Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: Who REALLY invented rock? Was it…the Scots?

So here’s a question: who invented rock’n’roll music? Was it Elvis? Was it Bill Haley and the Comets? Was it any number of R&B performers from the American South in the late 40s? Or was it….the Scots?

In 2006, a Scottish website called Scotland Now published a theory that modern rock music was shaped by Scotsmen who settled in the New World in the 1700s. They say that the quarter-million Scottish folk took their folk songs with them and over the years, these songs mutated and evolved into what we would call rock’n’roll.

So is it true? It’s a nice idea, but musicologists and academics say that this is a good try, but it has little (if any) no basis in reality.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39372 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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