Lesson 21 - Lecture notes 21 PDF

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William Ryan...

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Introduction

Johnny Cash

During the 1970s, rock music began to diversify. Artists used rock for many different types of artistic, regional, and personal expression. The next several lessons will address a number of these styles that emerged in the 1970s. This lesson addresses two separate but related genres of rock. Country rock is a hybrid of country music and rock music, while Southern rock incorporates themes from the American South into music that is otherwise relatively standard rock in its sound and instrumentation. There are many different sounds and artists that have been classified as country rock, and many of these sound very different from each other. In country rock, the proportions of "country music" to "rock music" vary widely. Southern rock, on the

other hand, focuses on values and ideas of the American South, but the instrumentation is that of a standard rock ensemble. Of course, there are some exceptions. As we will see, some groups such as the Allman Brothers Band added a second lead guitar to their ensemble, a gesture which many Southern rock groups would come to imitate.

“When we started the Allman Brothers Band, there was this great new technology that allowed us to get exposure: FM radio.” -Butch Trucks

“When we started Poco, we were too country for rock, and we were too rock for country.” -Richie Furay

Bob Dylan wrote "Lay Lady Lay" for the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy, though it was passed over in favor of Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'." Songfacts

Country Rock

Pedal Steel Guitar

As a genre, country rock is difficult to define. Most broadly, it refers to a fusion of rock music with country, but the resulting sounds, instrumentations, and themes vary widely. Some rock musicians added instruments from country music, such as the pedal steel guitar and the dobro. The pedal steel guitar has no frets; instead, the player changes pitch by changing the position of a metal bar (called a steel). Unlike other guitars, a pedal steel guitar is played while the player is seated. A dobro is a resonator guitar, that is, an acoustic guitar that has metal resonators instead of a wooden sound board. Other rock musicians began integrating lyric themes (regional pride or nostalgia) or vocal styles (yodeling or twangy delivery) of country music into their recordings.

Bob Dylan

During the late 1960s, Bob Dylan recorded three albums in Nashville with the support of many musicians who were prominent in the Nashville scene, such as Charlie McCoy, Johnny Cash, and Charlie Daniels. With Blonde on Blonde in 1966, John Wesley Harding in 1967, and Nashville Skyline in 1969, Dylan established yet another new approach to folk music—country folk. Nashville Skyline in particular had the standard instrumentation of country music: acoustic guitar, electric lead guitar, electric bass, piano played in a honky-tonk style, and drums. Dylan also occasionally added a pedal steel guitar to the mix, which can be heard in songs such as "Lay Lady Lay ♫." In the eyes of listeners who might have been skeptical of the merits of country music as a genre, Dylan’s excursions into country music lent the genre a new sense of respectability. As artists with progressive political views, such as Dylan and the Byrds, began recording country music, the associations between country music and nostalgic values weakened.

Bob Dylan

Another key figure in the early country rock scene is the guitarist and singer-songwriter Gram Parsons. Parsons was a member of the International Submarine Band until 1968, when he left that group and joined the Byrds. Recall that the Byrds began their career by recording rock covers of folk music, such as Dylan’s "Mr. Tambourine Man ♫," and then they turned toward psychedelic music with new songs such as "Eight Miles High ♫." When Parsons joined the Byrds, the group recorded a country album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968). The album contained original songs that Parsons had written, as well as covers of folk and country songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, and Woody Guthrie. In general, Sweetheart of the Rodeo is not a true fusion of country and rock; instead, it sounds more like a country album with moments of rock interspersed. "One Hundred Years From Now ♫," a song

written by Parsons, is the most rock-like song on the album, with its strong backbeat and fast tempo. "One Hundred Years From Now ♫" is still audibly country, though, with its pedal steel guitar and vocal harmonies. Sweetheart of the Rodeo was an influential album on many artists who also sought to meld rock and country music.

