Chapter 5: American Responses

Intro:

• This chapter focuses on the response of the American music business to the success of British invasion artists

• By the summer of 1965, new music styles such as folk rock emerged from a blending of American and British popular music styles

• Los Angeles emerged as a center for new popular music after 1964

Bob Dylan: Artist, Activist, or Folk Rock Star?

• Bob Dylan moved from Minnesota to New York City, where he became active in the folk music scene; his early success was with albums rather than hit singles

• Dylan was an accomplished songwriter at first he modeled his songwriting approach on Woody Guthrie’s songs about social injustice and then began writing more personal lyrics

• In 1965, Dylan began to break from folk traditions by using electric instruments; this became controversial when he performed at the Newport Folk Festival that year

• Dylan had pop chart success in the summer and fall of 1965, while criticism from the folk music establishment continued

• Dylan’s records were widely influential and demonstrated that pop music could address serious social concerns

Bob Dylan: “Positively 4th Street” (1965)

• single, simple verse form,

• Genre: Folk-Rock

• lyrics paint a bitter image about a person of Dylan’s disdain

• lyrics never mention the title words

• Greenwich Village contains a 4th street where folk musicians play

• A popular theory that Dylan wrote this song in response to the folk purists who criticized him for going electric

Bob Dylan: “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (1965)

• Genre: Folk Rock

• Dylan’s first top 40 hit in the U.S.

• Blend of several mid 20th century influences:

  • Jack Kerouac’s Beat Generation novel, “The Subterranean”

  • Woody Guthrie & Pete Seeger’s song “Taking it Easy”

  • Chuck Berry’s “Too Much Monkey Business” and 40s Jazz scat singing

• Dylan dropping somewhat on-time cue cards became an icon of 60s culture

• Rapid-fire lyrics are filled with contemporary references (e.g. The Civil Rights Movement)

• SHB had a widespread effect on culture, politics, and music (cue card dropping, references in judicial decisions, or influencers on many other artists including REM, INXS, and Radiohead)

The Byrds and the Jingle-Jangle of the Electric Twelve-String Guitar:

• The Bryd’s recording of “Mr. Tambourine Man” written by Bob Dylan, was the first folk-rock hit single to hit number one internationally. It offers a good example of how the American music industry responded to the British Invasion

• The Byrds formed in Los Angeles, and several of the band’s members had been active in folk music. They initially recorded rock versions of folk songs, and later began writing their own material

• The recording of “Mr. Tambourine Man” featured studio musicians who had played on Phil Spector and Beach Boys records, and represents a point of convergence for different elements of the music business

• The Byrds adapted “Mr. Tambourine Man” from an acoustic version that Dylan did not release

The Byrds: “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)

• The tight vocal harmonies of Jim McGuinn (lead guitar), Gene Clark (lead singer) and David Crosby (later to form Crosby, Stills and Nash)

• The relatively new “jingle-jangle” timbre of McGuinn’s 12-string Rickenbacker guitar!

• NOTE: McGuinn is the only member of The Byrds playing an instrument on this recording. All other instrumental parts were performed by members of the famous “Wrecking Crew” - a group of studio musicians who played on hit recordings across the music industry in the 2960s

• The blend of folk singing traditions with rock elements (e.g. electric guitar, drums) concocted in the studio for this song introduced a popular new 60s music style known as Folk Rock

• Blending sounds and styles from multiple artistic sources becomes a common theme in American responses to the British Invasion

  • Beatles-inspired 12-string guitar

  • Bach-inspired introduction

  • Beach Boys-inspired rhythm section groove

  • Dylan folk lyrics

Simon and Garfunkel Go Electric?

• Their song “The Sounds of Silence” was originally an acoustic recording made in 1964

• But without the knowledge of Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson overdubbed electric guitar, bass and drums to their recording in 1965

• “The Sounds of Silence” helped launch their careers and illustrated the transformation of folk into folk rock (not to mention another example of the complex relationship between artists and producers in the studio performance process)

California Dreamin: The Turtles and The Mamas and the Papas

• The Turtles successfully covered Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe” and then recorded a series of more mainstream pop hits

• The Mamas and the Papas found success in Los Angelas; three of the group’s four members had previously sang in folk or pop groups, and they were influenced by early 1960s folk, doo-wop, and rock

American Pop on Both Coasts:

• L.A.: Spector and His Legacy:

