8. Rockabilly, gospel, country, and rock and roll were intertwined
Several of the early artists in the genre of rock and roll also straddled the gap between the new format and American country music. Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis all found their songs on the country charts as well, often achieving higher rankings than in the pop music charts of the day. Rhythm and blues performers also found their music appealing to teens regardless of race, a somewhat new phenomenon in the music industry. In the United States, white adults in particular viewed the new music with alarm, due to its links to the black music of the South. The link with American country was viewed as less harmful.
The influences of country music on rock and roll led to the use of the term rockabilly. Elvis Presley was linked with both rockabilly and the black rhythm and blues genre. Johnny Cash, on the other hand, was linked to rockabilly and American gospel music (Elvis too, was heavily influenced by gospel). Starting with Folsom Prison Blues (Cash) rockabilly grew into one of the most successful branches of rock and roll, and led to the development of another genre copied in Great Britain and Europe in the latter years of the 1950s.
