History of Rock Music Exam II

Trad Music

Traditional New Orleans style jazz was popular and was emulated by British artists

Skiffle Music

Was another popular genre that combined folk music with an up-tempo rhythmic feel

The 1960s UK Music Industry

-British concert tours by US artists, along with the release of movies that featured them, allowed British rock fans to see some of their favorite US artists live and on the big screen

-R&B and Country & Western music were scarce

-There were very few British independent record labels and no independent radio stations to help promote them

-Even the major labels in the UK had a hard time trying to place their own domestic records on the pop charts

The Beatles: Formation, Early Gigs, and Early Hits

-Was formed in 1957 in Liverpool, playing skiffle music at first, and then rock and roll in the style of American artists, such as Buddy Holly

-Originally calling themselves "The Quarry Men", Group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison

-Made several extended trips to Hamburg, Germany and were regulars at the Cavern Club in Liverpool

-Placed a hit on the UK charts (Love Me Do)

-In 1963, they recorded their first album (Please Please Me)

Beatlemania

The fanaticism surrounding the English rock band, The Beatles from 1963-1966

The British Invasion

Used to describe bands that featured guitars and long-haired musicians, but these groups were musically diverse

The British Blues Revival

A form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style (Chicago electric blues) dominated by electric guitar and harmonica and made international stars of several proponents of the genre including The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin

The Animals

-An early blues group, who opened for Chuck Berry on a UK Tour in 1964

-The group broke up in 1966, but, the bassist, Chas Chandler, went on to manage Jimmie Hendrix

The Yardbrids

-Took over for the Rolling Stones at the Crawdaddy Club

-The group was even more devoted to the blues tradition than the Rolling Stones and would sometimes end their songs with rave-ups

-After their manager pushed the group in the direction of pop music, Jeff Beck became lead guitarist when Eric Clapton left in 1965

-They went on to record at Chess studios and at Sam Philips's new recording studio in Memphis

Rave-ups

Extended instrumental passages that allowed band members to show their performing chops

The Rolling Stones: Formation, Early Gigs, and Early Hits

-Were formed by guitarist Brian Jones in 1962 and originally sang covers of American blues songs in London clubs

-Soon, they were under management and performing weekly at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond

-They cultivated a "bad boy" image that was the antithesis of the Beatles - increased their appeal in the UK but may have made Americans more reluctant to accept them at first

-Initially they did not write their own songs, but with financial gains in mind, Andrew Oldham encouraged Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to collaborate on songwriting

-The open and implied sexuality of the lyrics to their songs also helped to solidify their bad boy image with the public

-In the US, their concerts were often marked by fan violence and police interventions

-"I Can't Get No Satisfaction" went to number one on both American and British charts in 1965

The Kinks

Played in blues-oriented bands, but they also produced aggressive and ambitious pop music

The Who

Did not have much influence in the United States until the late 1960s, but they had several hits in the UK and were particularly popular in London's Mod subcultue

Women of the British Invasion

-Women singers found success during Beatlemania, both in the UK and, to a limited extent, the US

-Marianna Faithfull and Cilla Black were particularly successful in the UK

-Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield had hits that did very well in the US

Bob Dylan

-Moved from Minnesota to New York in 1960 when he was 19 years old, and became active in the folk music scene in Greenwich Village - by 1964 he became one of the most respected folk singers in the US

-He at first modeled his songwriting approach on Woody Guthrie's songs about social injustice and then began writing more personal lyrics which are widely admired for their depth and poetic approach

-His early success was with albums rather than hit singles

-His records were much more original and influential, demonstrating that pop music could address serious social concerns rather than just teenage romance

Greenwich Village

The Byrds

-Formed in Los Angeles and several of the band's members had been active in the NY folk music, playing gigs at night while working in the Brill Building during the day.

-They recorded rock versions of folk songs and later began writing more of their own songs

Mr. Tambourine Man

-Written by Bob Dylan

-The Byrd's recording of this song was the first folk-rock single to hit number one internationally

-Featured studio musicians who has played on Phil Spector and Beach Boys records

12-String Guitar

-Creates a richer, ringing sound than a standard 6-string by using six pairs of strings

-Became a part of the Byrds' signature sound

-Inspired by George Harrison's use of on in the movie, A hard Day's Night

Evolution of The Beach Boys Sound

-The groups sound began to change in 1964 when Brian Wilson decided to stop touring to focus on writing and recording

-Evolved from surf rock to intricate studio-based pop

Pet Sounds

-1966 Beach Boys album

-Set a new standard for music production in the industry and shows Phil Spector's influence

-Also influenced the Beatles to experiment more radically while recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Four Seasons

-Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons formed in 1960 in New Jersey

-Continued to have hits during the British invasion

-The group had a doo-wop vocal style with hits including "Workin My Way Back to You" and "Sherry"

