Elements of Rock and Roll Roots of Rock and Roll

1. Elements of Rock and Roll • Roots of Rock and Roll

2. Why do you think I saved Rock and Roll last? Rock and Roll is the combination of all the other styles of music we have learned about!Without jazz, the blues, even R&B, Rock and Roll would have never formed!Now that we have talked about all the other genres of music, we can dive into this extremely important genre!

3. Cultural Influences • Western European • Melody: major/minor scales • Modes– what are these….? • Harmony • African American • Melody: blues notes • Rhythm: riffs, syncopation…what is this?

4. Instrumentation • Electrically Amplified Instruments: • Electric guitar • Electric bass • Microphones • Synthesizers • Electronic drums • Electronic effects • Acoustically Amplified Instruments: • Acoustic guitar • Drum set • Piano • Traditional string and woodwind instruments

5. Lyrics • They are poetry set to music • This is what you will find in a typical rock song: • Rhymes • Metaphors • Clichés • The “Hook” • Word paintings • Common themes: • Sex • Drugs • Boy-girl themes • Protest songs

6. The Roots

7. Rock & Roll Becomes Mainstream in 1956 • Top musicians in 1955: • Perry Como, Dean Martin, & Frank Sinatra • Top musicians in 1956: • Elvis Presley, Little Richard, & Chuck Berry

8. How do you think rock developed? How did it come into being? Think back to the very beginning…

9. Spirituals (1700s) • Songs sung by enslaved Africans living in America • Purposes: • Spiritual expression of their struggles • Keep everyone working at the same pace • Style: Combination of African and Western European Religions • Bible stories that expressed hope • Call & Response

10. Early Blues (1870s) • Roots in the Rural South • Secular equivalent of spirituals • Call & Response • Shouts & moans (improvisation) • Church music “prays to God while the blues prays to what’s human” • Purpose • Response to Jim Crow laws, KKK, etc. • Self expression • A way to means to rid yourself of the “blues”

11. Review of the Blues • How many verses are there in a blues song? • What’s the form? • Lyrics often tells a story • First two phrases (AA) • often identical & expresses the feelings of the singer • Third phrase explains “why” • Intent was to make the listener (& the singer) feel better

12. Ragtime (1890) Ragtime Piano : SCOTT JOPLIN . " The Entertainer " (1902) - YouTube • Style • Played on a piano to imitate the sound of a banjo • Right hand: Fast, lively, syncopated melody • It’s here where jazz and rock ‘n roll split Anyone remember the composer of this piece??

13. Also… • Mississippi Delta Blues (1910) • Gritty • Often accompanied by “bottleneck guitar” & harmonica • Boogie Woogie (1920) • Roots in Kansas City • Evolution of Early Blues & Mississippi Delta Blues • Fast, Dance Music • Often played by a piano Sweet Home Chicago [Remastered] ROBERT JOHNSON (1936) Delta Blues Guitar Legend - YouTube

14. Bluegrass (1920) • Roots • Southern Appalachia • Anglo-Celtic folk ballads & fiddle tunes • Style • Acoustic String Instrumentation • Distinct vocal harmonies Tribute to Bill Monroe Jerusalem Ridge - YouTube

15. What things were going on to help rock emerge? • 1929-40 • Great Depression • Thousands from the south move to Chicago, looking for work • 1936: Gibson manufactures 1st electric guitar • Hollow body & crudely made • Not technologically feasible to mass produce • 1939-45: World War I • Wireless technology improves even more

16. Swing (1930) "SING, SING, SING" BY BENNY GOODMAN - YouTube • Blend of: • The Blues • Popular European-American Music • Style • Dance Music • Also called Big Band

17. American Folk (1930) • Style • Music of the common man • Songs that tell a story • Folk Music of the Great Depression • Protest

18. Honky Tonk • Style • Slang word for saloon • Blend of bluegrass, blues • 12-bar blues form • Acoustic string instruments • “Good ol’ Boy” songs (dancing, drinking, gambling, loving and then losing the one you love, etc.)

19. Post WWII Popular Music • Style • “Safe” music, nothing to do with WWII • No suggestive lyrics • Crooning: To sing in a subdued tone and reflective or sentimental style

21. 1950s • Families worked & played together • Disneyland • Strong Gender Roles • Barbie for girls • Davy Crockett for boys • Social: • Strong conservatism and anticommunist feeling

22. Doo Wop • Origins • Urban east coast • African-American teenage boys • Goal: Impress girls • Style • 4-6 singers; wide range of voices • Nonsense syllables • Simple Beat and Light Instrumentation • Simple Music and Lyrics The Platters - Great Pretender, Only You (live) - YouTube

23. Abandon African-American Artists • Not profitable • Naïve to African-American tastes • Racial bias

24. Rockabilly • Combination of • Rhythm & Blues • Gospel • Country • Bluegrass • 12-bar blues progression • Electric Guitar

25. Rockabilly Artists Bill Haley - Rock Around The Clock - YouTube • Bill Haley & The Comets • Buddy Holly • Chuck Berry • Johnny Cash • Elvis Presley • Jerry Lee Lewis • Little Richard Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode live - YouTube little richard good golly miss molly - YouTube Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue - YouTube Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire - YouTube

27. The artist generally known as the “King of Rock and Roll” is: Elvis Presley

28. Elvis: Early Days • Born to a poor family in Mississippi • Moved to Memphis when he was a teenager • Surrounded by the four rock influences • Gospel • R & B • Country • Bluegrass

