Chapter 5: Tin Pan Alley in the Era of Rock and Roll Brill Building Pop: A New Tin Pan Alley - Late 1950s/ early 1960s - Pop charts of late 1950s filled with teen idols (white + clean cut, appearance was important) - Pat Boone most successful teen idol of the 1950s (crooner) - His hits were clean versions of Little Richard (Tutti Fruitti, Long Tall Sally), and Fats Dominos (Aint that a Shame) - Boone had 38 top 40 hits - Paul Anka (Canadian composer/ performer), teen idol hit, sold over 100+mill records - There were many Philadelphia based teen idols as well - Eg Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian who were promoted for their appearances and were launched in the show American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark - Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller were the first to introduce strings on R and B records, wrote music for Elvis Preslet and Dxisie Cups, and incorporated humorous storytelling in songs - Brill Building- located in tin pan alley, a collection of new yorks best songwriters. They d come inside a little cubicle all day, and were locked inside it from 10-6 and had to write songs and pretend they were 13 year old school girls. This fueled girl groups, top 40 hits and teen idol. Rather than sheet music, the audio writers used audiotaped Demos - Brill building songwriters brought tin pan alley tradition to rock songwriting - Many white rock song artists emerged in the 1960s from Italian neighbourhoods in the new yorks-new jersey Philadelphia district. They played Italo-american rock - Eg. Dion and belmonts, franki valli (falsetto) and the four seasons, and bobby darin - Early 1960s saw more dancers than any other north American era (Eg the twist, the hucklebuck, the stroll, the watusi, the limbo, the loco-motion, the fly, the pony, the mashed potatoes, the monkey, the swim, the jerk, and the hitchhike) - The twist was the most popular one and lasted the longest. It was first sang by the isley brothers in 1962 then covered by the beatles Girl Groups, Phil Spector, and the Wall of Sound - 1958-1965, girl groups dominated (especially young black girls) - Sound was sweet, melodramatic, and mixed hooks and doo-wop harmonies - Eg. Chantels and shirelles - Most of these girl groups were associated with phil spector - Phil Spector was a producer and mostly known for his wall of sound production technique. He used echo chambers and filled the studio with musicians, running the previous records on the sound system. He did NOT use stereo or multitrack recordings - His self-inflicted downfall came in 1966 when his song River Deep, Mountain High by Tina Turner and Ike didn t do so well on the pop charts. He perceived this as failure and only emerged occasionally to work with John Lennon, the Beatles, and Leonard Cohen Surf Music
- Early 1960s, west coast phenomenon, instrumental and vocal, lasted until the british invansion in 1964, and fueled the myth of the good life in southern California - Music was harmonically simple and characterized by reverb-drenched guitar and rolling instrumentals - father of heavy metal - dick dale, he was a very talented guitarist, the best by far - Jan Berry and Dean Torrence and the Beach Boys wrote the history of vocal surf music - Jan Berry influenced Brian Wilson who later on led the beach boys - The Beach Boys were one of the only groups who wrote their own material at the time and challenged the popularity of the Beatles - The Beach Boys were inspired by the Four Freshman and Wilson was inspired by the wall of sound s production techniques - Brian Wilson produced the album Pet Sounds, but because it wasn t very popular, he quit tour, went back to the studio to work for 6 more months and created Good Vibrations. Then he started to produce the album Smile but his drug use accelerated and he ruined many of the tracks. The Beach Boys minus Wilson were not very successful SUMMARY - 1960s brought the era of rock and soul - Guitarist Dick Dale brought the emergence of surf music and the Beach Boys - Girl groups were big in the early 1960s - The Brick Brill Building, Spector s Wall of Sound, Lieber and Stoller, rise of white rock artists Chapter 11: R&B and the Rise of Rock and Roll R & B and the Rise of Rock and Roll - The main cultural force in the evolution of rock was African American music and rock s development replicated a pattern of cultural appropriation that begun with minstrelsy - The birth of rock was influenced by the political and social climate of the 1950s: economic prosperity, growth of suburbia, baby boom, cars, new music-listening technologies, and the Cold War and the civil rights movement - In 1948 two major record labels, RCA and Columbia engaged in a battle of the record speeds with RCA had a 45 rpm record for popular music and Columbia had a LP record for classical music and jazz - Television also expanded, by 1955, 2/3 of households had them in North America - In the beginning of 1949, Billboard magazine re-organized its hit-record charts into three categories: popular music, country and western, and rhythm and blues. The only African American singers featured on the charts were Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine but within a few years, white and blacks were both featured - Alan Freed opened the door to white acceptance of black music by refusing to play white cover versions of R and B, and he was one of the first people to refer to it as rock and roll - The Moondog Coronation Ball was the first rock concert ever, and was hosted by Alan Freed in 1952 in a hockey arena. He called himself Moondog - Freed s decline began in 1958 when one of his concerts resulted in violence and legal charges
