Sunday, November 29, 2015
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 11 & 12
Chapters 11 & 12
This weeks reading come from chapters 11 and 12. The 1970’s saw a turning inward of American culture. Americans also became weary of the war in Vietnam. This would cause a more conservative turn from the hippie dress and slang that was a major part of American. Music has begun to enter the cultural mainstream with radio, television and movies. The national would also embrace the nostalgia of the 1950’s with Grease and American Graffiti in the movie theaters and Happy Days playing on television.
During the 1970’s the music industry changed into six corporations that made up for 80 percent of record sales. With this success there came a risk as few artist were selling millions of records the record companies depended on the success of theses artist. Many FM stations were also moving from the top 40 formats seen on the AM stations to an album-oriented rock program. In the 70’s radios would also gain the first oldies stations playing the hit of the 50’s and 60’s.
In 1974, the Grand Ole Opry would move into a state of the art facility. That would not be the only change in country music. Artist starred in their own shows The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, the Johnny Cash Show, and Hee-Haw entertained viewers around the country. The country also had crossover success into the pop charts with John Denver, Glen Campbell, and C.W. McCall. The country also introduced Dolly Parton and Olivia Newton-John both had major success on both country and pop charts.
Pop and soft rock were designed to appeal to widest possible demographic. This included musicians Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Still and Nash, the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and Santana would all fall in the category of rock.
British rock bands break world records with live performances. This caused other bands to spring up in the early 1970’s. Styx, Journey, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, and Rush tailored their performances to live stages. Tommy the rock opera by the Who became a success due to the work being unified and thematic. Some rock bands would take months to work on these albums. Good headphones and high-fidelity systems could also place the listener into the middle of theses new unified albums.
Some rock albums used fiction to get their message to the listener. This was the case with David Bowies, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Bowie made said, “I packaged a totally credible plastic rock star”. This coincided with his tour, which was a theatrical tour de force. There were other stars that didn’t not have a common theme through their albums. Joni Mitchell wrote songs about the complexity of love. The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd brought time, work, money, war and a fear of death into their music. Pink Floyd is still a popular group with listeners today.
Marvin Gaye took the emotions of Vietnam War and put that powerful feeling in his album What’s Going On. Even though this album was political it was a commercial success even though Berry Gordy did not see this in the album. Art rock became Emerson, Lake and Palmers success with the live album Pictures at Exhibition. This piece contained structural elements from the composer Modest Musorgsky. The Rolling Stones recorded their best album Exile on Main Street in 1972. It would be recorded in Keith Richards home and the band member use of drugs and alcohol was so intense that they wondered how the album got made.
The Allman Brothers band would represent the southern rock sound. They would combine southern folk music, with African American traditions to make their sound. This paved the way for the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Charlie Daniels Band. In expressing pride, many southern rock bands, intentionally or unintentionally, presented a view of how the south was, this was insensitive to African-American history and at worst racist.
Jazz-rock was collaborations between rock and jazz. Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago were a combination of the harmony and complexity of improvisations. Miles David also released Bitches Brew in 1970 and served as inspiration for many Jazz –rock artist. Chicago would hone its music at the Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angles. 25 or 6 to 4 was the highest chart topper for Chicago.
The disco era was from 1975 – 1980 and represented a popular alternative to rock. This era was also against the idea of album record or art records. The records that disco artist created were for the dance floor. This era also had a major effect on performing musicians, as more clubs would use DJ’s over live musicians. Disco can largely that its success to the film Saturday Night Fever. The films album had many popular songs from the soundtrack including Staying Alive and Night Fever. Rick Dees scored a major hit with the goofy song Disco Duck. Disco was unpopular with some people linking its unpopularity with a dislike of the gay culture. The initial rejection of disco by many rock fans many have had as much to do with racism as with homophobia.
Progressive country got it inspiration from honky-tonk and rockabilly amalgam of Bakersfield country music. Artist Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall and Townes Van Zandt were not polished singers but would become popular musicians. Willie Nelson came to fame in the mid-1970’s with his group called the Outlaws. Willies album the Red-headed Stranger sold two million copies in 1975.
Reggae mixed Caribbean Folk Music with American rhythms and blues. Jimmy Cliff became popular in the United States in 1973 with the release of The Harder The Come. Dance bands would replace the roots of reggae music called mento in the 40’s and 50’s. The Rastafarian movement gave reggae more notice. The heart of reggae music consists of “riddims”, interlocking rhythmic patterns that are performed by guitar, bass, and Drums. Bob Marley is reggae most well-known musician with his song Stir it Up. He is also known for the cover I Shot the Sheriff by Eric Clapton.
The rise of salsa music also appeared during the 1970’s it was intense, passionate, and rhythmic flow made it popular dance music. In 1973, Tito Puente packed Yankee Stadium with fans that wanted to hear salsa music. Eddie Palmieri and Willie Colon brought a new style to salsa from Puerto Rico. Pedro Navaja became a popular with Palmieri and Colon’s audiences.
Punk Rock and new wave music would bring rebellion back to rock. Punk rock was a cultural style and was a rejection of middle-class values. This was seen in the Ramones 1978 recording “I’m Against it”. Punk music was stripped-down and often non-purposeful version of rock. One the predecessors or punk was the garage band. The New York Dolls formed in 1971 and wore glam clothing that was refined by gender-bending David Bowie. The Sex Pistols and the Clash became a blueprint for hardcore bands in Los Angles. The Talking heads formed in 1974 with David Byrne and broken into the top 100 on the billboard charts. Even though the talking heads were popular they never achieved a number one hit.
Funk music was based on the impulse to dance. Funk groups Kool and The Gang and the Ohio Players scored number one hits during the 1970’s. James Brown was the inspiration for many of the funk musicians. Sly and the Family Stone recorded a series of albums and singles that topped the pop and soul charts. Their biggest hit was in 1971 with Family Affair. George Clinton took on racial and musical stereotypes with his reconfiguration of black popular music as a positive moral force. Give Up the Funk was Parliament’s biggest crossover hit from the LP Mothership Connection.
Rap has been transformed from a local phenomenon based in a few neighborhoods in New York City to a multimillion-dollar industry. Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa would begin their careers as DJ’s spinning for neighborhood block parties. The disco DJ’s technique of mixing with a smooth transition with two records would mastered by Kool Herc known as the back spin. Raps or toast would be verbal performance based on trickster talks of West Africa. In 1979, hip-hop no longer would be a local phenomenon. Rappers Delight recorded by the Sugar Hill Gang ushered the age of hip-hop into American homes.
This weeks reading come from chapters 11 and 12. The 1970’s saw a turning inward of American culture. Americans also became weary of the war in Vietnam. This would cause a more conservative turn from the hippie dress and slang that was a major part of American. Music has begun to enter the cultural mainstream with radio, television and movies. The national would also embrace the nostalgia of the 1950’s with Grease and American Graffiti in the movie theaters and Happy Days playing on television.
During the 1970’s the music industry changed into six corporations that made up for 80 percent of record sales. With this success there came a risk as few artist were selling millions of records the record companies depended on the success of theses artist. Many FM stations were also moving from the top 40 formats seen on the AM stations to an album-oriented rock program. In the 70’s radios would also gain the first oldies stations playing the hit of the 50’s and 60’s.
In 1974, the Grand Ole Opry would move into a state of the art facility. That would not be the only change in country music. Artist starred in their own shows The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, the Johnny Cash Show, and Hee-Haw entertained viewers around the country. The country also had crossover success into the pop charts with John Denver, Glen Campbell, and C.W. McCall. The country also introduced Dolly Parton and Olivia Newton-John both had major success on both country and pop charts.
Pop and soft rock were designed to appeal to widest possible demographic. This included musicians Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Still and Nash, the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and Santana would all fall in the category of rock.
British rock bands break world records with live performances. This caused other bands to spring up in the early 1970’s. Styx, Journey, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, and Rush tailored their performances to live stages. Tommy the rock opera by the Who became a success due to the work being unified and thematic. Some rock bands would take months to work on these albums. Good headphones and high-fidelity systems could also place the listener into the middle of theses new unified albums.
