Music 2II3 Final Exam Study Guide Suggested Readings/Listening List - Listening Section: 24-37, 39-44 - Readings: Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Interlude 2, Chapters 6, 7, 8, interlude 3, Chapter 9 (395 - end), Chapter 10 (423-432), Chapter 12 (497-510). - Topics from the Textbook: Top 40: More Hits More Often (210-211) Hot Pants Make You Sure of Yourself! (254-255) Atlantic, Stax, and Southern Soul (243-249) The Doors of Perception (262-263) Sgt. Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band (267-269) Live from Woodstock (300-301) The Rise of Disco / Disco and the Hippies (395-401) NOTE: There WILL be at least one question on this section The Roots of Punk in the United States / The Rise of Punk in the UK (423-432): NOTE: There WILL be at least one question on this section Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (497-499) DJ Kool Herc: The Man with the Master Plan (500-501) NOTE: There WILL be at least one question on the Hip Hop sections Topics: Aretha Franklin - The British Invasion Otis Redding Skiffle - Civil Rights Movement (mid to late 60s) - The Beatles Reafricanization of culture Important figures - Funk Early History and music James Brown (history and influences) - The British Blues Revival Reafricanization of music The Rolling Stones - Folk History and music Early History Influences Pete Seeger/The Weavers Important figures Impact of McCarthyism - Soul Music - Folk Revival Influences Bob Dylan Relationships to civil rights - Counter Culture Important centers of production The Beats - Motown Mid 60s revival Production model Importance of drugs and relation to Berry Gordy culture as a whole House band Grateful Dead Smokey Robinson Jefferson Airplane The Supremes Jimi Hendrix - Stax - Woodstock Production model - Altamont House band - Kent State Sam and Dave 1
` Lecture 1 What is "Popular Music?" - All music (because it is popular to someone) - Firm line drawn between popular music and art music (classical music) - Generally not considered to be folk music Folk music made by people for their own entertainment Folk music around since 1800's Made by people who do something else for a living (amateurs) - Popular music is music that is produced for money People trying to make a living out of it Because we have a market involved, we also need distribution methods - Important relationship with mass media (radio, television, records, cassettes, CDs, digital audio) This type of music is very interconnected with changes in technology - Often talking about changes in people's attitudes Issues of gender, technology, business, etc. - Music that we like reflects social values that are important to us Produces an audio "ideal world" for us The interaction of "African" and "European" cultures - This is the most important thing that has shaped the sound of popular music today A massive social experiment that started 400 years ago - Talking about a small area of Africa on the Western coast underneath the Saharan desert - This interaction made the birthplace of rock and roll When does the history of Popular Music in the West begin? - 1619 is when rock and roll had its roots 1619-1863 North American Slave Trade (250 years) - Treatment of slaves was different in North and South America (based on religion of slave owners) African retentions more obvious in South American music 4 European powers to dominate North, Central, and South America (Spain, France, Portugal, and England) Spain (Catholic) and Portugal (Catholic) controlled South and Central America France (Catholic) had a big part of North America, the Caribbean North America was in the hands of those of British decent (Protestant) Catholic nations let the slaves keep their culture and practice it while they weren't working New Orleans had Congo Square where the slaves could meet and practice their culture Protestants wanted to save the slaves' souls as well - Music in the Caribbean and South America sounds similar to that of West Africa North American music sounds completely different - "Old Alabama" (work song), 1947 Example of African American musical culture Example of what a lot of musicologists think you might have heard if you were listening to African slaves working This song is not sung by slaves because there were no slaves in 1947 (slavery ended in 1863) Recording technology not invented until 1877 with Thomas Edison's invention of the gramophone - Race relations are fundamental to understanding why popular music sounds the way it does African retentions in music - (1) interest in percussive and distorted timbres (quality of sound; how do you distinguish one singer from another, an acoustic guitar from an oboe, etc.) "Distortion" indicates an overload of intensity and emotion 2
Seen as showing commitment - (2) value in the ecstatic and the cathartic States where you get incredibly worked up Similar to raves (loss of control) - (3) rhythmic complexity syncopation Classical music is simple - (4) use of "riffs" (a small, self-contained piece of music that repeats, creating a larger composition) What is the difference between a riff and a motif? Motif is like Beethoven (changes in almost every conceivable way in the process of creating a piece of music) Riff stays the same ("Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin) Riffs used in pop music (usually in rap music, in the background) This is pop music showing its West African roots - (5) use of "call and response" Lecture 2 Work song - In practice, slavery continued until 1865 - Slaves had no possessions when they came to North America Made it so that they only had voices to make music Early music is all vocal (acapella) - In Catholic areas, slaves had access to drums - Pass time/set pace, coordinate work Songs and music for everything, not just for leisure as was the case in Europe - Song leader set the pace so that everyone is doing their work, without the slave master noticing that someone was sick Improvised songs - "floating pool of verse" - "Old Alabama" recorded by Alan Lomax Musicologist who realized rural societies were changing rapidly Song of chained convicts chopping down a tree with an axe Recorded previous slaves and chain/prison gangs singing all the songs they know Lecture 3 "Old Alabama" 1947 - Recorded by Alan Lomax (musicologist) - Song of chained convicts chopping down a tree with an axe - Recorded previous slaves and chain/prison gangs singing all the songs they know 4 3 3 4 3 3 4 4 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 a a b a a b a a b a a a b a a a b - Form chart: shows us how a piece of music is put together The numbers represent the number of bars/measures for each line of words Sub-grouped beats; the number of beats within each set varies Most common is sub-groups of 4; classical music has 3 (waltz) Each subset of 4 is called a bar or a measure The numbers tell us how many bars there are The lower case letters refer to the line of words Lower case letters always refer to text Upper case letters always refer to melody (note patterns) A verse is a larger self-contained unit in a song 3
