also rock 'n' roll, 1952 in reference to a specific style of popular music, from rock (v.2) + roll (v.). The verbal phrase had been an African-American vernacular euphemism for "sexual intercourse," used in popular dance music lyrics and song titles at least since the 1930s. Shortened form rock by 1956.
The original rock and roll of the early 1950s is sometimes difficult to parse as belonging to the same genre as what was later called by the term, and it is likely that the true genre of rock and roll did not last long, but that the denomination continued to be applied by record companies to other kinds of music that had been influenced by it or were felt to be related. The term was popularized ca. 1954 by disk jockey Alan "Moondog" Freed (1921 - 1965) as a synonym for what had previously been called R&B (see R).
The stock answer to whether Rock music has gone as far as it can was "no." People just differed on which way it was going. [Kiki Morris, The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, NY, Dec 9, 1970.]
Folk rock is by 1964, pop rock by 1965, psychedelic rock by 1966, punk rock by 1971, southern rock by 1971, hard rock and soft rock by 1967, Christian rock by 1972, glam rock by 1972, gothic rock by 1977, alternative rock by 1979, classic rock meaning "rock performed by classical orchestras" is by 1978, meaning "rock from 1960s and 1970s" is by 1982, J-rock "Japanese rock" is by 2003. See also rockabilly.
