Week 3 - Class 5 (Filled In for Class).pdf

Class Notes – Week 3B Buddy Holly ➢ Buddy Holly’s far-reaching influence is all the more impressive when one considers that his career spanned a mere 18 months ➢ Holly changed many stereotypes in rock ‘n’ roll ➢ 1956 – Forms a band called The Three Tunes – consisted of Bob Montgomery (bass) and Jerr...

Class Notes – Week 3B Buddy Holly ➢ Buddy Holly’s far-reaching influence is all the more impressive when one considers that his career spanned a mere 18 months ➢ Holly changed many stereotypes in rock ‘n’ roll ➢ 1956 – Forms a band called The Three Tunes – consisted of Bob Montgomery (bass) and Jerry Allison (drums) ➢ A recording contract from Decca goes sour when their mostly country recordings fail to chart ➢ 1957 – Montgomery is dropped from the band – he is replaced by Joe B. Maudlin (bass) - Niki Sullivan (electric guitar) also joined at this time – the band was renamed The Crickets ➢ Holly and his group the Crickets broke away from many of the stereotypes surrounding rock ‘n’ roll: • Unlike many other bands, Holly and the Crickets relied on their originals rather than on covers – this made them unique and would forecast the future for other groups • Rather than being governed by the timetables and rules present at their label’s studio, they worked in their own, allowing them time to experiment with their sound and allowing for a unique style that wasn’t corporate driven • His image was not of teenage rebellion but rather as a more clean-cut respectable young man • His band make up becomes the standard for most 60s rock ‘n’ roll groups – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass and drums ➢ 1957 – Holly and the Crickets leave for New Mexico where they meet Norman Petty ➢ Due to contractual obligations, the Brunswick label signs them as The Crickets – initially, Holly’s name isn’t even on the contract – this will lead to future problems ➢ Their first hit, That’ll Be the Day comes out shortly after – it makes it to #2 on the Pop Charts; #3 on the R&B charts Song: That’ll Be the Day ➢ Starts with an electric guitar solo ➢ Characterized by a clear lead singer with harmonized backup vocals ➢ Drums enter with a very lazy backbeat ➢ Simple guitar solo ➢ When Decca released Holly from his contractual obligations, Petty immediately signs him as a solo act to the Coral label – this way he could fully exploit Holly’s talents ➢ Their biggest hit during this two year period was Peggy Sue ➢ The song is an excellent example of how Holly effectively used studio time to experiment with guitar and vocal styles – each verse has a different little twist to it Song: Peggy Sue ➢ Starts with a four-bar instrumental opening ➢ Shuffle beat in the drums – no strong backbeat ➢ Use of guiro – a percussion instrument ➢ Extensive use of Holly’s vocal hiccup ➢ Both the vocal and the guitar style/sound change with each verse ➢ The song Oh Boy! is a good example of Holly’s performing style ➢ It is a 12-bar blues set in an AABA format, successfully marrying C&W with R&B ➢ The lyrics are delivered in an eager, excited manner, emphasizing the upbeat nature of the music Song: Oh Boy! ➢ Begins with a quick call and response between instruments (lead and rhythm guitar, bass and drums) and ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ vocals Strong emphasis on backbeat Harmonized backup singers continue the call and response throughout the rest of the A section Backup singers provide constant accompaniment through the B section A section is in a 12-bar blues; B section departs from that progression ➢ Late in 1958, Holly decides to make some career changes – he leaves Norman Petty and the Crickets ➢ Moves towards a more pop-oriented style ➢ Last hit is a song written for him by songwriting Canadian teen idol Paul Anka Song: I Guess It Doesn’t Matter Anymore ➢ Starts with an orchestral string section ➢ Vocals enter ➢ Guitar and drums come more to the forefront to accompany the vocals ➢ Use of vocal hiccup ➢ Holly ended up in a legal battle with Petty over the copy write to certain songs – his finances were frozen and in an effort to earn some money he agreed to go on a concert tour ➢ Feb. 3, 1959 – Holly Age 22, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) Age 28 and Ritchie Valens Age 17 boarded a plane on a stormy night in Iowa – the plane crashed, killing all on board ➢ Holly’s unexpected