THE BIRTH OF ROCK AND ROLL
A record producer who had been searching for a "white man with the Negro
sound and the Negro feel" began recording the Memphis-based country singer Elvis
Presley. In 1956 the 21-year-old Presley created a sensation with his rock 'n' roll-
styled "Heartbreak Hotel", the first of his 14 records in a row that sold more
than a million copies each. Presley's success inspired other country
performers to begin singing rock and roll music in the late 1950s. The
popularity of Presley also helped to encourage the practice of "cover"
recordings. That is, when new records by black performers began to appear
on the hit charts, white singers would record simplified versions of the
same songs. The recordings by the white performers received wider
distribution and were played on more radio stations than the original
recordings. As rock and roll rapidly became the most popular music of
the late 1950s, record industry executives became aware that young
listeners made up the largest portion of this music's audience.
Therefore they employed young, often adolescent, singers to
record rock and roll music, and produced such teenage romance
songs as "Young Love", "16 Candles", and "Teen-Age Crush".
E X E R C I S E 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
COLUMN A COLUMN B
a) someone with dark or black skin (a word that is
considered racist and offensive today)
b) relating to popular music in the style of the
southern and western United States
c) cause a state of excited interest
(phrase)
d) following one after the other in order;
consecutive
(phrase)
e) encourage someone to do something,
especially by one's own success or enthusiasm
f) a list of the most popular records
(phrase)
g) made easier to understand or follow
h) a slightly different copy of something
i) the act of goods being delivered to shops or
businesses for sale to the public
j) a person in a company with the power to make
decisions
k) hire someone
I) teenage
m) a strong, foolish and short-lived love for
someone
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