In the Name of “Rock n Roll”

The origin of the phrase “Rock and Roll” came from a few different places. The term “Rock” was being used in black churches to describe being spiritual or being sexual. In 1922 Trixie Smith references Rock n Roll in her song “My man rocks me with one steady roll” written by J. Bernie Barbour

The term Rock and Roll was used as a description of the movement of the sea or a boat as in the 1934 song “Rock and Roll” by the Boswell Sisters.

In 1942, Billboard magazine used the term “Rock and Roll” to describe the singer and guitar player Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s song “Rock Me”.

In 1943 a music venue emerged in South Merchantville, New Jersey called The “Rock and Roll Inn”.

In 1951, Alan Freed, a Cleveland DJ, started coining the phrase “Rock n Roll”.