History of Rock and Roll Notes Chapter 1

Introduction Introduction: Studying Rock • i. Rock music has a history of controversy and a rebellious image. • ii. Despite this image, historians point to the importance of rock in the development of Western music. • iii. Some scholars use the term rock and roll to describe the first wave of that music from 1954 to 1959, while rock is used to describe popular music from after 1964; this book will use rock broadly to describe popular music for a youth audience. • iv. This book treats rock in an inclusive manner rather than definitively resolving questions of which artists and styles can be considered rock. • I. Elements to Consider ◦ i. Rock History in the Media ▪ a. Though the media catering to general interest readers can provide useful information, a scholarly approach to rock is different. ▪ b. This book will incorporate a wider range of artists than most media and provide reliable information, historical context, and informed debate. ◦ ▪ ◦ ▪ ◦ ▪ ii. I Know What I Like: The Fan Mentality+ a. As music fans, we tend to ignore artists we do not like; a more balanced approach is required of scholars. iii. The Ups and Downs of Chart Positions a. Charts such as those published in Billboard help us to obtain information about how popular a record was at the time of its release and listeners' tastes over time, but they do not definitively reflect a record's popularity, sales, or influence. iv. The Four Themes a. Four important themes are stressed throughout this book. ▪ 1. Social, political, and cultural issues ▪ 2. Issues of race, class, and gender ▪ 3. The development of the music business ▪ 4. The development of technology ▪ ◦ b. Each of these themes is an important part of rock's development both in music and in popular culture. v. Tracking the Popularity Arc ▪ a. Many rock music styles began in a restricted geographic area and/or subculture, and then spread to the commercial mainstream before retreating again; it is common to study a given style at its peak, but important to also research its early history and continuation. • II. What to Listen for In Rock ◦ i. "Rocket '88'" ▪ a. A formal diagram breaks a song into sections to show its form; Jackie Brenston's "Rocket ‛88'" is in simple verse form, and the diagram labels the verses. ▪ b. The abbreviation "mm." stands for measures; a measure is a group of beats (usually four in rock and roll, but can be two or three). ▪ c. Verse 2 is the only verse in "Rocket '88'" that is eight measures long instead of twelve. ▪ d. The song's instrumentation is: drums, electric guitar, acoustic piano, two saxophones, and lead vocals; it can be useful to listen to just one part at a time • III. Typical Formal Types in American Popular Music ◦ ◦ i. The 12-Bar Blues and the Doo-Wop Progression ▪ a. The 12-bar blues are a common structural pattern with a distinctive pattern of four-beat measures that fall into three groups of four; this pattern may repeat throughout the entire song. ▪ b. "Rocket '88'" uses a 12-bar blues structure. ▪ c. The 12-bar blues has a typical chord progression, which can be represented in a chart with roman numerals representing the chords. ▪ d. Another common structure in rock music is the doo-wop progression, a series of four chords that may repeat. ii. Simple Verse Form ▪ ◦ iii. AABA Form ▪ ◦ a. AABA form is typically a 32-bar scheme with four 8-bar phrases, and it may or may not also include a reprise; the first two phrases in this form are similar, the third contrasts, and the last is similar to the first two. iv. Simple Verse-Chorus ▪ ◦ a. A verse is a section with repeating music and nonrepeating lyrics; a song in simple verse form has only verses. a. A chorus is a section that repeats the same music and lyrics in each presentation; in simple verse-chorus form, the verses and choruses have the same music. v. Contrasting Verse-Chorus ▪ • a. In contrasting verse-chorus form, the verses and choruses use different music; this form may also have a contrasting, nonrepeated section called a bridge. IV. Who's Playing What: Instrumentation in Rock ◦ ◦ i. Beat It: Drums and Percussion ▪ a. The rhythm section lays a solid foundation for other members of the group; the drummer establishes tempo, meter, and the "feel" of the song using a set that typically consists of some or all of the following: snare drum, bass drum, tom-toms, high hat cymbals, ride cymbal, and/or crash cymbal. ▪ b. The drum set can be enhanced by other percussion instruments. ii. The Low Down: Electric Bass ▪ ◦ iii. Harmony in Motion: Rhythm Guitar