LEC 9

soul and funk music is developed in connection to what?

the civil rights movement and the development of african american identity

true or false: in the late 1950s the standards of living for african americans is just as bad as it has always been and it is getting worse

false: in the late 1950s, the standards of living are going up for everyone, even african americans with the growing anticipation of civil rights

why is the standard of living going up for african american communities?

due to the civil rights movement

before soul music came to be what style of music was rejected as a sound of the past, rural south, slavery

blues

true or false: the great migration of millions of people moving from urban to rural areas allowed for the emergence of soul music

false: it is the movement from rural to urban areas

what are the 3 general influences/precursors that are a fusion to make up soul

1/ vocal style from gospel

2/ rhythm beat of r+b

3/ arrangements and lyric styles from TPA

true or false: “soul” comes from taking the soul of the church through gospel/church songs

true

when comparing the arrangements and lyric style of soul and r+b, what do we see

r+b

* too “rough around the edges” or amateurish

\
soul

* more structured and concise
* looks at more complex arrangements
* more sophisticated

what are the two important locations for soul music?

motown and stax

where was motown located?

Detroit

where was stax located?

memphis

why was motown called motown

b/c detroit was the automotive centre of the world

who founded motown

a. berry gordy

b. jim stewart

c. estelle axton

d. b+c

a

what was berry gordy’s idea for music manufacturing and where did this idea come from?

he wanted to manufacture artists like cars: with an assembly line

* using division of labour

\
this idea arose b/c he used to work in a car factory with assembly lines

when does berry gordy start motwon?

1959

who was berry gordy targeting to get into motown?

african american artists

true or false: berry gordy’s idea of an assembly line was under 1 roof, where an artist comes in and a perfectly polished artist comes out

true

who was the target audience for motown?

african american communities

NOT middle class whites as it has usually been

who did berry gordy hire as the song writers of motown as part of the division of labour

* holland/dozier/holland
* smokey robinson

other than berry Gordy who was another important figure in Motown

a. cholly atkins

b. smokey robinson

c. jim stewart

d. maxine powell

b

true or false: berry gordy wanted his artists coming out of motown to target only the african american communities

false: berry wanted his artists to target as wide a population as possible

how did berry gordy prepare motown artists to play anywhere and for any audience?

finishing school = prepare Motown artists to play anywhere and not offend anyone

\
choreography = consistent visuals, contained dance moves, and visual look

\
house band = the funk brothers recorded music for all songs at Motown

who was brought into motown as a finishing school teacher?

maxine powell

who was brought into motown as a choreographer?

cholly atkins

what was the name of the house band of motown?

the funk brothers

why did berry ensure that he had one finishing school teacher, one choreography and one house band to record all the music?

to ensure consistency of product just different artists

who wrote “you’d better shop around”?

smokey robinson and berry gordy

who performed “you’d better shop around”?

smokey and the miracles

when observing smokey and the miracles performance of you’d better shop around what characteristics are observed?

* polished
* retrained
* sophisticated
* the gospel influence → distortion
* attention to detail in background vocals and lyric style
* which was not seen in r+b
* appearance → small movements, retraint, control

true or false: the performance we watched of smokey and the miracles was performed live but lip synced

true

select the groups that came out of motown

a. smokey and the miracles

b. the funk brothers

c. the supremes

d. booker T and the MGs

a,c

who wrote “stop in the name of love”

a. the supremes

b. berry gordy

c. holland/dozier/holland

d. smokey robinson

c

when did “stop in the name of love” come out

1965

what are the characteristics of “stop in the name of love”

* strong dance beat
* idealized romance lyrics
* detailed arrangement → background vocals, new instruments
* less gospel influence

what instrunment did motown bring in to the song “stop in the name of love”

a. vibraphone

b. tamboura

c. electric guitar with wah-wah wand

a

who was the lead vocalist of stop in the name of love?

diana ross

which gave less of a gospel influence

why did berry choose to make diana ross the lead vocalist of the supremes?

b/c her soft voice would appeal to a wider range of audiences! (black and white)

* this was his goal!

\
the other two in the band had strong gospel voices

how was the supreme visual appearance appealing to a wide range of audiences?

since they were dressed formally

what were the lyrics of motown like?

acceptable to idealized romance

what were the beats like in motown?

danceable

true or false: the arrangements of Motown songs is simplicity

false: its complexity

what types of vocal timbre do we see in the production practice of Motown

we see a range

* soft and breathy like diana ross
* distorted, gospel influence like Smokey Robinson

what was berry gordys biggest concern with the sound and production practice of motown artists

accuracy of performance!!

* songs needed to be performed correctly

true or false: berry gordys idea of accurate performance is in conjuction with looking towards to the product just like the beatles

true

what are the quality control meetings of motown?

