MUSI 1003 Exam 2 People Studying

Big Mama Thorton

R&B, singer, drummer, harmonica player, worked with people in LA, singer for Hound Dog, it was composed for her, described as looking pretty sultry

Johnny Mathis

easy listening, best-selling recording artist who appealed to rock and roll teens and parents, started in late 50s, really important crooner, rich baritone voice

Nat “King” Cole

jazz, easy listening, known for his skill as a jazz pianist and singer, born in Alabama, family moved south side of Chicago, grew up playing organ, elaborate orchestral arrangements, first African American to cross over regularly into predominantly white pop charts, first black to host weekly radio series and have network television show

Alan Freed

“one who started it all” for Rock ‘n’ Roll, literally created the name, a DJ who discovered in the early 50s that more young white kids were listening to and requesting R&B played on his late time show “Moondog Show”, in 1954 he moved his station to a larger New York radio market, continued to promote, the idea of racial integration was new, in 1957 he was in a TV sponsored by himself, it was canceled after he showed Frank Lineman dancing with a white girl and was a “scandal”, in the early 1960s prosecuted for payola

Chuck Berry

Rock ‘n’ Roll, clever lyricist and songwriter and fine vocalist, pioneering electric guitarist, some R&B influence

Little Richard

Rock ‘n’ Roll, singer, songwriter, boogie-woogie influence pianist, culturally flamboyant performance style, known for his sexual ambiguity, hair was known for pompadour, would play piano standing and gyrating, shouting style of singing, in some movies, “Tutti Frutti” (1956), Pat Boone covered several of this persons songs

The Rolling Stones

British Invasion rock, R&B-influenced, called themselves the “World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band”, cultivated their image as “bad boys”, dirty/grimy sound tied to electric guitars, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” reached number 1 on rock charts, style shows urban folk mingling with pop and rock, their magazines influenced pop culture

Elvis Presley

rockabilly, biggest Rock ‘n’ Roll star to come from country side of Rock ‘n’ world, so rockabilly style, born in Tupelo, Mississippi, known for his provocative performances but was denounced as vulgar for his gyrations even though he was adored by hoards of screaming fans, part of the Million Dollar Quartet, he did a cover recording of “Mystery Train” which came to attention of Sam Philips, the owner of Sun Records, a small indie label in Memphis, then RCA Victor bought out the contract in 1955 because they wanted to turn him into a marketable musician for teenagers, while his manager Tom Parker made sure he still had visibility on tv and romantic films

Buddy Holly

rockabilly, known as the spectacled man, a clean-cut Elvis as he was inspired by him, formed a band called The Crickets, known for his use of double tracking, killed in a plane crash with Richie Valens, influenced the Beatles

Wanda Jackson

rockabilly, the “Queen of Rockabilly”, talented singer, instrumentalist and songwriter, Elvis encouraged her to write in a rockabilly style, one of the most remarkable pioneering Rock ‘n’ Roll women in the 50s, had a fierce unapologetic persona

Richie Valens

Latin-influenced Rock ‘n’ Roll, born in California from two Mexican American parents, had a distinct la Rock ‘n’ Roll sound influenced by Mexican and country and western music, with R&B elements too, his recording career only lasted 8 months, as he was killed in same plane crash as Buddy Holly, appeared on the American Bandstand and Alan Freed’s Christmas Jubilee show

The Temptations

Motown, Better known Motown band, “My Girl”

The Supremes

Motown, Better known Motown band, “You Can’t Hurry Love”

Berry Gordy Jr.