and Keyboards ▪ ◦ a. One or more instrumental solos, where an instrumentalist is the main focus, often occurs after a song's midpoint. vi. Horns and Strings: Sweetening the Sound ▪ ◦ a. The singer focuses on the melody, and may perform solo or with backup harmony vocals. v. Steppin' Up: Instrumental Solos ▪ ◦ a. The rhythm guitarist, part of the rhythm section, provides the foundational harmony by playing full chords on either an electric or acoustic instrument; keyboard instruments may also fill this function. iv. In the Spotlight: Lead Singers and Backup Vocals ▪ ◦ a. As part of the rhythm section, the bass player locks in with the drummer and provides the bass notes of chord progressions on either an acoustic upright bass or a bass guitar. a. Horns and strings can be added to "sweeten" a track. vii. How It All Fits Together: "Smoke on the Water" a. Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" can be used to demonstrate how instrumentation works in a rock song. b. Analytical listening highlights how the separate elements of "Smoke on the Water" work together. • V. In the Studio: The Role of Recording Techniques in Rock Music i. Is It Live or Is It Memorex? a. There are two ways to approach a recording and what it represents. 1. The recording as an "audio snapshot," or faithful reproduction of a live performance 2. Exploitation of the possibilities offered by the recording studio, or the creation of music that would be difÏcult or impossible to achieve in live performance ii. Reverb and Echo a. Every physical space has specific acoustic properties. b. Reverb is artificially created ambiance, or room sound. c. An echo occurs when a sound bounces back to the listener to create two sonic impressions of the same event; this can be produced naturally or electronically in the studio. iii. River Deep, Mountain High: Equalization (EQ) a. Equalization, or EQ, is the process of adjusting the frequencies of sounds; EQ changes the timbre of the instruments and can highlight certain parts in a recording or keep them from covering each other up. iv. Every Breadth You Take: Stereo Placement a. Early records were in monophonic sound, or mono, meaning that it was assumed there was only one speaker for playback. b. In stereo recording, engineers can control whether a sound comes out of the left or right speaker, or both. v. Mixing a. A mixing board allows recording engineers to control the dimensions of recorded sound (ambience, EQ, stereo placement, and overall volume) and can be used to record sounds or to play them back; once all of the tracks are recorded, the engineer uses the mixing board or digital audio workstation to make adjustments and create the final version of a song. vi. PutÝng It All Together: "Josie" a. Steely Dan's recording of "Josie" illustrates many of the techniques described above. • VI. Viewing Rock i. Television, films, and music videos have helped musicians to reach audiences visually, and therefore images of rock are central to its development and role in culture; in the academic study of rock, it is informative to study the relationship between music and images. ii. Rock Television a. Until the 1980s, variety shows were a common vehicle for rock performances. b. Teen-oriented dance shows emerged in the 1950s and have remained popular in various forms through the 2000s. c. Musical artists have also starred in sitcoms from The Monkees in the 1960s to modern shows such as Glee iii. Rock Film a. Films have featured rock music performances since the mid 1950s, including early films showing rock fans as hoodlums, Elvis Presley's iconic performances, and "beach party" films in the 1960s. b. Rock films continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with bands like the Ramones and Kiss in starring roles; concept albums like the Who's Tommy were also sometimes made into dramatic films. c. Concert films, depicting or documenting performances, are another notable genre in the history of rock. iv. Music Videos a. Artists have used films to promote their work since the beginning of rock; short, promotional films for rock singles date back to at least the 1960s. v. Visual and Contextual Aspects of "Nowhere to Run" • a. Video footage for Martha and the Vandellas'"Nowhere to Run," shot in a Detroit automotive factory for a television special, provides an example of how to study the content and context of a video from a historical perspective. Class Notes Songwriting all about, variety, repetition, and contrast.            