Who+were+the+famous+composers,+songwriters+and+artists?

In the 1940’s, Jazz, which was already established in the United States, continued to develop. One of its most important performers was Duke Ellington, who was a pianist, composer and big-band leader. He’s known for molding some of the best players in jazz as well as for his compositions, which often had specific traits that benefited players’ skills. Throughout his life, he received a fair amount of awards and honors, proving its pioneering and influence in jazz. One of his best known titles is “Satin Doll”.
 * 1940**

Another big name in Jazz was Louis Armstrong, who shifted the standards of this genre. He turned Jazz music into a solo performance rather than a group improvisation kind of music. Louis was not only known for his trumpet-playing skills, but also for his singing ability and social influence, since he was one of few musicians whose skin color didn’t have influence in his music.

First Lady of Song, Lady Ella or simply Ella Fitzgerald was a popular jazz singer. Decided in 1942 to begin a solo career and abandoned her band “Ella and her Famous Orchestra”. She was always engaged with charities but died victim to diabetes. By the end of the 1940s, pure blues was a minor part of popular music, having been subsumed by offshoots like rhythm blues and the nascent rock and roll style.

Within the pop culture, Frank Sinatra appeared. In the 40’s he tried out the solo career and since the beginning achieved great success. The singer and actor was very popular with the swing fans and helped introduce the singing role into popular music, just like Louis Armstrong did. On the spectrum, songs recorded in 1920 were popularized by Hollywood movies in 1940 and then Country music arose. One of its most popular singers and song writers was Hank Williams, who is proven to be a huge influence in the country genre. He had a troubled life, but either way was able to express his feelings through his music, gain popularity and dictate the rules for upcoming country artists. In the beginning of his career, he would write and compose for other artist but then he took the chance of signing a record contract and was able to release his first hit “Move it on over”, in the 40’s.

**1950**

Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee, Big Joe Turner, and Gene Vincent released the initial rhythm and blues-influenced early rock and roll hits and this style dominated popular music only in the second half of 1950. In 1952 Chuck Berry used to play country-western music and in that time he already started to do his own sound. In 1955 made a lot of success with Pop and R&B. His irreverence and his unique musical sound cemented his place in rock history and led to fame in the 1950s. Known as the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley has left a legacy that will never die. Not only his great voice and beautiful songs were the fan’s attraction, he was also a young dancing icon. Elvis turned rock and roll into a moving activity in which people could appreciate the lyrics and dance to their favorite songs. Elvis is now an international sensation and, with more than 10 songs in the number one on Billboard’s Chart, is a role model to other artists.

In late 1950’s, there was another young artist making his way into the American music industry. Sam Cooke was a pioneer of soul music and later on even founded a record label, becoming one of few black performers to enter the business side of music. Besides that, he had more than 20 hits on the top 40 pop charts, with “You Send Me” being one of his best known songs.

http://listverse.com/2010/02/27/15-most-influential-jazz-artists/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington#Ellington_in_the_early_to_mid-1940shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong#Hits_and_later_career
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[] [] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_history_of_the_United_States#1940s_and_1950s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra

http://1940s.org/music-2/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Crosby

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Fitzgerald

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950s_in_music

http://www.chuckberry.com/about/bio.htm

http://www.bodiddley.com/history.html

http://peteseeger.net/wp/?page_id=10