Week 2 - Class 4 (Filled in for Class) PDF

Week 2 - Class 4 Pat Boone Ø Boone, like Elvis, covered many “black” tunes, making them more palatable to the larger, white audience Ø Never wrote his own tunes Song: I’ll Be Home – The Flamingoes Ø Instrumental intro – instrumentation includes Hammond organ, bass, electric guitar Ø Lead vocalist is...

Week 2 - Class 4 Pat Boone Ø Boone, like Elvis, covered many “black” tunes, making them more palatable to the larger, white audience Ø Never wrote his own tunes Song: I’ll Be Home – The Flamingoes Ø Instrumental intro – instrumentation includes Hammond organ, bass, electric guitar Ø Lead vocalist is a tenor; use of falsetto Ø Triple division of beat in the Hammond organ Ø Use of interjecting backup vocals Ø Emotional intensity via vocal presentation Song: I’ll Be Home – Pat Boone Ø Starts with lower baritone voice Ø Voice has a crooning quality – no falsetto Ø Instrumentation includes drums (using a shuffle beat), piano and bass Ø Triple division of beat in piano Ø Constant backup vocals Ø Emotional intensity is watered down Ø Any similarity to Elvis ends there – Elvis was the bad boy; Pat was the clean-cut boy-next-door Ø His importance lies in the fact that he served to legitimize rock ‘n’ roll by making it popular with nonrock audiences (basically : adults) o He sang in a pure voice without any blues inflections o Background instrumentation was more swing combo or big band in nature o Watered down the lyrics so they would be more acceptable to an audience steeped in the Tin Pan Alley tradition o Rhythmic and emotional intensity were watered down as well Ø Even quicker tunes never got much past a medium speed, but did have elements of rock ‘n’ roll Song: Wonderful Time Up There Ø Vocals enter first – they then follow the walking bass line in the chorus Ø Instrumentation includes piano, drums, bass and guitar Ø Walking bass is derived from R&B, but the vocal style and the overall sound of the song is definitely pop Top 40 Radio Ø In 1954, a new format called Top 40 Radio was introduced in an attempt to stop the five-year decline caused by the popularity of the new toy – the television Ø Alan Freed (coined the term rock ‘n’ roll) employed this format in both Cleveland and New York City Ø This format was characterized by: o An hourly newscasts and lots of commercials o A DJ who was a major actor with a patter; lots of contests, games and commercials o A limited play list of the Top 40 hits o Chain ownership, thus national distribution Ø Although Elvis was, by far, the most pervasive performer of the fifties, other performers contributed to this new style of music 6 Ø The style fractures into three major trends – mainstream rock, rockabilly, and soft rock – Elvis was considered an early rockabilly artist Mainstream Rock Ø Derived almost directly from R&B – referred to as “black music” Ø Frequently uses the 12-bar blues or some alteration of the pattern Ø Uses a shouting or semi-shouting vocal style – mainstream rock also employed a style that stopped just short of shouting – this was called “belting” Ø Music was rarely notated and the style relies heavily on improvisation Ø Instrumentation included all or some of the following: guitar (electric & acoustic); piano, bass (acoustic); drums; sax; harmonica Ø Drummer plays a much more active role, heavily emphasizing the backbeat Fats Domino Ø Most popular exponent of the classic New Orleans R&B sound Ø Sold more records than any other black r’n’r star of the 1950s Ø Acquired the nickname “Fats” due to his large girth Ø 1949 – met bandleader Dave Bartholemew, who introduced him to Lew Chudd of Imperial Records Ø His first recording with them, a song called The Fat Man, becomes a Top 10 R&B hit the next year Ø Domino became one of the most successful R&B artists in America, charting a number of Top 10 hits Ø Enjoys his first crossover hit in 1955 when Ain’t That A Shame hit #1 on the R&B charts and rose to #10 on the Pop Charts (and was of course covered by Pat Boone, whose version went to #1) Song: Ain’t That A Shame* Ø Starts with stop time between vocals and instruments Ø Sax imitates the vocal line Ø Laidback boogie-woogie feel; triple division of beat in the piano Ø Typical 12-bar blues – which is