History Of Recorded Music example essay topic

These are my rough unedited class notes representing general ideas and concepts for class lectures. Please ignore the many sentence fragments. The African-American culture of the southern plantation influenced the birth of the blues through the adaptation of their African musical heritage. Based upon a call and response structure, one slave worker would call or play a lead and the fellow workers would respond with the same phrase or an embellishment of that phrase.

The music involved predictable repetitions and were designed to ease the boredom of working in the fields as well as using music to retain memories of their past. This was important to the slave who were accustomed to dancing and singing to the beat of African drumming which emphasized rhythm over harmony. Drums were outlawed by the plantation owners so slaves often substituted clapping or slapping their bodies to establish a rhythmic pulse. The black churches of the south used music to enhance their worship services.

Even today, black church services traditionally extend many hours into the afternoon and sometimes resemble a community talent show with congregation members performing all sorts of energetic music. During WWI many southern A-A's brought the blues to northern cities especially Chicago. The AA population grew from 40,000 in 1910 to 240,000 in 1930. Many left the plantations to flee from discrimination and to seek better paying jobs in the northern factories.

From 1940-1950 220,000 southern African-Americans fled from the southern plantations to Chicago with nearly half coming from the Mississippi Delta region. Muddy Waters (McKinley Morgan field) Singing in church "I was a good Baptist and got all my moaning and trembling going on for me right out of church". First guitar at 13 Sold last family horse for $15... Gave grandmother half and order a Stella guitar from Sears and Roebuck for $2.501943 moved to Chicago to make a start in the music business. Wanted to leave Had older blacks believing that they could not make it away from the plantations.

1944 Bought first electric guitar from Leo Fender. Muddy Waters I'm Your Hooch ie Conchie Man Steppenwolf I Just Want To Make Love To You Howlin Wolf (Chester Burnett) Muddy Waters Rival at Chess records of Chicago Willie Dixon songwriter and talent scout. Wrote songs for Waters and Wolf. Lived on plantation in Mississippi. Decided to imitate the yodeling style of white singer Jimmy Rogers but never quite mastered the technique. Ended up sounding like someone howling and hence the name stuck.

Howlin Wolf Backdoor Man Killing Floor The Lemon Song Led Zeppelin Bo Diddley (Ellas McDaniel) Moved to Chicago with family and started playing music in the streets at 15 Singed with Chess records in 1955 Distinctive vocal sound with fast quivering vibrato. Bo Diddley I'm A Man Who Do You Love Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) Blues harpist took 1962 hit Booker T and the MG's Green Onions "Help Me " Rock and Roll was African American euphemism for intercourse. Chuck Berry Brick house, tree lined street in middle-class St. Louis. Family lived a block from church and musical roots originated in the church service. Chuck Berry Roll Over Beethoven Rock and Roll Music Johnny B. Goode Back in the USA Decca vs. Sun Signed Bill Haley and the Comets Shake Rattle and Roll Rock Around the Clock (appeared in 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle) See You Later Alligator Much more restrained style on stage as opposed to Elvis. In a jab at Elvis he said that a lot depends on the entertainer and how he controls the crowd.

The music is stimulating enough without creating additional excitement. Its worth mentioning that Elvis was a young handsome hip swiveled while Haley was a pudgy, balding and 32 years old. During the same time Decca discovered Charles Holly, a skinny teenager with thick horn rimmed glasses from Lubbock Texas. Buddy Holly was greatly influenced by country music especially bluegrass and western music pulling inspiration from artist such as Hank Snow and Hank Williams. By 16 Buddy had started to consider making a career in country western music.

That changed in 1955 when Elvis arrived in Lubbock for an performance at the Cotton Club. Holly and his friend Bob Montgomery drove Elvis around town and spent that evening with him at the concert. Buddy was surprised that Elvis was normal and said he was really a nice guy. The next day Holly and his group backed Elvis at the grand opening of a Pontiac dealership. After that weekend, Buddy started singing Elvis songs. His friends said his was on an Elvis kick and it started to shape the new rock and roll sound of Buddy Holly.

