Music Lecture 9-12 PDF

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November 13, 2017 Music 2II3: Lecture 9 The British Blues Revival:  African Americans are moving away from the music mostly due to the cicil rights movement o Blues was more of the music of the past, part of the marginalization o Moving towards Soul music  Popular r&b musicians are not prospering  Blues was still popular in London o Why? Genre of some kind or artistic of some kind resonate with people that are far removed from them  Sci-Fi/Superheroes/Nerdiness resonates higher with first nations people o Find resonances between groups that might not necessarily be connected together o England up to the war is very different from the US  Nation is being built from the ground up  Economy is down -> no employment  Part time work if any  Sense that they were left behind by the society  Interest in R&B since it has similar message of being left behind and shit  Chess Tour -> tour organized by chess records o Muddy Waters: Headlining the tour  Inspires British musicians -> Chris barber, Cyril Davies, Spencer Davies, Alexis Korner – Blues incorporated, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers  The background musicians became famous o Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Eric Clapton, Led Zepplin, The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones  Becomes the house band of the one of the top blues club: Marquee Club in July 1962  Brian Jones: Founder of the Band o Talented musician o Very interested in Blues: he knew everything about his record collection o Goal of the band: He wanted to play the music he loved o Looked up to Muddy Waters  Story: Brian Jones was on a call about the marquee club and didn’t have a name of the band so he looked at muddy water’s record and chose a name from one of thesongs from muddy water records  Andrew Loog Oldham (April, 1963) - Manager for the Rolling Stones o Worked for Brian Epstein and wanted to get into the music industry o He knew Beatles and they were taking off and wanted to do that with another band -> finds rolling stone

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o He changed their appearance in 1963  Before: similar to Beatles, button up, ties, vests and shit  After: Told them to go to the other direction in terms of appearance and attitude. Clothes aren’t matching, no smile, o Marketing campaign to capitalize on the change of the image -> “would you let your girl date a rolling stone?”  Beatles were family friendly so rolling stones are going to be bad-ass o Still behind the Beatles but they were ahead of the other bands  Band for the people who feel left out o He pushes the band to start zrecording even though Brian wasn’t interested  They are mostly Covers since they don’t write their songs (Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Willie Dixon)  Started to include Golden age rock n’ roll due to McJagger and Keith Richards o He goes to McJagger and Keith Richards and tell them to write songs since their cover and singles didn’t make too much money o Rolling Stone and Beatles were kind of friends, they knew each other o He calls Lennon and McCartney to ask them to write a song for Rolling Stones  “I wanna’ be your man” – November, 1963 (Lennon/McCartney)  their first hit even though they didn’t write the song Their First Albums comes out: “England’s Newest Hitmakers” o Mostly cover songs of R&B with some rock n’ roll with one original song  The original song was shit so they put fake names beside the name o McJagger and Keith started writing songs, Shit but still writing songs “King Bee” – April 1964 (Played in the class) o Blues form o Cover of song by Slim Harpo (1957) o This songs absolutely nails the R&B style but its from a bunch of white kids from England – captures the original aesthetic of R&B (Mostly Brian Jones)  McJagger nails the accent as well as the voice Keith and McJagger are starting to write songs o McCartney and Lennon helping them -> advised them to keep a tape record beside their bed to record ideas when they get shit in their dreams o Keith dreams a song -> song’s hook played by trumpets and horns but they decided to go with guitar (the song below) “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (Jagger/Richards) – February, 1965 o First US number 1 pop song for the Rolling Stones

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November 13, 2017 o Intensity of their performance varies though out the performance o Become the “other” band from the British Invasion – stands out from the Beatles What happens to Brian Jones? o Brian didn’t want to do original material while the band was the becoming a primary original band o Slowly fading away while the core becomes Keith Richards and McJagger o Stays with the band till 1969 Preparing for the USA tour in late 1969 o Have to get work visa while Brian didn’t get the work visa due to the drug case in USA o Brian thought they would postpone the tour but they confronted him and left him with a choice, either quit or he gets fired Brian Jones decides to leave the band (April/May 1969) Start the tour with a temporary Brian Jones starts to abuse alcohol and drugs o 6 weeks later, he was found dead in the swimming pool o Died at 27