“People are asking us, 'Why have you gone country?' And we say, 'Man, we were born country.' They gave us the tag 'Southern rock' years ago as a way of not saying country.” -Johnny Van Zant

“When we started the Allman Brothers Band, there was this great new technology that allowed us to get exposure: FM radio.” -Butch Trucks

"["Free Bird"] is a classic rock anthem. Shouting it out as a request at concerts has become a Rock And Roll joke, and every now and then a musician will actually play it. The 2007 Mitch Myers book The Boy Who Cried Freebird: Rock & Roll Fables and Sonic Storytelling explores this subject in a work of fiction about the first person ever to shout "Free Bird" at a concert." Songfacts

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Country Rock continued

Gram Parsons

Parsons quit the Byrds the same year that he joined, and then he started another band called the Flying Burrito Brothers. The music recorded by this group was closer to a true fusion of rock and country because it included pedal steel guitar, the strong rock backbeat, and close, rockabilly style vocal harmonies reminiscent of the Everly Brothers. In 1970, Parsons left the Flying Burrito Brothers, and he recorded two albums on Reprise Records as a solo artist: GP (1972) and Grievous Angel (1973). Parsons included instruments from country music and bluegrass, such as fiddle, banjo, dobro, and pedal steel guitar, but he also used instruments from rock music, such as electric guitar, keyboard, and electric bass. Both of these solo albums feature Parsons and Emmylou Harris on vocals. Their musical partnership was cut short in 1973 when Parsons died of a drug overdose. After Parsons’s abrupt death, Harris kept working in the country rock genre, and she continues to write and record music to this day. Her song "Boulder to Birmingham ♫" (1975), which expressed her grief over the Parsons’s death, has become one of her signature songs.

Flying Burrito Brothers

Another early representation of country rock can be found in the music of Buffalo Springfield. A few of the group’s songs, such as "Go and Say Goodbye ♫" and "Hot Dusty Roads ♫," have a distinctly country sound. Although the band itself was not specifically a country rock group, many of its members went on to record country rock music. Guitarist and singer Neil Young, guitarist and singer Stephen Stills, guitarist and singer Richie Furay, and bassist and recording engineer Jim Messina all had successful recording careers after Buffalo Springfield disbanded in 1968. Messina and Furay formed a new country rock group called Poco, which included country music instruments such as pedal steel guitar and dobro in their regular instrumental lineup. Stills formed a rock supergroup with David Crosby (of the Byrds) and Graham Nash (of British group the Hollies), and they occasionally were joined by Young. Crosby, Stills, and Nash as well as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young are among the most powerful voices in this country rock style of music.

“People are asking us, 'Why have you gone country?' And we say, 'Man, we were born country.' They gave us the tag 'Southern rock' years ago as a way of not saying country.” -Johnny Van Zant

“When we started Poco, we were too country for rock, and we were too rock for country.” -Richie Furay

Bob Dylan wrote "Lay Lady Lay" for the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy, though it was passed over in favor of Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'." Songfacts

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Southern Rock

Allman Brothers Band

Southern rock is a genre of music that is associated with themes and values from the American South. Unlike country rock, which infuses rock music with instrumentation and ideas borrowed from country music, Southern rock typically sounds like other types of

rock music. Southern rock artists portrayed themselves in their music as independent, highly masculine, and outlaw figures. One of the earliest and most successful Southern rock bands was the Allman Brothers Band. Their music combined elements of soul, rhythm and blues, rock, jazz, blues, and country music. The instrumentation of the Allman Brothers Band was notable for several reasons. First, they had two lead guitars instead of just one. Both Duane Allman and Richard Betts served as lead guitarists for the group, and they played at the same time; occasionally, they doubled each other or played the same part an octave apart, and other times, they played two different ideas simultaneously. They would also improvise new melodies at the same time, trading off every two measures in a technique that is called trading twos. Second, the group had two drummers, Jaimoe Johanny Johanson and Butch Tracks. By doubling the number of guitarists and drummers, the Allman Brothers Band had a much thicker, fuller sound compared to other rock bands of the period. The group also included bassist Barry Oakley and keyboardist Greg Allman, who was Duane’s brother and thus the inspiration for the band’s name. Many members of the group had strong backgrounds in the blues, and this influence was evident in the prominent role that instrumental solos played both in their recordings and in their live performances. It is also worth noting that Johanson was the only black member of the band, but it was still quite unusual at the time for rock bands to include members who were not white.