Some rock albums used fiction to get their message to the listener. This was the case with David Bowies, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Bowie made said, “I packaged a totally credible plastic rock star”. This coincided with his tour, which was a theatrical tour de force. There were other stars that didn’t not have a common theme through their albums. Joni Mitchell wrote songs about the complexity of love. The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd brought time, work, money, war and a fear of death into their music. Pink Floyd is still a popular group with listeners today.
Marvin Gaye took the emotions of Vietnam War and put that powerful feeling in his album What’s Going On. Even though this album was political it was a commercial success even though Berry Gordy did not see this in the album. Art rock became Emerson, Lake and Palmers success with the live album Pictures at Exhibition. This piece contained structural elements from the composer Modest Musorgsky. The Rolling Stones recorded their best album Exile on Main Street in 1972. It would be recorded in Keith Richards home and the band member use of drugs and alcohol was so intense that they wondered how the album got made.
The Allman Brothers band would represent the southern rock sound. They would combine southern folk music, with African American traditions to make their sound. This paved the way for the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Charlie Daniels Band. In expressing pride, many southern rock bands, intentionally or unintentionally, presented a view of how the south was, this was insensitive to African-American history and at worst racist.
Jazz-rock was collaborations between rock and jazz. Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago were a combination of the harmony and complexity of improvisations. Miles David also released Bitches Brew in 1970 and served as inspiration for many Jazz –rock artist. Chicago would hone its music at the Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angles. 25 or 6 to 4 was the highest chart topper for Chicago.
The disco era was from 1975 – 1980 and represented a popular alternative to rock. This era was also against the idea of album record or art records. The records that disco artist created were for the dance floor. This era also had a major effect on performing musicians, as more clubs would use DJ’s over live musicians. Disco can largely that its success to the film Saturday Night Fever. The films album had many popular songs from the soundtrack including Staying Alive and Night Fever. Rick Dees scored a major hit with the goofy song Disco Duck. Disco was unpopular with some people linking its unpopularity with a dislike of the gay culture. The initial rejection of disco by many rock fans many have had as much to do with racism as with homophobia.
Progressive country got it inspiration from honky-tonk and rockabilly amalgam of Bakersfield country music. Artist Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall and Townes Van Zandt were not polished singers but would become popular musicians. Willie Nelson came to fame in the mid-1970’s with his group called the Outlaws. Willies album the Red-headed Stranger sold two million copies in 1975.
Reggae mixed Caribbean Folk Music with American rhythms and blues. Jimmy Cliff became popular in the United States in 1973 with the release of The Harder The Come. Dance bands would replace the roots of reggae music called mento in the 40’s and 50’s. The Rastafarian movement gave reggae more notice. The heart of reggae music consists of “riddims”, interlocking rhythmic patterns that are performed by guitar, bass, and Drums. Bob Marley is reggae most well-known musician with his song Stir it Up. He is also known for the cover I Shot the Sheriff by Eric Clapton.
The rise of salsa music also appeared during the 1970’s it was intense, passionate, and rhythmic flow made it popular dance music. In 1973, Tito Puente packed Yankee Stadium with fans that wanted to hear salsa music. Eddie Palmieri and Willie Colon brought a new style to salsa from Puerto Rico. Pedro Navaja became a popular with Palmieri and Colon’s audiences.
Punk Rock and new wave music would bring rebellion back to rock. Punk rock was a cultural style and was a rejection of middle-class values. This was seen in the Ramones 1978 recording “I’m Against it”. Punk music was stripped-down and often non-purposeful version of rock. One the predecessors or punk was the garage band. The New York Dolls formed in 1971 and wore glam clothing that was refined by gender-bending David Bowie. The Sex Pistols and the Clash became a blueprint for hardcore bands in Los Angles. The Talking heads formed in 1974 with David Byrne and broken into the top 100 on the billboard charts. Even though the talking heads were popular they never achieved a number one hit.
Funk music was based on the impulse to dance. Funk groups Kool and The Gang and the Ohio Players scored number one hits during the 1970’s. James Brown was the inspiration for many of the funk musicians. Sly and the Family Stone recorded a series of albums and singles that topped the pop and soul charts. Their biggest hit was in 1971 with Family Affair. George Clinton took on racial and musical stereotypes with his reconfiguration of black popular music as a positive moral force. Give Up the Funk was Parliament’s biggest crossover hit from the LP Mothership Connection.
Rap has been transformed from a local phenomenon based in a few neighborhoods in New York City to a multimillion-dollar industry. Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa would begin their careers as DJ’s spinning for neighborhood block parties. The disco DJ’s technique of mixing with a smooth transition with two records would mastered by Kool Herc known as the back spin. Raps or toast would be verbal performance based on trickster talks of West Africa. In 1979, hip-hop no longer would be a local phenomenon. Rappers Delight recorded by the Sugar Hill Gang ushered the age of hip-hop into American homes.
Coat of Many Colors
I Honestly Love You
Homeward Bound
Frank Zappa at the Roxy Theater
Kansas
Waiting For the Bus/ Jesus Just Left Chicago
Help Me
Dark Side of the Moon
What's Going On
Ramblin Man
I Love you more than you will ever know
Staying Alive
Disco Duck
Red Headed Stranger
Tito Puente's Golden Latin Jazz All Stars
The KKK Took my Baby Away
Talking Heads 77
Fire
We Want the Funk
The Message
Rappers Delight
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 9 & 10
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 9 & 10
The 1960’s would be a violent decade that was seen as disruptive and controversial. Baby boomers had a vital role in the political and cultural events in the 60’s. During their time, Rock ‘N’ Roll developed into rock. The decade started with the cowboy ballad El Paso by Marty Robbins this showed a slight pull to country music during this decade.
Dances that were a part of songs written about them became very popular. The Twist was written by Hank Ballad using a twelve bar blues. This did not become a hit for his group, but it became a major hit for Chubby Checker. The twist was not the free-form dance but signaled a change in the popular dance movement. There were other dances that were popularized by song the pony, the mashed potatoes, the monkey, and countless other dances developed. Theses dances appeared on American Bandstand and other programs that brought the music of the 1960’s and the dances that accompanied the music into American homes. Rock ‘N’ Roll music became the music of the liberated. This could be seen in the go-go dancers of the 60’s.
Songwriters also emerged during Carol King wrote The Loco-motion for her baby sitter, Little Eva. Phil Spector would have a hit with his song To Know Him is to Love him. Spector became more known for his music business and how he shaped the sounds of records that audiences came to enjoy. Part of the characteristic of his music was the “wall of sound” these records became known as teen-age symphonies. One of his groups The Drifters sang Save the Last Dance and Up on the Roof that became chart-toppers.
Berry Gordy Jr. became known for his songwriting/producing and marketing organization. Overall he became know for creating Motown-based in Detroit. Even through Motown had some of the great black musicians Gordy did not make music for only black listeners. He would be unapologetic in his goal of making the music available to all listeners. The Supremes and The Temptations became better known than the Crystals or the Ronettes. Motown artist would also break away from their groups and have great success. Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross were able to gain recognition away from their groups. Motown became know as Hitsville USA, which Gordy named. Motown produced Martha and the Vandellas, Junior Walker, and the All Stars, the Four Seasons, Gladys Knight and Pips, and the Jackson Five.
Bryan Wilson formed the Beach Boys with his two brothers and his cousin in Hawthorne, California. Wilson was a singer, songwriter, arranger, and producers. Wilson captured the sound of southern California and the surf and sun. Wilson would achieve international acclaim as a studio wizard. This was seen in Surfing USA the Beach Boys first number one hit.
In 1964, the Beetles had a chart-topper in America with I Want to Hold Your Hand. With the success of this song and others would spark Beatlemania. George Martin was seen as the fifth Beetle for his role in the recording studio. This marked a change not only for the music in America but also for the nation with the election of John F. Kennedy. Their success could be seen as an America asking for change. There would be countless British bands in the 1960’s that influenced the British Invasion of music.
Concept albums were conceived as integrated whole this could be seen in Pet Sounds. This album was a great influence on the Beatles 1967 album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts club band. Brian Wilson also took inspiration for 1966 single Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys.