The first "a" in the 2nd verse is different from the "a" in the 1st verse Said the same thing twice, but changed the number of bars (4a 3a) in the 1st verse - If this song was composed and performed by a professional musician, you would expect to see a repetition in the song (to get the hook in your brain) Nothing in this song repeats/indicates the title You would see 444 444 444 444 444 (aab for all) One of the hallmarks of professional music-making is standardization (basic forms are boiled down to a very clearly defined set of durations) In the 1st 2 verses, there are 3 bars for the 2nd a, but 4 bars for the 3rd verse; adds an extra "a" in the last 2 verses - These people lack self-consciousness in terms of people playing music and thinking consciously of right and wrong notes (makes them folk musicians) Spirituals/gospels - Work songs are secular - Spiritual/gospel is the religious songs Adoption of European hymns - Spiritual is like "Amazing Grace" - Gospel comes from post-civil war period "Lined hymn" - Call and response Priest would sing a song and have the congregation repeat it (outlining/lining out a hymn) - Use of body - clapping and stomping - Ecstatic outcry of participants during song - Distortion of vocal timbre "Oh Jonah" the Golden Jubilee Quartet - People point to post-slavery (1865, civil war end) - Spiritual ended after the civil war Gospel develops early in the post-war period after the emancipation proclamation - Series of colleges and universities open for blacks (ex. Fisk College) Organized touring singing groups to perform to help raise money Performing for whites (people with money), so they consciously re-grouped and applied more European music-making practices to shift spiritual to gospel - Start bringing in harmony and chords in gospel In spiritual/work song, they are following the same basic outlines Lecture 4 Post slavery: (1865- ) - Most slaves stayed where they were - Massive social change, but little cultural form change - New forms of music appear during late 1800s (1) ragtime Draws on things going on during African American culture, and European classical music Ex. "The Entertainer" Scott Joplin is most notable ragtime composer (2) jazz Used influence of white culture Clarinets, saxophones, bases, drum kit (mish-mash of black and white cultural approaches of playing percussion) (3) blues Country (rural) blues - Considered from 2 perspectives 4
(1) musical aesthetic Characteristics that define how your perform music (2) how you perform the songs Possible to perform any style of music in the style of blues - Country/rural blues Performed by wandering musicians (single man singing with an acoustic guitar) - Blues are a musical for and musical aesthetic Aesthetic characteristics - Plaintive vocal sound lament - Themes include: travel, economic, and love New themes in African American culture (post-slavery had some more rights) Musical form characteristics - Distinctive pattern that grows from work songs - 12 measure phrases - a-a-b lyric pattern "a" line covers 4 bars, then repeats for another 4 bars "b" line follows for the last 4 bars "a" line does not take up all 4 bars, the guitar comes in after Voice lasts about 2 bars, the 2nd 2 bars is where the call and response of the guitar follows - Floating pool of verse (still in the concept of early blues) - Call and response between guitar and voice - Associative coherence 2 simple lines that are put together to generate significant meaning Bars 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Chords I IV I V IV I Lyrics a a b Each represents a bar, with 4 beats 12 bars before repeating, 99% chance dealing with blues - Chromatic scale: 8 notes in an octave played in a scale Musicians have built chords on the various cords of the chromatic scale 1-8 notes 1 notes is a pitch, 2 notes is an interval, 3 or more notes is a chord Specifies chords (3 main ones: 1, 4, and 5) 1, 4, 1, 5, 4, 1 are chords played in blues Most influential music structure in Western music Blind Willie McTell - Country blues musician - Solo musician with an acoustic guitar Travelin' Blues, Blind Willie McTell (1927) - Songs begins with improvised spoken narrative Subject matter is economics (he s poor) and travel (looking for work in the country by getting on a train) - Some blues songs don't have 12 bars, because they lack that consciousness of professional musicians Helps that he's a solo musician (doesn t mess up the band if he improvises) Each "4" measure section is only 3 1/2 measures long Because he drops 2 beats at the end of the 4th bar, 8th bar, and 12th bar, the entire song is only 10 bars - Nasal tone - "Folk" music Doesn't think of himself as a professional 5
He is a professional musician because he earns most of his living through music His music demonstrates lack of self-consciousness - Song has "a, a, b" structure Lecture 5 Robert Johnson, (1911-1938) - The best known/most important country blues musician - Profoundly important for the history of rock music in the west - Source of whole generation of guitarists Most technically proficient guitar player anyone had heard Revolutionized what you could do with a guitar 1st figure discussed as a guitar hero Guitar becomes one of 2 defining instruments in Western popular music because of Robert Johnson - Only had 2 recording sessions (November, 1936 and June 1937) - Defined standards for blues guitar Sweet home Chicago, November 1936 - Even bar counts - Introduction and conclusion - Call and response - Demonstrates self-consciousness Intro Verse 1 Verse 2 Verse 3 Verse 4 Verse 5 Verse 6 Outro 2 12 12 12 12 12 12 2 - Intro and outro are new Thinking about how he's presenting the song This was not heard in folk music because they weren't thinking about it 10 years after Willie McTell, Robert Johnson demonstrates self consciousness Opportunities opening for African Americans to perform on a larger stage