hello.
i donnot know if iR&B is part of folk
i want to know more about R&B. lots of people here think Mariah's music is like R&B, i am not sure what kind of music is the real R&B. it must have changed a lot. and what is its origin, and its relationship with the black people, the historical background of its advent, and its significance to the black people and to other forms of music.
are there any good websites u would like to recommand?
thanks.

R&B isnt what it used to be. it used to be exactly what it was named, the Rythmn and Blues....

theres a realy good book written on the history of R&B. its called "American Roots Music" its written by Robert Santelli. It covers all the bases of American Music. i got it offline for $50, so its kind of expensice, but a great companion for study.

I've read several very good ones. "A Change is Gonna Come" by Craig Werder is personally my favorite, I think it combines scholarly analysis with just love for the music.

To answer your question briefly, R&B is the origin of Rock and Roll. It began with the likes of Louis Jordan, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and the like. Modern R&B has pretty much decended into sappy balladry which didn't show up until the 70s in R&B, but it stuck.

well, blues is the originator of Rock, but why mince? its pretty much interchangable in the early stages...

blues got rhythm and it was R&B
R&B got country and it was rock