Latin soul pushed its way on the charts with Herby Hancock’s Watermelon Man in 1963 which stayed on the charts for eleven weeks for Ramon “Mongo” Santamaria. Ray Barretto would have a hit on the R&B and pop charts with his mambo band with EL Watusi. The Bossa Nova gained popularity in the 1960’s. Guitarist Joao Gilberto recorded the first bossa nova in 1958 with Chenga de Saudade. Stan Getz became passionate about the bossa nova giving the genre affinities with the west coast jazz. Herb Albert created a new style based on the Mexican Music that which became known as Ameriachi. This new style was seen in the hit record The Lonely Bull.
In the 1965 Buck Owens,’ I’ve got a Tiger by the Tail became number 25 on the pop charts. The feeling of separateness that characterized much of country music. Merle Haggard’s song Okie from Muskogee would be a critique of the counter counterculture of the late 1960’s. Pasty Cline was popular on the pop and country charts in 1960 with I Fall to Pieces and Crazy. Elvis Presley’s music seem to go with the times of with his music, Crying in the Chapel would have the Nashville sound.
Ray Charles would be a constant present in R&B during the 50’s. He would find great success with Tin Pan Alley’s Georgia on My Mind. Ray Charles was a fine piano player who was fluent in jazz and pop idioms. One of his records that be a risk for Ray Charles became the Modern Sounds of Country and Western music. His critics did not want Ray Charles to make this album and saw it as a failure from the start. He would not be swayed and made of the most enduring albums in music history. Country musicians and pop musicians alike celebrated the genius of his album.
Sam Cooke became the pioneer of soul music though he began his singing career as a gospel singer. He would give up singing gospel and change the world of music. His struggle to make soul records would be same as Bob Dylan. Sam Cooke music would express politics in soul and rock music. James Brown became known as the Godfather of Soul. His music became Politically charged with Say it Loud- I’m Black and I’m Proud. James Brown would have more influence of the sounds and styles of black music. Hip-hop artist samples his records even today and he is known as the pioneer of rap style.
Aretha Franklin underwent a long period of apprenticeship before she became know as breakthrough pop star in 1967. She found her success with I Have Never Loved a Man. Amazing Grace a gospel album recorded in a church became one of the most spectacular live albums. In 1968, she recorded Respect and co-wrote Think that became chart-toppers. Not only did Franklin symbolize female empowerment in her music she also did it in her music.
Bob Dylan wrote some of the most memorable songs recorders by many different artists over decades. Bob Dylan established himself as an acoustic singer-songwriter in the early 1960’s. Many artists in the counterculture of America would record blowing in the Wind. Peter, Paul, and Mary recorded the most popular version of Blowing in the Wind. Like a Rolling Stone would become an epic pop single that would make it to number two on the pop charts. Bob Dylan never was content to be pigeonholed to fall into a predictable role in music style or movement.
With rock music and radical politics developed its own culture. Fads of long hair, beards, beads, tie-dyed shirts and blue jeans became the fashion. The jargon of the hippies became common in American language with groovy, far out, stoned and other phrases emerged. Drugs also fueled this movement with LSD and other substance abuse. The music reflected the audience that listen to music influenced by these means of free expression.
In the summer of 1967 the summer of love the Beatles would release Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band. This album was revolutionary as pop musical art and this was the first of its kind. It also featured different instruments from India. When the Beatles sang We Love to take you home with us the listener took the Beatles into their homes in the form of a record. The Rolling Stones tried to out do with Beatles with Their Satanic Majesties. Blues and R&B influenced their album that was the inspiration for the Rolling Stones.
Psychedelic rock was played in San Francisco that encompassed a variety of styles. One of the biggest celebrities was Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. Janis Joplin was influenced by Bessie Smith and Big Mamma Thornton. Janis was not accepted by R&B charts and never managed to cross over. Jerry Garcia and the Grateful dead would have a following known as Deadheads. They were a different kind of group and encouraged their audiences to record them. Even though the Grateful Dead had a mass audience appeal they didn’t have hit till 1987.
The Doors would form their group in Los Angles, California and they had a steady gig at the Whiskey A Go-Go. They gained popularity with longer versions of their songs on AM radio stations. This was also a crucial development to Rock ‘N’ Roll music. Jimmy Hendrix was the most original, inventive and creative guitarist of the rock era. Jimmy Hendrix gained experience touring with R&B groups. This influence can be heard in Purple Haze and he used the solos to enhance his guitar solos.
Eric Clapton would be the most influential guitarist in Britain. He would attract R&B fans and blues fans. He also formed the band called Cream in late 60’s and would form the first line of rock trios. Crossroads would be a cover of the Robert Johnson version that be recorded in 1968.
The 1960’s would be a violent decade that was seen as disruptive and controversial. Baby boomers had a vital role in the political and cultural events in the 60’s. During their time, Rock ‘N’ Roll developed into rock. The decade started with the cowboy ballad El Paso by Marty Robbins this showed a slight pull to country music during this decade.
Dances that were a part of songs written about them became very popular. The Twist was written by Hank Ballad using a twelve bar blues. This did not become a hit for his group, but it became a major hit for Chubby Checker. The twist was not the free-form dance but signaled a change in the popular dance movement. There were other dances that were popularized by song the pony, the mashed potatoes, the monkey, and countless other dances developed. Theses dances appeared on American Bandstand and other programs that brought the music of the 1960’s and the dances that accompanied the music into American homes. Rock ‘N’ Roll music became the music of the liberated. This could be seen in the go-go dancers of the 60’s.
Songwriters also emerged during Carol King wrote The Loco-motion for her baby sitter, Little Eva. Phil Spector would have a hit with his song To Know Him is to Love him. Spector became more known for his music business and how he shaped the sounds of records that audiences came to enjoy. Part of the characteristic of his music was the “wall of sound” these records became known as teen-age symphonies. One of his groups The Drifters sang Save the Last Dance and Up on the Roof that became chart-toppers.
Berry Gordy Jr. became known for his songwriting/producing and marketing organization. Overall he became know for creating Motown-based in Detroit. Even through Motown had some of the great black musicians Gordy did not make music for only black listeners. He would be unapologetic in his goal of making the music available to all listeners. The Supremes and The Temptations became better known than the Crystals or the Ronettes. Motown artist would also break away from their groups and have great success. Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross were able to gain recognition away from their groups. Motown became know as Hitsville USA, which Gordy named. Motown produced Martha and the Vandellas, Junior Walker, and the All Stars, the Four Seasons, Gladys Knight and Pips, and the Jackson Five.
Bryan Wilson formed the Beach Boys with his two brothers and his cousin in Hawthorne, California. Wilson was a singer, songwriter, arranger, and producers. Wilson captured the sound of southern California and the surf and sun. Wilson would achieve international acclaim as a studio wizard. This was seen in Surfing USA the Beach Boys first number one hit.
In 1964, the Beetles had a chart-topper in America with I Want to Hold Your Hand. With the success of this song and others would spark Beatlemania. George Martin was seen as the fifth Beetle for his role in the recording studio. This marked a change not only for the music in America but also for the nation with the election of John F. Kennedy. Their success could be seen as an America asking for change. There would be countless British bands in the 1960’s that influenced the British Invasion of music.
Concept albums were conceived as integrated whole this could be seen in Pet Sounds. This album was a great influence on the Beatles 1967 album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts club band. Brian Wilson also took inspiration for 1966 single Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys.
Latin soul pushed its way on the charts with Herby Hancock’s Watermelon Man in 1963 which stayed on the charts for eleven weeks for Ramon “Mongo” Santamaria. Ray Barretto would have a hit on the R&B and pop charts with his mambo band with EL Watusi. The Bossa Nova gained popularity in the 1960’s. Guitarist Joao Gilberto recorded the first bossa nova in 1958 with Chenga de Saudade. Stan Getz became passionate about the bossa nova giving the genre affinities with the west coast jazz. Herb Albert created a new style based on the Mexican Music that which became known as Ameriachi. This new style was seen in the hit record The Lonely Bull.
In the 1965 Buck Owens,’ I’ve got a Tiger by the Tail became number 25 on the pop charts. The feeling of separateness that characterized much of country music. Merle Haggard’s song Okie from Muskogee would be a critique of the counter counterculture of the late 1960’s. Pasty Cline was popular on the pop and country charts in 1960 with I Fall to Pieces and Crazy. Elvis Presley’s music seem to go with the times of with his music, Crying in the Chapel would have the Nashville sound.
