Conformity and Challenges in the Eisenhower and Kennedy Years 375millions of Americans, including parents, ministers, teachers, and the media,
some of whom even sponsored “record burnings” at which Rock & Roll
albums were torched and condemned as the tools of both Satan and the
Communists. Because of its roots in Black music, Rock also provoked ele-
ments of racism, and the term “jungle music” was often heard to insult the
musicians and songs popular in Rock & Roll.
Still, Rock & Roll, as Bill Haley sang, was “here to stay,” and a new voice
was making it a national phenomenon, and it came from Memphis. Elvis Aron
Presley became Rock’s first superstar. He had been trained in “rockabilly,” a
hybrid of country and rock, but broke through in the mid-1950s with a series
of huge hits that, like Haley and others, were a fusion of black and white
musical traditions. In January 1956, Presley reached number 1 on the charts
with “Heartbreak Hotel,” which sold over a million copies in just three
months. Presley was not only popular for his songs, but maybe even more for
FIGuRE 7-10 Teenagers add graffiti to an Elvis Presley movie poster, 1956