Did you ever wonder where "rock and roll" came from? The following is a brief history of the origin of "Rock and Roll" from "Recording Technology History by Steve Schoenherr (http://history.acusd.edu/gen/recording/notes.html)

1947 - Big 6 record companies controlled majority industry: Columbia, Victor, Decca, Capitol, MGM, Mercury; but teenagers rejected majority music style, giving opportunity to the rise of new small independent labels.

1947 - Roy Brown recorded first rock and roll song Good Rocking Tonight on DeLuxe label, although the name was common in early blues recordings such as Trixie Smith's 1922 My Man Rocks Me With One Steady Roll.

1949 - Todd Storz of Omaha's KOWH created Top 40 after observing customers in a bar play the same juke box selection over and over.

1950 - Muddy Waters recorded "Rollin' Stone" for the Aristocrat label of Leonard and Phil Chess on Maxwell Street in Chicago, at the end of Highway 61, "the road to freedom" followed by many black blues singers from the Miss. Delta to Chicago. Waters electrified the blues and helped create rock and roll.

1951- Leonard and Phil Chess recorded one of the first rock 'n' roll songs, "Rocket '88" by Jackie Brenston.

1952 - Alan Freed started Moondog's Rock and Roll Party in Cleveland after visit to Leo Mintz's record store.

1953 - Bill Haley recorded first national rock hit Crazy Man Crazy on Essex label.

1954 - Bill Haley recorded rhythmic Shake, Rattle and Roll and Rock Around the Clock on Decca.