Sonny and Cher

-Sonny worked for Phil Spector and became one of his most trusted aids and would sometimes sing back up or play percussion

-He would also sometimes bring his girlfriend, Cher, in to sing backup and the 2 began performing together in 1963

-They contributed to developments in hippie fashion, wearing outlandish clothes both on and off stage

-They were considered subversive by establishment culture and were often refused admittance at hotels and restaurants in the US and abroad

Garage Bands

-Male teenagers across the United States formed bands that sometimes had more enthusiasm than musical talent, often rehearsing in their garages with inexpensive equipment

-American record labels put out a series of records by unknown garage bands

-Most of these groups were one-hit wonders, but a few went on to enjoy continued success

Louie, Louie

-A calypso-infused song

-The first important national garage band hit by the Kingsmen

-Rumors that the difficult-to-discern lyrics were obscene led to government investigations

-In reality, much of the misconception stemmed from the fact that the equipment used to record the song was of poor quality, leading to a raunchy version of the lyrics being widely circulated that was simply a mishearing of the original song

The Monkees

-No group benefited more from television exposure than America's most commercially successful answer to the Beatles

-Formed as a band for a weekly television series in response to the fun-loving character of "A Hard Day's Night and Help!"

by the Beatles.

-The music recorded for the show was produced according to Brill Building -style procedures: it was written by professional songwriters, backed by studio musicians and the show became much more successful than anticipated

-Happy, carefree style

-Some critics dismissed their music because of its commercial production and because the members of the band generally did not play on their early records.

Motown Records

-An independent label based in Detroit whose most significant era paralleled that of the Beatles

-Berry Gordy formed it when he recognized the commercial potential of crossover records

-Gordy's production method was derived from Brill Building practices, and he gave songwriting and production duties to specialists

-The label's first consistent success came from The Miracles, fronted by Smokey Robinson

-The company employed skilled studio musicians, a regular group known as the Funk Brothers who helped to define the "Motown Sound"

-Quality Control: Gordy encouraged internal competition and held weekly meetings to hold a final test for each song, including its arrangement and record sound

The Supremes

-Formed in 1959, were a quintessential Motown girl group

-Considered to be the most commercially successful iteration of the girl-group format

-After a rocky start, they were eventually signed by Motown

H-D-H

-Holland-Dozier-Holland was responsible for some of the biggest hits of the 1960s

-Working with the Supremes, the Four Tops, and Martha and the Vandellas, H-D-H produced a string of hits from 1963-1967 that kept Motown at the top of the pop charts

Reverse Invasion

-British bands traveled to R&B recording studios in America, and Motown sent a number of its artists to the UK, including a three-week tour called the Motortown Revue in March 1965

-Although the tour was seen by many as a financial failure at the time, the event formed the beginning of a relationship that went on for decades, making the UK one of the most important markets for American R&B in the 1970s and 1980s

Stax Records

-Atlantic records formed a distribution partnership with a smaller, Memphis-based label.

-The label developed a distinctive house style that typically included organ, horn arrangements, a funk bass, a biting guitar sound, and no backing vocals.

-Was a much smaller operation than Motown and their records were heard as having a less polished sound.

House Musicians

-Otis Redding: one of the most important artists recording for Stax; his crossover hits for the label featured gospel-influenced vocals and the backing of Booker T. & the MG's

-Sam and Dave: were a vocal duo sent to Stax by Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records; worked with the songrwriting team of David Porter and Isaac Hayes on a series of successful singles

-Wilson Pickett: signed with Atlantic as a solo artist, and Jerry Wexler sent him to Stax; during a recording session, the band created a delayed backbeat feel that became a signature sound for Southern Soul

Southern Soul

-A harder-edged style of Black pop, was often characterized by the kind of emotional expression associated with gospel music

-Black and white listeners often perceived it as truer to African American heritage

Aretha Franklin

-Raised in Detroit, where her father was a prominent minister

-She pursued a singing career in New York where she recorded for Columbia but had limited commercial success before signing with Atlantic

-She began recording for Atlantic at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, but after a dispute, the sessions continued in New York with the same backing musicians

-These New York sessions produced most of her biggest hits

James Brown

-Began his career as a singer in the Famous Flames and as a stand-in for Little Richard in the mid-1950s

-In 1960, he began to transition from a doo-wop style to the soul style for which he would become famous

-Was known for his stage show, which featured athletic dancing and a famous closing routine in which he was led off stage exhausted, only to bounce back into the spotlight re-energized

-He had near total control over his music from the begginning of his career

Black Urban Life in the Music of the 1970s

-Issues in black urban life became central to the work of the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder

-Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis

-Stax Records, located near where King was shot, encountered business difficulties and was sold to Gulf and Western, at which time the original community of Stax musicians, writers, and producers began to pull apart

-After King's death, Motown's records began to address more of the issues facing Black America

Timothy Leary

-Ex-Harvard professor who had publicly rejected "the establishment." Advocated using hallucinogenic drugs (LSD) to unlock "the doors of perception."

