Well, in those early days, there was no such thing as "rock stars" as we know them now (except for Elvis). The Alan Freed shows were like R&R vaudeville--21 acts appearing on stage seven or eight times a day. No such thing as "arena" shows. And only Elvis played Vegas.

Mostly they were kids like us (maybe a little bit older), looked like us, sang songs that were appealing to us. Same goes for UK kids: not a coincidence that the very first song Lennon and McCartney put on tape was Holly's "That'll Be the Day"; why the Stones' first US hit single was Holly's "Not Fade Away"; why Zep and the Who always sang Eddie Cochrane's "Summertime Blues" and "Somethin' Else" on BBC; why Jeff Beck worships Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps; why Lennon worshipped Berry and why Harrison worshiped Carl Perkins.