You ain't totally wrong SaintJoeNow, but you ain't totally right either. Tell the whole story.
(Direct quote from Wikipedia - and if anyone considers that a questionable source, it's more reliable than a certain rock magazine.)
The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean,[SUP][/SUP] but was used by the early twentieth century, both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church rituals[SUP][/SUP] and as a sexual analogy. Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became used more frequently – but still intermittently – in the 1940s, on recordings and in reviews of what became known as "rhythm and blues" music aimed at a black audience.[SUP][/SUP]
In 1934, the song "Rock and Roll" by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round. In 1942, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodecker started to use the term "rock-and-roll" to describe upbeat recordings such as "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe.[SUP][/SUP] By 1943, the "Rock and Roll Inn" in South Merchantville, New Jersey, was established as a music venue.[SUP][/SUP] In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style while popularizing the phrase to describe it.[SUP][/SUP]