Ray Charles would be a constant present in R&B during the 50’s. He would find great success with Tin Pan Alley’s Georgia on My Mind. Ray Charles was a fine piano player who was fluent in jazz and pop idioms. One of his records that be a risk for Ray Charles became the Modern Sounds of Country and Western music. His critics did not want Ray Charles to make this album and saw it as a failure from the start. He would not be swayed and made of the most enduring albums in music history. Country musicians and pop musicians alike celebrated the genius of his album.
Sam Cooke became the pioneer of soul music though he began his singing career as a gospel singer. He would give up singing gospel and change the world of music. His struggle to make soul records would be same as Bob Dylan. Sam Cooke music would express politics in soul and rock music. James Brown became known as the Godfather of Soul. His music became Politically charged with Say it Loud- I’m Black and I’m Proud. James Brown would have more influence of the sounds and styles of black music. Hip-hop artist samples his records even today and he is known as the pioneer of rap style.
Aretha Franklin underwent a long period of apprenticeship before she became know as breakthrough pop star in 1967. She found her success with I Have Never Loved a Man. Amazing Grace a gospel album recorded in a church became one of the most spectacular live albums. In 1968, she recorded Respect and co-wrote Think that became chart-toppers. Not only did Franklin symbolize female empowerment in her music she also did it in her music.
Bob Dylan wrote some of the most memorable songs recorders by many different artists over decades. Bob Dylan established himself as an acoustic singer-songwriter in the early 1960’s. Many artists in the counterculture of America would record blowing in the Wind. Peter, Paul, and Mary recorded the most popular version of Blowing in the Wind. Like a Rolling Stone would become an epic pop single that would make it to number two on the pop charts. Bob Dylan never was content to be pigeonholed to fall into a predictable role in music style or movement.
With rock music and radical politics developed its own culture. Fads of long hair, beards, beads, tie-dyed shirts and blue jeans became the fashion. The jargon of the hippies became common in American language with groovy, far out, stoned and other phrases emerged. Drugs also fueled this movement with LSD and other substance abuse. The music reflected the audience that listen to music influenced by these means of free expression.
In the summer of 1967 the summer of love the Beatles would release Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band. This album was revolutionary as pop musical art and this was the first of its kind. It also featured different instruments from India. When the Beatles sang We Love to take you home with us the listener took the Beatles into their homes in the form of a record. The Rolling Stones tried to out do with Beatles with Their Satanic Majesties. Blues and R&B influenced their album that was the inspiration for the Rolling Stones.
Psychedelic rock was played in San Francisco that encompassed a variety of styles. One of the biggest celebrities was Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. Janis Joplin was influenced by Bessie Smith and Big Mamma Thornton. Janis was not accepted by R&B charts and never managed to cross over. Jerry Garcia and the Grateful dead would have a following known as Deadheads. They were a different kind of group and encouraged their audiences to record them. Even though the Grateful Dead had a mass audience appeal they didn’t have hit till 1987.
The Doors would form their group in Los Angles, California and they had a steady gig at the Whiskey A Go-Go. They gained popularity with longer versions of their songs on AM radio stations. This was also a crucial development to Rock ‘N’ Roll music. Jimmy Hendrix was the most original, inventive and creative guitarist of the rock era. Jimmy Hendrix gained experience touring with R&B groups. This influence can be heard in Purple Haze and he used the solos to enhance his guitar solos.
Eric Clapton would be the most influential guitarist in Britain. He would attract R&B fans and blues fans. He also formed the band called Cream in late 60’s and would form the first line of rock trios. Crossroads would be a cover of the Robert Johnson version that be recorded in 1968.
El Paso
The Twist
The Loco-Motion
To Know Him is to Love Him
Save the Last Dance
Up on the Roof
Stop in the Name of Love
My Girl
Surfing USA
I Want to Hold Your Hand
Watermelon Man
The Lonely Bull
I've got a tiger by the tail
Okie From Muskogee
Georgia On My Mind
Chain Gang
Think
Blowing In the Wind
Like a Rolling Stone
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
She's a rainbow
Me & Bobby McGee
Aoxomoxoa
Light My Fire
Voodoo Child
Crossroads
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 7&8
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 7&8
This week’s focus was on Chapters seven and eight. The music industry would grow after World War II and for the first time record companies targeted younger listeners. Much of the music that was produced from the late 1940’s to the early 1950’s were produced by crooners that used the microphone to create an intimate environment. The economic of the music industry also played a major role in this trend. In the 1940’s Top 40 radio program also had a control of the uncertainty of the marketplace for music. Todd Stroz would develop this the top 40 radio program in the 1950’s in Omaha, Nebraska.
The ability to control the play what the public exposed payola where Disk Jockeys would get paid to play some records more than others. This was also due to the powerful executives that had to decide what music would be recorded and broadcast. The recorder companies saturated music stores with an excess of records with a guarantee that that they could return any recorders that they did not sell. Decca, RCA Victor, Columbia, and Capitol Records experienced considerable growth. The market also supported other independent labels that were outside of Tin Pan Alley’s mainstream.
New recording processes changed they way records would be made. With magnetic tape recording offered many advantages over the established recording technology. This made overdubbing much easier and by the late 1940’s recording studios were using audiotape rather than a master disc. In 1948, Les Paul produced an album for Bing Crosby. This became the first album to use audiotape. In 1948, there would also be great strides in the long-playing records. This allowed records to play for 23 minutes each side in comparison to the three or four minutes of the 78 r.p.m. records. This caused a battle of speeds between record speeds, but the record player manufacturers soon changed the players to accept all record speeds.
In the early 1950’s the singer or the crooner became popular. Frank Sinatra would be the first big band singer that would take advantage of the changes in the music business. He would begin his celebrity in 1942 with the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the paramount theater in New York. His voice set him apart from the other singers. He combined the smoothness of Bing Crosby with the Italian bel canto style. He would gain several nicknames “swoonatra”, “The Sultan of Swoon”, and the voice.
Nat King Cole became the first black artist to be successful after the postwar era. He recorded 10 pop hit during 1946 through 1954. Nat had a remarkable professional success and was the first black musician to have his own radio show and also to have a network television show. Unlike many singers of the time Nat considered himself a musician who sang because the public wanted him to sing.
Urban Folk music was a new popular genre of the 1950’s that was influenced by folk music. The record industry didn’t really know what to do with urban folk music. The first group to achieve success in urban folk was the group the Weavers, a group that contained the political activists, Pete Seeger. Urban Folk music went on to influence Peter, Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio, and Bob Dylan. The mambo craze became popular in years before rock and roll. The music was up-tempo, high energized, and a polyrhythmic variant of big band music.
In 1949, the billboard began using the terms rhythm & blues and country and western instead of race music and hillbilly music. The radio played a major role in the popularization of these types of music. The jukebox would also bring the listener to the new genres of music. Another main factor in the success of R&B and country and western was the independent record labels that were created after the war. This also led to the trend of covering a song or making a cover version. This led to the success of black music but not always the success of the black musicians that created the music.
Vocal harmony groups gained popularity they became known as “doo-wop” groups. Clyde MacPhatter gained popularity with his R&B group “ The Dominos”. He would later create a new group called the Drifters. His rendition of “Have Mercy Baby” influenced the soul movement of the 1960’s along with Ray Charles, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin. Country and western gain popularity through radio shows. Although there were radio shows for country music before the war there more after the war that spanned the entire country. Patty Page sold more recorders than any other female singers in the early 1950’s. Eddie Arnold a country crooner was dominant on the country charts from 1947 to 1954. He would also have eleven Top 40 Hits on the pop charts.
The rise of Rock and Roll was very significant in cultural terms. Rock and Roll wasn’t a new style of music and wasn’t any single style of music. Alan Freed first used the term for commercial and generational purposes. The audiences for Rock and Roll were racially mixed. Alan Freed would embrace the term Rock and Roll. In the early days of Rock and Roll, Chuck Berry, Pat Boone, Fats Domino, Ricky Nelson, The Everly Brothers, and Elvis Presley were all lumped together. In the 1950’s kids bought Rock and Roll albums as a form of rebellion against adult standards and restriction of musical style and taste. Rock and Roll became everyone’s music no matter where you lived.