- He was also indicted and convicted for accepting payloa (bribes to push certain records) from record companies. - American Hot Wax: Film in 1978 about Freed and his contributions to rock - Bill Haley was the first white artist to successfully adapt the r&b styles for a mass audience with his group, the Comets - Haley drew his music from black artists and his career began with a cover of Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston - His group name was first the Four Aces of Western Swing, then the Saddleman then Bill Haley and his Comets - His popularity declined in the late 1950s when Elvis and Little Richard came along as more dangerous and attractive. People associated rebellion with Haley when he was far from it Regional R&B/ Rock and Roll Styles -the three different regional music styles: new Orleans, Chicago, and Memphis New Orleans - The birthplace of jazz - Its distinctive piano-based sound showed in Fats Domino and Lloyd Price - Many of the records were produced in a recording studio built and produced by Cosimo Matassa - Fats Domino: one of the most successful rock artists of the 1950s, and one of the only black artists. He had a contract where the labels would pay him royalties per sale of song rather than a single flat fee- he was one of the few people who weren t exploited by the companies and he was one of the first black artists on national television and appeared in Alan Freeds shows - Little Richard: first self-styled King of Rock and Roll. He personified the wildness and danger of rock for white audiences and created the hit Tuitti Fruitti. Very homosexual, and one of the first rock artists to elaborately use costume and makeup. His band was the Upsetters. Chicago - Extensive immigration of African americans from the south= development in jazz and blues - This is where the formation of the Chicago blues came in, with the help of Muddy Waters (fun fact: the rolling stones took their name from a muddy waters tune) - Chess Records: chicago s seminal blues/ r&b label. Found by Leonard and Phil Chess who were Polish Jews that first created Aristocrats Records then changed the name to Chess. The worked with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley - Chuck Berry: rock s first electric guitar hero, and one of the most creative songwriters. His musical influences were R&B and country. He was a black performer who sounded white. Known for his duckwalk on stage. He was very successful in the late 1950s, but by 1960 he was arrested and imprisoned for 2 yrs for trumped-up morals charges - Bo Diddley: established the bo diddley beat which was similar to the two-three clave of Afro- Carrebean music, his band had a maraca player and a female electric guitarist Memphis - Central role in the development of jazz, blues, r and b, and rock throughout 20 th century - Sam Philips and his Sun Records Label: discovered Elvis and helped develop rockabilly music. He hit the jackpot in 1951 with the recording of Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston, and many call it the first rock and roll record (boogie rhythm an distorted guitar). At first he only recorded black artists due to his childhood in Alabama, but later on he was looking for a white artist with a black voice and along came elvis. - Elvis Presley: first enduring national star of rock and roll, he was the first artist to combine r and b, blues, country and gospel. His early music influences were from the church (black gospel) and radio. 1953 elvis stopped in Memphis at Sam Philipps recording studio to make a record for his
mothers bday and was later on called to come back and record some more.elvis fame ended in 1958 when he was drafted into the military for two years and devoted his energy to making movies when he came back in 1960 - Carl Perkins: established rockabilly with his hit Blue Suede Shoes (1956) which was the first rockabilly record to sell 1mill copies and one of the first 3-way crossover hits (on the country and western, r and b, and pop chars). After a car accident, he just became a sideman with Johnny Cash - Jerry Lee Lewis: flamboyant and outrageous. His career took a hit in the late 1950s when the media released that he married his 13 yr old second cousin. - Texan Roy Orbison: started out as a Sun rockabilly artist but became more popular after leaving it and starting singing ballads with a quavering tenor voice and twanging guitar. The Caruso of rock and roll. Fifties Rock After Elvis - Second wave of rock artists appeared in 1957 bringing well-crafted tunes, emotional lyrics, and soaring vocals - Buddy Holly: texas born singer/songwriter. Combined country sweetness with rock edge. His band was the Crickets and they established the classic rockband instrumental lineup. In 