Buddy's big claim to fame releases were: Peggy Sue That " ll be the Day Party Doll In a moment of insanity Sam Phillips accepted a 35,000 offer from RCA Victor for the exclusive rights to Elvis' contract and all of his recorded materials. Phillips said he need the money to get out of a real bind. He claimed not to be broke but said it was just a real struggle to get buy. By 1956 there were over 600 TV stations and 37 million televisions in American homes. Television was dominated by three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC which incidentally was owned by RCA Victor. Using television RCA started mass marketing Elvis.

They started capitalizing Elvis' good looks with appearances on variety shows such as the Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey "Stage Show" This show came on right before the "Honeymooners" and competed with another variety show, the Perry Como Hour. RCA also scheduled appearances on The Milton Berle Show and The Steve Allen Show. By the end of that year, Ed Sullivan, who earlier had condemned Elvis as "unfit for a family audience", agreed to pay the popular new star $50.000 for three appearances on his show. At the time the Ed Sullivan was one of the two most popular programs in America. Sullivan feared protest from his usual viewers and ordered that Elvis be filmed from the waist up hiding the highly suggestive pelvic gyrations.

This is one of the most legendary moments in television history with nearly 54 million viewers, nearly 83 percent of the television audience. Elvis hit the top of the charts during the following weeks with music performed on the television performances. Charts such as: Love Me Tender Hound Dog Don't be Cruel All Shook U plast two written by black artist Otis Blackwell who also wrote Great Balls of Fire for Jerry Lee Lewis. His promoter Colonel Thomas Parker turned Elvis into an unbelievable marketing success. REACTIONS TO ELVISMANIASome adult quotes 47, 48.49. 50 (2) Colonel Parker responded by having Elvis perform on the Steve Allen show with tuxedo tails and white tie.

No guitar, no movement, and a hound dog trained to simply sit and look droopy. The changed Elvis appealed even more and went on to boost record sales. By the end of his career his sold over 250 million records. In the history of recorded music only Bing Crosby neared Elvis's record with around 200 million. Oddly enough, Elvis started to receive all sorts of awards. QUOTE 50 (3) Dick Clark and the Teen Market 1959 left rock and roll without many of its main stars.

Elvis was in the army (and not singing) Buddy Holly killed, Little Richard joined a fundamentalist religious sect and Chuck Berry was in jail. Two young entrepreneurs Dick Clark and Don Kirshner started promoting the Philadelphia sound through photogenic, well groomed Italian teen pop stars. Dick Clark Syracuse University advertising and radio American Band Stand Quote 56 Philadelphia StarzFabianFrankie Avalon Bobby Darrin Johnny Mathis Quotes on: 54 (4) Late 50'Little Richard turned to the church Jerry Lee Lewis gravitated toward country music Chuck Berry was put in jail Buddy Holly killed in a plane crash Elvis Presley in the army Dick Clark Quotes 55 (5) FOLK MUSIC Dylan Songs of Protest Civil Rights Issues Youths in college wanted music different from the bubble gum Kirshner music. Singers like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie traveled the country side singing songs about real people.

Woody Guthrie said after writing his song This Land is Your Land, I sing the songs of the people that do all of the little jobs and the mean and dirty work in the world and of their wants and their hopes and their plans for a decent life. Protest singers like Seeger and Guthrie fell in to disrepute when senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin pursued Communist sympathizers. He openly accused public figures of Communist tendencies creating a hysterical atmosphere throughout the nation. The senator criticized politically minded entertainers like Seeger and Guthrie who eventually became blackballed by the networks and recording industry.

Most real folk singers like Dylan and Joan Baez focused on the message their music carried rather than the all mighty dollar. The folk band followed with groups like Lovin Spoonful, mimicking the sounds of Dylan but these folk bands often concentrated on topics other than protest. Newsweek described it as healthy, cheap, moral folk music is what's happening at this moment in the dissonant echo chamber of pop music. THE BRITISH INVASION February 7 1964 Kennedy Airport Outside on the covered rooftop. Inside 9000 more teenage girls. Fought screaming girls from the airport to the hotel.