* meetings that happened once a week
* people working at Motown would go to record stores and get the most popular CDs
* listen to them together and see how to keep their sound BUT make them more popular

why is motown called hitsville?

b/c berry wanted to generate hit records!

that was the focus!

who formed STAX

a. berry gordy

b. jim stewart

c. estelle axton

d. b+c

d

they were siblings

when was STAX formed?

in 1959

true or false: both STAX and motown were formed in the same year, 1959

true

true or false: motown used a house band but STAX did not

false: both did!

what was the name of the house band of STAX

booker T and the M.G.s

what was the main difference between motowns house band and STAX’s house band?

motown - the funk brothers:

* did not record their own record, they just made music for artists at motown

\
STAX - Booker T and M.G.s

* they were an actual band!
* recorded their own record

what was unique about Booker T and the M.Gs

a. they were a band that only made songs for artists at STAX

b. they were a band with black + white artists

c. they had no intrest in soul music

b

who sang the song “try a little tenderness” in STAX?

otis redding

true or false: otis redding wrote try a little tenderness

false: it was a TPA song written in 1920sw

when did otis redding sing try a little tenderness

1966

true or false: when comparing band presence, STAX typically had the band more upfront with the artist, whereas in motown there was no band present with the artist or band

true

true or false: otis reddings version of try a little tenderness was very complex, lots of background vocals

false: its common for STAX to have little complexity

\
* otis did not have any background vocals in his song

true or false: STAX artists were allowed to do what they felt during their performance, it was not as important to have an accurate performance

true

how did otis redding present himself during the performance of try a little tenderness

* started off looking around and looking in camera
* them gets lost in the moment and makes his performance powerful
* hunched over, singing
* gospel influence

who was the band that performed with otis redding during try a little tenderness

bar-k

how was music made at STAX?

* no use of multitrack recording
* everyone got together and recorded in one pass about 5 or 6 times
* then a collective decision was made based on which of the 5 or 6 recordings were the best

true or false: due to the recording strategy of STAX there was rarely any mistakes

false: sometimes records would be sent out with mistakes

true or false: due to the recording strategy of motown there was rarely any mistakes

true, there was never any mistakes

what was the focus of STAX

energy of the performance not accuracy!

true or false:

STAX is about process

motown is about product

true!

select that artists of STAX:

a. sam and dave

b. aretha franklin

c. Booker T and the M.G.s

d. otis redding

a,c,d

who sang soul man?

sam and dave

when was soul man released?

1967

true or false: soul man sung by Sam and Dave has no background vocals and has very prominent instruments in the background

true!

trumpets in the background

which of these is an example of a STAX record with a mistake?

a. try a little tenderness

b. soul man

c. respect

d. stop in the name of love

b

true or false: soul man is very elaborate and complex, with lots of background vocals

false

why is STAX called soulville?

b/c of the focus on having the BEST soul music

wanted to create music that everyone will listen to soul

STAX wanted to create the best soul music so they could appeal to a wider audience

false: they just wanted to make the best soul music! they didnt care about appealing to a wide audience

other then STAX and motown what is another recording label?

FAME

where is FAME based in?

alabama

what was the nickname of FAME

muscle shoals

true or false: FAME, STAX and motown all used house bands

true

what is the name of the house band at FAME

the slumpers

what artist at FAME recorded with the slumpers?

aretha franklin

who helped aretha franklin to show her potential?

atlantic records

who was respect originally composed by?

otis redding

when was respect by aretha franklin released?

1967

true or false: there is a gospel influence to “respect”

true

true or false: “respect” by aretha fanklin has an elaborate arrangment

false: not really, a little more then STAX but not as much as what we’d hear in motown

how was “respect” by aretha franklin interpreted by the general audience/listeners?

* it became an anthem for the civil rights movement!!
* with her combo of assertiveness and power in her voice

in the early 60s in the US who was elected president

john f kennedy

true or false: JFK was the youngest president to this day

true

why was JFK the most sympathetic president that the civil rights movement could have seen at the time

* due to his age
* since he understood that marginalization exists

why was JFK in reference to the camelot idea

this was the idea that there was no “head of the table”

* he was open to change
* open to new ideas
* and embracing the idea of equality

what was “the new frontier”

* “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”
* service
* optimism, forward-looking, sense of service
* this new frontier is a sense of optimism to equality!! and raising up everyone and making things better for everyone!

who was the leader of the civil rights movement?

martin luther king jr

true or false: JFK was very supportive of the civil rights movement but did not want protest/ march in Washington to occur

false: he was ok with protests, he did not want there to be a large amount of police present

when did MLK give the “i have a dream speech?

1963

where was JFK assassinated

dallas, texas

when was JFK assassinated

NOV 22 1963

with the death of JFK what died with him?

the optimism of the civil rights movement

civil rights begins to stall

between the years of 1965 to 1967 what happened to the civil rights movement and why?

* inner city riots increased
* rise of civil unrest
* since JFK died and the new president taking his place did not care about the civil rights movement

what correlation is there between aretha franklin releasing “respect” and civil rights unrest?

in 1967 she releases the song

and there are increasingly more riots due to lack of moving forward with the civil rights movement

true or false: those involved in the civil rights movement remember 1967 as the long hot summer because of the frustration of the civil rights movement

true