How useful is Peterson’s a ‘production of culture’ perspective in explaining the birth of rock n roll music?
Richard Peterson does two things in his work regarding the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. Firstly he highlights several things that, although perhaps widely thought, did not give birth to rock ‘n’ roll breaking through. He states that the general ‘supply and demand’ explanation that is often used cannot be valid. This is because, the general idea that Rock ‘n’ Roll exploded because of the presence of similar artists in the same place at the same time is flawed because the artists, Elvis, Chuck Berry and others, simply took advantage of a set of musical circumstances. In the case of demand Rock ‘n’ Roll’s popularity cannot be explained by a post war’s baby boom craving a new music, as the baby boom themselves would only have been nine in 1955.
As valid as his criticisms are, Peterson fails in his explanation to ever actually mentions the music or the effects the electric guitar had on the music.