Found three in the bathtub. Check in under their parents name. They were all four worried that they would not be accepted in America. Ed Sullivan witnessed the return of the Beatles to London and said this reminded of the same mass hysteria that characterized the Elvis Presley days. He contacted the manager Brian Epstein and booked the Beetles for three appearances on the Ed Sullivan show for under 20,000 dollars. 728 teens packed the studio 50,000 battled for tickets 73 million people/60% of the viewing audience.

Not always clean cut. War ended with nothing to do but join gangs. Had trouble finishing high school and did not know what to do without the structure of the draft. Dave Clark of the Dave Clark 5 said that if the government had not stopped the draft, there would have been no Beatles.

Mods and the Rockers, Beatles were Rockers, tight pants, pointed boots. Hair greased back riding motorcycles. Mods / Modernist were nice clothes, short hair, danced and took pills. Liked to ride scooter. They would sometimes spend an entire weeks of clothing on a single outfit.

They were England's lowest common denominators. Not only were they young, they were lower class young. Most Mods were lower-class scum with enough money to by himself Sunday best. Skiffle Mix of Dixieland jazz and country blues. Beatles emerged from this skiffle style.

The Quarrymen, Johnny and the Moon dogs, the Silver Beatles. Poor families, Second coming of the beatles. Seattle Their hotel room was barricaded by barbed wire and sawhorses. The mayhem was so great after the performance that they had to cover the four musicians with blankets, place them on a stretcher and carry them through the crowd to a Red Cross ambulance. By the end of 1965 they had made more that 56 million in concert proceeds During 1964 British rock bands sold more than 76 million dollars worth of records in the U.S. Several other groups followed suit and began making stabs at the American market. Gerry and the Pacemakers debuted on the E.S. show in 1965.

The Hollies proved to be a long lasting British band. The group was started by Graham Nash and singer-guitarist Allan Clark. They named their band after Buddy Holly and worshipped Buddy's music. Herman's Hermits fronted by Peter Noone and later added musicians Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones who later performed in Led Zeppelin. London's Dave Clark Five posed the biggest threat to the dominance of the Beatles. Within five days of their Ed Sullivan appearance they were household names and had five records on the charts at once.

Inspired by Little Richard, fats Domino and Elvis. They like the beatles' Hard day's Night released a movie entitled Catch Us If You Can Monkees Two American producers created a prefab version of the Beatles Placed add in Hollywood trade papers for "four insane boys age 17-21 for acting roles in new TV series. Interviewed nearly 450 applicants including folk rock singer Stephen Stills and mass murderer Charles Manson. They ended up with Robert Michael Nesmith, Mickey Do lenz, Peter Thor kelson and David Jones. Don Kirshner now president of music at Columbia Pictures and Screen Gems TV Stiff and untalented. Song writers like Carol King, Neil Sedaka and of the other Kirshner originals teamed up with Neil Diamond and wrote the songs for the monkeys.

Carole King and Neil Diamond would also sing background with studio musicians such as Glen Campbell, Leon Russell, and James Burton. 100 million viewers once a week. 5000 letters per day 20 million worth of Monkees junk. One of the members said, we are selling a product, the monkeys.

Poster proclaiming the monkeys are coming. Preview records to 6000 disc jockeys. They even included several no-no-no choruses to substitute for the Beatles yeah-yeah-yeah Time magazine commented, less than a year ago a wiley team of promoters ran the Beatles through a Xerox machine and came up with the MonkeesSTONESRecalled Keith Richards", I get on this train one morning and there's Mick and under his arm he has four or five albums. Chuck Berry, Little Walter, Muddy Waters.

Mutual passion for R & B. Their first efforts was a small skiffle band with no drummer doing Waters, Berry R&B. Most of their earlier recordings were covers of Chicago R& B artist like Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Bo Diddley. Andrew Oldham became manager of the Stones in May of 1963. Created a raunchy, crude offensive image that contrasted sharply with the Beatles. While on a British television show Oldham cleaned up the group. Put them in suits... You have to make some compromises sounding like Ep stine did with the Beatles.

