EVENT
Explosion of Rock 'n Roll
Late 1950'sEVENT TYPE Cultural History
Rock 'n' Roll arrived in full force in Vancouver with Bill Haley and the Comets' 1956 show at the Kerrisdale Arena. Paying ticket prices that ranged from $1.50 to $3, six thousand teenagers showed up to experience the city's first rock concert. It was a sellout, and, as legendary deejay and emcee for the performance Red Robinson remembers, "It was pandemonium!" (qtd. in Mackie). In his 1983 book Rockbound, Robinson writes, "I started my introduction and never got to finish, the screams were so loud" (qtd. in "June").
Robinson, a rock 'n' roll hero in his own right, was the first Canadian deejay to play the new music on a regular basis. He put Vancouver on the map as "Canada's pioneer rock 'n' roll city" (Robinson 681), and became a local icon for the genre, emceeing concerts by stars such as Elvis Presley (1957) and the Beatles (1964).
The musical phenomenon that so captivated Vancouver's youth scandalized their parents' generation. Stanley Bligh, a music critic for the Vancouver Sun, wrote in his review of the Bill Haley concert, "I came away feeling that I had witnessed the ultimate in musical depravity�a cacophonous noise that might cause permanent harm in not fully developed adolescent minds" (qtd. in Mackie). A second writer dubbed Red Robinson "The Pied Piper of Sin" (qtd. in Robinson), charging him with leading Canadian teens into the morally dubious world of rock 'n' roll.
Despite the overwhelming popularity of the genre, not even the deejays or the artists themselves believed it would last. Robinson recalls a 1957 interview with Buddy Holly in which Holly speculated that rock 'n' roll would die out after Christmas of that year. As is clear today, this was not the case: Rock 'n' roll would continue to enthrall audiences in the years and decades to come.
The persistent appeal and growth of rock 'n' roll had a destructive impact on the Vancouver jazz scene. Infatuated with the new musical craze, audiences stopped frequenting the established venues, and many of the top clubs, like the Cellar, were forced to close their doors. TV and radio gigs also dried up, leaving musicians without work. As Vancouver pianist and visual artist Al Neil puts it, "Everybody quit playing jazz because the Beatles had arrived."
In the lean years that occurred during the heyday of rock 'n' roll, many jazz musicians set about building a second career. Amongst these was Dal Richards, who, having been fired from his regular gig at the Panorama Roof Ballroom in 1965, decided to study hotel management at BCIT. Following graduation, he went on to work as the manager of the Devonshire Hotel, and ultimately spent ten years earning a living in the hotel industry. However, he never stopped playing, and, when jazz became popular again in Vancouver in the mid-1980s, Richards was right there at the centre of it all. He credits the resurrection of jazz to artists such as Harry Connick, Jr.
Robinson, a rock 'n' roll hero in his own right, was the first Canadian deejay to play the new music on a regular basis. He put Vancouver on the map as "Canada's pioneer rock 'n' roll city" (Robinson 681), and became a local icon for the genre, emceeing concerts by stars such as Elvis Presley (1957) and the Beatles (1964).
The musical phenomenon that so captivated Vancouver's youth scandalized their parents' generation. Stanley Bligh, a music critic for the Vancouver Sun, wrote in his review of the Bill Haley concert, "I came away feeling that I had witnessed the ultimate in musical depravity�a cacophonous noise that might cause permanent harm in not fully developed adolescent minds" (qtd. in Mackie). A second writer dubbed Red Robinson "The Pied Piper of Sin" (qtd. in Robinson), charging him with leading Canadian teens into the morally dubious world of rock 'n' roll.
Despite the overwhelming popularity of the genre, not even the deejays or the artists themselves believed it would last. Robinson recalls a 1957 interview with Buddy Holly in which Holly speculated that rock 'n' roll would die out after Christmas of that year. As is clear today, this was not the case: Rock 'n' roll would continue to enthrall audiences in the years and decades to come.
The persistent appeal and growth of rock 'n' roll had a destructive impact on the Vancouver jazz scene. Infatuated with the new musical craze, audiences stopped frequenting the established venues, and many of the top clubs, like the Cellar, were forced to close their doors. TV and radio gigs also dried up, leaving musicians without work. As Vancouver pianist and visual artist Al Neil puts it, "Everybody quit playing jazz because the Beatles had arrived."
In the lean years that occurred during the heyday of rock 'n' roll, many jazz musicians set about building a second career. Amongst these was Dal Richards, who, having been fired from his regular gig at the Panorama Roof Ballroom in 1965, decided to study hotel management at BCIT. Following graduation, he went on to work as the manager of the Devonshire Hotel, and ultimately spent ten years earning a living in the hotel industry. However, he never stopped playing, and, when jazz became popular again in Vancouver in the mid-1980s, Richards was right there at the centre of it all. He credits the resurrection of jazz to artists such as Harry Connick, Jr.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cohen, Tom. "Canada Disc Jockey Reflects on Rock: Red Robinson." Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Home page. 29 Jan 2008. http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RedRobinson1.html"June 27, 1956: 50 Years Ago Today - Bill Haley and the Comets Performed at the Kerrisdale Arena." Online posting. 27 June 2006. RadioWest. 29 Jan 2008. http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/
Macdonald, Bruce. Vancouver: A Visual History. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1992.
Mackie, John. "When Rock and Roll First Came to Town." Vancouver Sun. 27 June 2006.
Neil, Al. Personal Interview with Eric Metcalfe. Vancouver, BC. 16 July 2005.
"Red Robinson: Canada's First R&R DJ." Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Home page. 29 Jan 2008. http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RedRobinson1.html
Richards, Dal. Personal Interview with John Orysik. Vancouver, BC. 16 Nov. 2005.
Robinson, Red. "Red's Rock." The Greater Vancouver Book. Ed. Chuck Davis. Surrey: Linkman Press, 1997: 680-681.
FOR MORE INFO
Articles that reference the tension between rock 'n roll and the jazz scene:"The Big Question," 1969 (pdf)
"Jazz Flourishing in the Clubs and Streets of Vancouver," 1993 (pdf)
