R&B, or rhythm and blues, is a musical term that has changed drastically in meaning since it was coined by Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler in 1948 as a substitute for the term "race records." In a historical sense, R&B represents the point at which black music began to slowly mutate into rock and roll. In a modern sense, R&B is a genre of smooth pop music that is entirely centered on the vocalist. It retains elements of funk, hip hop and soul, but is completely different from the rhythm and blues of the 50s and 60s.
The Birth of R&B
R&B in its original form grew out of jazz music. In the 1940s and early 50s, R&B represented a more aggressive, beat-driven outgrowth of jazz. The emphasis was less on improvisation than on delivery, and incorporated the song structures of blues music. R&B initially appealed to African-American audiences in metropolitan areas for its roots in traditional music and its immediacy and danceability, not to mention its sexual suggestiveness. Louis Jordan was one of the first artists to be identified with the genre, along with Big Joe Turner and others, though at the time the preferred term was "jump blues."
R&B evolves
By the 1950s, the genre was already diversifying, with many groups trying different approaches to the new style. In 1951, influential DJ Alan Freed debuted a new radio sshowcase the music, entitled "The Moondog Rock and Roll House Party," thereby coining the term for what this form of R&B would become before long. The same year, Little Richard began recording for RCA, but it would take him three years to break through to a wide audience. However, he would soon become one of the most influential and enduring figures of the young scene. He was contemporaries with such greats as Fats Domino and Ray Charles, who also scored R&B hits around this time.
R&B becomes Rock and Roll
In its infancy, rock and roll was very much the product of white groups doing covers or reworkings of earlier R&B songs by black artists, usually cleaned up for the mainstream (white) audiences. Bill Haley and the Comets are a perfect example; their main accomplishment is simply popularizing a form that had been around for some time. It took an artist with the caliber of Elvis Presley to bring something new to the genre. The stage was set for further experimentation with the genre and by the time a "white R&B cover band" called the Rolling Stones were getting their sea legs, rock and roll was born.
R&B diverges
As the sixties wore on, black artists in particular began to push in new directions away from rock and roll, resulting in such glorious byproducts as the soul of Otis Redding, the funk-rock of George Clinton's Funkadelic, and the funk/soul/dance/rock/party jamboree of Sly and the Family Stone. At the same time, some artists like the James Brown stuck to the basics, playing amped-up R&B/soul, which would, in the late 60s and 70s blossom into modern funk with the help of Brown's heroic backing band the JBs. Taken together and diluted, these various forms would result in disco and modern dance music.
Modern R&B
As disco died off, R&B came more and more to signify vocal-driven pop music with a debt to soul and blues. As the 1980s became the 90s, R&B was influenced by hip-hop, resulting in such offshoots as the "New Jack Swing" (brainchild of producer Teddy Riley) boom of the early 90s during which artists such as Bell Biv DeVoe and Jodeci scored big hits with slick pop productions with a classy retro feel. The highly polished production values are a hallmark of modern R&B, which, for better or worse, has let go of the grit of its earlier incarnations. Modern R&B artists such as Akon frequently collaborate with rap artists to diversify their fan base and broaden their appeal. R&B, due to its long history, remains one of the broadest genre terms in music history.