Higher levels of self-consciousness is what white people were used to - Dynamics Wonderful subtlety in changes in volume Folk musicians don't do this (don't think that objectively about their performance) - All 12 bars (typical blues structure) - The 2 verses in the way he plays guitar are identical Development of the Euro-American music industry - Important events for the "standardization of music" - 1453 - printing press Music was a printed medium in terms of exchange Helped standardize ideas - 1557 - Queen Mary - Stationer's Company - first copyright law Stealing ideas (intellectual property) at the time was legal Stationer's Company registered pamphlets and made sure that the writer was the only person who had the right to make copies - 1709 - the Statute of Anne The first time we see copyright law reorganized into something we recognize today - 1790 - First US copyright law The US copyright law is the model for the copyright law in the entertainment industry Still has no mention of music - 1831 - Amendments to the copyright law to cover sheet music Music included in copyright laws Tells us that by 1831, there were a lot of people making a living from writing songs 6
- Important influence of white culture is advances in business and technology Lecture 6 Minstrel show and parlour music Minstrel show - Variety show that depicted Africa-Americans in a negative light in mid-late 1800's Did not have any connection to their music, history, or their people Medium written by whites, for whites - Continued well into the 20th century - Minstrel show is in direct line with variety TV shows and vaudeville Vaudeville is forerunner of modern motion picture - Massive source of popular songs in the 1800's People would like the song at the show, go buy the sheet music, and play it at home - They had a band on stage Typically had acoustic guitar We know from blues culture that the acoustic guitar is important to black culture Had banjos, fiddle, triangle player, a tambourine (known as "tambo"), and playing sticks (called the "bones") - Racist depictions - 'coon' songs - often depicted the life of the slave as idealistic - Most important composer was Steven Foster Ex. "Massa's in de Cold, Cold Ground" (Steven Foster, 1852) Has nothing to do with black cultural singing Nothing like the blues - Characteristics Guitar accompaniment Tells you you're listening to a minstrel show Vocal control Parlour music - Industrial revolution lead to the rise of middle class Greatest economic engine in the history of humankind Luxury items - piano - a symbol of wealth - E.g. "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms", Thomas Moore (early 1800's) Parlour song - AABA form (melody, not lyrics) Intro Verse 1 Verse 2 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 A A B A A A B A - Theme of lyrics is endless love (similar to popular music lyrics) - Characteristics: Piano accompaniment (unlike minstrel songs which had guitar - biggest difference from a musical standpoint) Vocal control Themes: loyalty, honesty, control, restraint Stylistically similar to minstrel songs Both examples of 19th century white music-making practice - Demand for newly composed songs leads to the increased organization of the music industry Tin Pan Alley - Appeared at the end of the 1800's - Charles K. Harris, "After the Ball", 1892 Very similar to parlour song in terms of lyrics 7
Very similar to both parlour songs and minstrel songs musically Song became a fad and later a phenomenon Sheet music sells over 5,000,000 copies of sheet music First hit song in the history of the music industry The conditions were right for the making of a hit song - What were the appropriate conditions? Means to mass produce the product Copyright to protect intellectual property US makes amendments to copyright laws People can make a living selling ideas People more interested in buying songs Rural to urban shift in the US Hits are an urban phenomenon - Success of "After the Ball" gives birth to Tin Pan Alley (TPA) - Tin Pan Alley is term that refers to the place where sheet music is written and a musical aesthetic/style (a way of making music) Becomes center of professional music making During '20s and '30s 21,000 publishers, 36,000 composers - Division of labour (everybody does only 1 thing): composer, lyricists, publisher, publicity, performers Methodology that TPA used for song composition - Lyric style: Basic rhyme scheme Syllabic Idealized romance - beginning and ending of relationships - Music style: Easy to play Still in sheet music stage - Easy to sing - phrasing and range All within an octave No long winds (since amateur singers don't have breath control) - AABA musical form Not nearly as specific as blues (tells you chords, bars, lyric pattern, melody pattern) AABA is just a pattern of melody Typically A's and B's are the same length, but there are no rules - E.g. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (1939) music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg Has AABA structure B increases number of notes being sung (contrasting A) Lecture 7 Changes in technology - 1877 - Edison invents the phonograph - 1892-1912 - transition from cylinder to disks Cylinders could only survive 7 or 8 playbacks (very fragile) Disks were forerunners to vinyl LPs More fragile than LP and spun much faster - 1925 - industry standard speed set to 78 r.p.m. Before that, there was no standard and disks spun at different speeds - Purpose was to sell sheet music Gramophone would play music in department stores to encourage customers to buy sheet music - 1876 - the player piano 8