Beatles / Rolling Stones  Image (primarily driven by the television) o Important part of the music industry o Beatles: darlings of the family  Image of wealth and shit Suits and shit  But actually from Working class. Lennon had modest middle class  Ringo came from poorest family o Rolling Stone  Image of working class  But their background was middle class o Keith was in arts college o McJagger was studying Buisness at the London School of Economics  He makes more money as internet trading as opposed to being a rock star  “Product” vs. “Process” o Product:  Beatles -> product oriented  Lennon and McCartney had an idea of the perfect song in their head and their job was to recreate the song in the studio  There is a perfect way of playing their perfect version of the song o Process:  “it’s not the destination, it’s about the journey” Process orientation  Rolling Stones -> Every time they play, its new, no right way of playing a song, constantly changing the songs

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o The two are divided by a race  White music -> Product oriented  Black music -> Process oriented  But now the white kids follow both process and product orientation o Rolling Stones open up doors to whoever wants to play their own music to Funk Back to North America What is going on in the African American culture? A Branch of Soul becomes Funk Development connected to the Civil Rights movement and the development of African-American identity It’s hard for people to succeed if no representation of them o 1966, new TV show, lasted 3 seasons of sci-fi show -> star trek  still being made today, massive fan following  stayed around because they had big ideas that were extraordinary  had a Japanese crew member, black woman as a bridge officer who wanted to quit since no original script but,  MLK called the black woman and told her to not quit the show for 2 reasons o 1) he likes the show o 2) he watches the show with his daughters -> representation of a strong woman for his daughters (Role model for Black women)  The first black woman to go to space watched star trek and was inspired from the bridge officer Late 1950s – growing anticipation of civil rights Rejection of blues as the sound of the past, rural south, slavery

Soul Music - New sound of the urban  Grows out 3 ideas o Vocal Style from Gospel  Aggressive and Powerful voices – lots of distortion o Rhythm and back beat of R&B (2 & 4)  Music designed for dancing and celebration  1 and 3 are main while 2 & 4 were hanging in TPA music  Back beat allows for 2 & 4 makes the beat the front while 1 & 3 are hanging -> lifts the energy of the song; great for dancing o Arrangement and Lyric styles from TPA  Stereotyping- came from the black culture itself  Brass and string instruments were emphasized because they thought it was more sophisticated o It low-key says that the old black music wasn’t sophisticated – playing in the stereotypes without realizing  Soul music moves away from the adult theme of the songs and moves towards the idealized relations of TPA – done deliberately

November 13, 2017 Important location for Soul Music 1. Detroit – “Motown" Records a. Leader for the automobile industry back in the day nickname -> Motown b. Hitsville 2. Memphis – Stax Records a. Built at an old theatre b. Soulsville

Motown (Detroit) (1959) (in-between years)  Founded by Berry Gordy in 1959 o Described R&B as Obscene  First Important Label Owned by an African American o Influential  Founded based on Gordy’s experience in automotive plants  Work like an Assembly Line he was “whitening” his artists o Cholly Atkins: Choreographer  No twerking   Subtle and smooth  Standardize the way artists move o The Funk Brothers: House band  Hired finest Jazz musicians  Played on the all Record  15-20 players based on availability  He wanted consistency in the product  “You’d Better Shop Around” (Smokey and the Miracles, 1960) o One of the first big hits of Motown o Naïve and innocent approach to writing songs o Polished, restrained presentation – sophistication o Bands have disappeared  Even after Beatles, soul never catches on the idea of bands  The sound of Motown -> The vocal group: “The Supremes” o Leader: Diana Ross o “Stop in the Name of Love” (1965)