Dickey Betts Allman Brothers Band

"Whipping Post ♫," released in 1969, is the group’s signature song and appeared on their first album, the eponymous The Allman Brothers Band. The song is in verse-chorus form, but two of the verses are played by instruments instead of sung; these instrumental verses give each of the lead guitarists a chance to play a solo. The song also features an instrumental interlude just before the last chorus, which offers a transition from the second guitar solo into the final statement of the song’s chorus. "Whipping Post ♫" has an unusual rhythmic organization. Most of the music we have heard in thus far in this course has been in 4/4 meter, with four beats per measure. A few musical examples (such as "Tennessee Waltz ♫" and "After the Ball ♫") have been in 3/4, with three beats per measure. "Whipping Post ♫" alternates between 12/8 and 11/8 meters. It is easiest to think of 12/8 as having four beats per measure, but each individual beat is subdivided into three parts.

One measure (bar) of 4/4: 1 - and -2 - and - 3 - and - 4 - and One measure (bar) of 12/8: 1 - and - uh - 2 - and - uh - 3 and - uh - 4 and - uh

Then, 11/8 is simply a truncation of the final "uh" from beat 4 in a 12/8 measure, which creates an asymmetrical meter and a feeling of instability because the expected placement of beats has been disrupted. This use of complex and asymmetrical meters reveals the band’s interest in modern jazz, which also experimented with unusual arrangement of the rhythms. The Allman Brothers Band was just beginning to find success when Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971. Their first recordings after Allman’s death simply included one lead guitar, but eventually, Greg Allman hired a keyboard player to replace himself and switched to lead guitar in order to replicate the sound the band had had before his brother’s death. With this lineup, the Allman Brothers Band had their only single to reach the Top Ten, 1973’s "Ramblin’ Man ♫." The group broke up in 1976, but several members went on to create new bands or record solo projects.

“When we started the Allman Brothers Band, there was this great new technology that allowed us to get exposure: FM radio.” -Butch Trucks

“The Allman Brothers 1969 to 1971... were all about... jumping off the cliff... Just taking music and being adventurous with it.” -Butch Trucks

"As a slide for his guitar, Duane [Allman] used an old-fashioned glass bottle from a cold medication called Coricidin. He liked the "glass sound " as opposed to "brass" slides." Songfacts

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Southern Rock continued

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Another prominent band from the Southern rock genre was the Florida-based group Lynyrd Skynyrd. As the title of their first album explains, the name of the band is Pronounced Leh-nerd- Skin-nerd. The group’s name was a corruption of the name of a high school teacher who had criticized their long hair. The group developed later than the Allman Brothers Band, and they were able to capitalize on the interest that the Allman Brothers Band had generated for this new genre of Southern rock. The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd included vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Allen Collins, guitarist Gary Rossington, bassist Ed King, pianist Billy Powell (who had begun as a roadie for the band but joined full time after he wrote

the introduction to "Free Bird ♫"), and drummer Bob Burns. Like the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd included two lead guitars in their lineup. In fact, bassist King would frequently play guitar as well, which then gave Lynyrd Skynyrd three lead guitars. Unlike the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s music was more radiofriendly and explicitly Southern. "Sweet Home Alabama ♫" (1974) is probably the group’s most famous song as well as its most outspoken statement of its Southern pride. "Sweet Home Alabama ♫" was Lynyrd Skynyrd’s response to two songs recorded by Neil Young, "Southern Man ♫" and "Alabama ♫." In those songs, Young addressed issues of racism in the American South, and the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd felt that the Canadian singersongwriter had unfairly characterized the South. In their attempt to set the record straight about Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd criticized Alabama governor George Wallace, who had tried to prevent two black students from entering the University of Alabama in 1963, and they took a shot at Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

