STUDYING ROCK blues Jim Morrison, Alice Cooper, David Bowie Madonna Prince nonconformity + misbehavior

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1 STUDYING ROCK -rock music born out of controversy, rebellious image always appealed to fans. - mid-1950s, adults accustomed to fatherly crooning of Bing Crosby and the suave, Frank Sinatra shocked by Elvis Presley s blues-influenced singing and suggestive dance moves. -Teenagers, of course, loved him. -Beatles moptop haircuts upset parents in mid-1960s; setting fashion trend among youngsters. -Rock pushed boundaries of what was accepted -artists: Jim Morrison, Alice Cooper, David Bowie challenged cultural values in late 60s early 70s, -Madonna and Prince in 1980s. - Issues such as payola, obscene lyrics have been focus of federal government hearings. -only small portion of rock source of controversy or cultural struggle, nonconformity + misbehavior central to the rock movement. - rock s frequent (and sometimes militant) opposition to status quo, some people surprised to learn colleges and universities offering courses in rock - music historians look back on last century, obvious popular music played enormous role in recent development of Western musical tradition, -rock music has been dominant among popular styles. -Even music historians whose focuses on other genres and decades must take into account many and often farflung effects rock has had on world of music -Despite acknowledged importance of rock music, determining definition of rock constitutes/ means is difficult. -Some scholars use term rock and roll to describe first wave from 1954 to Others describe music after 1964 as rock. -Using these distinct terms preserves many scholars and fans see as an important difference. -book will employ the term rock in broad sense, however, using term to designate popular music that is produced specifically for a youth audience. -more encompassing usage still problematic includes seeming contradictions. -Is rock defined by race, or musical style, or specific musical elements, such as instrumentation or lyrical content? -Can 1960s soul be considered rock? How about folk or rap? -Is all pop also rock, is all rock also pop? -how do we think about rock music after its musicians and audience have grown up? categorize. -Few argue artists : Elvis Presley, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Police, and U2 central to rock movement. - artists like the Supremes, Madonna, and Kingston Trio harder to -book will tell history of popular music focuses on rock but includes other styles. -chapters that follow consider rock in inclusive manner, discussing artists -main purpose : enormous body of music that covers over fifty years of popular-music history to make it easier to understand and appreciate. -Today more popular music available to listeners than any other time in history of recorded music. - Subsequent chapters organize music into styles and eras to make rock repertoire easier to understand and appreciate, = provide broad stylistic and historical perspectives

2 ELEMENTSTO CONSIDER Rock History in the Media. - most fans have had some exposure to background information on artists and music. -those who havent studied rock as academic subject, historical information probably have come from general interest publications, radio, television, or Internet. - Magazines : Rolling Stone and Mojo provide readers information about rock musicians, their music, aspects of entertainment industry. - Books targeted at general reader often written by journalists and music critics plentiful and varied. -Cable networks like VH-1 and MTV offer profiles of artists styles, -frequently taking larger historical patterns into account. - development of classic-rock radio format in early 1990s encouraged growing sense of rock s history, along with time-tested oldies format which has existed for decades. -Be aware, however, scholarly approach will differ significantly from -many cases, information found in popular media designed primarily for entertainment rather than educational or research purposes. -Some of this information may be accurate, well researched, and balanced, but some also skewed, gossipy, and unreliable. -magazines and broadcast stations generate revenue through sale of advertising; -worst thing in such businesses : people to put the magazine down, change radio station, turn off the TV. -best interests of media outlets : deliver what they believe people want most, -lead to focus on more sensational and titillating aspects of biography, rather than serious consideration of musicians and their music. -textbook will attempt to provide a balanced fair account of history of rock music. -more artists and groups enter story than typically appear in general interest accounts. -Some more important in their day than since. -Others become more popular over time.. -following chapters : provide reliable information, historical context, and informed debate. -book in hopes will elicit informed discussion of contested issues in rock, like : relevance of popularity to historical importance, role of gender and masculinity in rock s history, and responsibility of music executives to share profits with musicians. I Know What I Like: The Fan Mentality. -fans of rock passionate about the music they like. -what does it mean to be a fan? -Fans listen frequently to music of a particular artist, group, or style gather interesting facts about both artists and music. - As fans, absolutely nothing wrong ignoring artists, groups, or styles that do not interest us. -But as students of rock music, cannot simply ignore music we do not like. -must strive to be balanced as study rock s history and development, often forces to consider carefully music probably wouldn t choose to listen to otherwise. - If studying American history, wouldn t be acceptable to study only presidents who shared your political persuasion.

