple Rain, the album Purple Rain is one of the greatest of all time, was one of the first artists to talk about sexual issues in such a raw way (you see dirty talk all over the radio now)...The fact that this collection does not even mention Prince is a disgrace...this DVD set is not complete