He immediately changed his strategy and manufactured an opposite. Lied about their ages so they would have more appeal to teenagers. Two Quotes. 120 Dean Martin had them on a show and slammed them.

First tour of U.S. Motorcade 600 in 15000 hall. Second tour. Ed was unbelieveableQuote 121122 The WHO They were designed after the Mods. Roger Dal trey said if anything, when first discovered we were similar to the Stones. Birth of Motown Berry Gordy was the father of Motown Productions. Gordy was a man inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther King.

His music empire reflected the progress of the civil rights movement. Based in Detroit, Gordy used techniques used found on the factory assembly lines. Having individuals who could do very specific jobs in training his new talent, they would literally walk in the building as one person and exit the other end in a transformed state. Motown became the first African-American owned label that consistently and successfully groomed, packaged, marketed, and sold the music of African-American youths to the white American masses. Motown use sophisticated arrangements and instrumentation.

Gordy was a produced and songwriter. In 1959 Gordy borrowed $800 from his family and rented an eight-room house in Detroit and founded the Motown Record Company. Friends and colleagues discourage Gordy from attempts to record and distribute records. Suggested he just develop and record artist. In 1960 Gordy co-wrote and distributed "Shop Around" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles which toped the charts and established Motown as an important independent company.

Continued to capitalize on the girl-craze. Matadors Miracles Primes TemptationsPrimettes Supremes Marvels MarvelettesFour Aims Four TopsSteveland Morris Stevie WonderMarvelettes: Mr. Postman Martha and the Vande llas: Heat Wave Dancin in the Streets Motown was a very strong backer of Martin Luther Kings total program. Gordy felt that their job in Detroit was to make blacks aware of their culture, of the problems and some of the ways out of the problems. 1964 Hired Maxine Powell who operated a finishing school. Powell claimed the singers were raw.

Taught them manners, changed abusive speech patterns, corrected posture, altered attitude, choose clothes. She taught them little things like never turn your back to an audience, never protruding their buttocks onstage, never opening their mouths too wide to sing, how to be well-rounded professionals. Perform as if you are at the White House of Buckingham Palace. She also taught them the art of inoffensive interviews.

She had to force her students with a little pushing and shoving. After Powell, Gordy added choreographer Holly Atkins to the staff. Well know dancer performed at the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. Gordy claimed that within a year they had the best looking artist in the record business. Wanted to kill the imagery of liquor and drugs.

They often rejected blues material for their artist. Gordy called the music, sounds of young Americans. Diana Ross and Supremes began as the Primettes singing in local high school functions. Selected the name Supremes by drawing three names from a hat. Limited success at first.

1964 the Supremes made the first of 20 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. They were dressed in matching, full length dresses. This image embodied the Motown image of the slick, cultivated African-American entertainer and helped them to become overnight pop stars. Adopted the Kirshner technique and employed a team of songwriters. Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland joined in 1962 and developed the consistent Motown sound.

Compositions included: Stop in the Name of Love You Keep Me Hangin On Where Did Our Love Go Used the same in house rhythm section called the Funk Brothers to create a consistent sound. Watchful father. $100 per week. Remainder of their money was invested in a joint bank account.

Refused to allow the girls to date. Gave each one a diamond ring for Christmas. Very strict life for the entertainers. Temptations: replaced processed hair and clothes for short haircut and tails and top hats. My Girl Get Ready Ain't Too Proud to Beg Four Tops: Smokey Robinson & Miracles Smokey be came an important song writer for the Motown label and eventually became vice president of the company Motown began to fall apart when internal fights broke out between members of the organization. Gordy fired one of the supreme's.

Fought with songwriting teams over royalty rates. They quit and filed suit against Motown Productions. Surf Sound While Dick Clark developed the East Coast Philadelphia sound with lyrics dealing with young love the surf sound emerged from the west coast describing the two most important things to California teens, surfing and cars. The structure of California communities necessitated the use of cars by all members of society thus the automobile became and essential part of the west coast life. The east coast sound was smooth, dreamy and in the style of a crooner where the contrasting surf style stuck to the traditions of rock and roll guitar, bass and drums. Folk singers sang of love, peace and racial harmony as surf musicians sang of cars, girls, beach parties and waves.