death created a cult-like following and inspired the Don McLean song American Pie (Play on Spotify) 1955 – The Year Rock ‘n’ Roll Began ➢ Though it is impossible to state unequivocally that 1955 marks the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll as a genre, a number of facts do seem to point towards this: • By 1955, R&B had a new name – it was consistently referred to as “Rock ‘n’ Roll” • By 1955, crossover hits were becoming commonplace in the music industry – this, along with the “cover song” became two of the main ways that r’n’r became a national phenomena • A number of burgeoning r’n’r artists experienced their first Top 10 hits in 1955 • In 1955, the song Rock Around the Clock appeared in the movie Blackboard Jungle – the first appearance of a r’n’r tune in the movie medium • Colonel Tom Parker takes control of Elvis’ career – within a year, he’s moved him to RCAVictor and national distribution The Day the Music Died ➢ If 1955 marks the birth of r’n’r, then 1958-59 indicates a time when rock ‘n’ roll almost experienced its demise ➢ The first wave of rock ‘n’ roll was almost wiped out at the end of the 50s due to a number of circumstances • 1958 – plagued by feelings of guilt due to his religious upbringing, Little Richard leaves R’n’R to become a minister • Elvis complies with the draft and is sent to Germany in 1958 • Also in 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis’ career experienced a severe setback due to backlash regarding his marriage to his young cousin • Buddy Holly’s plane crashes in 1959 • Chuck Berry was charged with violating the Mann Act the same year The Payola Scandal ➢ Historically, the practice of paying someone to advance the success of a song goes back to the turn of the 20th century ➢ Focus shifts from singers and big band era bandleaders to disc jockeys and record producers during the 50s ➢ The Payola Investigations occurred in 1959 and 1960 ➢ Actually began with fraud on TV – some quiz shows had supplied contestants with the answers in order to boost ratings – led to the ban of many shows (Tic Tac Dough; The Price is Right; Stop the Music; and The $64,000 Question – the most popular show in America at the time) and the blocking of many of the producers, directors and hosts of these shows to work in the industry. ➢ ASCAP was suffering at this time: (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) • Sales of published sheet music was plummeting – there were just too many hit songs to cover and by the time sheet music could be issued, the song was all ready off the charts • Established professional singers, instrumentalists, arrangers, orchestrators, copyists and conductors were out of work as their talents simply weren’t in demand ➢ With the prodding of ASCAP, the scandal spread to the music industry, which really isn’t surprising – all through the 50s, ASCAP had attacked the interests of any radio, network television or recording companies represented by the rival-licensing agent BMI ➢ The committee was in the midst of an election and hoped to appease their conservative constituents by focusing on DJs who played rock ‘n’ roll ➢ Numerous testimonies revealed that record producers and DJs frequently took bribes (money, song rights, lyric rights, cars, etc.) to play certain songs ➢ In 1960, investigators announced that 207 DJs in 42 states had accepted more than $263,000 in bribes (a little more than 2.2million in todays terms!!– many were fined, some were imprisoned, most never worked in the radio industry again ➢ Allan Freed was particularly affected by these hearings – he was fired from his job, charged with commercial bribery, fined $300 and received a six month suspended sentence – he was also all but blocked from the music industry – he died five years later, a broken man ➢ This is sad, because Freed really was instrumental in getting this new r’n’r style going: • Introduced his largely white audience in Cleveland to R&B • Promoted integrated concerts • Coined the term rock ‘n’ roll • Instrumental to the spread of the Top 40 radio format • Supported Indie record labels and minority music ➢ Dick Clark, on the other hand, escaped with both his job and his reputation intact ➢ He denied any “payola” on his part, even though he owned 27% of the songs that were played on American Bandstand (they would have been played anyway due to their popularity was his excuse) ➢ Dick Clark never really shook up the accepted norm and regularly employed ASCAP members • Clark pushed music that was “clean” and “fun” • American Bandstand, in its early days, was a lily-white show • Seldom promoted performers who wrote their own material, thus escaped the wrath of ASCAP • Supported Major record labels and their stars ➢ Eventually, the committee passed laws making the payment of cash, gifts or copy right in exchange for airplay illegal unless it was recognized on the air and claimed on yearly tax forms ➢ Unfortunately, this was (and is) almost impossible to enforce ➢ A new job entitled Music Program Director was established to cut down on instances of payola Soft Rock ➢ Though often questioned as to the relevance of its presence in this genre, soft rock is a staple of the style ➢ Sexual views were still quite puritanical in the late fifties – soft rock gave the teenagers an excuse to be close without “breaking the rules” ➢ Soft rock is derived primarily from two sources: • Tin Pan Alley-based music mixed with rockabilly – this is more of the “white” style of soft rock • Doo-Wop – gospel mixed with R&B for flavor – this is more of the “black” style of soft rock ➢ Soft rock style is characterized by four elements: • A clearly recognizable, charismatic lead singer • Slow, dreamy lyrics – though this could change • Triple division of the beat • A continuous background of instruments and/or vocal backup Doo-Wop ➢ Primarily, though not exclusively, black vocal group music ➢ Characterized by group harmony, discrete vocal parts (lead and backup), and the use of nonsense syllables in the supporting vocal parts ➢ Primarily performed a cappella (vocals only) or with a subdued instrumental line – when the groups were brought into the studio, a backing band would be put behind them ➢ The term “doo-wop” came to be used to identify the vocal group sound ➢ Instrumentation could include any or all of the following: trumpet, sax, Hammond organ, bass, drums, piano – but it is the harmonizing vocals which take precedence ➢ Much of the music was based around a recurring chordal pattern (much like the 12-bar blues) – called a “doo-wop progression”, it consists of I-vi-ii(IV)-V-I ➢ Because of their success, indie labels actively pursued doo-wop groups, producing a huge group of one-hit wonders Song: Crying in the Chapel Artist: The Orioles ➢ Begins with a descending line on the chimes ➢ Lead vocals enter a cappella – soon joined by harmonized backup vocals ➢ Drums and bass quietly accompany in the background – chimes enter with fills at the end of each line of verse ➢ Emotional, declamatory song – ballad-like – AABA form ➢ Lyrics show gospel influence Song: Why Do Fools Fall In Love Artist: Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers ➢ Begins with the bass voice outlining the chord structure ➢ Lead vocals enter with harmonized backup vocals, drums, bass and guitar ➢ Through the verse, sax plays fills – harmonized backup vocals are constant in the background ➢ Bluesy sax solo accompanied by guitar, bass and drums – unusual Song: Come Go With Me Artist: The Dell Vikings ➢ Bass voice leads into lead vocals singing nonsense syllables accompanied by sax, drums, bass and guitar ➢ Lead vocals introduces melody – harmonized vocals enter the second time through ➢ Instrumentations is relegated to the background – vocals take precedence ➢ Most of these bands were “one-hit wonders” ➢ A couple of notable exceptions were The Platters and The Coasters ➢ Each approached the music in their own way: • The Platters sang songs that romanticized life and love • The Coasters sang songs that tended to take a more humorous look at life ➢ Both groups geared their songs towards the teenage demographic Song: The Great Pretender Artist: The Platters ➢ Starts with drums, sax, bass and piano playing a triple division of beat ➢ Lead vocals enter with harmonized backup vocals ➢ Fairly strong backbeat, though it is kept in the background ➢ Backup vocals and sax provide fills Song: Yakety Yak Artist: The Coasters ➢ Starts with harmonized vocals all singing lyrics – no clear lead ➢ Drums have a “boom-chick” feel; bass outlines the chords ➢ Sax plays a fill at the end of each vocal line – this is a type of call and response ➢ Sax is the featured solo instrument – out of the ordinary for this style to even have an instrumental solo END OF MATERIAL FOR EXAM I