  • Some of producer Phil Spector’s biggest hits came after the onset of the British invasion, including songs by the Righteous Brothers and Tina Turner

• The Beach Boys: Brian Stays Home:

  • The Beach Boys also continued to produce his in 1965 and 1966; Brian Wilson decided to stop touring to focus on writing and recording

  • albums The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days ( and Summer Nights!!) showed Wilson’s increasingly sophisticated approach

  • Pet Sounds (1966) set a new standard for music production

    • No filer tracks. Every song was purposefully designed for this album by Brian Wilson

    • Assorted timbres (e.g. bicycle bells, harpsichords, flutes, Electro-Theremin, train sounds, string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs)

  • After Wilson ceased touring, he worked on creating more complex and ambitious musical arrangements

The Beach Boy: “California Girls” (1965) from the album, “Summer Days”

• Form: Contrasting Verse-Chorus

• Meter: 4/4 (with a shuffle)

• Points of Interest:

  • intro features non-traditional Rock sounds including Harp, 12-string guitar, and horns

  • “Happy Trails” bass line shifts into a shuffle feel

  • Doo-wop backup vocals in 3rd and 4th verses

  • 2 bar interlude sets up the Coda with Organ and Glockenspiel

Meanwhile, back in NYC:

• The Lovin Spoonful and the Rascals

  • Many folk musicians migrated from Greenwich Village in New York to Southern California in 1964 and 1965; the band The Lovin’ Spoonful formed in New York and released their first major hits on an indie label (“Do you believe in magic?, “Daydream”)

  • The Young Rascals (later, simply the Rascals) recorded music not unlike that of the British blues bands

• Leiber and Stoller continued to produce hits on their label Red Bird; Bert Berns formed Bang! records with executives from Atlantic Records and had success with the McCoys and Neil Diamond

• New-York-based Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons also continued to have hits during the British invasion; the group had a doo-wop vocal style (later featured in the Broadway show, Jersey Boys) Their 1960s repertoire included lots of hits including “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Sherry”, “Working my way back yo you” and “Walk like a Man”. “December 1963 (Oh what a night)'“ doesn’t come out until a later resurgence in 1975

Garage Bands: No Experience Necessary:

• Following the popularity of the Beatles, teenagers across the United States formed bands that were often amateurish and only attained regional popularity, with occasional breakouts "(“one-hit-wonder"“)

• The first important national garage band hit was the Kingsmen’s cover of “Louie Louie", rumors that the difficult-to-discern lyrics were obscene led to government investigations

• After the Kingsmen’s success, American record labels put out a series of records by unknown garage bands; some of these groups had one-time Top 40 hits, and a few enjoyed continued success

The Kingsman: “Louie, Louie” (1965, but reached #2 on Billboard in 1963)

• Form: Simple verse-chorus

• Meter: 4/4

• Points of Interest:

  • A classical example of a Garage Band: raw timbres, repetitive licks, and an upbeat emphasis on providing a loud good time

  • The lyrics are infamously hard to understand. Even the FBI couldn’t figure this out

  • Formal structure inconsistencies: After a 16-bar guitar solo, the lead singer (Jack Ely) begins to start the next verse, but abruptly stops. he starts the 3rd verse 2 bars later an mistakenly creates an 18 bar guitar break (except for 12-Bar Blues, most formal areas last 8 or 16 bars in Rock music)

TV Rock: The Industry Tries to Take Control Once More

• Paul Revere and the Raiders were based in the Pacific Northwest; after their initial success stalled out, they reached a national television audience with the help of Dick Clark in 1965

• A Collision of the Old and New: The Monkees’ Tale

  • The Monkees were formed as a band for a weekly television series; the band members were selected by the show’s producers

  • 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 produced by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

  • Some critics dismissed the Monkees’ music because of its commercial production and because the members of the band generally did not play on their early records; “Last Train to Clarksville” demonstrates that their music does have complexity

  • Following the success of the Monkees, Don Kirschner created a group made up of cartoon characters called the Archies, which was one of several fictitious bands aimed at young teens

The Monkees: “Last Train to Clarksville” (1966)

• Form: Modified simple verse

• Meter: 2 / 4 with a mild “Two-step country feel”

• Points of interest:

  • Note the “Beatles-esque” guitar intro (reminiscent of “Ticket to Ride” or “Day Tripper”

  • Background vocals imitating train whistles

  • Varying verse durations stretching formal structure expectations