Lecture 4 - Rock 'n' Roll (1954-1959) Flashcards
What is rock ‘n’ roll? When did it start? What instruments?
A musical style that drew on R&B and country to create music with simple, catchy, repetitive melodies and rhythms for a young audience
1950
often combining voices with guitar, bass, and drums
What is mainstream pop in between?
the center and periphery
What happened in the 1950s in terms of the reorganization of music?
reorganization of music happening at the periphery getting pushed into the center, particularly R&B and country which until that point had really been enjoyed regionally. R&B musicians would be making music for black audience and country musicians would be making music for white audience. These lines start to blur as we get through the 50s and we see audiences enjoying both types of music
Who coined the term rock ‘n’ roll? What did he do?
Alan Freed
hosted a popular radio show and played lots of R&B to a mostly white teenage audience but there were also black listeners and started using the term rock ‘n’ roll on this show
Who listened to rock ‘n’ roll and who bought the rock ‘n’ roll records?
baby boomer generation that was coming into age and maturing
What was the shift in the music industry in terms of marketing?
shift from marketing music by race and region to generation
What is a cover? How can artists make covers their own?
A recording of a song that has previously been recorded by another artist or group. Covers are additional versions of a song - not the original version. Musicians can leave their mark with covers and make it their own by changing the song in various ways including the timbre of the voice or the number of voices, instrumentation, style, etc.
What did white musicians do in the early stages of rock ‘n’ roll?
white musicians regularly covered and made famous songs originally recorded by black musicians. So there was this feeling of stealing and the white musicians having this platform and a lack of obstacles in their way to spread the song and help it reach a whole new level of fame in comparison to the original.
‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ - Performed by who? What did he start off as? What charts did it reach? What type of song?
Big Joe Turner
a big band singer
R&B charts and crossed over to the pop charts
Jump blues R&B style, very energetic with lots of sexual innuendos in the lyrics
Who covered ‘Shake, Rattle, and Roll’? How was this version different from Big Joe Turner’s?
Bill Haley and His Comets
Haley’s emphasizes guitars instead of saxophones, exhibits a country style rather than jump blues, and features cleaner lyrics because white audience shied away from those lyrics as well as faster, quicker, tempo, and vocal exclamations
Who did Bill Haley become because of his cover of ‘Shake, Rattle, and Roll’? How come?
became the first king of rock ’n’ roll
because he was able to reach a much wider audience
What is a crossover? How common were they from 1950 to 1953? In 1954? In 1958?
When a record or song holds a prominent position on more than 1 of the charts
about 10% of the hits appearing on the R&B charts crossed over from 1950 to 1953
In 1954, 25% of the R&B hits crossed over that year
In 1958, the figure of R&B hits crossing over jumped to 94%
‘Sh-Boom’ - performed by who? Who were they? What charts did it reach?
By the Chords
early R&B doo-wop groups (all black males)
R&B and crossed over to pop charts
What is doo-wop?
Doo-wop is a vocally-oriented style with roots in Gospel and big band traditions. It emphasizes roots in gospel music and so these singers would have grown up in the christian tradition and the type of music that they would hear in church would have been gospel music and it would have been a type of music where the whole congregation (all the people there) would have been encouraged to participate
What does doo-wop include?
includes scat singing for which the singer or singers replace lyrics with vocables to imitate the playing of instruments
What is scat singing and vocables?
improvised vocalizations where the singer(s) would substitute the lyrics with vocables (nonsense syllables) to imitate instruments
What is scat singing an extension of?
big band and jazz tradition
What form is ‘Sh-Boom’? What is the introduction to the song like? How is it extended AABA form?
expanded or extended AABA
brief vocal/sung introduction with all the voices singing at once (acapella)
Voices move back and saxophone moves to the spotlight
Who covered ‘Sh-Boom’? How did they make their careers? What chart did it reach? What is the difference in this cover from the original?
The Crew Cuts
By taking songs that did well on the R&B charts and covering them
R&B charts
- less dense/texture because there are fewer instruments
- hearing more from the whole group and their voices blend together
- less improvisation
Who were the early rock ‘n’ rollers on the R&B side?
- Chuck Berry and Chess (indie) in Chicago
- Little Richard and Specialty (indie) in Hollywood
- Fats Domino and Imperial (indie) in Los Angeles
- The Chords
- Big Joe Turner
Who was Chuck Berry? Why is he unique? Who did he record for? Chuck Berry was the first black artists to do what? What did the white audience assume about Chuck Berry? What did this impact? How did they find out the truth? What did his style include? What was his trademark move called?
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist and father of rock ‘n’ roll
because he wrote some of his songs including the music and lyrics
recorded for Chess
one of the first black artists to synthesize R&B and country for a wide, multi-racial audience
assumed that he was white because he had a white sounding voice
may have had an impact on audiences and record sales because the environment of the times was so racist not only at the industry level but society wise
when he performed on TV
catchy guitar solos, clever and wholesome lyrics but they are not universally sophisticated, and showmanship
the “duck walk”
‘Maybellene’ - Performed by who? What charts did it reach? What was the introduction like with what instrument? What was the song like? What is the song about? What is different about the verse and chorus? What other song did he perform? About who? What form?
Chuck Berry
R&B charts and crossed over to pop charts
Captivating instrumental introduction for solo electric guitar
Explosive tempo and energy
frame a lovers’ quarrel as a car chase
When we hear “Maybellene” in the song (the chorus), the words are coming out slower, whereas in the verses, he is going faster and in order to go faster, the notes should more or less be the same or close together
‘Memphis’
Marie who is his daughter
Ballad form (telling a story) and simple verse form without a chorus
Who was Little Richard? What was his specialty? What was he exposed to from a young age? What was he known for? What was his playing style on the piano? What did his music encourage? What did he do in terms of opening up opportunities for other people? What were 3 of his hits?
Early rock ‘n’ roller of the 1950s and is also a singer and pianist
his vocal exclamations sometimes with vocables
exposed to southern Gospel music
high vocal embellishments often punctuating ends of phrases; simple, pumping piano and theatrics (throwing his leg up on the piano and playing it at the same time); sexually-charged lyrics; flamboyant stage persona and androgynous appearance (flashy clothes, theatrical makeup, etc.)
repetitive chords, an aggressive, loud, forceful kind of touch
A lot of his music was dance music. It encouraged audience participation and sing-along especially during the choruses
He pushed the boundaries in a time when this was least favoured. He was opening up more opportunities for other people who wanted to follow in his footsteps
- Tutti Frutti (went up to number 2 on the R&B charts and it did crossover to the pop charts)
- Long, Tall Sally (went to number 6 on pop charts)
- Good Golly Miss Molly
Little Richard was a prime target for what? Who covered his songs?
for covers
white artists like Pat Boone who was a very popular white performer who liked the Crew Cuts, often took songs initially performed by R&B artists. He covered Tutti Frutti. But Pat Boone wouldn’t push the boundaries like Little Richard and Chuck Berry did.