Motown guy who created his own songwriting, producing, and marketing organization, determined to keep creative and financial aspects of the business under African American control

Phil Spector

achieved success as a recording artist as a teenager with “To Know Him is to Love Him”, established himself by early 1960s as a songwriter and producer working behind the Rock ‘n’ Roll scenes, as a producer, he had an obsession with detail, and preferred vocal groups

The Beatles

British Invasion pop/rock, band consisting of John Lennon and George Harrison (lead and rhythm guitars and vocals), Paul McCartney (bass and vocals), and Ringo Starr (drums and occasional vocals), known throughout Europe, established as stars in the UK by the time their first hit record hit America in 1964, they became a hit in America in part because a major label launched a promotion campaign for a single they released, formation of British style infiltrating America, pseudo-English accents, mop-top haircuts, from here on out, there is a close connection between American and British pop music, followed same imitator, emulator, innovator model as the Beach Boys, Eric Clapton interacted a lot with them through playing some solos and almost replaced George in some tense moments, Righteous Brothers opened for this group in some of their earlier tours

Ray Charles

soul, pioneered soul as gospel music in the late 50s, songwriter, arranger, keyboard player, and a singer with a distinct gravelly voice, he had a constant presence on R&B charts in 50s, crossover success, his early innovator stage included a cover of “Georgia on My Mind” (1960), appealed to an older audience

Sam Cooke

soul, the “King of Soul”, pioneer of soul music, began career as gospel singer, explored secular music, originally recording under a pseudonym because he thought his gospel group would react in a bad way, his gospel community ended up rejecting him, combined influences of pop and gospel music, his songs set the stage for politics in soul and rock music, took great pains to take control of every aspect of his music, devotion to African American community, had a great adoration for Malcolm X, friends with Muhammad Ali

James Brown

soul, funk, the “Godfather of Soul”, heavy R&B characteristics, a lot of his songs don’t use chord changes, one chord again and again, unique timbre and rhythm, sampled by hip-hop more than any other musician, made some funk music too

Brian Wilson (the Beach Boys)

surf rock, pop rock, founder of the Beach Boys in 1961, a model of imitator → emulator → innovator

Aretha Franklin

soul, grew up with gospel music, father was a pastor and gospel singer, first recordings at age of 14 were as a gospel singer, a great keyboard player, wrote and co-wrote a significant portion of her repertoire, recorded with Columbia records first from 1960-1966 then moved to Atlantic records Atlantic associated with Motown indie label), breakthrough as a pop star in 1967 with “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”, not much of a political figure, but made political and social statements through her performances, a symbol for women empowerment even though not outwardly, she has a powerful and intense vocal delivery, continued to be successful late in her career

Dionne Warwick

Tin Pan Alley-style pop, tin pan alley aesthetic proved resilient in the 60s, not quite as popular in the mainstream, singing is crooning-style-forward, informed by her early gospel training

Jimi Hendrix

psychedelic rock, extremely original inventive guitarist, one of the most prominent black guitarists of the 60s, early experience touring with R&B bands, creative use of feedback, buzz back, causes clipping or popping in speakers, fond use of aggressive dissonance

Eric Clapton

blues rock, one of the most influential guitarists to emerge in the 60s from the R&B tradition, influenced by blues artist Robert Johnson, attracted blues and R&B fans with his long open-ended guitar solos that were almost like avant-garde jazz, known for the use of distortion and guitar riffs, “Strange Brew” (1967) had a distorted guitar hook that competed with his voice, interacted a lot with the Beatles and played some solos with them

Patsy Cline

Nashville sound, country singer who had crossover success in both country and pop music, associated with the Nashville sound which was a smoother and more polished country style with strings and background vocals instead of the earlier honky-tonk sound, had some vocal twang but also used crooning and pitch bending, known for “Walkin’ After Midnight” (1957) and “I Fall to Pieces” (1961)

Bob Dylan

urban folk, folk rock, born Robert Zimmerman, singer-songwriter who helped bring urban folk music into modern rock music, known for his poetic imagery, political and anti-war messages, and rougher style of singing, originally played acoustic guitar but caused controversy when he started “going electric” and bringing rock elements into folk music, many of his songs became famous through covers by other artists, “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963) was about witnessing injustice and ignoring it

