Do you agree that Robert Johnson is "The Father of Rock N' Roll"?t?

Question

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Answer 1

Robert Johnson?While he had a tremendous influence on many blues artists and several rock artists-he wasn't the father of rock 'n'roll.There were even more influential blues artists than Robert.If you are looking for an artist to consider to be a father figure of rock music,try Muddy Waters.His early electric recordings screamed rock'n'roll.Another less obvious choice might be Chuck Berry.Chuck turned country blues into "Maybelline" and "Johnny B.Goode".The Fillmore Live album (with the Steve Miller Band) shows Chuck playing straight blues later in the 60's ,but he started as a bluesman and no rocker can say he wasn't somehow influenced by Chuck Berry.
*****Jackie Brenston is actually the saxophone player in the band.Rocket 88 is actually an Ike Turner song.And no less authority than the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame agrees with me.*****

Answer 2

Robert Johnson may be the most famous of the early Blues singers - and Rock and Roll may have evolved from the blues. But I dont really see him as the father of either. I'd say Elvis was the father of Rock and Roll - as he mixed country music with the blues and some gospel to make Rock and Roll.

Answer 3

No, Robert Johnson was not "The Father of Rock 'N' Roll." There were many blues artists prior to Robert Johnson who could just as easily claim such a title, were it true--Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, Sleepy John Estes, Blind Wille McTell. etc. Rock 'n' roll did not appear until the late forties and was actually a fusion of several different music styles--blues, jazz, country & western, western swing and pop. Groups such as the Mills Bros. and The Ink Spots probably influenced early rock 'n' singers just as much as Robert Johnson.

Answer 4

No, because it wasn't just him - it was countless knowns and unknowns - some that came over on the slave ships, some that were born here, some that came here on their own. Rock'n'roll definitely comes out of the blues, but to say that Robert Johnson "alone" is the father of rock'n'roll is at best inaccurate. There were many contributors to what we now call modern "rock'n'roll", not just Robert Johnson.

Answer 5

I would say that Jackie Brenston's 1951 tune "Rocket 88" makes the transition for me from jump blues to Rock and Roll.

If you want to hear the roots of rock, goes back earlier than Robert Johnson. Listen to Blind WIllie Johnson's rhythm in "If I had My Way"

Or even some of the stuff by Blind Blake.

Answer 6

I see that Robert Johnson played the Blues. His songs didn't necessarily sound like Rock & Roll. I guess that would be like considering an Impressionist painter like Monet to be the father of Pointilism. Sorry, I couldn't think of any simpler comparison.

Answer 7

As Brownie McGee Sang, "...Blues had a baby and they named it Rock 'n Roll...". Let's not forget Carl Perkins, Louis Jordan, Johnnie Otis or Sam Phillips (the mid-wife).
Good Question, Elwood. Don't know if there IS one answer.

Answer 8

I think the Father of Rock N Roll is Bo Didley and Fats Domino!

Answer 9

No. I think Robert Johnson mostly influenced blues and blues-rock artists only, and a couple others from various genres.

Answer 10

As far as what became the classic rock, I say Willie Dixon. He wrote all those songs for Chess Records that used riffs instead of just standard chord progressions.

No Willie Dixon, then no Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and so on.