29. Timeline • 1953 • Recorded his first record as a birthday present to his mother at Sun Studios (in Memphis) • 1954 • Creates songs like “Blue Suede Shoes”

30. Timeline • 1955 • Phillips sells Elvis’ contract to RCA for $35,000 • Rock & Roll is officially born in 1956 • TV appearances (shaking his hips) • Creates song such as “Hound Dog” • 1958-1960 • Elvis served in the US army • 1977 • Died from a drug overdose Elvis Presley Milton Berle Show 5 Jun 1956: Hound Dog - YouTube

31. Today people still visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis, TN Fun Fact: TV station only filmed Elvis from the waist up because, during that time, they thought his dance moves were too suggestive

32. Buddy Holly • 1953 • Opened for Bill Haley & the Comets • Signed Record deal with Decca Records (Nashville) • 1955 • Wrote and arranged his own songs • Created his own style • 1957 • 1st Caucasian to perform at The Apollo Theatre Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue [Very Good quality] - YouTube

33. 1959 • Died in Plane Crash in Clear Water, IA on February 3, 1959 • Don McLean’s “American Pie” Immortalized Holly Don McLean - American Pie better quality - YouTube

34. The Death of Rock and Roll • Holly Plane Crash in 1959 • The death of other famous rock artists • Little Richard: • 1957 tour in Australia sees Sputnik overhead • Thought it was a sign from God & went into the seminary • Jerry Lee Lewis marries his 13 year-old cousin with divorcing his former wife (1957) • Elvis is drafted into the army (1957) • Chuck Berry is convicted of the Mann Act (1960) • Transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines for allegedly "immoral purposes.

36. Surf Music • Many surfing films being made during the post-WWII era (1960s). Surfing was all the rage • Surfer Culture • Middle-Class White Teenagers • Based on images of affluence and consumption • The Surfer look & language

37. Musical Style • Served as a bridge to the psychedelic style in the late 1960s • Falsetto: an unnaturally or artificially high-pitched voice or register, especially in a man • Lyrics: • Surfing • Fast cars • Girls • The Original Surfer artist: Dick Dale and the Del-Tones

38. The Beach Boys • The band's early music gained popularity across the United States for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance • Quintessential surfer music • Known as one of the greatest bands of all time

39. Louie Louie • Composed by Richard Berry • 1963: Two Seattle based Surf Bands record Louie Louie simultaneously • Both claimed that they were the first/original people to write the song • Public opinion declares The Kingsmenwinners

40. Controversy • The Kingsmen’s recording was made in a garage & the quality of the recording was poor • The words were difficult to understand • Urban legend: “There are obscene words in Louie Louie” • 1964: Indiana bans the playing of Louie Louie on local radio stations • FBI investigates • The Kingsmen testify before congress

41. Legacy • Almost became the state song of Washington and presently is the state rock song • Over 1600 recorded versions of Louie Louie

42. Soul • Soul music was enabled by the commercial boom of "race" music • Soul music was also, indirectly, helped by rock music, precisely because rock music made white pop music sound so outdated • Soul music became more than party music for young blacks: it became a rallying flag for the black nationalist movement • Soul music was born thanks to the innovations of a generation of post-war musicians who, essentially, turned gospel music into a secular form of art.

43. Soul Artists • East Coast • Chubby Checker: The Twist • Sam Cooke: Twistin’ the Night Away • Isley Brothers: Twist and Shout • Aretha Franklin: Respect • James Brown: I Feel Good • Memphis • Otis Redding • Booker T. and the MGs

45. The Quarry Men (1956 - 1958) • Before they were the Beatles, they were the Quarry Men • Lennon meets Paul McCartney after a Quarry Men's appearance. Lennon asks McCartney to join the group a couple of weeks later. • George Harrison joins the Quarry Men after being introduced to Lennon by Harrison’s school friend McCartney • Later they change their name to Johnny and the Moondogs in 1959 • Again, they changed their name to “The Silver Beatles” in 1960. The name was inspired by the Buddy Holly’s group the Crickets

46. Examples THE QUARRY MEN THE SILVER BEATLES

47. “Beatlemania” in the U.K. 1962 - 1963 • Abbey Road Studios offers The Beatles a contract if they replace original drummer Pete Best • Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) becomes the group’s drummer • Begin touring England , television & radio appearances • “Please Please Me” • #1 song on British charts for 30 weeks • The Beatle’s 1st popular song • Prototype British Invasion single • Infectious melody • “Yeah Yeah” lyrics • Charging guitars • Tight harmonies

48. “Beatlemania” in the US 1964 - 1965 • When Capitol Records released the song “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” Americans went wild for the Beatles • 3,000 screaming fans greet them when they came to America • The Beatles were around at the perfect time: American public was emerging from the Kennedy assassination--The Beatles' music was happy-go-lucky • The Beatles were intelligent but fun; they were talented rock and rollers, but non-threatening • Feb 1964, Beatles perform of the Ed Sullivan Show • 73 million viewers watch the show

49. The full effects of Beatlemania erupt by 1965 • “Beatlemania”: a term used during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy particularly demonstrated by young teen girls directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success • Mobs at airports, hotels and concert engulf them • Girls hide in air-conditioning shafts to see them • Fans are injured in the mad rush of the crowds • Kids fall from overhead beams, balcony rails, and elevated walkways • Fans climb onto the wings of the Beatles airplane • The Beatles often escaped in armored trucks

50. Example of “Beatlemania” • This is a good example of how just one band can affect society as a whole