Folk musicians of the time used acoustic guitar with little or no studio help where surfer musicians relied heavy of electric sounds enhanced by special effects. Major figures in the surf sound were, Duane Eddy, the Ventures, and Dick Dale. Duane Eddy (1938) developed the twangy guitar sound associated with surf music by plucking the strings close to the bridge where the strings are the tightest. Using this technique produces an usual nasal tone from the guitar.

The amplifier "echo effect" along with the tremolo arm produced a constant wavering effect often thought to emulate the sound of waves. Many of Duane's song titles and lyrics dealt with teen rebellion. The Ventures were among the first important group to be associated with the surf image. The influence of Duane Eddy is obvious in the guitar styles of the Ventures. One of the few surf groups to maintain popularity past the sixties. Dick Dale (King of Surf Guitar) Dick Dale and the Dale-Tones started out using the guitar techniques of Duane Eddy.

Defined a guitar technique using a rapid repetition of the pick hand while sliding the finger down the finger board. Beach Boys started as the Pendleton's. The pend elton shirt was a plaid flannel shirt worn by the surfers. Brothers, Brian, Carl and Dennis, Wilson and Cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine.

Main writer and producer was Brian Wilson. Eventually Wilson became a successful song writer and produced a continuous stream of surf-car feature songs. Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown in 1966 that forced him to stop touring. They replaced him with other singers and allowed him to concentrate on songwriting.

Early to mid 1960, San Francisco Bay Community. Speaking out, free love, uninhibited expression was the calling card of these middle class, college educated youths clustered in the Bay Area. Johnson administration and death of Kennedy led teens to believe it would return to politics as usual. To the youth, all other areas of the nation besides the San Fran scene represented conservatism or the hated establishment The west coast represented the new America. Many individuals hitchhiked across the country to San Francisco to the epicenter of the hippie scene which was the Haight-Ashbury district.

Central to this scene were drugs, free sex and music. Rock concert halls changed the popularity of rock music in this area. A major concert promoter in this area was Bill Graham. Fillmore auditorium and W interland were some of the venues. Soon these audiences became too unruly and had to be moved to stadiums and other outdoor venues. The second major success factor in the San Fran music scene was FM Disc Jockey Tom Donahue and his Album-oriented rock Characteristics of San Fran sound 1. drugs lsd not illegal until 1966 clothing wild volumes high dead with 23 tons of sound equipment singer no longer dominant guitar electronic technological 5. not interested in top 40 hits Jefferson Airplane White Rabbit one pill makes you garcia discharged from the army and dropped out of school mother mc crees jug champions changed to the war locks Ken kelsey and the merry pranksters held parties called acid tests and invited wild friend such as the hells angles warlocks Anything went charged with drugs and fled to mexico acid test stopped and became concerts could not handle the structured environment of the recording studio they were a concert band, not a studio band hauled equipment to great pyramids $500,000 Haight changed from free thinkers to dropouts with an increase of crime.

Hendrix and Dylan not big singers but Hendrix decided if Dylan could make it so could he drenched guitar in lighter fluid following the Who at the Monterey Pop Festival decided to stop stage antics Jimi vomit Janis heroin Jim Morrison heart attack all 27 all between sept 18 1970 and july 3 1971 Love could replace war, sharing could replace greed, and community could supersede the individual. Started with the Beats or beatniks came before the hippies. Wide use of LSD to raise personal awareness. For three days in late January 1966, Beatnik writer Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and his band of free spirits know as the Merry Pranksters, hosted the Trips Festival, which attracted more that 6600 people. For the event they enlisted the services of the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company: set up five movie screens, on which they projected a combination of colors and shapes: and spiked the punch with LSD. The concoction became known as the Kool-Aid acid test.

