(b 1947), who was also a pianist and one of the most popular entertainers of the late 20th century; and American Eartha Kitt (b 1927), who became famous for her sultry vocal style Protest music has had an important role, with many lyric writers and singers having a major political message They include the Australian Peter Garrett (b 1953) of Midnight Oil, now a politician, and Raul Alarcon, who led the “No Waltz” in a protest against the Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, adapting music from Blue Danube by Strauss Others include American singer Joan Baez (b 1941), who protested against the Vietnam War, and Irish “mouth musician” Sinead O’Connor (b 1966) Some protest groups came together at Woodstock, New York, in 1969 Folk music has long been popular throughout the world and has had a revival, with traditional folk music from Bob Dylan (b 1941) and other singer-songwriters attracting large audiences fusion The early 1950s saw country and bluegrass music come into the mainstream At the same time, rock and roll was taking shape from the musical intersection of blues, rhythm and blues, and some injections of that same country music Though at times the listeners and marketers of country and rock music would seem demographically and geographically different, as the decades progressed musical creativity would spark lively interconnections and fusions between the styles With each new generation of musicians and listeners through the latter half of the 20th century and the start of the 21st, country and rock would each return to their beginnings in the music of earlier days In the 1950s and 1960s much of that earlier music was being brought back to popular attention by the artists of the folk music revival Artists such as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, the Weavers, and Leadbelly—who had taken up music as a tool of social protest during the Great Depression and World War II—would inspire newer generations of singers, songwriters, and players These musicians would find in music a tool not only for political comment but for personal introspection Though it is often of a much rawer and rowdier nature, such personal emotional expression is a defining factor in the blues Many folk revival musicians of the 1960s revered blues heroes such as Son House and Robert Johnson A decade earlier in the Mississippi Delta, where that music had its genesis, a white singer had started making records that would cross the music 299 boundaries of country, blues, pop, and folk in a way no one had done before His name was Elvis Presley Presley grew up poor in rural Mississippi He was working as a truck driver in Memphis when he stopped by Sun Studios one day to record a birthday song for his mother Studio owner Sam Phillips heard in Presley’s style something he’d been on the look out for: a white singer who had the sound of the black Delta in his voice Presley’s first single, released in 1954, was a textbook exercise in fusion and changes to come: The A side was “That’s All Right Mama,” written by blues musician Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, while the B side was bluegrass giant Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” Presley’s early recordings are some of the strongest bridges between folk, blues, country, pop, and rock and roll His voice, too, remained distinctive, however far from the energy of those roots he sometimes strayed An occasional drop-in at Presley’s early Memphis sessions was another singer with a distinctive voice who would go on to become a towering and long-lived presence in country, folk, gospel, and rock and roll Johnny Cash’s authentic yet mysterious image as The Man in Black was as unique as his music, and his troubled life as well as his religious commitment drew listeners on both sides of that divide to his music, which ranged from the folk-tinged “Folsom Prison Blues” to the fiery “I Walk the Line” to the roots-rock hybrid “Get Rhythm.” That fusion of blues, country, rock, and gospel with an uptempo danceable beat appealed to teenagers across the country and across the races in the 1950s, but by the end of that decade it had begun to die off as a style It would be a temporary lull, though, as San Antonio native and California transplant Rosie Flores and others would revive it beginning in the 1980s Another singer with a memorable voice and strong writing style had a far briefer career than either Presley or Cash, but his music did as much as theirs to intermingle the rivers of sound that flowed from country, rock, and folk during that decade and beyond Hank Williams fused blues and longing and honky-tonk country melodies so successfully that his rural-themed images helped his music cross over to pop and rock listeners Songs such as “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Hey Good Lookin’” became standards in the 1950s and remained so well into the 21st century, for audiences across pop, bluegrass, and country The late 1950s and early 1960s saw country music become sugar-coated with strings and choral arrangements, in what was called the Nashville sound Producers there were going after a pop market that was mired in productions that valued sound over substance These