Cover versions were popular some artist would change the song slightly or recreate exactly. A Little Bird Told Me by Paula Watson was produced on an independent label. Evelyn Knight covered the song exactly which lead to a lawsuit. The courts sided with the larger company and changed the how covers could be produced fro better for worse.
The record business would have a major boost from 191 million in 1951 to 514 million in 1959. Rock and Roll helped with this success of the music business. RCA found success with the Rock and Roll Waltz and it also found a major success with rockabilly artist, Elvis Presley. Rock and Roll would have an R&B side this was helped with Chuck Berry’s Maybellene and other number one hits. Johnny B. Goode was a number eight on the pop and number two on the R&B charts. This song was an autobiographical look at Chuck Berry’s own life. He also pioneered the used of the electric guitar and the used of Rock ‘N’ Roll styled vocals. Little Richard found success with his nonsense lyrics and songs based on twelve bar blues. Little Richard would also be one of the most flamboyant artists of early Rock ‘N’ Roll. Fats Domino’s hit “Ain’t It A Shame” became a number 10 hit on the pop charts and number one on the R&B charts. Fats Domino would also be a skilled singer, pianist, and songwriter.
One of the biggest stars that would come from the country music side would be Elvis Presley. RCA bought out his contract from Sun record. They would strengthen his appeal to teenagers by bringing the hillbilly cat to the mainstream. Chet Akins made sure that Elvis albums were pop friendly. Many People thought Elvis’ performances were vulgar due to his hip movements. He maintained a steady popularity till his death in 1977.
Buddy Holly offered the opposite effect of Elvis Presley. Buddy Holly offered a clean cut Rock ‘N’ Roll to the audience. His music combined country, R&B and mainstream pop music this can be seen in his hit That’ll Be the Day. Holly also used double tracking on his records that where two voices are recorded on top of one another.
Wanda Jackson was a pioneer in Women in Rock ‘N’ Roll with the song I Gotta Know. She also toured with interracial band would often face harsh treatment. Janis Martin would be known as the female Elvis Presley. She produced teen-friendly albums with songs like My Boy Elvis and Drugstore Rock ’N’ Roll.
The Latin side of Rock ‘N’ Roll biggest star in the 1950’s was Ritchie Valens. His music helped to create the Los Angles Rock ‘N’ Roll sound. Donna and La Bamba would be hits for Valens, but his life would be cut short in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. Songwriters became very important in early Rock ‘N’ Roll. Even the most popular singers of the 1950’s did not write their own music. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote songs that would be popular with teenagers when sung by the popular artist.
Around the time when Elvis Presley became popular so did Johnny Mathis with his smooth style singing voice. His crooning style was more like pop ballads than the older crooners. The Kingston trio would also find success while Rock ‘N’ Roll era. They were a popular folk trio that had major hits with The Legend of Tom Dooley. The Kingston trio was cheerful and upbeat, they also offered optimism and enthusiasm.
This week’s focus was on Chapters seven and eight. The music industry would grow after World War II and for the first time record companies targeted younger listeners. Much of the music that was produced from the late 1940’s to the early 1950’s were produced by crooners that used the microphone to create an intimate environment. The economic of the music industry also played a major role in this trend. In the 1940’s Top 40 radio program also had a control of the uncertainty of the marketplace for music. Todd Stroz would develop this the top 40 radio program in the 1950’s in Omaha, Nebraska.
The ability to control the play what the public exposed payola where Disk Jockeys would get paid to play some records more than others. This was also due to the powerful executives that had to decide what music would be recorded and broadcast. The recorder companies saturated music stores with an excess of records with a guarantee that that they could return any recorders that they did not sell. Decca, RCA Victor, Columbia, and Capitol Records experienced considerable growth. The market also supported other independent labels that were outside of Tin Pan Alley’s mainstream.
New recording processes changed they way records would be made. With magnetic tape recording offered many advantages over the established recording technology. This made overdubbing much easier and by the late 1940’s recording studios were using audiotape rather than a master disc. In 1948, Les Paul produced an album for Bing Crosby. This became the first album to use audiotape. In 1948, there would also be great strides in the long-playing records. This allowed records to play for 23 minutes each side in comparison to the three or four minutes of the 78 r.p.m. records. This caused a battle of speeds between record speeds, but the record player manufacturers soon changed the players to accept all record speeds.
In the early 1950’s the singer or the crooner became popular. Frank Sinatra would be the first big band singer that would take advantage of the changes in the music business. He would begin his celebrity in 1942 with the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the paramount theater in New York. His voice set him apart from the other singers. He combined the smoothness of Bing Crosby with the Italian bel canto style. He would gain several nicknames “swoonatra”, “The Sultan of Swoon”, and the voice.
Nat King Cole became the first black artist to be successful after the postwar era. He recorded 10 pop hit during 1946 through 1954. Nat had a remarkable professional success and was the first black musician to have his own radio show and also to have a network television show. Unlike many singers of the time Nat considered himself a musician who sang because the public wanted him to sing.
Urban Folk music was a new popular genre of the 1950’s that was influenced by folk music. The record industry didn’t really know what to do with urban folk music. The first group to achieve success in urban folk was the group the Weavers, a group that contained the political activists, Pete Seeger. Urban Folk music went on to influence Peter, Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio, and Bob Dylan. The mambo craze became popular in years before rock and roll. The music was up-tempo, high energized, and a polyrhythmic variant of big band music.
In 1949, the billboard began using the terms rhythm & blues and country and western instead of race music and hillbilly music. The radio played a major role in the popularization of these types of music. The jukebox would also bring the listener to the new genres of music. Another main factor in the success of R&B and country and western was the independent record labels that were created after the war. This also led to the trend of covering a song or making a cover version. This led to the success of black music but not always the success of the black musicians that created the music.
Vocal harmony groups gained popularity they became known as “doo-wop” groups. Clyde MacPhatter gained popularity with his R&B group “ The Dominos”. He would later create a new group called the Drifters. His rendition of “Have Mercy Baby” influenced the soul movement of the 1960’s along with Ray Charles, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin. Country and western gain popularity through radio shows. Although there were radio shows for country music before the war there more after the war that spanned the entire country. Patty Page sold more recorders than any other female singers in the early 1950’s. Eddie Arnold a country crooner was dominant on the country charts from 1947 to 1954. He would also have eleven Top 40 Hits on the pop charts.
The rise of Rock and Roll was very significant in cultural terms. Rock and Roll wasn’t a new style of music and wasn’t any single style of music. Alan Freed first used the term for commercial and generational purposes. The audiences for Rock and Roll were racially mixed. Alan Freed would embrace the term Rock and Roll. In the early days of Rock and Roll, Chuck Berry, Pat Boone, Fats Domino, Ricky Nelson, The Everly Brothers, and Elvis Presley were all lumped together. In the 1950’s kids bought Rock and Roll albums as a form of rebellion against adult standards and restriction of musical style and taste. Rock and Roll became everyone’s music no matter where you lived.
Cover versions were popular some artist would change the song slightly or recreate exactly. A Little Bird Told Me by Paula Watson was produced on an independent label. Evelyn Knight covered the song exactly which lead to a lawsuit. The courts sided with the larger company and changed the how covers could be produced fro better for worse.
The record business would have a major boost from 191 million in 1951 to 514 million in 1959. Rock and Roll helped with this success of the music business. RCA found success with the Rock and Roll Waltz and it also found a major success with rockabilly artist, Elvis Presley. Rock and Roll would have an R&B side this was helped with Chuck Berry’s Maybellene and other number one hits. Johnny B. Goode was a number eight on the pop and number two on the R&B charts. This song was an autobiographical look at Chuck Berry’s own life. He also pioneered the used of the electric guitar and the used of Rock ‘N’ Roll styled vocals. Little Richard found success with his nonsense lyrics and songs based on twelve bar blues. Little Richard would also be one of the most flamboyant artists of early Rock ‘N’ Roll. Fats Domino’s hit “Ain’t It A Shame” became a number 10 hit on the pop charts and number one on the R&B charts. Fats Domino would also be a skilled singer, pianist, and songwriter.
