Rock ‘n’ Roll: Cars, Convergence and Culture

The years between 1955 and 1965 marked a seminal moment for American culture. Traditional narratives have focused on this as a moment of newness – the rise of the teenager, the creation of rock and roll, and the transistor radio, with the car prominent in this picture as a locus of music, and symbol of cultural capital. Yet many elements of this story, especially those reinforcing the car’s centrality, pre-dated their employment in this context. This chapter argues that the moment of rock ‘n’ roll was less one of newness than one of convergence, bricolage and reappropriation. We consider the histories of the various technological and musical aspects of the construction of rock ‘n’ roll culture, and situate the association of cars and music in a continuum of history. In so doing, we shed light on the social and cultural pressures which drove the gradual convergence of mobility and entertainment