MH68: The Beatles (Listening Quiz 1)

"Till There Was You"

-By: Anita Bryant. -Date: 1959. -Songwriter(s): Meredith Wilson. 1) Example of Show Tunes genre. 2) Expressive singing style. 3) A little more poetic than and not as broad as Tin Pan Alley: although it doesn't explicitly say that it's about love, that's clear. 4) AABA form (AKA pop song form or 32-bar form).

"Shake, Rattle and Roll"

-By: Big Joe Turner. -Date: 1954. -Songwriter(s): Carl Butler. 1) Example of Rhythm & Blues genre. 2) AAB verse lyrical form. 3) Blues chord progression, with swing style accompaniment. 4) Sexual innuendo and misogyny in lyrics; inspired cover versions by Bill Haley & His Comets and Elvis Presley that were popular in the US and UK.

"Hound Dog" (Cover Version)

-By: Elvis Presley. -Date: 1956. -Songwriter(s): Lieber/Stoller. 1) Example of Rock'n'Roll genre. 2) Very watered down from original innuendo: might literally be about a dog. 3) His voice is very throaty, and growl-like. 4) Sense of him reaching across color line to sound black, but still has hiccup from country.

"Why Do Fools Fall In Love?"

-By: Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. -Date: 1955. -Songwriter(s): Lymon/Goldner. 1) Example of Doo-Wop genre. 2) AABA form (AKA pop song form or 32-bar form). 3) Doo-Wop progression. 4) Sung in female alto range: this type of singing would be popular with "girl groups."

"Be-Bop-a-Lula"

-By: Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps. -Date: 1956. -Songwriter(s): Davis/Vincent. 1) Example of Rockabilly genre. 2) Vocal hiccup and nonsense lyrics: typical of Rockabilly genre. 3) Virtuosic guitar solo (replacing the lap steel and fiddle from the Country & Western genre). 4) Blues form with chorus/verse.

"Happy Days Are Here Again"

-By: Jack Hylton and His Orchestra. -Date: 1930. -Songwriter(s): Milton Ager & Jack Yellen. 1) Example of Tin Pan Alley genre. 2) AABA form (AKA pop song form or 32-bar form). 3) Example of syncopation: the melody works against the meter. 4) Relatable subject matter: at the beginning of the Great Depression, so could be written ironically or to simply cheer people up.

"Tutti Frutti"

-By: Little Richard and His Band. -Date: 1955. -Songwriter(s): La Bostrie/Penniman. 1) Example of Rock'n'Roll genre. 2) Chorus/verse with blues chord progression and lyrical structure. 3) Shouted/screamed vocals. 4) Nonsense lyrics, a song you'd dance to: typical of rock'n'roll genre.

"Rock Island Line"

-By: Lonnie Donegan. -Date: 1955. -Songwriter(s): Lead Belly. 1) Scottish man imitating American south dialect; this is actually a cover of a Blues song from written by an African-American man from the south. 2) Example of Skiffle genre: important because the Quarrymen were originally a skiffle group. 3) Continuously speeding up the tempo throughout the song. 4) Also sung about American lifestyle, shows more that music is now crossing cultural/racial lines.

"I Saw Her Standing There"

-By: The Beatles. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): Lennon/McCartney. -Recording Studio: Parlophone. 1) Count in creates "live" effect. 2) Lyrics throw in a strange innuendo immediately, but settles on a 1950s kind of monogamous love (we can only spend the night together if we are truly in love). 3) Form: either AABA or verse/chorus with bridge. 4) Chords: gospel drive + 7th chords = soul, basically.

"Love Me Do"

-By: The Beatles. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): Lennon/McCartney. -Recording Studio: Parlophone. 1) Fatalism of blues progression betrays the failure of the singer's plea. 2) AABA form (AKA pop song form or 32-bar form). 3) Paul sings solo lead "love me do-o" slightly out of his range because John played the harmonica. 4) Extremely simple chord progression.

"She Loves You"

-By: The Beatles. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): Lennon/McCartney. -Recording Studio: Parlophone. 1) Form: use of "refrain" in addition to chorus and verse = more hooks. 2) Word painting (minor chord on "bad"). 3) Chords: blend of Doo-Wop progression and Blues. 4) Lyrics: narrator is outside the narrative; "I" is secondary.

"I Want To Hold Your Hand"

-By: The Beatles. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): Lennon/McCartney. -Recording Studio: Parlophone. 1) Macro form is AABA, within that form: verse/chorus with bridge. 2) Intro "revs up," the song creating tension. 3) First record ever issued in Britain to sell a million copies prior to its release (if that wouldn't convince Capitol records to attempt to release it in the US, nothing would). 4) Use of handclaps.

"Please Please Me"

-By: The Beatles. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): Lennon/McCartney. -Recording Studio: Parlophone. 1) Took the "Please Please" part of the lyrics from Bing Cosby's "Please." 2) NOT rock'n'roll, eclectic mix of styles. 3) Form: may be AABA or may be verse/chorus + bridge. A hybrid form. 4) Guitar licks act as hooks instead of repeated riffs; mixture of Blues tropes and Western classical tropes

"Twist and Shout" (Cover Version)

-By: The Beatles. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): Medley/Russell. 1) Replaced horns with guitar to make it more rock'n'roll. 2) Ringo plays ride symbol to start, and adds drums. 3) John sings strong and loudly right from the beginning. 4) Story of them recording this entire album in one day, and John had to drink milk and eat cough drops to help his voice get through this song.

"Please Mister Postman" (Cover Version)

-By: The Beatles. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): N/A. 1) Doo-Wop/Gospel piano is replaced by guitar. 2) Placed in a more comfortable key for all of the singers. 3) The dangerous transgression of gender roles is missing. 4) Included on their second LP "With the Beatles."

"Twist and Shout" (Original Version)

-By: The Isley Brothers. -Date: 1962. -Songwriter(s): Medley/Russell. 1) Verse/chorus form. 2) A mix of two popular songs at the time: "Twist" and "Shout!" 3) Call-and-response: technique The Beatles later employed in their music. 4) Use of horns, and tambourine plays the backbeat.

"Please Mister Postman" (Original Version)

-By: The Marvelettes. -Date: 1961. -Songwriter(s): N/A. 1) Girl group from Motown. 2) 4 singers, 1 lead and 3 backup. The lead is singing lower than the backups. 3) Doo-Wop chord progression. 4) Call-and-response vocals.

"Be My Baby"

-By: The Ronettes. -Date: 1963. -Songwriter(s): Spector/Greenwich/Barry. 1) Uses the cyclical Doo-Wop progression. 2) Exemplifies Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique layering lots of instruments and creating and echo effect. 3) Many songs by girl groups at the time encompassed their hardships and questions as women, but this was different because it was centered around love. 4) Influencing the song was the love sparked between Spector and Ronnie Bennett.

"Hound Dog" (Original Version)

-By: Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. -Date: 1952. -Songwriter(s): Leiber/Stoller/Otis. 1) Example of 12-bar blues. 2) Super expressive vocal. 3) More personal lyrically. 4) Innuendo, but not so obvious. Theme is a troubled relationship, which is typical of the blues.