1958 he was killed in a plane crash - The Everly Brothers: popular vocal duo of the 1950s, tight country harmonious, they were displaced by the british invasion in the 1960s. - Ritchie Valens: first Chicano rock star - Rompin Ronnie Hawkins: his band was the Hawks, he immigrated to Canada and lived in Ontario then replaced all his rockband members with Canadians. He had a raucous/wild/loud blues-inspired style End of an Era - End of the 1950s, artists were lost by death, conscription (recruitment in military), imprisonment, ostracism (isolation), or religious conversion - In 1959, the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper signified the day the music died as sang by Don Mclean in American Pie - Major record labels and music publishers wanted to regain their dominance and the congress began to probe payola. ASCAP was threatened by BMI which represented many r and b, rock, and country songwriters - This resulted in the sanitized poprock sound of teen idols. The late 1950s are known was the Death of rock and roll, but that s an overstatement Chapter Summary: - Racist backlash followed once r&b radio stations (alan freed) made black music accessible to white teenagers - Three major urban areas: new Orleans (jazz), Chicago (urban blues), and Memphis (rockabilly) - Second wave of late 1950s rock innovators - Rock and roll presented a threat to music establishment
Chapter 18: The Folk Music Revival and the Birth of Folk-Rock Roots of North American Folk Music - Late 1950s and early 1960s, rock emanated from folk music and the period was marked as folk revival - Song collecting: originated in 18 th century England with british poet Thomas Percy - Don Messer was a popularize of Canadian folk music. He formed Don Messer and His Islanders in 1939 and was seen on CBC radio and television and became a popular musical variety show in Canada - The Child Collection: old ballads and songs - Cecil Sharp: British composer who collected hundreds of folkd songs in the Appachalachian mountains to produce English Foil Songs for the Southern Appalachians in 1917 - John Lomax and his son Alan were two of the 20 th centuries most impostant song collectors. For vernacular music. John collected cowboy and western songs and created the Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads in 1910. They also produced a collection called American Ballads and Folksongs. - Leadbelly was a 20 th version of a African American songwriter. He was encountered by the Lomaxes in the Louisiana State Penitentiary sercing a life sentence for murder, but the Lomaxes secured his release from prison and Leadbelly spent his life working for the Lomaxes. Revival Originals: Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger - Woody Guthrie: he was best known for composing gthe folk anthem this land is your land. He was on his own at age 16 due to family tragedies, and he headed west to California from Oklahoma due to the 1935 dust storms. Then he moved to new york and ran into the lomaxes. In early 1950s he suffered from degenerative health problems, and then died in 1967. - Peete Seeger: he had a collection of folk songs and his compositions are folk standards. His parents worked with the Lomaxes, then he began to work with them after dropping out of Harvard. Seeger founded the Almanac Singers, a political folk song ensemble, who popularized the term hootenanny (large gatherings of folk musicians). He then formed the Weavers in 1948. He then started paying visits to Camp Naivelt, a Jewish socialist vacation community, and inspired the band the Travellers to form and sing about the camp and sing about protest/strikes in 1953. - Through the 1960s and 1970s, Mariposa was one of canada s signature music festivals. It was shut down in 1979 and 1980 and returned to Orillia in 2000 - Mid 1950s: growth of quebec nationalism. Boites a Chanson were performing rooms that could sit 50-100 people. The greatest chansonnier of the period was Felix Leclerc. He was credited for reviving the chanson tradition in France. The Folk Revival Gets Under Way - Calypso- a lively, syncopated song style with roots in Trinidad and Jamaica introduced by Harry Belafonte - New Lost City Ramblers introduced old-time country and string band music in the 1920s and 1930s
- Folk-based protest music became a central component at marches and rallies in the early 1960s due to the civil rights movement Dylan and his Disciples - Bob Dylan: influenced by Woody Guthrie and a huge fan of 1950s rock. - In the civil rights movement in 1963, folk reached its peak. Dylans songs influenced the triod of Peter, Paul and Mary to become one of the most popular folk groups of the 1960s. - Joan Baez: had a passion for folk music and a commitment to social causes. She was a promising young star of folk music. She toured with Dylan. - In the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, Dylan took the stage with an electric guitar and performed a condensed set of two amplified songs but the audience booed loudly and Seeger and Lomax had to be restrained from pulling the plug backstage. He tried to switch into rock. - He opened the door to folk-rock - He ended the 1970s with an announcement that he d become a new-born Christian