quite atypical for Domino Ø Sax solo with piano accompaniment – triple division of beat is quite noticeable Ø Instrumentation: sax, piano, drums (strong backbeat), guitar, bass Ø 1956 – hits pay dirt with two very different songs Ø The first is a resurrected big band tune from the 40s called Blueberry Hill Song: Blueberry Hill (FORMAL ANALYSIS) Ø Starts with piano – piano uses a technique called “tremolo” Ø Bass, guitar and drums w/ strong backbeat enter Ø Stop time as vocals enter Ø Sax plays fills – triple division of beat on hi-hat of drums Ø Bass and guitar are playing a riff Ø Sax plays vocal line through bridge Ø Second tune features the New Orleans rollicking boogie-woogie style Ø It is a good example of the energy and style that characterizes Mainstream Rock Song: I’m Walking* Ø With Rock Around the Clock, is considered one of the first rock ‘n’ roll songs Ø Begins with drums and handclaps – handclaps emphasize the backbeat Ø Vocals, bass riff, piano and guitar enter (A section) Ø Features an A-A-B-A form – a move away from the verse-chorus format of earlier songs Ø B section features vocals, bass, drums and guitar 7 Ø Sax solos over one complete cycle of the form Ø Between 1955 and 1960, Domino had twenty Top 20 Singles in the U.S. Ø By 1960, the mainstream rock ‘n’ roll style was starting to fade and like many artists, Domino tried to “popify” his sound in later years Little Richard Ø Born Richard Penniman in Macon, Georgia in 1935 Ø Influential singer and pianist – is frequently referred to as the purest prototype of mainstream rock Ø Nickname “Little Richard” was coined due to the fact he began performing at an early age at his church Ø Early successes include winning an Atlanta talent contest in 1951 which garnered him a recording contract with RCA-Victor’s subsidiary company Camden Records – these recordings failed to make an impact on the charts Ø 1955 – Art Rupe and Bumps Blackwell of Speciality Records receive a demo of Little Richard from Lloyd Price – they decide to record him Ø Recording session was going poorly when, during a break, Little Richard starts pounding out the song Tutti Frutti Ø Specialty wants to record the song but the lyrics are way too suggestive – they bring in Dorothy LaBostrie to rewrite the lyrics to make it suitable for 50s teenagers Ø The song sold 200,000 copies in a week and became one of the seminal r’n’r records, fusing gospel with a vigorous R&B performing style Ø Reached #2 on the R&B charts and crossed over to hit #21 on the Pop Charts – guess what….Pat Boone covered it (!) and the whiter, more acceptable version of the song climbed to #12 on the charts Song: Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Tutti Frutti by Little Richard* Starts with nonsense syllables sung in a semi-shouting vocal style Drums, sax, bass, guitar enter – piano is in the background Use of stop time Use of falsetto for punctuations R&B based sax solo Song: Tutti Frutti by Pat Boone Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Starts with drums shot and a much clearer enunciation of the nonsense syllables Walking bass; sax plays fills; piano Harmonized backup vocals Use of stop time No use of falsetto Drums are much more sedate Sax solo is much tamer Ø The previous song along with Long Tall Sally gives us a blueprint of Little Richard’s frenetic performance style Ø In Long Tall Sally, certain verses are completely instrumental showing the slow shift away from total vocal dominance Song: Long Tall Sally Ø Ø Ø Ø Begins with stop time – shouting style of vocals punctuated by instrumental shots Instrumentation includes drums, sax, guitar, bass and piano Strong backbeat in the drums Sax is the featured solo instrument Ø 1957 – Little Richard was at the height of his success 8 He changed his stage show – first rock ‘n’ roller with a definite image Had an androgynous hairstyle and used heavy facial makeup Had a wild and raucous stage show His band was aptly named The Upsetters – first rock group to wear pancake makeup and eye shadow; embellished their appearance with ear rings and pompadour hairdos Little Richard’s strict religious upbringing and beliefs were in direct conflict with his style of music and his sexual orientation Rock ‘n’ roll was seen as