Neil Young

"Free Bird ♫," Lynyrd Skynyrd’s tribute to the late Duane Allman, charted twice during the 1970s. The song first appeared on their debut album and reached number 19 on the Billboard singles charts. The group released a live version of the song in 1977, which reached number 38 on the singles charts. The studio version of the song is just over nine minutes long, and the final four minutes of the song feature a three guitar solo. According to legend, the lengthy solo passage was originally included in order to give Van Zant a chance to rest his voice because the group was playing several live sets per night. Now, that solo is one of the most revered and imitated passages in all of rock music. In 1977, the band’s plane crashed in Mississippi, killing Van Zant and Gaines and seriously injuring the other members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The surviving members disbanded, although they frequently regrouped in various combinations, such as the Rossington-Collins Band and the Allen Collins Band. In 1987, the group reformed with Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny taking over as the group’s lead singer and songwriter.

“Some Lynyrd Skynyrd songs are literally the backdrop of America. Songs like 'Simple Man' and 'Free Bird' and 'Alabama.' I wasn't prepared for how emotional the crowd gets during the songs.” -Johnny Colt

“When we started the Allman Brothers Band, there was this great new technology that allowed us to get exposure: FM radio.” -Butch Trucks

"As a slide for his guitar, Duane [Allman] used an old-fashioned glass bottle from a cold medication called Coricidin. He liked the "glass sound " as opposed to "brass" slides." Songfacts

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Southern Rock continued

The Marshall Tucker Band

Other Southern rock groups did not feel compelled to copy the instrumentation of the Allman Brothers Band. The Marshall Tucker Band, for example, included one lead guitar, a rhythm guitar, a steel guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums. They also frequently incorporated wind instruments such as saxophone or flute, gestures which reflected their jazz backgrounds. The Marshall Tucker Band’s lyrics celebrate their South Carolina heritage, praising their home state and the South. On their 1976 album Long Hard Ride, the Marshall Tucker Band invited two guest artists, fiddler Charlie Daniels and banjoist and mandolinist John McEuen, to join them. Charlie Daniels was a successful musician in his own right, and although he recorded with a number of country rock groups during

the 1970s, he is typically considered a country musician rather than a Southern rock musician.

ZZ Top

The Texas band ZZ Top combined Southern pride, the blues, and psychedelic rock in their music. Billy Gibbons, a singer and guitarist, played with a psychedelic band called Moving Sidewalks, which had opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Gibbons studied Hendrix’s feedback and distortion techniques closely and sought to imitate them in his own music. After he left Moving Sidewalks, Gibbons teamed up with bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard. Hill and Beard were former members of a Dallas band called American Blues, and they brought with them the musical traditions for which their band had been named. The self-explanatory ZZ Top’s First Album(1970) was not an immediate commercial success, but it featured prominent guitar distortion from Gibbons, blues-influenced barrelhouse styles, and the humorous innuendo that would continue to characterize the band’s music for decades. Their albums that were released later in the 1970s had more commercial success, charting singles such as "La Grange ♫" (an homage to a brothel in their home state of Texas) and "Tush ♫," a play on the word’s double meaning ("tush" can refer either to buttocks or to a lavish lifestyle). "Tush ♫" is based on the 12-bar blues form, and the

guitar solos use the bottleneck technique, both of which are borrowed from the blues tradition. ZZ Top’s Southern imagery focused on scenes from Texas and the American southwest, such as cacti and snakes. During the early 1980s, the group took a hiatus, during which Gibbons and Hill grew their iconic chest-length beards. (Interestingly, Frank Beard is the only member of ZZ Top who does not have a beard.) In the 1980s, ZZ Top released more commercially-oriented music, such as "Legs ♫" and "Gimme All Your Lovin ♫’." These and other singles from the period were a departure from the Southern rock they had recorded in the 1980s; much of the mus...