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Alan Freed, also known as Moondog (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc-jockey (DJ) who became internationally known for promoting African-American Rhythm and Blues (R&B) music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of Rock and Roll. Many of the top African American performers of the first generation of rock and roll (such as Little Richard and Chuck Berry), salute Alan Freed for his pioneering attitude in breaking down racial barriers among the youth of 1950s America. His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry in the early 1960s.
"Father of Rock and Roll"
While Alan Freed called himself the "father of rock and roll", he was not the first to play it on the airwaves but he is credited for coining and popularizing the term "Rock and Roll" to describe a style of music. He was a promoter and he was very successful at what he did, until his own personal failings became exploited by others. They built their own careers upon the legacy created by Freed, while Freed's personal career was obliterated.
Pioneer of racial harmony
Many of the top African American performers of the 1950s have given public credit to Alan Freed for pioneering racial integration among the youth of America at a time when the adults were still promoting racial strife. Little Richard has appeared in several programs about that era, to give the credit to Alan Freed that others have denied him. An example of Freed's non-racist attitude is preserved in motion pictures in which he personally played a part as himself with many of the leading African-American acts of that day. His influence and the music that he promoted crossed artificial racial barriers that were in place during the 1950s."The Moondog"
While working as a disc jockey at radio station WJW in Cleveland, Ohio, he organized the first rock and roll concert called "The Moondog Coronation Ball" on March 21, 1952. The event, attended mainly by African Americans, proved a huge drawing card — the first event had to be ended early due to overcrowding.1010 WINS New York
Following his success on the air in Cleveland, Alan Freed moved to New York City where he turned WINS into a rock and roll radio station.Radio Luxembourg
Building upon his successful introduction in Europe by film, Alan Freed was then booked onto Radio Luxembourg where his prerecorded shows enhanced his reputation as the "father of rock and roll" music. Due to the tremendous power that the signal of Radio Luxembourg enjoyed throughout much of Western Europe, his choice of music encouraged imitation by many domestic groups. The record companies also bought time on Luxembourg to further promote the music of Little Richard, Chuck Berry and other African American artists. These sounds were heard in places such as Liverpool, England where the individuals who later became famous as The Beatles were also listening and attempting to copy the music they heard.Movies
Alan Freed also appeared in a number of major and historical rock and roll motion pictures during this period. These films were often welcomed with tremendous enthusiasm by teenagers because they brought visual depictions of their favorite American acts to the big screen, years before music videos would present the same sort of image on the small television screen. One side effect of these movies shown before mass audiences was that they sometimes presented an excuse for thugs to turn a fun event into a riot, in which cinemas in both West Germany and the United Kingdom were trashed.Alan Freed appeared in several motion pictures that presented many of the big musical acts of his day:
- 1956 - Rock Around the Clock featuring Alan Freed, Bill Haley and His Comets, The Platters, Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys.
- Rock, Rock, Rock featuring Alan Freed, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Johnny Burnette, La Vern Baker, The Flamingos, The Moonglows.
- 1957 - Mr. Rock and Roll featuring Alan Freed, Lionel Hampton, Ferlin Husky, Frankie Lymon, Little Richard, Brook Benton, Chuck Berry, Clyde McPhatter, La Vern Baker, Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
- Don't Knock the Rock featuring Alan Freed, Alan Dale, Little Richard and the Upsetters, Bill Haley and His Comets, The Treniers, Dave Appell and His Applejacks.
- 1959 - Go, Johnny Go! featuring Alan Freed, Jimmy Clanton, Chuck Berry.
Television
It was at the height of Freed's career at the beginning of his new television series that various individuals decided to use Alan Freed as a scapegoat for all that was wrong with the recorded music industry and his show called The Big Beat (which predated American Bandstand) was suddenly cancelled. Into the void that had been created by the absence of Freed on TV, the career of Dick Clark began to take off.Payola
The career of Alan Freed ended when accusations were made that he had accepted payola – that is, taken bribes to play specific records. He had also taken songwriting co-credits (most notably on Chuck Berry's Maybellene). This entitled him to receive part of a song's royalties, which he could help increase by heavily promoting the record on his own popular radio show.Although his problems were not unique to him, he was singled out for attention. In 1960 payola was made illegal, although this by no means stopped the practice which continues in various forms to this day. However, in 1962 Alan Freed pled guilty to two charges of commercial bribery for which he received a fine and a suspended sentence.
Destruction and death
Although the punishment handed down to Alan Freed was not severe, the side effects of negative publicity were such that no prestigious station would employ him, and he moved to the West Coast in 1960, where he worked at KDAY-AM in Santa Monica, California. In 1962, after KDAY refused to allow him to promote rock 'n roll stage shows, Freed moved to WQAM in Miami, Florida, but that association lasted only two months. He died in a Palm Springs, California hospital in 1965 at the age of 43 suffering from uraemia and liver cirrhosis. Shortly before this he had begun working at a radio station in Palm Springs, California. He was initially interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, and his ashes were later moved to their present location in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 21, 2002.Legacy
In 1978 a motion picture entitled American Hot Wax was released, inspired by Freed's contribution to the rock and roll scene, leading up to a concert that was held in New York City in 1959. Although director Floyd Mutrux created a fictionalised account of Freed's last days in New York radio by utilising real-life elements outside of their actual chronology, the film does accurately convey the fond relationship between Freed, the musicians he played and the audiences who listened to them. Several notable personalities starred in the movie, who would later become well-known celebrities, including Jay Leno and Fran Drescher, and there were even cameo appearances by Chuck Berry, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Frankie Ford and Jerry Lee Lewis, performing in the recording studio and concert sequences.
In 1986, he was part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was built in Cleveland in recognition of Freed's involvement in the promotion of the genre. In 1988, he was also posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
References
- Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock & Roll, by Jackson, John A. - Schirmer Books, 1991. ISBN 0-02-871155-6
- The Pied Pipers of Rock 'N' Roll: Radio Deejays of the 50s and 60s, by Smith, Wes (Robert Weston). - Longstreet Press, 1989. ISBN 0-92-926469-X
External links
- http://www.alanfreed.com/
- http://www.history-of-rock.com/freed.htm
1922 births | 1965 deaths | American radio personalities | Radio personalities | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
"Alan Freed"