Rock and Roll (1954-1959) Rock (1964 -) Fan Mentality Bad Billboard Charts measure sales – measure’s popularity, not that it’s necessarily good. Themes o Social Economic Political/Gender, Race, Class o Money o Technology o Distribution of Music M = Measures/Bars Organizing Time: Beats and Bars o Each cycle of beats is one bar Simple Verse – No chorus, all versus based on the same music EX: Elvis’s Heartbreak Hotel Contrasting Verse – Chorus EX: California Girls Simple Verse-Chorus = Same music for verse and chorus. EX: “Louie Louie” Production o Audio Snapshot – Make it seem live as possible in the ears of the listener. EX: Satisfaction o The Studio as an instrument  Les Paul forerunner Chapter 1 The Nineteen Twenties, Thirties, and Forties • i. The 1920s, '30s, and '40s were shaped by the end of World War I, the stock market crash of 1929, and World War II. • ii. Following the horrors of World War I, the 1920s, dubbed the Jazz Age, were characterized by simultaneous fear and relief. • iii. The stock market crash of 1929 brought an end to the excitement and freedom of the decade and sent the economy into turmoil. • iv. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and promised Americans a "New Deal" to help them get back to work. • v. Just as the Depression was beginning to ease in the United States, Hitler came to power in Germany and World War II began; the United States joined the fighting after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. • vi. After World War I, a sense of optimism returned; more Americans attended college, and the birth rate increased. • I. Introduction ◦ i. Elvis Presley's appearance on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town in 1956 was controversial. ◦ ii. Elvis's appearance illustrates what conditions were in place that allowed rock and roll to develop and saturate American culture. ◦ iii. This chapter will examine the history and development of technologies and musical styles that helped rock and roll to emerge as it did. • II. Building a National Audience for Music and Entertainment ◦ i. National Versus Regional ▪ a. Until the advent of motion pictures and radio, most American culture was regional; people knew mainly the music they could perform themselves or hear performed in person. ▪ b. Radio technology, developed in the late-nineteenth century, was initially used for military and maritime communications; in the 1920s, commercial broadcasts began, and stations were linked into national networks. ▪ c. The programming of radio networks created a national audience for mainstream pop, whereas country and western and rhythm and blues were not widely heard on the radio and therefore remained regional styles. ◦ ▪ ii. The Rise of the Radio Networks in the 1920s (How Did They Work?) a. High-power transmitters were used by "clear channel" stations, which could reach large regions. ▪ b. Radio networks link stations together; early networks such as NBC's used phone lines. ▪ c. Prior to 1945, it was considered unethical to play recorded music on the air, and audiences expected that what they heard was being broadcast in real time. ▪ d. Network programming included soap operas, adventure shows, comedies, variety shows, and feeds from dance clubs. ◦ iii. The Migration of Big Corporate Money Away from Radio to Television ▪ a. In the 1940s, companies like the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) began to put their resources into television, as national audiences migrated from radio to television. ▪ b. Rock and roll was able to spread quickly because the national audience could be reached through television programs, whereas radio could once again be used to appeal to regional audiences. • III. Tin Pan Alley ◦ i. Sheet Music Publishers and Professional Songwriters ▪ a. The sheet music business, a second major influence on the mainstream popular music business, was concentrated in an area of New York City known as Tin Pan Alley. ▪ b. Tin Pan Alley songs follow a standard formal pattern, often a sectional verse-chorus format with an introductory verse and a chorus in AABA form. ▪ c. Tin Pan Alley advertising aimed at selling the song itself, not specific recordings of a song; publishing firms often marketed songs by convincing professionals or "pluggers" to perform them. ▪ d. Musical theater and movies were used to promote Tin Pan Alley songs, and radio was the best way to gain exposure. • IV. The Singer Steps Forward ◦ i. The Singers and the Big Bands ▪ a. Radio networks, performers, and music publishers relied on one another to succeed, leading to many behind-the-scenes negotiations. ▪ b. During the big band