Had big advantage over records because it sounded better than any recording at the time (it s a live instrument) Gramophone could give you an infinite range of instruments, while player piano could only sound like a piano Sales grow until 1920 After 1920, sales dropped Half of all pianos made are players (1920) - New modes of "mechanical reproduction" not covered by existing copyright law ASCAP: American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers 1914 - Victor Herbert (founder) Performers is not in the term Goes around to places of business and makes sure that anyone who is using your music for commercial gain (especially if used through mechanical reproduction technologies) that you get some money for it Remains most important performing rights organization to this day What was recorded? - Sheet music/tpa Middle class white music is only recorded - Black music/rural southern white music not recorded because Cultural chauvinism Rural areas Don't deal with printed/sheet music Assumption that they don't know how to read - Record industry is born People going out and buying copies Lecture 8 Commercial radio: 1920 - January 1922-28 stations December 1922-570 stations - Stations quickly broken up into networks Controlled by only a few "networks" (CBS, NBC, Mutual) in New York Most of the music broadcasted was Tin Pan Alley - Very few independent radio stations exist Most radio stations affiliated with major networks Only a few had local broadcasting - Success of radio Expensive one-time purchase, unlimited content Sounded better than records All music performed live - Why buy records? Need to keep buying records Easily broken records Buy one record, get only one song Record industry concerned - needs to find new markets - Mamie Smith: "Crazy Blues" (1920) Little to do with blues, very much a TPA song She's a black singer (in 1920, you didn't record if you were black) One of the first serious recordings of a black artist that we know of First hit record by a black artist - Ralph Peer - Okeh Records 9
Let Mamie Smith record her song Tried to make records of the music radio was ignoring (rhythm and blues, country and western) - Market research in popular music Introduction of "Hillbilly" ("Carve that Possum", 1927) Emotional distance (control; white/european aesthetic) No matter what you were singing about, you still had a very calm, very level delivery in terms of the emotional content Solo is played as the melody of the song because the focus is the song, not the performer/performance Singer and soloists do the melody - Introduction of "Race" ("How Long Blues", 1927) Performed by popular duo of 1920s, Carr and Blackwell Not a 12 bar blues, 16 bar form Follows a lot of the same structural properties of 12 bar blues Has a lot of aesthetic elements of blues Carr and Blackwell perform what eventually became known as "urban blues" That distinguishes it from its forerunner, country blues Urban blues was country blues brought to the city for its first generation Using a new instrument of the city, not of the country (piano, instead of guitar) He's soloing, not playing chords Improvise single note line Urban blues with the introduction of piano now frees up the guitar from being an accompaniment instrument to a lead instrument - Nashville center of country and western music production due to radio barn show broadcast - Rock is a combination of country music and black culture Fusion can only happen if people can hear them Prior to 1920, most people didn't hear them Radio pushes the record industry into recording these kinds of music for the first time Lecture 9 ASCAP Boycott - During the 1930's, ASCAP repeatedly raises its licensing fee for radio - 450% increase in almost 10 years Can't play TPA songs unless radio stations pay - 1940: ASCAP doubles its fees (from the 450% increase) - ASCAP boycott: Jan.-Oct., 1941 Not all major networks, just a few 2 of the major networks are no longer legally allowed to play music that is licensed under ASCAP For 9 months, they played all the records that weren't licensed to ASCAP (race and hillbilly records) For the first time, black and rural white cultures get massive amounts of national exposure - BMI - Broadcast Music Incorporated Networks got together and formed this new licensing/performing rights company Didn't have to pay the blacks and rural whites, but to the radio networks' credit, they decided to pay them END OF TESTABLE MATERIAL FOR MIDTERM 1 Television - First demonstration in 1927 - First station on the air in 1935 By 1945-6 stations - By 1955-411 stations - Major networks move to TV TV all live since the technology to pre-record TV shows and play them back had not been developed yet Drop radio licenses, buy TV licenses 10
As radio licenses are dropped, they come up for sale Bought by people living in local areas of the radio station Radio stations no longer affiliated to major networks Transition of radio from being network-owned, to local-owned Black appeal music - 1948, couple of guys in Memphis Tennessee bought a radio station called WDIA When they took over, they played TPA Now locally-owned radio stations need local advertising Weren't getting advertising from local businesses This was because their music was catering to a white audience Majority of people who lived in the broadcast sphere of WDIA were black Changed format of radio station and started playing all black artists Becomes the first "Black Appeal" radio station - By 1954-200 Black Appeal radio stations on air By end of 1950's, there is nowhere in the US that you cannot pick up black artists on the radio Same thing happened with hillbilly music - Terms "race" and "hillbilly" dropped in 1948 These styles of music began making a lot of money Hillbilly - country and western Race - rhythm and blues - Extended adolescence after WWII The concept of youth culture emerges People manufacturing and directing items at this new in-between culture One of those items is the transistor radio - Transistor radio This is a small radio that was popular with teenagers Could privately listen to black appeal radio without parents hearing Influence of TPA still very strong Lecture 10 Gospel - Not the gospel that we talked about a couple of weeks ago Related, but not the same Ray Charles (Robinson) 1930-2004 - Born, Albany Georgia - Blind at age 7 Encountered a teacher who recognized his ability to play and create music - By teenage years, already recording a variety of styles Gospel, rhythm and blues, country and western - Most important for in terms of this course is the early 1950's - Ray appears with a new sound created by taking the music of his youth (gospel from church) Secularizes the lyrics Also changes level of intensity that was so much a part of the gospel practice - Tremendously successful with both blacks and whites First of what we would describe as a cross-over artist - "I Got a Woman", 1952 (Atlantic Records) Gospel song with changed lyrics Keeps energy and intensity Series of versus, no chorus Almost sounds like a blues chord progression, but then changes and extends to a 16 bar form Saxophone solo 11