3 -When studying music, don t have to suspend sense of judgment, but do have to work to keep fan mentality at bay. The Ups and Downs of Chart Positions. -book make frequent reference to chart positions. -familiar w/ charts that rank hit songs and albums by popularity for given week, -best-known American charts appear in Billboard magazine. -help draw general conclusions about popularity of song or album at time it was released. -useful to compare how certain songs did on pop charts w/ how they fared on rhythm and blues, country charts, even British charts. -More importantly :this book charts help us avoid fan mentality keep us honest. -Among scholars, charts viewed w/ understandable suspicion -little is known about how they have been put together in the past, making them susceptible to manipulation. - charts not precision instruments to measure song or album s success or popularity, -do not accurately reflect popularity or influence of some songs or albums. -A record can chart well have little influence, or moderately well (or even poorly) have a lot of influence. - broad sense, still best instruments available to judge listeners changing tastes, even if measurements are flawed. -Ideally access to comprehensive radio playlists of various eras, or actual number of records sold of any song or album. - playlist data not plentiful, record companies often manipulate sales numbers (frequent complaint of artists - Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards gold records = sales of 500,000 units and platinum records = one million units, helpful measuring success of album or single. -RIAA website ( allows you to look up any hit record and track its award history. -Google Books provides access to extensive collection of Billboard magazines, allowing us to consider aspects of advertising and industry news at particular date. The Four Themes -following chapters take a three- to ten-year period of history, organize music along stylistic lines. -Some chapters cover same years from different angles. - For example, mid-1960s covered in three chapters: Ch 4, devoted to the British invasion; Ch5, discusses American response to it; Ch 6, focuses on black pop. -Each chapter raises set of interpretive issues providing insight into scholarly + critical debates -- -four important themes throughout the book: social, political, and cultural issues; race, class, gender; development of music business; and development of technology. -Each play an important role in development of rock music as musical style and force in popular culture. -music business changed dramatically since early 1950s, - realm of technology, rise of radio in the 1920s, emergence of TV after World War II central factors in rock s explosion into mainstream American culture in mid-1950s. -development of cable television facilitated introduction of MTV in early 1980s. -race, class, and gender essential to understanding origins of rock, -constant challenge of stereotypes in this music, ever present struggle for authenticity in form that blends down-home vernacular sensibilities with public adoration

4 and extreme wealth. Tracking the Popularity Arc. - studying rock s history and progress from 1950s through the 1990s may notice pattern of styles and their popularity. -many cases, a specific style will appear within a relatively restricted geographic region and remain unknown to most fans of popular music. -ex, few rock fans were aware of punk scene in New York during mid-1970s, -bands like: Television, the Ramones, and Blondie played to small, local audiences. -American punk style, morph into new wave by end of decade, developed within small subculture before breaking into national spotlight in early 1980s, some artists formerly associated w/ punk embraced styles and commercial strategies of rock mainstream; more die-hard, aggressive groups retreated back into the underground. -rise of punk from small, regional underground scene to mainstream pop culture, and subsequent retreat, follows pattern we might think of as a popularity arc. -stories of specific styles in rock music follow this template. -Typically, histories of rock music account for time each style spends in pop limelight peak of popularity arc creating a chronology without examining a style s pre- mainstream roots or existence after commercial boom years. -difficult to avoid such a historical account, similar problems arise in histories of other musical styles (ex jazz and classical music). -To keep popularity arc in mind for any given style, ask following questions: -How did the style arise? When did it peak in popularity? Does it still exist in a subculture somewhere? How are elements of this style incorporated into current mainstream pop? WHATTO LISTEN FOR IN ROCK -Listening Guides direct attention to individual songs that illustrate specific musical features of styles discussed. -While circumstances surrounding a style, band, or song may be interesting, way the music sounds is the element that attracts most listeners. -analysis of rock music can require a high level of specific music-analytical training. -Books, articles, and doctoral dissertations in past demonstrate many dimensions of rock s musical structure. -Listening Guides in this text help identify the structural features of rock music, w/ focus on musical form. -musical form refers to structure and organization of different sections in a song or piece. -Rock generally uses limited number of common formal types; - once familiar will notice most songs fit relatively neatly into one form or

5 another (with certain exceptions). -Understanding formal structure helps one hear new things in music itself and perceive similarities between musical styles that may otherwise seem very different. - basic formal types introduced below, along w/ short explanations of rhythm, instrumentation, and recording techniques. -Instrumentation, or types of instruments used in a given recording, drastically change way a song sounds, allow for variation within a performance. - familiarity w/ basic techniques used to record rock music also help one understand some i important differences between studio recordings, a bulk of repertoire discussed in the text, and live rock performances. - In addition to sounds of rock, also consider sights of rock with a special introduction to viewing rock in its multiple contexts Rocket 88. Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats 1951 Rocket Recorded in Memphis -produced by Sam Phillips (Elvis Presley s first producer), - Rocket 88 considered by many the first rock and roll song. -legally credited to Brenston, he may have written only the lyrics, lifted the music from earlier song Cadillac Boogie -(such borrowings are relatively common in early rock and roll). music - book provides formal diagram breaks song into sections, lists them according to timings. -timings simply give idea of where in song a specific section begins and ends. -Each section marked by snippet of lyrics or other description to help locate it. - Rocket 88 is in simple verse form. - repeats a single section of music eight times -each section is labeled either Verse or Instrumental Verse. -only exception is verse 2, slightly alters structure found in all other sections. -Simple verse form common in rock music -1st section, Instrumental Verse in diagram, note description 12 mm. is given. -indicates section is twelve measures in length -( mm. commonly used to abbreviate measures in musical writing). -Musicians commonly count beats in music in groups of four ( -though groups of two or three also found). - simply means you count one, two, three, four and continue counting one, two three, twelve four again rather than five, six, seven, eight. - Each group of four beats = a measure or bar -terms are synonymous, used interchangeably. Note : each verse and instrumental verse (except one) in Rocket 88 is measures (bars) in length. -might count it like this -mm.: beats: Verse 2 : exception - only eight measures in length; -seems to break early compared to twelve-measure pattern - likely a mistake: can hear the musicians scrambling to come back together as a band. -Despite irregularity of verse 2, if you count measures, watch the timings,should be able to follow the diagram as the song plays. - also useful to listen for instrumentation.

6 -particular track uses drums, electric guitar, acoustic piano, two saxophones, and lead vocals. -Typically, our attention darts from part to part in a song, usually when something new comes in to grab our interest.