The Great Pretender Memories Are Made of This Roll Over Bethoven Rock and Roll Waltz Let The Good Times Roll

These four songs represent the changes taking place in music in 1956. Dean Martin is the lounge crooner -- his vocal style was a staple of pre-1956 popular music and would continue to find a place in the future "rock and roll" world. "Memories are Made of This," with its calypso rhythm and backing vocals by Terry Gilkyson fit in well with the new emerging sound. "Roll Over Bethoven" was Chuck Berry's loud and raucous pronouncement that the change had come. Kay Starr's "Rock and Roll Waltz," exemplifies a prominent sentiment about rock and roll at the time -- poking a little fun at this new "fad." "Let the Good Times Roll" by Shirley and Lee represents the r & b sound that was crossing over to a larger and larger white audience. The Platters' "The Great Pretender" is an example of how the rougher edges of R&B were being rendered more appealing to the mass audience with smoother vocals and orchestral backgrounds.