era, bands played arrangements of Tin Pan Alley songs that emphasized the instrumentalists and were suitable for dancing; singers were used to provide variety and were not the focus. ▪ c. Bing Crosby is an example of a pop singer who was successful independent of any particular band. ◦ ▪ ii. Frank Sinatra a. Sinatra started out performing with big bands; when he went solo, he made the singer, not the band, the star. ▪ ◦ b. Many former big band stars followed Sinatra's lead at the same time that economic circumstances forced a number of big bands to break up. iii. The Sound of Pop in the Early 1950s ▪ a. Mainstream pop music of the early 1950s was often characterized by wholesome lyrics and a focus on the singer. ▪ b. In the first half of the 1950s, pop music was designed to be acceptable to a wide range of listeners; but the sensual and emotional appeal of some singers foreshadowed rock and roll. ▪ c. Big publishing firms had considered rhythm and blues and country and western music to be of limited appeal, so they were caught off guard by the rise of these styles. • V. Regional Styles ◦ ▪ ◦ ▪ ▪ ◦ i. "Country" Music in the Southeast in the 1930s a. Country was mainly a regional style before 1945, found in the southeast and Appalachia; it can be traced to folk traditions, some of which originated in the British Isles. ii. "Western" Music in the Southwest and California in the 1930s a. Western music was defined in part by Hollywood portrayals of cowboys and prairie life. b. Western swing was a style that put a cowboy twist on big band music. iii. Jimmie Rodgers, the First Star of Country Music ▪ a. Rodgers was a national star and an important figure in early country music. ▪ b. Rodgers was known as "The Blue Yodeler" and "The Singing Brakeman," images based on rustic stereotypes that seem to have been contrived for marketing purposes. • VI. Recordings and Radio ◦ i. Superstation Radio Broadcasts in Prime Time ▪ a. At first, country and western radio programming was limited to local and regional stations; the Grand Ole Opry became more widely available when the station that carried it, WSM in Nashville, became a clear-channel station in 1932 and NBC began broadcasting a half-hour version over its network in 1939. ▪ b. National Barndance was a midwestern program that was carried on the NBC network in 1933; many other barn-dance shows reached regional radio audiences. ◦ ▪ ii. Country Music during World War II (War Buddies) a. During World War II, military personnel serving together overseas shared their records, which helped to disseminate country music. ◦ ▪ iii. Nashville Becomes Country and Western Headquarters a. After World War II, Nashville became a center for country music recording and publishing, due in part to the influential publishing firm Acuff-Rose. • VII. Hank Williams, Country Music Singer-Songwriter in the Big Business of Country and Western ◦ i. A Short Career That Cast a Long Shadow ▪ a. Hank Williams's popularity as a country and western musician was virtually unrivaled in the late 1940s and early 1950s. ▪ b. Williams had an emotional singing style that projected sincerity. • VIII. Bluegrass, the New, Old-Time Country Music ◦ i. Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys ▪ a. Bluegrass developed during the post–World War II era and can be traced to Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. Blue Moon of Kentucky. ▪ b. Bluegrass music showcases virtuosic instrumental soloing. ▪ c. By the early 1950s, country and western music was known nationally, although it remained separate from mainstream pop and had a smaller market share. • IX. Rural (Delta) and Urban Blues ◦ i. Migration Patterns from the Rural South to the Urban North ▪ a. In the years following World War II, rhythm and blues was popular music played by black musicians for black audiences; most white listeners had no familiarity with it. ▪ b. Blues music was popular after World War I; sheet music by W. C. Handy and recordings by black female singers such as Bessie Smith sold well. ▪ c. Rural blacks began to migrate to urban centers in the 1930s and 1940s, which helped to make the city of Memphis a center for black music; as blues musicians moved into urban venues, they formed combos featuring electric guitar, bass, piano, drums, and harmonica, a style of electric blues that came to be centered in Chicago by the 1950s. ▪ d. While most rhythm and blues remained outside the pop mainstream, Louis Jordan and his Tympani Five had a series of hit singles in a style known as jump blues. ◦ ▪ ii. Regional Radio and the Black