Rock Chapters 6 & 7
Who were the Jefferson Airplane?
- Grace Slick was the singer - they blended musical ambition with the AM single format - sang "White Rabbit"
Who were Iron Butterfly?
- considered the "heaviest" band of the late 1960s - establishing characteristics that would lead into heavy metal
"The Way You Do the Things You Do"
- the Temptations - Motown
"Purple Haze"
- Jimi Hendrix
Who was Van Morrison?
- singer songwriter - recorded with the band Them - solo career after Them - sang "Brown Eyed Girl"
What were the 2 psychedelic approaches to music?
It can enhance a drug trip or the music itself can be understood as the trip.
"Respect"
- Aretha Franklin - cover of Otis Redding's song - recorded in New York
"Good Vibrations"
- Beach Boys - considered Brian Wilson's finest achievement - demonstrates the centrality of studio techniques as well as experimentation with elements
What problems were the Beach Boys having issues during the late 1960s?
- Brain Wilson wrote a concept album called SMiLE that was abandoned by the Beach Boys, they released Smiley Smile instead - Wilson's new music created controversy within the group. - Wilson had a psychotic break
What was happening with the Beatles around the time that they broke up in 1970?
- Brian Epstein died of an overdose in 1967 - the group opened Apple Records which had financial issues - released their last album Abbey Road, which became popular
"Sunshine of Your Love"
- Cream - built around a central guitar riff and a 12-bar blues
"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1"
- James Brown - shows how precise and well rehearsed his band was - blues, soul style
Who were Big Brother and the Holding Company?
- Janis Joplin was their lead singer - classical and avant-garde influences
"White Rabbit"
- Jefferson Airplane - AM single format - about a drug trip - refers to Alice in Wonderland
Why was 1968 a pivotal year for black popular music?
- Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated - he was shot near Stax records which causes business difficulties - Motown started to address the issues facing black America
What was Chess Records?
- Recording label in Chicago - released a broad range of black pop records
What was Stax Records?
- Soulsville, USA - studio band was called Booker T. & the MG's, who often performed without arrangements - first to have a band mixing blacks and whites
Who did Bob Dylan record with in 1966?
- The Band - they were mainly Canadian - produced important records for country rock
"A Day in the Life"
- The Beatles - no one really knows what the lyrics mean - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - really creepy and scary
"People Get Ready"
- The Impressions - gospel attributes
"Baby Love"
- The Supremes - Holland-Dozier-Holland - Motown
Who were the 2 important girl groups formed by Motown?
- The Supremes - Martha and the Vandellas
"In the Midnight Hour"
- Wilson Pickett - delayed backbeat feel that became a signature sound for southern soul
Who were Sam and Dave?
- a vocal duo sent to Stax by Jerry Wexler - sang "Soul Man"
Who were Traffic?
- band formed by Stevie Winwood - variety of music styles - successful in UK, and then the US - British version of the Byrds
Who were the Grateful Dead?
- central to psychedelic music in the Bay Area - combined elements of folk and gluegrass and developed an improvisational approach with free-forming songs - their albums Working Man's Dead and American Beauty help to launch them as a successful touring group
What was Altamont Speedway?
- festival organized by the Rolling Stones - a young fan was beaten to death by the Hell's Angels - this was viewed as the end of the hippie era
Who was Cream, and why were they so influential?
- first "supergroup" (all members were stars of other bands previously) - Eric Clapton became a guitar "god" - success started in the UK but spread to San Francisco - sang "Sunshine of Your Love" - didn't last long due to the egos of all the members
Why was the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band so pivotal for the Beatles?
- first to be a concept album, it could be played continuously and each song connect to the rest - started a lot of conspiracy theories - signaled changes taking place in rock music - created a new focus on the album as opposed to the single in rock music - "A Day in the Life" appear on this album
Who were the Doors?
- formed in Los Angeles in 1965 - blues-based psychedelia - the band's music, and Jim Morrison's lyrics highlighted darker aspects of emotional life
Who were Martha and the Vandellas?
- girl group formed by Motown
Who were the Supremes?
- girl group formed by Motown - Diana Ross got her start with them - Worked with Holland-Dozier-Holland - sang "Baby Love"
Why was Berry Gordy Jr. important?
- he formed Motown Records in 1959 - production method was derived from Brill Building practices. - headquartered in Detroit - encouraged internal competition and quality control within the company
What was the Woodstock Music and Art Festival?
- held in Bethel, NY on a leased farm - 1969 - 400,000+ people attended - documentary film was live album made the event a huge and enduring success - they had to helicopter in acts because the roads were blocked
Who were the Temptations?