Simon and Garfunkel

urban folk, folk rock, urban folk duo made up of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, sang folk songs, spirituals and new songs modeled on folk music with themes of love and politics, known for their harmonizing vocals and the use of acoustic guitar, “The Sound of Silence” (1964) was about isolation and later had more rock elements added to it through production, also known for “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)

Jefferson Airplane

psychedelic rock, acid rock, first nationally successful band to emerge from the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene, founded in 1965, originally started as a semi-acoustic folk rock band that covered Bob Dylan songs but developed into a louder and harder acid rock style with heavy distortion, dense textures and imagery, singer Grace Slick was an important female musician in the scene, performed at Woodstock, known for “Somebody to Love” (1967) and “White Rabbit” (1967) which connected Alice in Wonderland to drug use

Carole King

singer-songwriter, soft rock, singer-songwriter who originally worked in the Brill Building style of pop songwriting, her career went from more lighthearted songs to mature subject matter as she got older, her album Tapestry (1971) made her a major recording star, the songs were more geared towards adults and reflected her maturing, known for “You’ve Got a Friend” and “It’s Too Late”

Dolly Parton

country pop, country singer who helped country music cross over into the pop mainstream, known for her flexible soprano voice and carefully crafted image as a cheerful sex symbol, part of the country pop movement that appealed to younger and middle-class audiences by mixing country with more mainstream pop styles, known for “Jolene” (1973)

John Denver

country pop, singer who started off in urban folk music and gradually started incorporating more pop elements, he presented himself as a country artist both musically and thematically, his music gave a more sanitized and idealized view of rural life, part of the country pop movement, known for “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” (1974)

George Clinton

funk, former R&B group leader and songwriter who became an important funk musician, grew up around the Detroit counterculture and hippie scene and changed his musical style in the late 60s, known for his character “Dr. Funkenstein” and “Give Up the Funk” (1976), his music had heavy syncopated basslines, backbeats, call-and-response between horns and synthesizers, repetitive grooves and vocal harmonies, very danceable music

Elton John

pop rock, pop rock artist and piano player who was popular in the 70s, his music was designed to appeal to a wide audience, “Crocodile Rock” (1973) capitalized on nostalgia for the early Rock ‘n’ Roll days and used the four-chord doo-wop progression

Stevie Wonder

soul, funk, commercially successful singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer who crossed over into mainstream pop and rock while still keeping a strong African American musical sound, known for overdubbing and playing most of his own instruments, “Superstition” (1972) has a short repetitive riff, strong beat and groove with elements of both rock and soul music

David Bowie

glam rock, rock artist known for his 1972 concept album Ziggy Stardust, centered around a fictional character, associated with glam rock which emphasized elaborate costumes, showy appearances and performance, the visual aspects and the character he created were just as important as the music itself

Sly and the Family Stone

funk, funk group that blended elements of gospel, soul, jazz and psychedelic rock, known for their strong repetitive grooves and sometimes socially engaged lyrics like folk rock, gained a lot of national popularity from their Woodstock performance, known for “Dance to the Music” (1967) and “Family Affair” (1971)

Miles Davis

cool jazz, jazz rock, trumpet player who started his career playing with bebop musician Charlie Parker in the late 40s, played a major role in cool jazz in the 50s and 60s, released Bitches Brew in 1970 which blended jazz and rock music, influenced by funk and Jimi Hendrix, included trumpet improvisation, jazz drumming, piano and electric guitar with dissonant chords and reverb, some jazz fans disliked the new style

Allman Brothers Band

southern rock, southern rock band that helped establish the genre by combining rock music with strong blues influences, known for long open-ended instrumental improvisations and live jam sessions similar to the Grateful Dead, used southern blues techniques like bottleneck guitar and harmonica, helped change the norms of live rock concerts, “Ramblin’ Man” (1973) has folk elements, guitar solos and lyrics about the open road and leaving home