In country and western, soloists repeat the melody to keep the focus on the song In this song, we get an improvised solo (doesn t follow the melody of the song) Keeps up the level of intensity that Ray has created with his voice Very rhythmic Interest is in the way he plays the melody (syncopation - rhythmic emphasis between the beats) Timbre - very energetic, has a rasp, distortion to it African retentions very prevalent in this solo Addressing adults in the lyrics ("woman") - Success with white audiences - heightened level of intensity Jump blues - Moves away somewhat from that 12 bar blues formal structure Some songs follow the old structure - Considered part of blues culture because it keeps a lot of stylistic elements The way you sing, approach instruments, etc. - Slightly more complicated musical structure that is coming from jazz - This is blues speeded up Where the "jump" part comes in "Jump" means dancing This is blues for dancing Louis Jordan, 1908-1973 - Jump blues artist - Rabbit foot minstrels where Louis Jordan got his start Started for, written by, and performed for whites (1800's) Minstrels don't disappear yet; still around in the early parts of 1900's As attitudes about race change, minstrel shows become a stage for black performers - Chick Webb Orchestra with Ella Fitzgerald Important big bands Louis is one of the featured vocalists Ella Fitzgerald one of the great vocalists of the past century Louis and Ella did not get along very well - Louis went off and started a small group called the Timpani 5 Became one of the great stars of black culture 1942-1951 - 51 hits Hit every 2 months - Great cross-over artist Popular with both blacks and whites - "Five Guys Named Moe", Louis Jordan and the Timpani 5 Not a blues form Chord changes from "I've Got Rhythm" song - Louis was a great entertainer - Popularity with white teenagers leads to moral panic Black music starts showing up on pop charts (crossing over) - Jazz moving towards bebop in this era Marked for jazz the highest level of intellectual complexity that (not only jazz) any music has every reached Very difficult to play Musicians lost interest in whether or not the audience liked it Louis Jordan addressing adult audiences in his lyrics Lecture 11 Cover versions: 1954-1956 12
- "white" versions of "black" records - What about copyright law? Need to give credit to the original song writers If you make any money, you need to send a percentage of that money to whoever holds the copyright on the song, unless it has come out of copyright (public domain) Your recording/version of the song cannot do anything that is said to "demean the value of the copyright" (i.e., no parodies) - TPA has been selling songs for decades (without particular versions of it) People aren't thinking about recordings that way yet Now we have a series of covers driven by racism - No one really talks about TPA anymore Things are fragmenting/diversifying Tastes are splitting because of independent radio stations - Songs altered in ways that show how the music industry viewed cultural values of black people - "Sh-Boom", The Chords (June 1954, Cat Records) Considered do-wop music style Genre that privileged vocal group singing Complicated background harmonies Released on an independent record label Intro A Interlude A B A Interlude Solo (A) A A out 3 8 4 8 8 8 8 16 8 8 Saxophone solo AABA song structure Hit on rhythm and blues chart Crosses over in July, becomes a hit on the pop charts - "Sh-Boom", The Crew Cuts (July 1954, Mercury Records) Major label recording From Toronto Intro A A B A Sh-bm (A) Sh-bm (A) B A Interlude A Tag 4 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 6 Sh-boom section is where the saxophone solo would have been Interlude is 7 bars deliberately for musical interest Tag is conclusion Repeat AABA pattern twice Drop the 4 bar interlude so that AABA is much clearer (not obscured) This is a big deal because for people who have grown up listening to TPA songs on the radio, this form is more familiar The Chords The Crew Cuts Form 1x through AABA, with interludes 2x through AABA, clearly stated Voice Distorted- use of lower octave in B Clean, no use of lower octave Intimacy vs. Distance Can hear singers breathing, making them seem closer (more intimate) Could be a perceived threat, physical intimacy, sensuality Baritone B part adds masculine sensuality Can't hear singers breathing, creates a distance No drop in voices when singing Not threatening 13
Label Openness Backbeat Solo Band Independent, less money, less access to high quality recording studio Harder to produce high frequency (better recording low frequency) Black culture more open about sexuality in double entendres Prominent (beats in a bar of 4 beats being played with more intensity than others to keep things interesting); West African cultural music stresses beats 2 and 4; increasingly popular in popular music by black culture; articulated by a drum kit (snare drum played on beats 2 and 4) Saxophone - distorted timbre, perceived sexual metaphor within white audiences, improvisation is an overload of energy/emotion, urban instrument that is associated with jazz and blues (black culture); jazz and drugs/immoral, abusive behaviour connected to black people Guitar, bass, drums; DIY culture (same people do everything; write songs, play songs, sing songs), no one in charge in a world like that/no established order Major label, state of the art studio, great acoustics Factor in sound quality Can reproduce high frequency sound better Not common, nervous about sexuality Minimized - stress on beats 1 and 3 (1 is the downbeat, 3 is the 2nd most important); has more forward motion; European background No solo - repeats of the song title, no longer have a moment of improvisation/outpouring of emotion, singing in harmony (carefully worked out, take away emotions and create advertising for the song, TPAstyle (focus on song), timpani played instead (found in symphony orchestra; not threatening), way it's played is like in cartoons (attracts younger audience) Studio orchestra (trumpets, trombones, etc.), more musicians suggests more expense/higher level of quality; not improvised playing (have sheet music in front of them), musical lines show division of labour (we have a bunch of guys in the studio each doing their jobs, those who wrote out the sheet music, producers, etc.); communicates an idea of control/order Lecture 12 - The Chords: #3 on R&B charts/#5 Pop charts #5 on a pop chart makes a lot of money Bigger audience White, middle-class listeners with money to spend - The Crew Cuts: no R&B/#1 Pop Did not cross over #1 for 9 weeks #1 song of the year (1954) - The cover version phenomenon only lasts 2 years Changes a lot of things - By 1956, the reprogramming has started Fear in 1954 still there, but diminished - Cover version phenomenon also made it to country and western music Hank Williams most covered artist - In 1956, we have a new generation of people making music 2 things about the new musicians that distinguishes them: (1) they are blending all the elements together (rhythm and blues, with country and western, with pop) to produce a new sound (2) taking this new sound and they are aiming it directly at teenagers 14