- important guy group formed by Motown - known for their athletic dance moves - worked with Holland-Dozier-Holland - sang "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl"
Who was Donovan?
- influenced by Woody Guthrie - folk rock styles - a leading figure for hippie pacifism - went on to compose elementary education music
Who was Jimi Hendrix?
- influential guitarist in London during psychedelic scene - performed at Monterey International Pop Festival and Woodstock - used feedback and the vibrato bar on his electric guitar, which was widely imitated - sang "Purple Haze" - died of OD
What was Atlantic Records doing in the 1960s?
- invested in southern soul - Jerry Wexler produced successful singles for gospel influenced singer Solomon Burke - formed a distribution partnership with a smaller, Memphis-based label called Stax.
What was significant about San Francisco to the psychedelic scene?
- it had been developing there since the mid '60s - Bill Grahm opened Filmore Auditorium, which became popular for artists to perform at - the Human Be-In drew attention the the city's hippie culture
Who was Vanilla Fudge?
- known for creating elaborate and lengthy cover versions of pop songs - lead to artsy, classical bands
Who were the Impressions?
- lead by guitarist and songwriter Curtis Mayfield - their music reflected the concerned of the burgeoning civil rights movement - did well in the R&B market - sang "People Get Ready"
What was the Red Dog Saloon?
- located in Virginia City, Nevada - was an early center of psychedelic music and culture
Who were Pink Floyd?
- one of the first bands to come out of the underground scene - had radio friendly songs that became popular across the UK - avant-garde art music - similar bands were Soft Machine and Tomorrow
Who was Otis Redding?
- one of the most important artists recording for Stax - crossover hits featured gospel-influenced vocal and the backing of Booker T. & the MG's
What were "acid tests?"
- organized by novelist Ken Kesey - he provided doses of LSD and a stimulating environment to intensify the drug's effects
What influence the psychedelic movement?
- other social movements of the time and was concerned with new ways of exploring the world - drugs, LSD led to a "higher consciousness" - Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary - eastern spirituality became associated with the counterculture movement
Where did the psychedelic scene in London develop?
- outside of the clubs of "Swinging London" - the UFO Club was the most prominent gathering of the underground - large avant-garde happenings took place across the city
What was Okeh Records?
- race imprint of Columbia - produced R&B crossovers - Carl Davis moved from Okeh to the Brunswick label (also released pop and R&B hits)
Who was Aretha Franklin?
- recorded for Atlantic at Fame Studios - sang "Respect" for a New York recording company, Columbia
What was Vee-Jay Records?
- recording label in Chicago - specialized in electric blues and vocal group music - success with Gene Chandler, the Four Seasons, and the Beatles
Who was Marvin Gaye?
- significant solo artist from Motown - recorded pop and dance-oriented R&B as a soloist with duet partners.
Who was Stevie Wonder?
- significant solo artist from Motown - signed at age 11 - had his first hit at age 13 - career floundered briefly when his voice changed - first artist Motown let do whatever he wanted with he recorded
What was the Monterey International Pop Festival?
- spring of 1967 - featured a range of international acts - in California on a fair grounds - about 50,000+ people attended
Who was Wilson Pickett?
- started at Atlantic records and moved to Stax - sang "In the Midnight Hour" - Jerry Wexler sent him to Fame Studios in Alabama, due to conflict at Stax
Who was James Brown?
- started his career in the Famous Flames and as a stand-in for Little Richard - became famous for his transition from a doo-wop style to a soul style - sang "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1" - had a very precise band
What did the Rolling Stone do during the psychedelic era?
- they tried to follow what the Beatles were doing, but ultimately went back to the style of music they did before
Who were Country Joe and the Fish?
- they were active in radical politics in Berkeley - they bridged the culture gap between hippies and radicals
How did Gordy make sure his artists projected sophistication?
He hired a choreographer and a finishing school teacher to work with them.
Who were the Funk Brothers?
Motown's employed skilled studio musicians, heard on many different tracks.
How was the London scene similar San Francisco scene?
Similar: a community of young people formed around drugs, Eastern philosophy, radical politics, and experimental music.
How is southern soul different from sweet soul?
Southern soul incorporates the emotional expression often associated with gospel, and black and white listeners often perceived it as truer to African American heritage.
What 2 bands influenced one another during this time to be more ambitious with their music?
The Beach Boys and The Beatles
Who were the 2 Los Angeles based bands to have hits between 1966 and 1968?
The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield
What was happening to AM and FM radio towards the end of the 60s?
The development of free-form FM radio began to create a distinction between the single-oriented pop on AM radio and the album-oriented rock on FM