November 13, 2017  Soul music doesn’t sound the same depending on where it’s made  Motown lacks the gospel vocal influence  Diana Ross doesn’t have the powerful voice but was the leader because she was his girlfriend plus Gordy believed that Diana’s voice was more appealing to the white audience -> more moolah  TPA inspired instrument (not present in all Motown songs): Vibraphone  Vibraphone, bars are made with specific density of metal capable of creating a ringing tone  Became important in Jazz  Jazz almost starts with TPA but splits apart in the 40s o Seen with racist suspicion since its for black audience and drug problems o The view is completely changed in the 60s to Jazz as America’s original art form  It carries the essence of jazz (without the song having jazz band) sophistication plus black culture  Wearing wigs made for white women, wearing gowns for white people  You won’t get rich by selling to black audience so made changes to appeal to the white audience o Not all Motown artists are like this in Motown  Stevie Wonder – popular Gospel voice  The Jackson 5 – Michael Jackson*** with amazing gospel voice  Pentacostal church – they have a great band o Combination of electric piano and organ player  Good indication of soul influence  “Hitsville”: Focused on Hits  Sound and Production Practice o Focus on arrangement  Used multitrack technology  Criticism of whitening the artists and he was because he was targeting the white audience for the moolah  70% of the record was sold to middle class white audience o Clarity of sound o Accuracy of performance  He didn’t want unorganized performance o “Quality Control” – Comparison to other hit records  Compared his songs to the hit top 10s to make them similar so it can lead to chart success STAX Records (Memphis) (Soulsville) – 1959  Called the satellite records in 1959 but changed due to legal reasongs  Founded by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton (St+Ax =STAX)  Built in an old theatre  They also used a house band like the Motown records o “Booker T and the M.G.s”

November 13, 2017 integrated house band (2 white + 2 black) Memphis was still racist af so they couldn’t play in certain counties  They would have to stay in different hotels since no integrated hotels Unlike Motown: o No stereo = monophilic  No multi-track  Listened everything on one speaker o Recording approach = collective  Collective decision making  Input from everyone -> listened to different versions of the same song and chose the version that had the best “energy” and the song or the perfection of the song was secondary  Less emphasis on arrangements than Motown  Much simpler arrangements  Background vocals = mostly didn’t exist in STAX  Focus on Energy of performance over accuracy  Focus on the musical perfection but the energy Otis Redding - “Try A Little Tenderness” (1966) o His first big hit o TPA song – AABA form – written in the 1920s  Also a big hit for Bing Crosby is 1933 o Performance aesthetic (Cathartic performance – unrestrained energy)  Projecting forward by looking at the audience/camera  Also singing with his eyes closed – creating energy/intensity  Sweating during the performance o Died in a plane crash in 1967 with his crew Sam and Dave – “Soul Man” (1967) o STAX record song with a mistake  Mistake of omission – they didn’t include the horn  Could’ve been easily fixed in multitrack but STAX didn’t use it  Small mistake wouldn’t make a big difference if the energy and intensity is on point what they were looking for o Arrangements  Motown = high frequencies  STAX = more focused on the low frequencies and bass  Tambourine stands out in the beginning and then lower frequencies  Neither of them are right or wrong, just distinct o Still the Optimistic sound  African music is about to experience a Stall reflecting the civil rights movement “Soul” as a term for black culture “Soulsville” – not targeting a specific demographic, just producing the best soul music as they understood it  

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November 13, 2017 o their focus was not hits but the best/ most intense soul music o “we are simply targeting people who likes soul music” (one of the founder) Atlantic begins working with FAME (1966) - Soul music, based in New York - Atlantic recognized that they didn’t have enough resources so they would work with other recording companies (STAX, FAME) - FAME (Fluoresce Alabama Music Enterprises) o Important for soul music o Local recording company - Aretha Franklin o First black person on Atlantic Records and sends her to FAME o Been in music industry for years before  She was going to be a church singer but wanted a secular occupation o Atlantic gave her the freedom to sing however she wanted to o “Respect” – 1967  Became the rally song when Civil movement was coming to a stall  Tired of waiting -> demanded respect  Sounds more like STAX (more low frequencies, tambourine stands out)  Anthem for Women’s Liberation Movement o Beginning of more militant sound  Responding to the stagnation of the civil rights movement  New form of music is not produced by one person, but it takes months or years BUT James Brown is an exception James Brown (Creator of Funk Music) - Soul Brother #1 - A lot of recordings with King Records (not on the test) - First hit – 1956, “Please, Please, Please” o Beginning of Soul Music o Sounds a lot like R&B but it marks a point in branching of Soul Music - 1963 – “Live at the Apollo” o Album (black artists don’t usually produce albums, just singles) o Based on his performance at the Apollo (significant stadium for black artists) o Arguably, first albums by an African American to sell over 1 million copies o Becomes a major artist for blacks and whites - 1965 – “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” o a crossover hit - 1965 – “I Feel Good” o one of his best songs at his peak o 12 bar blues -> 12 bar blues -> 4 bar break / 8 bar bridge -> 12 bar blues