-His book, The Psychedelic Experience, offered a guide to acid use on the Tibetan Book of the Dead

Drug Use and Eastern Traditions

-Drugs generally played a central role in the psychedelic movements, especially marijuana and LSD (acid).

-While drug use is not part of the practice of most Eastern traditions, the hippie counterculture in the West blended the two, arriving at a world view committed to cultural change, with music at its center

Capitol Records

The Beatles and the Beach Boys both recorded for this same label so they not only had to compete for the public's attention, but also that of their record company

The Beach Boys "Good Vibrations"

-Was considered Brian Wilson's finest achievement and it demonstrates the centrality of studio techniques as well as experimentation with several musical elements, including form

-Recording the song required more studio time and money than any other pop song before it

-Each section was recorded separately and then spliced together using a razor blade and Scotch tape

Use of the Theremin (musical instrument)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

-The Beatles began recording this album in the fall of 1966

-Centered around their common memories of growing up in Liverpool, a concept that was later dropped

-The album begins with the track "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," in which the group introduces itself as a fictional band - this, combined with the packaging and the lack of gaps between songs, has led many to call Sgt. Pepper rock's first "concept album"

-To this day, is considered to be one of the most important and influential albums in rock history

Haight-Ashbury

The old Victorian neighborhood in San Francisco that became the center of the U.S. psychedelic scene

The Family Dog

A group of friends that began organizing psychedelic dances that provided LSD to attendees

The Grateful Dead

-Central to psychedelic music in the Bay Area and were one of the foundational Jam Bands of Rock music

-The band combined elements of folk and bluegrass and developed an improvisational approach with extended, free-form songs that worked well but were difficult to capture on record

-The group's first album consisted of short songs that failed to give an indication of the improvisatory nature of their live shows

-"Working Man's Dead" and "American Beauty" featured shorter, more folk-oriented songs that helped launch the band as a successful touring group

The UFO

Was short lived, but was also the most prominent gathering of the psychedelic underground, but large avant-garde happenings took place at various locations across the city

Pink Floyd

-One of the first bands to come out of the underground scene (their name was taken from American bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council) and were regulars at UFO Club events

-Much of their approach came from avant-garde art music and they performed extended improvisations, but they also had radio-friendly songs that charted in the UK, but refused to play them live

Cream

-Was the first band to be billed as a "supergroup," and formed to play blues music

-Their success was initially in the UK, but their music soon became popular in the US after the "Summer of Love" in 1967, with their instrumental solos paralleling what was happening in San Francisco bands

-The band only stayed together for about 2 years and after a farewell concert in Royal Albert Hall in 1968, and all 3 of the group's members went on to solo careers

Jimmie Hendrix

-One of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music

-After playing stints with artists such as Little Richard and also with several bands including his own, Chas Chandler of the Animals offered to manage him after hearing him play at a club in Greenwich Village

-He made his mark on the London psychdelic scene and began scoring hits on the UK charts with his group

-His success in the US began after his legendary performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival

-His innovations that pushed guitar technique, including using feedback and the vibrato bar on his electric guitar, were widely imitated

-His career was cut short by a drug overdose in 1970

The Doors

-Formed in Los Angeles in 1965 and produced blues-based psychedelia

-The band's music lyrics highlighted darker aspects of emotional life and drug use

-Lyrics are filled with grotesque and unsettling images of alienation and repression, and his onstage antics took rock and roll's over the top overtly sexual antics to a new level

-Their 1971 album, "L.A. Woman" was their last - Jim Morrison died under mysterious circumstances in Paris that same year

The Monterey International Pop Festival

-Was organized by John Phillips of the Mammas and the Pappas and record company executives, modeling it on the already established Monterey Jazz Festival

-The idea was to feature a range of international acts, and it went on to provide a model for many similar events that followed over the next 2 years

-The event marked the first important international rock festival and brought together bands from San Francisco, LA, and London, hosting 55,000-90,000 attendees

The Woodstock Music and Art Festival

-Held in Bethel, New York, in 1969, was attended by some 400,000 audience members

-The event was so popular that roadways in upstate New York had to be closed down due to regional gridlock

-Most attendees just showed up expecting to get in for free and the crowd eventually overwhelmed security

-The event's slogan, "Three Days of Peace and Music" became an ideal for the power and influence of the hippie counterculture

Altamont

-A festival organized by the Rolling Stones in Livermore, California, in December of 1969, served as the end of the large-scale gathering era

-The original idea was that the Grateful Dead would sneak the Stones into San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for a free surprise show, but the event was relocated to an old racetrack outside of San Francisco when city officials cancelled the show after the Stones announced that they would be playing

-The event ended in tragedy when a young Black fan was beaten to death by members of the motorcycle gang, who had been hired to provide security, while the Stones were performing