One of the biggest stars that would come from the country music side would be Elvis Presley. RCA bought out his contract from Sun record. They would strengthen his appeal to teenagers by bringing the hillbilly cat to the mainstream. Chet Akins made sure that Elvis albums were pop friendly. Many People thought Elvis’ performances were vulgar due to his hip movements. He maintained a steady popularity till his death in 1977.
Buddy Holly offered the opposite effect of Elvis Presley. Buddy Holly offered a clean cut Rock ‘N’ Roll to the audience. His music combined country, R&B and mainstream pop music this can be seen in his hit That’ll Be the Day. Holly also used double tracking on his records that where two voices are recorded on top of one another.
Wanda Jackson was a pioneer in Women in Rock ‘N’ Roll with the song I Gotta Know. She also toured with interracial band would often face harsh treatment. Janis Martin would be known as the female Elvis Presley. She produced teen-friendly albums with songs like My Boy Elvis and Drugstore Rock ’N’ Roll.
The Latin side of Rock ‘N’ Roll biggest star in the 1950’s was Ritchie Valens. His music helped to create the Los Angles Rock ‘N’ Roll sound. Donna and La Bamba would be hits for Valens, but his life would be cut short in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. Songwriters became very important in early Rock ‘N’ Roll. Even the most popular singers of the 1950’s did not write their own music. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote songs that would be popular with teenagers when sung by the popular artist.
Around the time when Elvis Presley became popular so did Johnny Mathis with his smooth style singing voice. His crooning style was more like pop ballads than the older crooners. The Kingston trio would also find success while Rock ‘N’ Roll era. They were a popular folk trio that had major hits with The Legend of Tom Dooley. The Kingston trio was cheerful and upbeat, they also offered optimism and enthusiasm.
Come Fly Away With Me
Unforgettable
Sixty Minute Man
Have Mercy Baby
The Tennesse Waltz
Cattle Call
Evelyn Knight - A Little Bird Told Me
Paul Watson - A Little Bird Told Me
Jail House Rock
Hard Headed Woman
My Boy Elvis
Donna
Peggy Sue
Chances Are
The Legend Of Tom Dooley
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 5 & 6
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 5 & 6
Chapter’s 5 & 6 were the focus of this weeks reading. The reading started out about the economic success of the record industry in the 1920’s. Two terms would emerge from record sales, Race records and Hillbilly records. Race records took hold with the success of Mamie Smith in the 1920’s; she was a black vaudeville performer. Ralph Peer would first use the term race music when he assisted Mamie with her first recording session. Most race records of the time had a variety of music styles blues, jazz, gospel choirs, vocal quartets, string bands, and jug-and-washboard bands. There were also spoken albums that were very popular in black communities. In 1922 paramount records would form a second record company that produced only race records.
For the first time in the 1920’s an African American would own, their own record companies. The Black Swan a record company would be own bandleader W.C. Handy. In the 1920’s nearly 10 million blues and gospel records. Families would purchase their phonographs on a payment system plan. This created more of a need for more records in new markets that helped shape black identity.
The blues was the most influential of the race records that were produced. Classic blues were performed by Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (Mother of the Blues) and Bessie Smith (Empress of the Blues). The recordings of Bessie Smith and other singers were an important part of shaping African American styles of music. The St. Louis Blues sung by Bessie Smith bridge the listeners of black and white audiences.
Country blues which were also called rural, down home or folk blues. Though county had existed before the first vaudevillian blues song it was not till the 1920’s till the music was first recorded. The first country blues were an oral tradition passed from family members. The blues was a product of impoverished black workforce. Charley Patton was an early pioneer of the Mississippi Delta blues style. His voice was powerful and raspy. His audiences included Saturday night dances and all-day picnics.
The first country blues superstar was Blind Mellon Jefferson. At the age of fourteen he would travel from place to place and sing for whoever would listen. His songs were advertised as “real old-fashion blues by a real old-fashion blues singer”. Robert Johnson had the greatest influence on later blues and rock. Keith Richards and Eric Clapton revered his guitar playing. His life became a mystery, but his recordings offered the listener a unique sound that no one could reproduce.
Hillbilly music would later be split into two categories, country and western developed out of folk songs, ballads and dance music from immigrants coming from the British Isles. The first hillbilly music became an important part of Tin Pan Alley. The first commercial success of hillbilly music was made in North Georgia by Fiddlin’ Jon Carson. Hillbilly music growth was due to the new medium of the radio. Most farmers and working class people could not afford phonograph records but could afford radios on payment plans.
The radio shows were produced in a barn dance style with music and comedic acts. They also relied on the stereotypes of rural hicks, rubes and rednecks. Most Hillbilly musicians were not professionals. Many had employment at mills, coal mines, farmers, and railroads. Veron Dalhart was a major country star that started out singing light opera. His success in the field was the same as Mamie Smith and Bessie Smith. The Carter Family became one of the most important groups in country music history. They sang hymns, ballads, and turn of the century Tin Pan Alley hits. Jimmy Rodgers was a rambler and would be the most versatile, progressive and influential of the early country artist.
The great depression would see the decline in record sales and a boost for radio sales. Race records were crushed due to the economic downturn. Billy Hill in 1933 was the highest recorder-selling artist and helped to establish the western music market. Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie sung about the plight of the American workers. After 1940, he would be known as a protest singer due to the political content of his songs.
In 1935, the swing movement transformed American popular music. During 1935-1945, there would be hundreds of large dance band orchestras. These bands also would appear nightly on the radio, ballrooms, hotels, and jukeboxes. Swing-influenced more than just music it also influenced dance styles, dress styles, and architecture. Swing also introduced cultural values and social changes during the New Deal era.
The Swing craze was controlled by booking agents and represented professional musicians. These companies also promoted their music on the radio, which big bands needed to achieve popularity. The Make Believe Ballroom and Your Hit Parade were the popular shows that promoted big band music. Even through jazz would be heavily influenced by African Americans; American Big Bands remained segregated. New terms such as cool, hip, with it and in the groove described an attitude or stance toward life. The Harlem Renaissance helped to create cultural energy and the creative of black New York.
A handful of big bands were integrated this was pioneered by Benny Goodman. Many other big band leaders would follow Goodman integrating their bands. This was a gamble for Goodman as black dance band faced many disadvantages that white dance bands did not have. The core listeners of the big band were College age adults and teenagers. They were eager to learn new dances and by recordings of their favorite bands.
Benny Goodman became the King of Swing; this came from hard work from his orchestra. Their performances were well rehearsed and sounded smooth which appealed to white audiences. Goodman gained his popularity on the radio and built a following. Duke Ellington an accomplished piano player, composer and arranger, he saw jazz as music and swing as a business. William “Count” Basie gained fame in Kansas City, Missouri and relied on Tin Pan Alley for his music. Kansas City was a still a wild town and allowed Count Basie to perfect his music in boogie-woogie style.
From 1939 to 1942 Glenn Miller became the superstar of swing. He had developed a clean style and peppy sound that appealed to the entire country. Though swing was the dominant style hillbilly music continued to grow. There were now more recording opportunities for hillbilly music and now could join unions. Roy Claxton Acuff became the most successful hillbilly singer of the swing era. The singing cowboy also became popular with Gene Autry and he would later become a major movie star. This helped push the western music into popularity. Western swing saw Bob Wills become popular as a fiddle player. Though western swing bands did not dominate the charts they would have a permanent influence on western music after WWII.
Latin music also continued to grow during the swing era. Cuban musicians would play the ballrooms and dance clubs of New York City. Bandleader and film star Xavier Cugat would become know as the Rumba King. His band became a training ground for other Latin musicians including Desi Arnaz. The father of Latin jazz Mario Bauza brings his music experience of Havana to his performances. Bauza influenced John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie and became knowledgeable about Afro-Cuban music.
In 1946, many of the larger dance bands broke down into smaller groups due to the declining popularity. Some bandleaders joined the armed forces and lead bands. The larger networks became engaged in a bitter dispute with ASCAP. They wanted a larger portion of their revenues and so they turned up the legal pressure. Broadcast Music, Incorporated challenged ASCAP’s monopoly. With theses challenges most big bands lost the right to songs from Tin Pan Alley. Even improvised solos had to be written out and approved to make sure it didn’t contain ASCAP songs. In 1943, Decca and Capitol recorders signed new contracts with the union and started recording instrumental music.
