Lesson 2 - Summary History of Rock \'n\' Roll PDF

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Lesson 2: The 50s: Early Rock 'n' Roll Song Forms 

Song forms tell us about how songwriters organize a song’s verses, choruses and bridges. This is called a song’s arrangement. Rock musicians use a few common forms o

12-bar form

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Doo-wop form

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Simple verse form

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Simple verse-chorus

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Contrasting verse-chorus

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AABA form

Theory Tutorials  

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Verse: a section with repeating music and non-repeating lyrics o 12 bar blues songs and doo-wop songs Chorus: a repeating section of a song with a repeated lyric that is the focus of song o the chord progression) remains the same throughout (this is the “simple” part) but the lyrics and melody of the chorus section are different than the verse  two lyrical sections, an A and a B section. A typical way to organize a simple verse–chorus song is AB AB AB AB—each verse has a chorus immediately after it Bridge: a section that acts as a contrast to the verse but is usually not the focal point of the song and does not include the memorable hook. o song form known as AABA

Counting 12 bars o

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easiest way to know if a song uses the 12-bar format is to count the bars or measures  Each measure is divided into 4 beats so you should be able to count 1,2,3,4 / 1,2,3,4 / 1,2,3,4 until you do this 12 times  Musicians often keep count of measures this way: 1,2,3,4 / 2,2,3,4 / 3,2,3,4 / 4,2,3,4 so that the first number signifies which measure you are counting

Hearing the doo-wop progression o

like 12-bar form, consists of a repeating chord progression instead of arrangement

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Hearing contrasting sections of music o

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differences in forms such as contrasting verse-chorus where the verses and choruses are based on different sections of music

Hearing time signatures o o o

difference between 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures

designate the song’s time signature, simply refers to the number of beats in each bar or measure 4/4, therefore, means there are 4 beats in a bar whereas 3/4 means there are 3 beats in a bar

Early Rock 'n' Roll  

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The sound of these genres was quite different. They used different instrumentation, different song forms, often different chord progressions and their lyricists employed different themes The audiences for these genres were separate. The music industry was segregated; there were three main forms of music each marketed to three very different demographics and no one in the music industry thought that would ever change White artists had a tremendous advantage under this system because they could record new versions of songs that had topped the R&B charts and place them in the more lucrative pop charts, something black musicians had very little success with before the 1950s. Black musicians routinely made less money for recordings and gigs, and were often banned from playing in upscale white neighbourhoods. Most still had to have day jobs. Negotiating Racial Boundaries with Elvis and Chuck Berry o

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The segregated industry began to break down in the 1950s. White teens started digging black music and a new crop of artists (like Berry and Elvis) and a new crop of independent record labels (like Sun and Chess) released songs to cater to them. Two of the most significant figures in early rock ‘n’ roll, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, built their style and sound on mixing black and white forms of music. They essentially collapsed the three genres (pop, country, R&B) to form rock ‘n’ roll. Of these three genres, R&B had the most direct musical influence on rock ‘n’ roll. In fact, early rock ‘n’ roll songs, such as Jackie Brenston’s “Rocket 88,” were considered R&B songs at the time and Elvis’s first singles were called either country or rockabilly. It was only in retrospect that they were dubbed rock ‘n’ roll Black artists like Chuck Berry started to cross over or achieve success on the mainstream pop charts because they could better appeal to white sensibilities than artists like Muddy Waters, whose persona and songs played into the Staggerlee myth

Chuck Berry: Father of Rock 'n' Roll   

one of the first black artists to achieve success on the pop charts when his first single, “Maybellene” (1955) playing at local clubs he routinely mixed rhythm & blues forms of music like boogie-woogie and blues alongside hillbilly or country music Influence on rock ‘n’ roll

prototype for the singer-songwriter/lead guitarist that would dominate much of rock history o electric guitar solo to rock ‘n’ roll o adapted boogie-woogie style to electric guitar o Rock ‘n’ roll was essentially a modernized form of boogie-woogie with the bouncy piano bass and backbeat drums o prominent use of electric guitar was directly influenced by his love of Chicago blues, specifically the great blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. The electric blues continues to be influential in rock ‘n’ roll today draw on black forms of music like boogie-woogie and Chicago blues, he also assimilated country or hillbilly music into his new sound employed double stops or dyads* (playing two strings at one time—essentially a two note chord) Chuck Berry the songwriter o poetic use of language took pop song lyrics to a whole new level o regularly invented new words (such as “motorvatin’”), framed pop songs in mini narratives, and, most importantly, geared his subject material to the new burgeoning teenage culture o appealed to clean-cut white sensibilities. o songs were often about everyday topics that American teens, both black and white, cared about: high school, cars, rock ‘n’ roll music, parents and teenage culture itself. o integrationist song - sounds from the three separate industries—pop, country and R&B Crossing over o Berry purposefully encouraged this racial ambiguity because he realized the benefits to his career  hair is straightened  photos are over-exposed giving a lighter hue to Berry’s skin  smiles in these photos - projects is far closer to a “safe” o

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The Record Business in the 1950s   

corporate business model of the music industry in the 1950s was tightly controlled by a few record companies and publishers Rock ‘n’ roll literally shook up this industry because independent labels released the first rock singles Payola

o o o o Elvis Presley

helped and hurt musicians such as Chuck Berry Chess Records copyrighted the song, they gave a percentage of the publishing rights to two radio deejays, Alan Freed and Russ Fratto Alan Freed agreed to promote “Maybellene” on his radio show in return for this “gift.” By 1959 the U.S. government outlawed payola