This style is called rock and roll White artists performing in black style: rock 'n' roll Many of the original rock n roll artists were black What makes them rock n roll artists instead of R&B is that they're taking R&B sound and shifting it over to the pop side Impossible to define Term attributed to Alan Freed (white disk jockey) Great love of rhythm and blues One of the most important promoters of black culture to white middle class Americans He didn't work for black appeal radio Was one of the few major label radio hosts that played R&B Moon dogs rock n roll house party (his radio show) One of the few DJs who refused to play the white cover versions Lecture 13 Bill Haley and the Comets - They were not a new group - Successful as a western swing group before rock and roll Blended style of country and western music with big band style Had a pedal steel, accordion in the band (instruments of western swing) - Noticed that black culture was gaining in popularity with white teenagers One of the first white artists to start experimenting with black sound - Rock Around the Clock (1954) Cover R&B song that came out a few years earlier Not a cover version phenomenon Bass is playing a walking bass line (heard in jazz, r&b) The drums are very prominent in this song Drummer is not playing a backbeat Playing jazz style with sharp articulations on the snare drum What is important is how loud the drums are Outpouring of energy in guitar solo Not playing melody of the song Distorted guitar tone (deliberate) Important element of black culture In terms of form, musically the song is a 12 bar blues Text heavy lyrics (a lot of words) - In 1955, we are now in the midst of the cover version phenomenon/moral panic No better document regarding moral panic than a film called "Blackboard Jungle" Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" was the theme song Sign of dangerous culture - When Bill Haley released Rock Around the Clock, he was already 29 years old Teenagers get much more excited about it when it's performed by other teenagers Elvis Presley (1935-1977) - Was a child when changes in radio stations happened (playing music other than TPA) - Tupelo, Mississippi Moved to Memphis, Tennessee Grew up in an area where he knew a lot of working class black families - Tuning in to pop, and country and western radio Polyglot: someone who is just veraciously taking in stuff that's around them and filing them away for later - 1953-18 years old 15
Goes to see Sam Phillips/Sun Records Independent record company; small operation (2 people worked there: Phillips and his assistant, Marion Keister) He was the guy who knew intuitively that he "if he could find a white man who sang like a black man, he could make a million dollars" Elvis recorded a song called "My Happiness" Song that had been made a hit by Elvis' favourite singer, Dean Martin (white, Las Vegas singer) Dean Martin was part of a group called the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra was also part of this group) - June, 1954 - Sam Philips brings Elvis into the recording studio with 2 of his favourite studio musicians (Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on bass) Philips doesn't call for a drummer because Elvis Presley is white White singers don't use drummers No original songs Elvis performing songs by artists he respected Not race-induced cover versions During a break, Elvis played a blues song Sam saw that it was like he was taking a country and western song, but singing it in the energy of a rhythm and blues singer - Touted as the "King of Rock and Roll" Over-statement He was just at the right place at the right time Conditions were right for rock and roll music - Elvis known on Beale Street Cool shopping district for black people in Tennessee Elvis bought his clothes from there - As far as we know, Elvis has never written an original song himself Early in his career, it was all covers Later on, professional songwriters made his song Lecture 14 "Blue Moon of Kentucky", country and western cover - Country and western song (late 1940's hit) Bill Monroe was the man who popularized the song - Soloist replays the melody - Country waltz (has 3 beats per bar) - Elvis recorded the song with Scotty Moore and Bill Black Made it sound like a pop song Changed the time signature This version had 4 beats per bar - Sang the same lyrics - Final recording was very different than his demo of the song Bill Black (bass) doing something called "slapping" on the double bass Get bass and drums in the same instrument Country musicians were using this workaround to get around cultural restrictions regarding use of drums in white music Scotty Moore (guitar) plays a solo without playing the melody again Shifting notes into timbre Black culture much more interested in distorted timbres Elvis drops half the lyrics out of the song 16
Lyrics have stopped carrying the meaning of the song (original song was about heartache, but Elvis version was not sad) Adding syllables to lyrics are called "vocables" (nonsense syllables) Help drive the song through rhythm and timbre Started to sing in a staccato, choppy style, then goes to flowy style (variation in articulation) Shifted song from word sense to sound sense (meaning of song is now constructed entirely in timbre and rhythm) Sound sense, interest in timbre, interest in articulation very much part of black culture "Good Rockin' Tonight", rhythm and blues cover - Elvis covered this during his session with Scotty Moore and Bill Black - Pulled the rhythm and blues song and pulled it to country and western style - Gave the song to Dewey Philips, a disc jockey on one of the local radio stations Country and western radio Main source of fans He got more received for any recording he ever played That first night, he played the song 15-20 times in a row Dewey Philips asked Elvis where he went to high school on the radio Elvis on Sun - Rockabilly, is the sound Elvis came up with Idea of blending black (rock) and white cultures (billy) Elvis known as the "hillbilly cat" Cat = black euphemism for someone who is cool - 1954-1955, Elvis records 12 songs 6 singles in total, 2 songs per record All of them were covers of artists that Elvis loved and respected Each single had a cover of a country and western song on one side, and a rhythm and blues song on the other side Sam doesn't release albums on Sun, just singles - Regional star by the end of 1955 Very well known in the area around Memphis Some success on territorial charts Area-specific popularity charts Track what is successful in the region Some national success on Country Charts by end of 1955 Every indication was the Elvis was about to become a national star Sam Philips got rid of Elvis as fast as he could because the worst thing that could happen to an independent record label is to have a major success (likely to become bankrupt) Philips sold his contract to a major record label - 1956 - Colonel Tom Parker (new manager) RCA bought Elvis' contract for $35,000 Parker was a master of business and promotion Makes Elvis a major star (through technology) - In that year, Elvis appears 11 times on national television At the time, there were only 3 channels 20-30 million viewers (minimum) Over 50 million tuning in when he's on television (in his peak) - By the end of 1956, everyone in the U.S. Know how Elvis Presley is Biggest celebrity on earth Lecture 15 Elvis Video 17
- Elvis was on the Texaco Star Theatre in 1956 Gyrated his hips 800,000 complaint letters in the week that followed National campaign followed to ban Elvis from appearing on TV again - 2 weeks later, Elvis was on the Steve Allen show Wears a suit Elvis' hits - May 1956, charts with a song called "Heartbreak Hotel" Hits number 1 on pop charts, country and western charts, and rhythm and blues charts Tops all 3 charts at the same time First time this has happened Another reason why the cover phenomenon started dying out - August-December 1956, "Hound Dog", "Don't Be Cruel", "Love Me Tender" All number 1 pop hits - "Hound Dog" Originally written and released in 1953 by Jerry Lieber Wrote songs for black singers Written for "Big Mama" Willie May Thornton (black singer) 12 bar blues (varies slightly - 13 bars, 11.5 bars) Lyric pattern is aab Number of bars varies slightly (some of the verse are 12 bars, others are 11.5, one is 13) Bass player misses a chord change ("mistake" in the recording) Guitar player improvises all the way through the song Jump blues (good for dancing) Lyrics about a woman who is being played (adult relationships) Not a rock and roll song Slow to mid-range tempo A lot of cover versions 1954, 3 cover versions Primarily country and western singers Not black/white cover version phenomenon (they just like the song) Las Vegas band covers Hound Dog without the dirty lyrics 1956, Elvis records his version of Hound Dog (based on the Las Vegas band's lyrics) 12 bars, every time Any hint of sexuality of the original is gone Lyrics are largely meaningless (nonsense lyrics) This version of Hound Dog is intended for white middle class teenagers to dance to Tempo is faster (for teenagers to dance to) Has a bit of call and response with the guitar (but it's not improvised - just worked out) Scotty Moore's second guitar solo has some improvisation with thrashing - getting into the danger zone morally (balanced by background vocals) Elements of rhythm and blues that are countered by elements that are reassuring to white ears - 1954-1959 - The Golden Age of Rock n Roll - 1956, Elvis has a full-time drummer DJ Fontana Scotty Moore (guitar), Bill Black (bass), DJ Fontana (drums) form that base for Elvis' band This is the sound that becomes rock and roll Carefully balanced combination of rhythm and blues, country and western, and pop Drums, bass, guitar, and piano Lecture 16 18
End of Elvis' Musical Integration - 1957, Elvis loses his country and western fans, followed by his R&B fans Elvis not charting R&B after 1957-1958, Elvis is drafted into the army For 2 years, Elvis went to Germany When he gets back, his career takes a different turn - 1960's - the movies Retires from live appearances altogether Does a series of films that give him opportunities to sing in the films Creates a bunch of gospel albums Hugely successful, but nothing really innovative - "The '68 Comeback Special" The highlight for most people was when Elvis came out in a black leather suit, sat down on the stage with Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana playing a box, and they play all the songs from the '50s All the hits from Sun and RCA Lasts 20 minutes Was supposed to revitalize his concert work, playing rock and roll stuff - Got a steady gig in Las Vegas For most of the 1970's, stayed in this situation Surrounded by a lot of people who did not have his welfare at heart Increasingly addicted to prescription drugs, unstable mentally - August 16, 1977 - Elvis died Chuck Berry - Guitar hero Guitar as important as vocals Basic, similar songs If you take out the guitar, the song doesn't work Timbre is important (both of his voice and of his guitar) - No covers Not widely known during the cover phenomenon\ Never had a successful cover of his work done ever When you were doing cover phenomenon covers, the first thing taken out was the electric guitar Nothing says black culture/rock and roll like the electric guitar (other than maybe the saxophone) - Born in St. Louis Unique in the Golden Age of Rock n Roll All of the other musicians come out of working class backgrounds One of the few early rock artists who was born middle class - Elvis seems to have been instinctive (not a lot of intellectualizing) Chuck Berry was completely conscious about his decision to be a rock and roll star He wanted to make a lot of money in his profession - His father was a contractor (did renovations) Did a lot of work in upper middle class and upper class white homes in St. Louis He realized that if you want to be rich, you need to be a hit with white people (that's where the money was) Would check the record collections in people's homes to see which black artists were popular with rich whites (Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, The Ink Spots) These artists have words in common (songs that often told a story) - Muddy Waters was his hero 19