Chapter’s 5 & 6 were the focus of this weeks reading. The reading started out about the economic success of the record industry in the 1920’s. Two terms would emerge from record sales, Race records and Hillbilly records. Race records took hold with the success of Mamie Smith in the 1920’s; she was a black vaudeville performer. Ralph Peer would first use the term race music when he assisted Mamie with her first recording session. Most race records of the time had a variety of music styles blues, jazz, gospel choirs, vocal quartets, string bands, and jug-and-washboard bands. There were also spoken albums that were very popular in black communities. In 1922 paramount records would form a second record company that produced only race records.
For the first time in the 1920’s an African American would own, their own record companies. The Black Swan a record company would be own bandleader W.C. Handy. In the 1920’s nearly 10 million blues and gospel records. Families would purchase their phonographs on a payment system plan. This created more of a need for more records in new markets that helped shape black identity.
The blues was the most influential of the race records that were produced. Classic blues were performed by Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (Mother of the Blues) and Bessie Smith (Empress of the Blues). The recordings of Bessie Smith and other singers were an important part of shaping African American styles of music. The St. Louis Blues sung by Bessie Smith bridge the listeners of black and white audiences.
Country blues which were also called rural, down home or folk blues. Though county had existed before the first vaudevillian blues song it was not till the 1920’s till the music was first recorded. The first country blues were an oral tradition passed from family members. The blues was a product of impoverished black workforce. Charley Patton was an early pioneer of the Mississippi Delta blues style. His voice was powerful and raspy. His audiences included Saturday night dances and all-day picnics.
The first country blues superstar was Blind Mellon Jefferson. At the age of fourteen he would travel from place to place and sing for whoever would listen. His songs were advertised as “real old-fashion blues by a real old-fashion blues singer”. Robert Johnson had the greatest influence on later blues and rock. Keith Richards and Eric Clapton revered his guitar playing. His life became a mystery, but his recordings offered the listener a unique sound that no one could reproduce.
Hillbilly music would later be split into two categories, country and western developed out of folk songs, ballads and dance music from immigrants coming from the British Isles. The first hillbilly music became an important part of Tin Pan Alley. The first commercial success of hillbilly music was made in North Georgia by Fiddlin’ Jon Carson. Hillbilly music growth was due to the new medium of the radio. Most farmers and working class people could not afford phonograph records but could afford radios on payment plans.
The radio shows were produced in a barn dance style with music and comedic acts. They also relied on the stereotypes of rural hicks, rubes and rednecks. Most Hillbilly musicians were not professionals. Many had employment at mills, coal mines, farmers, and railroads. Veron Dalhart was a major country star that started out singing light opera. His success in the field was the same as Mamie Smith and Bessie Smith. The Carter Family became one of the most important groups in country music history. They sang hymns, ballads, and turn of the century Tin Pan Alley hits. Jimmy Rodgers was a rambler and would be the most versatile, progressive and influential of the early country artist.
The great depression would see the decline in record sales and a boost for radio sales. Race records were crushed due to the economic downturn. Billy Hill in 1933 was the highest recorder-selling artist and helped to establish the western music market. Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie sung about the plight of the American workers. After 1940, he would be known as a protest singer due to the political content of his songs.
In 1935, the swing movement transformed American popular music. During 1935-1945, there would be hundreds of large dance band orchestras. These bands also would appear nightly on the radio, ballrooms, hotels, and jukeboxes. Swing-influenced more than just music it also influenced dance styles, dress styles, and architecture. Swing also introduced cultural values and social changes during the New Deal era.
The Swing craze was controlled by booking agents and represented professional musicians. These companies also promoted their music on the radio, which big bands needed to achieve popularity. The Make Believe Ballroom and Your Hit Parade were the popular shows that promoted big band music. Even through jazz would be heavily influenced by African Americans; American Big Bands remained segregated. New terms such as cool, hip, with it and in the groove described an attitude or stance toward life. The Harlem Renaissance helped to create cultural energy and the creative of black New York.
A handful of big bands were integrated this was pioneered by Benny Goodman. Many other big band leaders would follow Goodman integrating their bands. This was a gamble for Goodman as black dance band faced many disadvantages that white dance bands did not have. The core listeners of the big band were College age adults and teenagers. They were eager to learn new dances and by recordings of their favorite bands.
Benny Goodman became the King of Swing; this came from hard work from his orchestra. Their performances were well rehearsed and sounded smooth which appealed to white audiences. Goodman gained his popularity on the radio and built a following. Duke Ellington an accomplished piano player, composer and arranger, he saw jazz as music and swing as a business. William “Count” Basie gained fame in Kansas City, Missouri and relied on Tin Pan Alley for his music. Kansas City was a still a wild town and allowed Count Basie to perfect his music in boogie-woogie style.
From 1939 to 1942 Glenn Miller became the superstar of swing. He had developed a clean style and peppy sound that appealed to the entire country. Though swing was the dominant style hillbilly music continued to grow. There were now more recording opportunities for hillbilly music and now could join unions. Roy Claxton Acuff became the most successful hillbilly singer of the swing era. The singing cowboy also became popular with Gene Autry and he would later become a major movie star. This helped push the western music into popularity. Western swing saw Bob Wills become popular as a fiddle player. Though western swing bands did not dominate the charts they would have a permanent influence on western music after WWII.
Latin music also continued to grow during the swing era. Cuban musicians would play the ballrooms and dance clubs of New York City. Bandleader and film star Xavier Cugat would become know as the Rumba King. His band became a training ground for other Latin musicians including Desi Arnaz. The father of Latin jazz Mario Bauza brings his music experience of Havana to his performances. Bauza influenced John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie and became knowledgeable about Afro-Cuban music.
In 1946, many of the larger dance bands broke down into smaller groups due to the declining popularity. Some bandleaders joined the armed forces and lead bands. The larger networks became engaged in a bitter dispute with ASCAP. They wanted a larger portion of their revenues and so they turned up the legal pressure. Broadcast Music, Incorporated challenged ASCAP’s monopoly. With theses challenges most big bands lost the right to songs from Tin Pan Alley. Even improvised solos had to be written out and approved to make sure it didn’t contain ASCAP songs. In 1943, Decca and Capitol recorders signed new contracts with the union and started recording instrumental music.
Spoonful Blues
Crossroads
Black Snake Moan
St. Louis Blues
The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane
Wreck of the Old 97
Can the Circle Be Unbroken
This Land is Your Land
Sing, Sing, Sing
Take the "A" Train
Jumpin at Woodside
In the Mood
Sittn' On Top of the World
I Saw the Light
Malaguena Salerosa/ Latin Twist
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 3 & 4
Music Listening Journal, Chapters 3 & 4
This week started with the reading of chapters 3&4. In the 1920’s it was a major period for the development of popular music. This was also around the same time many families in America first had their own cars. With new developments, it allowed people to see more of the world around them and more of the culture in our world through music. During the 1920’s two social shifts happened in the United States. The first is that through phonographs, radio, Hollywood films, and tabloid new papers people first had a unified national popular culture. The other was that prohibition caused mass law-breaking and social conflict.
During the 1920’s and 1930’s the production of popular music was influenced by new technologies that were being introduced. This time also helped to protect the songwriters and artist that performed the new music. The big shift during this time was that the phonograph record would begin to outsell the sheet music produced. In the year 1919 Mary by George Stoddard would be the first song to be released before its sheet music. It was a great success for the Victor Company selling 300,000 recorders in three months. This would also show the trend in record production and by the early 1920’s 100 million records a month were being produced.
There would be change to the record industry in the way they recorded their artist. In 1925, the electric recording microphone was introduced and change the way that records were produced. From this technology, there would be new musical superstars that included Bing Crosby. During this time, the first major competition for records would be introduced. The radio network would start out as an amateur hobby but later turn into big business. In 1922, there would be over 564 stations around the United States.
The popular program Make Believe Ball Room would give birth to the first disc jockeys. They would take the place of bandleaders and provide an entertaining patter. In 1927, the film the Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson would be major success as the first motion picture with sound. MGM released the first musical The Broadway Melody in 1929.