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born in Tupelo, Mississippi, teenage years in Memphis, Tennessee, a city known for its music culture, moved around a lot and often found themselves living in the same economically depressed areas as blacks “poor white trash” - their social status was not much higher than blacks immersed in a musical climate where he heard R&B and gospel alongside country and pop cross the lines of racial identity: loud and outrageous clothes: he liked and sang black-style music. He dressed like a hood, wearing black leather jackets, open shirts, and upturned collars. He wore long sideburns, with his hair greased back into a “ducktail.” Thus, his image was not that of the typical mid-1950s white middle-class teenager, but a combination of black and lower-class white. Elvis’s fortunes changed when he began pestering Sun Records to record him in 1953 Rockabilly o genre of music that forms an important link between R&B and rock ‘n’ roll o Elvis was initially marketed as a country artist, and he eventually was thought of as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll but music recorded at Sun records was called rockabilly o For Sun Records, rockabilly was the perfect mix of black and white music  kept the sexuality, swagger, youthfulness and emotional passion of black music but integrated it with country sounds and packaged it in a commodity that could be sold to the mainstream white audience Racial confusion o Elvis got played on country stations because those deejays thought he was a white country singer yet he was also played on rhythm & blues stations because those deejays thought he was black o some radio stations in the south refused to play the song because they thought the singer was of mixed race o appeal to diverse audience o he was a country & western sensation but unlike all other country acts he sang in a more R&B style, and his performance style had sexualized movements, which were taboo in the more family friendly country industry Syncopation o Syncopation is defined as rhythms that stress the weak beats o clap 4 times and say “1,2,3,4” as you clap so that each clap lands on a number. These are the strong beats in a 4 beat measure. Now I want you to add the word “and” in between every number. Say the words “1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and” but only clap on the “ands.” These are the weak beats and you just stressed them. Your clapping was syncopated o playing the off-beat. This refers to the weak beats o swing music of the Big Band era). In some forms of music, like boogie-woogie, jazz and reggae o Boogie-woogie is a form of piano-based blues with a distinct interplay between the bass (played by the pianist’s left hand) and the off-beat chords played on the right hand o Elvis’s voice mimics the feel of this boogie-woogie rhythm by stuttering his lyrics, giving a jittery and out of control sensuality to the performance. He also borrows gospel singing techniques such as the use of melismas or a melismata.

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ornamental vocal technique where a singer uses several notes to embellish one syllable of a song’s text

Integrated music o appeal and subsequent success came as a result of his ability to borrow vocal styles

associated with black musicians such as pitch (through gospelization) and rhythm (through boogification) o As a white man, though, he would be better positioned to gain mainstream exposure through radio and television—something that very few black artists were able to accomplish The Legacy of Elvis Presley o By November 1955, Elvis left Sun Records and became the first rock ‘n’ roll artist to sign a major label deal o advantage of new technologies such as networked radio and television that rocketed him to national fame o

Here are 6 reasons why Elvis is important to the history of rock (this list is adapted from Stuessy and Lipscomb 2013): 1. He appealed to a diverse audience. He had hits in all three charts and country and R&B stations both played him 2. He did more than anyone else to popularize the new musical style among mainstream society. He was able to benefit from networked radio and television to attract a national audience when other rockers were still only appealing to regional audiences and minority demographics 3. He personified rock ‘n’ roll: his persona and music was rebellious, youthful and biracial 4. Before him major labels were not interested in rock 5. He had appeal beyond that of a typical music celebrity: “Elvis was many things to many people: sexy, rebellious, God-fearing, patriotic, respectful. Whether your musical tastes ran toward shoutin’ rock and roll, softer rock, romantic ballads, hymns, gospel, country, patriotic anthems, social commentary, escapism, or tearjerkers, you could find an Elvis song to your liking” (Stuessy and Lipscomb 2013, 35) 6. He was an overwhelming commercial success: He sold over 500 million records in his lifetime with over 150 albums or singles going gold, platinum or multi-platinum

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Commercial appeal o Elvis maintained commercial appeal long after Berry and Richard because he adapted his styles to the changing tastes of music consumers o Elvis's musical style moved beyond his 1950s output and he was able to grow into new genres, so his impact and audience were more widespread Take away o how rock grew out of regional and racially segregated styles of music and how its early stars leveraged their ability to cross lines of musical-racial identity in order to broaden their potential audience. Chuck Berry accomplished this through the assimilation of

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country guitar styles into boogie-woogie song forms. Elvis accomplished this through singing in styles more common to black musicians and by mixing country and R&B into a style originally called rockabilly. Rock ‘n’ roll owes both of these artists a great debt. Musically, Chuck Berry played a far larger role in shaping rock. He gave rock its emphasis on the singer-songwriter guitarist, the important role of the guitar solo, the serious emphasis on lyrics as an art form in and of themselves and the adaption of boogie-woogie rhythms to an electric guitar-based music form. Elvis’s musical contribution to rock history is slim at best but his legacy as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is firmly entrenched due to the fact that he caused major labels to pay attention to rock artists, he had a broad and loyal fan base and sustained chart success.

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A song’s “hook” An instrumental “lick” Arrangement Authenticity Backbeat Bluegrass Blues Boogie-woogie Boogification Chicago blues Cover Crossover Double stop Dyad Folk Gospel Gospelisation Hillbilly music Melismata or melisma Off-beat Payola Riff Rhythm & blues Rockabilly Syncopation...