[Ads-l] Antedating of "Rock" (= Rock n Roll)

[Ben Zimmer]

Antedating "rock" in the "rock 'n' roll" sense is tricky, since OED3 has
the earlier sense 2a, "musical rhythm characterized by a strong beat,"
dating to 1937. Bill Haley used "rock" in his song lyrics before the advent
of rock 'n' roll as a clearly defined genre. For instance, we get
attributive "rock" ("rock drive" and "rock beat") in "Real Rock Drive" from
1952:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Rock_Drive

Lyrics:
If you wanna be happy and glad you're alive
Just take off your shoes and do the real rock drive
Feelin' sort of low? You're bound to get a treat
Just slippin' and a-slidin' to a real rock beat

And then there's the "one, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock" lead-in
to "Rock Around the Clock" (1954), though it's not clear if "rock" is used
there as a noun or an imperative verb. "Mambo Rock" clearly has it as a
noun, but you could argue that it's sense 2a rather than 2b (as with other
early uses).

--bgz

On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 8:22 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> rock, n. (OED, s.v. rock n3, 2.b., 1956 [18 Dec.])
>
> 1955 Meriden (Conn.) Record 8 Feb. 8/5 (Newspapers.com)  It's Here !  BILL
> HALEY'S NEW HIT RECORD  MAMBO ROCK.
>
> 1956 Daily Defender (Chicago) 23 Sept. 7 (ProQuest)  Nattie Wood Likes
> 'Rock.'
>
>
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org