Licensing and copyright agencies would be set up and made way for ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1914. This would allow the artist to be paid for their music. In WWI there was a call for more syncopated music, this music was seen as a threat to public morality. Many great bandleaders such as W.C. Handy, Wilbur Sweatman, Ford Dabney and James Europe arrange ragtime music for ballrooms.
Vernon and Irene Castle became major superstars in the years around WWI. The team would introduce the world of wealth to new trends happening around the country. James Reese Europe also played a major part in the Castle’s successes and would lead one of the most influential Army Bands in the WWI. His band during WWI would be named the Hell Fighters, but they shared Jazz with people of France that would leave a lasting impression.
The Jazz craze started in WWI and some thought this was a fad that would fall out of popularity. Jazz had it roots in New Orleans but would be recorded in New York and Chicago. Original Dixieland Jazz Band first recorded their music in 1917. The Tiger Rag was recorded in 1918 and became one of their biggest hits. King Joe Oliver was a prominent music in his own right, but his cornetist and singer Louis Armstrong would be even more popular. His scatting and musicianship were no match for even popular singers like Bing Crosby.
The Jazz Age introduced more musicians to the American public. Noble Sissle and Eubine Blake became influential after being with James Reece Europe. They produced the first all-black musical, Shuffle Along. While the Jazz Age did create more jobs for black musicians most orchestra were segregated. One of the most successful dance bands of the 1920’s was the Ambassador Orchestra lead by Paul Whiteman. His form of jazz was considered a safe version of jazz to the public. Whiteman made important contributions to jazz and paved the way for the swing era. He also established professionalism that was imitated by dance bands on both sides of the color line.
Jazz was considered a novelty and Duke Ellington once stated that it was a musical stunt. This referred to early jazz recordings where musicians sounded like animals. This lead to bandleaders creating a carnival-like atmosphere this also allowed white listeners to experience, black culture without having to get close to black people. During the 1930’s Latin American musicians also gained popularity in the United States. The Success of “El Manicero” or the Peanut Vendor became the best-selling record of 1931.
During 1920’s and 1930’s music structure and styles dominated popular music. Irving Berlin achieved his first success writing ragtime music and became a music writing powerhouse. Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, and Oscar Hammerstein produced some of the finest music through 1902-1979. Cole Porter wrote songs that became some of the world’s great jazz standards. George Gershwin grew up listening to jazz in New York City and did the most to bridge art music and popular music.
Tin Pan Alley helped America through the great depression. The writers of Tin Pan Alley normally did not create musical about the social problems but helped people escape daily life. Crooning became popular with American audiences; Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire’s recordings with the electric microphones made the musical experience seem private. My Blue Heaven by George Whiting became one of the best-selling songs of 1927. This also showed how Tin Pan Alley used its music to help people during the great depression. April Shower by Al Jolson had a very similar effect on the listeners during 1932. I Got Rhythm performed by Ethel Merman became an instant sensation in 1930 and stayed popular till 1947.
Tin Pan Alley seemed to offer and an endless supply of fine new songs. Broadway audiences would be more receptive to contemporary entertainment. Some musicians worked for both Tin Pan Alley and Broadway. This can be seen in the early works of George Gershwin. His song Swanee was a sentimental song about the American South. Broadway helped bring social issues to light in Showboat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II it addressed racial issues with a complex plot. Its characters were allowed to experience genuine sorrow and pain.
This week started with the reading of chapters 3&4. In the 1920’s it was a major period for the development of popular music. This was also around the same time many families in America first had their own cars. With new developments, it allowed people to see more of the world around them and more of the culture in our world through music. During the 1920’s two social shifts happened in the United States. The first is that through phonographs, radio, Hollywood films, and tabloid new papers people first had a unified national popular culture. The other was that prohibition caused mass law-breaking and social conflict.
During the 1920’s and 1930’s the production of popular music was influenced by new technologies that were being introduced. This time also helped to protect the songwriters and artist that performed the new music. The big shift during this time was that the phonograph record would begin to outsell the sheet music produced. In the year 1919 Mary by George Stoddard would be the first song to be released before its sheet music. It was a great success for the Victor Company selling 300,000 recorders in three months. This would also show the trend in record production and by the early 1920’s 100 million records a month were being produced.
There would be change to the record industry in the way they recorded their artist. In 1925, the electric recording microphone was introduced and change the way that records were produced. From this technology, there would be new musical superstars that included Bing Crosby. During this time, the first major competition for records would be introduced. The radio network would start out as an amateur hobby but later turn into big business. In 1922, there would be over 564 stations around the United States.
The popular program Make Believe Ball Room would give birth to the first disc jockeys. They would take the place of bandleaders and provide an entertaining patter. In 1927, the film the Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson would be major success as the first motion picture with sound. MGM released the first musical The Broadway Melody in 1929.
Licensing and copyright agencies would be set up and made way for ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1914. This would allow the artist to be paid for their music. In WWI there was a call for more syncopated music, this music was seen as a threat to public morality. Many great bandleaders such as W.C. Handy, Wilbur Sweatman, Ford Dabney and James Europe arrange ragtime music for ballrooms.
Vernon and Irene Castle became major superstars in the years around WWI. The team would introduce the world of wealth to new trends happening around the country. James Reese Europe also played a major part in the Castle’s successes and would lead one of the most influential Army Bands in the WWI. His band during WWI would be named the Hell Fighters, but they shared Jazz with people of France that would leave a lasting impression.
The Jazz craze started in WWI and some thought this was a fad that would fall out of popularity. Jazz had it roots in New Orleans but would be recorded in New York and Chicago. Original Dixieland Jazz Band first recorded their music in 1917. The Tiger Rag was recorded in 1918 and became one of their biggest hits. King Joe Oliver was a prominent music in his own right, but his cornetist and singer Louis Armstrong would be even more popular. His scatting and musicianship were no match for even popular singers like Bing Crosby.
The Jazz Age introduced more musicians to the American public. Noble Sissle and Eubine Blake became influential after being with James Reece Europe. They produced the first all-black musical, Shuffle Along. While the Jazz Age did create more jobs for black musicians most orchestra were segregated. One of the most successful dance bands of the 1920’s was the Ambassador Orchestra lead by Paul Whiteman. His form of jazz was considered a safe version of jazz to the public. Whiteman made important contributions to jazz and paved the way for the swing era. He also established professionalism that was imitated by dance bands on both sides of the color line.
Jazz was considered a novelty and Duke Ellington once stated that it was a musical stunt. This referred to early jazz recordings where musicians sounded like animals. This lead to bandleaders creating a carnival-like atmosphere this also allowed white listeners to experience, black culture without having to get close to black people. During the 1930’s Latin American musicians also gained popularity in the United States. The Success of “El Manicero” or the Peanut Vendor became the best-selling record of 1931.
During 1920’s and 1930’s music structure and styles dominated popular music. Irving Berlin achieved his first success writing ragtime music and became a music writing powerhouse. Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, and Oscar Hammerstein produced some of the finest music through 1902-1979. Cole Porter wrote songs that became some of the world’s great jazz standards. George Gershwin grew up listening to jazz in New York City and did the most to bridge art music and popular music.
Tin Pan Alley helped America through the great depression. The writers of Tin Pan Alley normally did not create musical about the social problems but helped people escape daily life. Crooning became popular with American audiences; Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire’s recordings with the electric microphones made the musical experience seem private. My Blue Heaven by George Whiting became one of the best-selling songs of 1927. This also showed how Tin Pan Alley used its music to help people during the great depression. April Shower by Al Jolson had a very similar effect on the listeners during 1932. I Got Rhythm performed by Ethel Merman became an instant sensation in 1930 and stayed popular till 1947.
Tin Pan Alley seemed to offer and an endless supply of fine new songs. Broadway audiences would be more receptive to contemporary entertainment. Some musicians worked for both Tin Pan Alley and Broadway. This can be seen in the early works of George Gershwin. His song Swanee was a sentimental song about the American South. Broadway helped bring social issues to light in Showboat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II it addressed racial issues with a complex plot. Its characters were allowed to experience genuine sorrow and pain.
Castle Rag
Tiger Rag
El Manicero
"Peanut Vendor"
My Blue Heaven
April Showers
I Got Rythm
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