During the festival, Kesey stalked the floor dressed in a space helmet and a jumpsuit and composed free-form poetry on an overhead projector. PUNK ROCK Velvet Underground Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker (later) Reed and Cale classically trained Reed trained on piano and wrote poetry about the rough street life in New York Cale classically trained on viola. Decided to work together and experiment with new style of rock. Original names of groups, Primitives, Warlocks, Falling Spikes and finally settled on Velvet Underground. Reed recited his poems while the group droned chords on guitar and viola. Second drummer, Tucker sometimes added trash-can lids to her drum set.

Met Andy Warhol and was influenced by his artistic style of mixing media such as transferring soup cans into art work. Reeds songs focused on drug addiction and sadomasochism. Music was repetitious and poorly performed. Musicianship was not an issue with these garage band converts. Music was purposely cold to reflect Reeds views of society.

Split and reunite... anger stressed by constant eighth-note pulse and shouted monotone vocals MC 5 Motor City Five High School rock band. After high school became connected with a radical political group the white panthers. Got attention for playing for those who rioted at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Radio station refused air-play due to offensive lyrics.

Electra records reissued a modified version. Two guitars gave this garage band the power of heavy metal but included an indignant attitude. Iggy Pop and the Stooges James Jewel Oster berg played drums with the Iguanas which he took the name Iggy. Formed his own band Iggy Pop and the Stooges. Music was repetitive, angry, and pessimistic.

Iggy would hit himself and cut his skin with pieces of glass then smearing the bloody mess with peanut butter. Befriended David Bowie who helped him as producer and writer. Also used Velvet's John Cale as producer. The New York Dolls Added glitter to the punk sound and passed it to NY youths and then London.

5 men in lipstick, eye make-up and stacked heels. Sang about bad girls, drugs and NY street life. Not as serious topics Ramones 74 and named after Paul Ramone, a pseudonym for Paul McCartney in his early Beatles career. Everyone in the group adopted the last name Ramone. Only Tommy Ramone had actually worked as a musician.

Most songs lasted 2 minutes or less. 1980 Phil Spector (wall of sound dude) was used for the End of the Century album. Ramone's punk fans hated it. British Punk. Youth hated social system of lower-middle class British. Everything was out of reach including the music played by wealthy rock stars.

Clothes, music, and glamour meant nothing to these youth. Anger, frustration, mistrust, and violence. Anti-government, Anti-society, Anti-fashion Sex Pistols Wore worn, torn second-hand clothing using safety pins to hold it together. Malcolm McLaren. Owned of and anti-fashion store in London called Sex. Developed a sound that would express the anger of the London youth.

Was interested in NY Dolls but they broke up. Used kids who worked at the store that he knew played musical instruments in a band called the S wankers and one kid that just hung around the store with a bad attitude. John Lydon. Nicknamed Johnny Rotten.

Rotten had no experience at singing but had the correct bitter attitude. Other musicians were, Glen Matlock, bass Steve Jones, guitar Paul Cook, drums Johnny's name and the store name. They were completely caught up in highly emotional anger. They wanted to repulse the establishment and provoke authorities into retaliating against them, and that attracted more fans than their music itself did. Energy level of the music was high and violence at their performances became common. Punk dance called the Pogo.

Performances stopped in mid-song. Concerts canceled and radio programmers pulled their music off the air. First single Anarchy in the UK sold well but was removed due to vulgar language the group used on a British television program, The Today Show. Matlock left the Sex Pistols and Rotten brought a friend, John Ritchie to play bass. They renamed Ritchie, Sid Vicious. Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious.

Lost record contracts as fast as they signed them, and they finally ended up on Virgin label. Showing respect for the Queen of England was one sure way to anger the average British citizen. In 1977 Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating her Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary of her coronation). In her honor the Sex Pistols released a single whose title was the same as that of the English national anthem, "God Save the Queen". Continued to tour US and Europe due to promoters lack of support in England. No one in the UK would hire them.

Changed the Anarchy in UK to US but the US crowds just viewed the group as musical oddities. With no place to perform the group split in 78. Sid moved to NY with girlfriend whom he was later accused of killing. He died of an drug overdose before the investigation was complete. Johnny Rotten took back his name of Lydon and formed public image while the rest of the band found new projects.