All Shook Up Book Review!

All Shook Up by Glenn C. Altschuler guides the reader through the history of the United States from the late 1940s to the 1960s through the lens of rock ’n’ roll music. Altschuler discusses how rock ‘n’ roll greatly influenced social and political changes, from the civil rights movement to the generation gap.
Altschuler’s discussion of rock ‘n’ roll and race focuses on “how rock ‘n’ roll both accommodated to and challenged the status quo in race relations” (57). Rock ‘n’ roll was perceived as largely an African American music in its early stages. Its gain in popularity, however, also lead to a “bleaching” (35) of the music by white performers interested in mass appeal. Most record companies were controlled by whites who often cheated African American artists out of royalties. The original artist of Elvis’s hit “That’s All Right” was a migrant laborer while Elvis recorded the song (50). However, rock ‘n’ roll concerts had the potential to unify the younger generation at a time when racial tensions soared. For example, Altschuler depicts a concert in Texas where “’a rope was put up to separate Negroes and whites in the audience. When we started signing, the kids broke the rope and started dancing together’” (42). Many whites were terrified of the idea of race mixing, and were frightened further by the sexuality of black rock ‘n’ roll performers. Some African American performers, such as Little Richard, were able to overcome this sexual barrier by appearing outlandishly flamboyant. Furthermore, some African American performers such as The Platters were able to include racial references within their lyrics (57), although most went unnoticed by their white audiences.
In the 50s, traditional gender role attitudes shaped male-female relationships. While the Kinsey report challenged these traditional views as myth, rock ‘n’ roll was “pivotal in a reassessment of sexual attitudes and behavior” (68). Songs like “Great Balls of Fire” and performers like Jerry Lee Lewis challenged repression of sexuality. However, like the Kinsey report, this was met with a great deal of resistance from adults across the country. Many songs were censored, and a backlash against overt sexual messages in rock ‘n’ roll emerged with performers like Pat Boone and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.
Rock ‘n’ roll also helped further the generation gap. Parents were afraid of a possible link between juvenile delinquency and rock ‘n’ roll music, rock shows were places where teenagers went unsupervised, and the beat of rock ‘n’ roll seemed to incite sexual behavior. As Catcher in the Rye idealized teenage defiance, “Yakety Yak Don’t Talk Back” expressed adolescents’ frustrations with parental rules. Again, there was a backlash, with Dick Clark and Pat Boone leading the way, attempting to release rock ‘n’ roll from its stereotype as being anti-parent. Even so, rock music became a means for selling products to the teenage demographic. Elvis shoes, pencils, and lipstick were sold to teenagers eager to “identify themselves as a distinct and distinctive generation” (129).
Rock ‘n’ roll also played a major part in the pop culture wars. With the growing popularity of radio and DJs, DJs took bribes from companies wanting to sell songs. After several lawsuits, payola was banned, DJs such as Alan Freed were fired, and DJs lost control over what songs they could play.
Although rock ‘n’ roll music’s popularity changed over time, it continues to inspire new generations. Altschuler’s discussion of rock ‘n’ roll throughout the 50s and 60s provides the reader not only with a solid understanding of the context of rock ‘n’ roll music, but also its role as a mechanism for social change. An interesting addition to this book would be a discussion of the long-term affects of rock ‘n’ roll on its teenage audience. Were teenagers who grew up with rock ‘n’ roll different as adults because of the rock ‘n’ roll influence?