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November 13, 2017 o Similar to STAX -> focused on the energy and intensity of Brown’s voice Why was soul popular with white audience o Song structure (AABA)  But based on 12 bar blues  “Black folks like the blues, and white folks like something different in the middle” – James brown African americans were going back and realized that they need something new -> Funk

Civil Unrest  1965, civil unrest -> riots ; peak at summer 1967 o worst riot on 1967 occurs in Detroit  lasts for 3 days, some died, hundreds injured, 1000s arrested  order restored by the US armed forces -> 20,000 forces patrolling in tanks and armoured vehicles  square miles of Detroit turned into rubble  referred to as “Long hot Summer”  Tipping point within black community o 50 years ago  April 1968 -> MLK Jr. takes a trip to speak at a protest in Memphis, Tenesse o While addressing the crowd from his hotel balcony, he is shot April 4th, 1968 o Black community was like fuck this non-violent shit so started militant movement o Malcom X was shot as well where he wanted to take back with force if required  The Black Panthers o If they are met with violence, they will respond with violence o Would be labelled as domestic terrorism in current day  Some gave up on the idea of living together (re-africanization of culture) o Geographical separation o Not imposed on black culture but coming from the black culture o Had to base on assumptions since they didn’t have info -> more stereotypes o Changes in fashion -> longer flowing clothes, lighter and bright colours o Food changes -> emergence of Soul food o Hair changes -> stopped straightening the hair -> “Afro” o Name Changes -> Dropped their “Slave” names and took on “African” names -> “Mohammad Ali” Funk - James Brown – “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” (1968) o Introduces the new style  Different from Soul Music

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November 13, 2017  Melody -> Interesting but no structure; decrease in importance of melody  Harmony -> Chord change not as frequent and not as important (only 2 changes in 3 mins)  Rhythm -> Emphasis on Rhythm and Articulation of notes and how the notes are played  De-privileging Melody and Harmony and Privilege of Rhythm James Brown – “Get Up (I feel like being a) Sex Machine ” (1970) Re-Africanizing the songs based on his assumptions since he has never been to Africa o Based on how he perceives his band as a west African drum group  There are many, many drum groups so simplifying the idea  Master drummer = in charge, surrounded by other different instruments. Drummer sets the tempo and starts the song (James is the drummer)  Each person in the group has small repeating pattern is replayed over and over, the repetition is very simple  Compilation on the simple patterns create something which is very complex -> “Interlock Groove” o Value in percussive nature of African music o Community -> hear the band talking before the song; calling out to band members by their name o Cyclical – pleasure in repetition; no structure like AABA (linear)  Open-ended forms: cyclical vs. linear  Cyclical -> repetition of small segments (interlock groove)  James Brown brings back the Riffs (West-African retention) (aka. beats) James Brown loses his white audience because they don’t understand it

Bob Dylan - 1961-1965 Traditional folk singer/songwriter - Meets the Beatles and mutual had impact on each other o Beatles impact on him: The diversity of the audience  Folk singer -> songs with meaning and Bob was attracted to the idea of his song reaching to everyone - Newport Folk Festival (1965) o “Dylan goes Electric”  last minute decision to play 3 songs with electric guitar with his blues band friends  overwhelming booing from the audience  Bringing in electric guitar -> people hated what the electric guitar represented  People wanted “real” music and didn’t want to be part of the music industry even though they buy the records and tickets and shit. (DUMB AF)

November 13, 2017  Electric represented that the music was part of the music industry o Creation of “Folk Rock”  Blending of folk with sounds of rock along with recording styles of rock  Rock music with deep lyrics The Counter-Culture aka Hippies (end of 1960s) - Precursor: Culture of The Beats (group of artists and intellectuals working from 40s to 50s) o The Beats (Jack Kerouac, Allan Ginsberg Choice of music: Jazz  Beaten Down -> Beaten down by authority  Beatitude -> Higher consciousness where it allowed you to see the truth; symbolic. Materialism blinds us. - Baby Boomers going into university (early to mid 1960s) o Few are asking uncomfortable questions -> asking whether if they want to follow in their parents path or are there other paths that you can follow and see the beats o...