Rock

Philosophies of rock are rarely explicit. It is as if contemplation of something so visceral were somehow inauthentic. And yet, philosophical assumptions about rock are endemic to its discourse, not least in respect of its identity. Both historical and geographical locations are important. “Rock” certainly does not exist prior to the 1950s, if rock’n’roll is seen as its point of origin (Peterson 1990; Everett 2009). This is frequently regarded as the case among US scholars. However, if rock is marked by the advances made particularly by Lennon, McCartney, Ray Davies and Bob Dylan, then rock gradually emerges in the mid-1960s. In this latter history, the role of the “British invasion” of US cities in 1963–64 is crucial. Whichever position one takes, there is a time before which “rock” is not part of the cultural experience. So, just what is it that does not exist prior to its originating era? At the risk of jumping ahead of myself, it seems to me important to insist that any comprehensive declarative statement (“rock is …”) is bound to fail, for the term “rock” (like equivalent terms – “soul,” “blues,” “gospel,” “folk,” “classical”) describes a set of discrete ways in which music works. First, the term describes a style; in other words, a means for musicians to regulate musical decisions about what sounds to make, and how to organize them temporally. Second, it describes a genre; in other words, a means of making the results of these decisions public, or entering into quasi-contractual relationships with agents, listeners, and other manifestations of music’s institutions. Third, it describes a practice; in other words, a way of prescribing the (un)acceptable behavior of musicians who desire to be regarded as rock musicians. And finally, it describes a repertory; in other words, it categorizes individual items of music. None of these descriptions is possible without the term “rock” to organize them, while consideration of any one of these four is most effective when continuing to observe its relationship with the other three.