Told Berry to go to Chicago to see the guys at Chess Records (important independent label - recorded primarily R&B) - Sounded like a white country player Did this to distinguish himself Very good at the country sound - "Ida Red" ("Maybelline") Cover of a country and western song Chess brothers realize that this is a hit Decided to change the lyrics to reduce royalties to the songwriters Changed "Ida Red" to "Maybelline" - Themes: Aimed deliberately at middle-class white teenagers Cars The ultimate symbol of freedom to a teenager Girls Women are objects in rock and roll No school Rock n roll - celebrating the music itself Lecture 17 Wrapping up the 1950s - Chuck Berry was arguably historically the more important - Maybelline, Chess Records (July 1955) Think about it in terms of blending of country and r&b Contrast and compare with Elvis. This was the eureka moment for him when he figured out what his sound was - Chuck berry pronounced his vowels like white country artists did Uses over pronunciation known as dick thong Described as the black guy who sounded like a white guy - 1958- releases one of his best known songs Johnny B. Goode #2 r&b charts, #8 Pop 12 bar blues with text-heavy narrative Compared to Hounddog, which didn't tell us much It does not follow the aab lyric pattern. White elements of Jonny b Goode Text heavy narrative Clear enunciation Groove is straight 8ths (1& 2&3&4&= straight 8ths) Also may use triplets(123,223,323,423,the four beats have been subdivided into three beats) Gap triplets (a triplet where there is a gap in one beat) is heard in black sounds, but not used here Country sound Black elements of Jonny b Goode Blues chord structure Added 6 th (boogie woogie) Plays the root of the chord (of the major scale 1 st and 5 th notes played, but when the 5 th is plated it is alternated with the 6 th note) Call and response between voice and guitar Guitar solo is structured on timbre and rhythm - Nat King Cole was a prominent influence for Chuck Berry Prompted him to sing sentimental songs with distinct diction 20
Songs of Muddy Waters impelled him to try a blues style Impact of Chuck Berry - When kids start learning how to play the guitar, you start with chuck berry songs - Beatles covered Chuck Berry Celebrated rock with his songs "Roll Over Beethoven" Lecture 18 Chuck Berry video - Chuck Berry uses the guitar in different ways than Elvis He "is" the electric guitar Gestures with it, waves it in the air, does the duck walk Becomes part of the showmanship of playing the electric guitar These gestures do 2 things: they demonstrate emotional investment, and demonstrates technical mastery - Chuck Berry is the model for the whole generation of 1960's guitarists The Great Extinction - Golden Age of Rock n Roll 1954 (Elvis starts recording) - 1958/1959 Elvis - March '58 - drafted to the army Chuck Berry - December '59 - arrested under the "Mann Act" Piece of legislation brought about several decades earlier that made sure that white women were never allowed to be sold to slavery or prostitution Chuck goes to jail for almost 3 years Done as a trendsetter in 1959 Period of the rise to prominence of rock and roll Jerry Lee Lewis - Very religious man Torn about his role as a rock and roll artist - Recorded at Sun records Philips was hoping to promote Lewis from the money he got for selling Elvis' contract - May 1958 - marriage to 13-year-old cousin becomes public His career tanked No longer considered an innovator Little Richard - Numerous R&B and rock and roll hits - One of the best songs to be covered during the cover version phenomenon "Tutti Frutti" covered by Pat Boone - Flamboyant lifestyle and showmanship Came out in makeup and wigs Came out dressed as the Queen of England once - Also deeply religious Felt strong disconnect between the 2 parts of his life Also bisexual Led to one of the most vicious cases of self-loathing October - '57 - quits rock n roll and enters Bible college Became a preacher Buddy Holly - Buddy Holly and his band "The Crickets" From Texas - Was becoming an immense star Had a number of big hits 21
Best known was a song called "Peggy Sue" Also "That'll be the Day" - See something here for the first time that will become commonplace: he played a solid-body electric guitar Technical innovation - On the verge of doing work in a wide number of fields (not just in rock and roll) - February 1959 - dies in a plane crash, along with Ritchie Valens (Mexican rockstar who had a hit with "La Bamba") and "The Big Bopper" (JP Richardson - another rockstar) The day the "music died" (reference from "American Pie") Major labels and rock n roll - Losing massive amount of shares - Don't understand rock and roll Doesn't go along with TPA No division of labour Rockstars write their own songs and play their own instruments - Major record labels didn't know what to do with rock and roll - During the Golden Age, only artist to secure a major record label contract was Elvis Presley (RCA) Elvis didn't write his own songs Elvis was a guitar "owner", not a guitar player He fit the way major labels could do business The "In-Between" years (1959-1963) - The end of the "Golden Age" of rock n roll, to the arrival of The Beatles (February, 1964) - Significant technological changes - Major labels try to reassert their control over rock and roll The return of TPA based musical production Attacked rock and roll through the moral panic over the possibility of integration Reaction against the perceived integration of youth Called rock's quality into question - Birth of rock and roll coincides with emergence of Civil Rights Movement May 1954, Brown vs. the Board of Education (no more segregation of schools) May 1954, Elvis starts recording with Sam Philips December 1955, Rosa Parks - Montgomery (Alabama) bus boycott (lasted for a year) Rosa Parks went to the same church where Martin Luther King Jr. Was the minister She was a seamstress who had a lot of white clients, so she would have gotten a lot of sympathy from them Freedom Riders/lunch counter sit-ins Point of the Civil Rights Movement was that you did not protest violently Break the law in the most peaceful way possible It was illegal for a white person to sit next to a black person while crossing the state line Would sit next to each other as they crossed the state line and go into white waiting rooms together Martin Luther King Jr. - non-violent protest Lecture 19 Major label retaliation - Major labels attempt to reassert control over popular music Put music making back into the hands of professionals (ASCAP) - 1954, music industry worth about $200 million Controlled primarily by major labels - 1959 (during the Golden Age), worth $600 million Tripled in growth 22