By Jason Thornberry

Defined simply as the act of cleansing, 'catharsis' is the basis of rock n' roll today, and it's also the foundation for nearly every type of music made in the last fifty years or so.

Catharsis, more so than escapism through daydreaming, is what has probably attracted us to music for years now.

Release.

Think about it. Most of our grandparents probably listened to jazz, and thought our moms and dads were insane when they brought home records by The Beatles, Cream, Janis Joplin, or even Elvis (depending on how old your folks are).

The lines between the generations were very clearly drawn by music. They still are.

To this day, my grandpa listens to The Benny Goodman Orchestra, and would probably sic his nappy poodle on me if I put anything by the Dillinger Escape Plan on his turntable (yeah, he still has a record player).

The music of my parents' parents was created (typically) as a response to the anxiety outcome of an entire generation that was immersed in World War II. They listened to 'feel good music' long, long before Bobby McFerrin implored us to not worry, and just be happy.

When Rock and Roll reared its misshapen, screaming head in the early 1950's people everywhere were taken aback by how crude, vulgar, and "indecent" it seemed.

Parents hated it, kids loved it: does that ring any bells?

Though it does hearken back to our most primitive origins as a species, musical cleansing has always been a key to rock's magnetism and appeal for young people. The same goes for hip-hop and electronica.

Before Elvis was a Presley, the early blues singers, like Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and Howlin' Wolf, were widely considered to be channeling Beelzebub himself with their voices and guitars.

Blues, as a musical genre, was performed even before that though, with the earliest such recordings dating clear back to 1913.

Because it was widely regarded as black music, blues stayed subversive and underground long before we ever celebrated such a concept by paying $18 to see an "Indie Rock" band perform live.

Elvis did his thing in the 1950's, and was roundly criticized for trying to seem black. What he was playing was initially, essentially, the electrified blues music of Muddy Waters, Johnson, and Willie Dixon, etc.

This was in a rather embarrassing time in America when institutional racism was still accepted, and Martin Luther King Jr. was still a young man.

Jerry Lee Lewis was hot on Elvis The Pelvis' heels, and was condemned for seeming psychotic with his onstage sexual bravado. When Jerry Lee married his cousin rock 'n' roll was simply dismissed as an outcome of dementia.

Put the bawdiest, most vulgar song Lewis ever sang up against an artist like Blowfly, and you've got a picture of the music coming full circle.

This story will continue...

(C) 2002 - Jason Thornberry