Experience in 1950s America a. As radio adapted to the emergence of television, more commercial stations took a regional approach to programming; beginning in 1948, black stations began programming and advertising specifically to local black audiences. ◦ iii. Independent Labels Target Regional Audiences ▪ a. Independent record labels specializing in black music began to appear at the same time as black radio stations; independent labels thrived by focusing on local or regional markets. ▪ b. Between 1945 and 1955, nobody expected that white listeners would hear rhythm and blues; rhythm and blues was not a single musical style, but a designation given to a number of styles expected to have a black audience. • X. Rhythm and Blues as a Marketing Category that Includes a Broad Range of Musical Styles ◦ ▪ ◦ ▪ ◦ ▪ ◦ ▪ i. The Influence of Gospel Music (Rural Southern Church Traditions) a. Many rhythm and blues styles were indebted to gospel music, from which they drew sophisticated harmony singing, vocal embellishments, and call and response between soloist and chorus. ii. Chess Records and Chicago Electric Blues a. Chicago's electric blues scene developed in part due to an independent label called Chess, opened in 1947 by Phil and Leonard Chess, two white fans of black music; Chess recordings were known for rough-edged and emotional vocals and a technically unsophisticated recorded sound iii. Atlantic and Black Pop a. Atlantic Records, based in New York, attempted to bring rhythm and blues to a broader audience; Atlantic's recordings were influenced by mainstream pop and generally focused on the singer. iv. Doo-Wop (Urban Vocal Music) a. Doo-Wop emerged in urban neighborhoods, and it consisted of a cappella vocal arrangements that often contained nonsense syllables. • XI. Rhythm and Blues as a "Dangerous Influence" on American (White) Youth ◦ ▪ ◦ i. Stagger Lee and the Black Male Swagger a. White teenagers were increasingly drawn to rhythm and blues in the 1950s, which concerned some parents; the "Stagger Lee" myth was a racial stereotype of black men that underpinned some of these fears and misunderstandings. ii. Hokum Blues and Fun with Double Meanings ▪ a. "Hokum blues" were a musical tradition in black culture that played on sexual double entendres. ▪ b. Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" (1954) is an example of the hokum blues; when the song was covered by the all-white band Bill Haley and His Comets, the lyrics were adapted to be more acceptable to white audiences. ▪ c. Haley's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" also adapted the rhythmic feel to give more of an impression of good, clean fun. d. As with country and western, the market for rhythm and blues was distinct from the mainstream pop market, and the music business in 1955 remained segregated. Class Notes       Rock was a result of Pop, Country and Western, Rhythm and Blues – Marketing Catagories Pop o White Americans o Tin Pan Alley – home of sheet music publishing business and mainstream pop.  Had a theater type feel to the music.  Sheet music first – recording second o Singer not the focus in swing era, the focus was the band o Bing Crosby  Operated outside the big band system  368 singles – 38 #1  20 years in Hollywood  30 years in radio  Made the singer step into the light, band steps backwards o Frank Sinatra o No name singer in several swing bands, was influenced by Crosby Country/Western o Country = Appalachian areas and Western = West/cowboy mentality o Country - Carter Family (circle unbroken) , Roy Acuff, Jimmie Rodgers o Western – (Hollywood) Gene Autry, Roy Rogers o Western Swing = merged jazz, latino music and country (Bob Willis) o Nashville was the biggest hub for country and western music  Hank Williams started as a behind the scenes songwriter and then was given a shot. If he song about it, he probably lived it. (Mainstream Pop, Country, Western) R&B o African Americans – formerly called race music till 1940’s o Robert Johnson, Delta Blues 1930’s – poisoned by his lover or someone related to her. o R & B became more dancing music. (Louis Jordan) Became a community talking amongst itself operating outside of the mainstream. o The radio and later the TV brought R & B into white communities.  Worried about black men all they want are white women. o Big Joe Turner – “Shake Rattle and Roll” Bill Haley covered it and massively outsold it. 0 Radio Networks made it so types of music could go beyond there geographical areas. TV was invented – replaced the radio in the 1950’s – radio go back to being regional