evil and blasphemous; homosexuality was worse – “unnatural and deviant behavior” This dichotomy of beliefs led to him leaving show business in 1957 and entering a seminary to become a minister – it didn’t last long Launched a comeback in 1962 – toured England and influenced such fledgling bands as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones Never reached the height of his success in the 50s and eventually fell into parodying his earlier persona o o o o Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Chuck Berry Ø Frequently referred to as the Father of Rock Guitar because of the great number of guitar stars who have mimicked or been greatly influenced by his style Ø Style was rooted in R&B but his music was unquestionably rock ‘n’ roll Ø Even defines rock’s style and its essential backbeat in both the lyrics and the performance of his 1957 hit Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Song: Rock ‘n’ Roll Music (not on your listening list – will not be included on the exam) Ø Starts with guitar chords; vocals enter Ø Drums, piano, bass and guitar enter – very bluesy piano style; strong backbeat in the drums Ø Guitar becomes more active during the verse Ø Came to rock ‘n’ roll later in life – early influences were gospel, country and blues Ø Formed the band Chuck Berry Trio and performed in a number of clubs – repertoire ranged from C&W and Tin Pan Alley traditionals (to attract the white audience) to R&B standards and great number of original tunes Ø 1955 – Berry catches a performance of the legendary Muddy Waters – Waters invites Berry up to play and is blown away by his inventive guitar playing Ø Waters introduces Berry to the Chess Brothers of Chess Records – they agree to record him, claiming interest in Berry’s cover of an old C&W standard Ida Red Ø The title was deemed too rural for Chess’ uptown market and was changed to Maybelline Ø Hit #1 on the R&B charts and crossed over to hit #5 on the Pop Charts Song: Maybelline Ø Starts with a guitar solo and then goes into a two-beat bass – use of maracas Ø Vocals enter – semi-shouting vocal style Ø Bass and piano play fills Ø Guitar is featured solo instrument Ø In order to ensure radio play, Chess gave Alan Freed and record distributor Russ Fratto co-writing credits on the tune – Berry finally won back the full copy write to the song in 1986 – again, this is Payola at its finest Ø Berry hit the charts constantly throughout 1956 and 1957 – many of his songs became crossover hits Ø Song School Day shows how much Berry is dependent on the R&B style: o Employs a twelve-bar blues o Uses stop time 9 o Use of call and response – but now the guitar line will actually imitate the vocal line o Independent of R&B, the song is also a good example of how the teenage demographic was being targeted Song: School Day Ø Starts with a guitar lick Ø Vocals enter with the melody – this is imitated by the guitar line (call and response) Ø Instrumentation also includes bass, drums and piano Ø More of a shuffle beat in the drums Ø Guitar and piano are the featured instruments Ø In 1958, Berry released the tune Johnny B. Goode – this song is a great example of Berry’s style and techniques o Simple verse-chorus form o Easy to learn; catchy lyrics o Shows off his guitar style – characteristic two string boogie on the low strings for the accompaniment; use of double stops (playing two notes simultaneously) on the upper strings for solos Song: Johnny B. Goode Ø Begins with a guitar solo – typical of Berry’s style Ø Accompanied by rhythm guitar and drums Ø Semi-shouting vocal style enters – piano enters half way through the verse Ø Chorus features call and response between lead vocals and guitar – piano plays fills in the background Ø Berry’s energetic performance style was overshadowed by the emerging popularity of teen idols and young vocal groups of the late 50s and early 60s Ø 1959 – Berry is charged with violating The Mann Act – transportation of an under-aged woman across state lines for immoral purposes – results in a two-year prison term Ø After his release, he enjoys a brief comeback due to the fact that The Beatles covered a number of his works Ø First #1 hit comes in 1972 in the guise of a novelty rock song called My Ding-A-Ling 10