
Rock & roll, we know, is a hybrid of several musical traditions (blues, gospel, country, etc.) that have rural roots going back to Europe and Africa. But the synthesis of these styles into a new musical shape occurred in American cities, in places like New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York.
By the mid-20th century, many of the best musicians in their traditional fields had flocked to these cities for the same reason other creative people had. That’s where the action was. That’s where their peers were working, hanging out, exchanging ideas with each other. (That's why I slept a few nights at NYC's Tompkins Square Park in the 60s.) In these urban melting pots a cultural and aesthetic innovation was born: rock & roll! Like so much of art, culture, and commerce, rock owes its very existence to CITIES.
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