Rhythm and blues
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Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies
Louis Jordan in New York City, c. July 1946
Big Joe Turner was a key figure in early R&B, blending blues and rock.
Dizzy Gillespie was instrumental in blending Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz.
Bo Diddley's "Bo Diddley beat" is a clave-based motif.
Rock and roll
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Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The origins of rock and roll are rooted in a blending of African-American musical gen
Rhythm and blues
…the early 1950s, it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music had contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used in a wider context. It referred to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and…
Sign commemorating the role of Alan Freed and Cleveland, Ohio, in the origins of rock and roll
Disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with popularizing the term "rock and roll" and introducing the genre across racial barriers in the 1950s
Chuck Berry in 1958
Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson's record "Roll 'Em Pete" is regarded as a precursor to rock and roll.