Unit 2 Study Questions

What was the number 1 song at the turn of the decade of the 1950s to the 1960s?

"El Paso," written and performed by the country singer Marty Robbins

What is considered the first landmark folk rock hit?

"Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan

Which group made Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind" a top 40 hit?

Peter, Paul, & Mary

Why was Bob Dylan booed off the stage at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965?

for playing with an electric band

What style of surf music did "real" surfers remain loyal to?

"Real surfers" remained fairly loyal to the instro school while the general public lapped up the vocal school.

Which James Brown song could be considered a very early rap song?

"Say It Loud—I'm Black and I'm Proud"

What was the slogan of Motown records?

"the sound of young America"

Which is NOT a possible reason why The Beatles were so successful in the U.S. in the early 1960s?

-Much ink has been spilled over conjectures regarding the timing of the Beatles' remarkable success on American shores. Many historians of pop culture point to the impact of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, claiming that as a new year began, young people were hungry for a change in the prevailing national mood of solemnity, and that the Beatles provided just the ticket in the form of something novel, "exotic," uplifting, and fun. -A more practical, if also more cynical, one might be that the Beatles really "hit" in America only when a major label, Capitol (the American label officially linked to the Beatles' British label, EMI), launched a major promotional campaign behind the first Beatles single they chose to release here, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and its accompanying album, Meet the Beatles. -America had been exporting its popular music to Great Britain, to Europe, and increasingly throughout the industrialized world with enormous success for a long time, but the impact of the Beatles in this country marked the significant beginning of an aggressively reciprocal process.

The Beatles early career was inspired by which American music group?

-THE BEACH BOYS were in fact a clear, and stated, model for the Beatles, especially during the remarkably productive and innovative years. -We can trace the evolution of the Beatles by using the model advanced for describing the career of the Beach Boys. They started out as a performing band modeled on Buddy Holly's group, the Crickets; after some initial shifts in personnel, the Beatles achieved a stable lineup by 1962 consisting of John Lennon and George Harrison (lead and rhythm guitars and vocals), Paul McCartney (bass and vocals), and Ringo Starr (drums and occasional vocals). During their extended apprenticeship period, the Beatles played at clubs in their home town of Liverpool and elsewhere—most famously in Hamburg, Germany—performing an imitative repertoire that centered on covers of songs by the American rock 'n' roll artists they most admired, such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and naturally Buddy Holly. -The country/rock 'n' roll duo the Everly Brothers also exercised a significant influence on the Beatles' group singing style.

What was NOT an element of Ray Charles' success and title as a "genius" in music?

-What is it then that made his career so distinctive, that made him such a universally admired pop musician—by audiences, critics, and other musicians—that the appellation "genius" has clung to his name for decades, as if he had been born to the title? Part of it is the astounding range of talents Charles cultivated. He was a fine songwriter, having written many of his early rhythm & blues hits, including classics of the genre like "I've Got a Woman" and "Hallelujah I Love Her So." He was a highly skilled arranger, as well as an exceptionally fine keyboard player who was fluent in jazz as well as mainstream pop idioms. And above all he was an outstanding vocalist, with a timbre so distinctive as to be instantly recognizable and an expressive intensity that, once heard, is difficult to forget. But this still is not the whole story. Charles's most characteristic recordings are not only distinguished, individual statements but also unique and encompassing statements about American popular music style. -was criticized for coupling his gospel vocal styling with references to sexual intimacy

What was the newly sophisticated style of country music coming out of Nashville in the 1960s called?

...A newly sophisticated approach to the vocal presentation and instrumental arrangement of country music, a highly influential approach that came to be known as COUNTRYPOLITAN, a fusion of "country" and "cosmopolitan." Nashville was at the center of this development, and the style was also often called the "Nashville sound."

Why was Ray Charles song "What'd I Say" banned on some radio stations?

...nobody before Charles had brought the sacred and secular idioms into such a direct and intimate relationship; by the time of "Hallelujah I Love Her So" he was expressing the connection in the song's very title! Needless to say, some people were scandalized by this. The final portion of "What'd I Say," in which Charles shouts and groans in call and response with a female chorus to produce music that simultaneously evokes a wild Southern Baptist service and the sounds of a very earthly sexual ecstasy, was banned on many radio stations in spite of the record's status as a national hit.

From where did the band The Chantays borrow their signature tremolo in the opening of "Pipe Line"?

A characteristic device was Dale's rapid, descending tremolo—borrowed by a group called the Chantays to open their recording of what became the most famous surf instrumental, "Pipeline."

Who was NOT a member of Motown?

Among performers, Gordy—like so many other producers—tended to favor vocal groups, although he did have important solo acts from early on, such as Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, and Stevie Wonder, Important Motown groups not yet mentioned include Martha (Reeves) and the Vandellas, Junior Walker and the All Stars, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and the Jackson Five. Among the most famous of these Motown writing/production teams were (Eddie) Holland-(Lamont) Dozier-(Brian) Holland, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, and Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Bass player James Jamerson, drummer Benny Benjamin, and keyboardist Earl Van Dyke were among the most important contributors to the Motown sound.

What was the name of the studio musicians Phil Spector worked with at Gold Star Records in Los Angeles?

Among the best known of these musicians are Hal Blaine, drummer; Carol Kaye, bassist; and Jack Nitzsche, arranger and percussionist. Phil Spector preferred to work with vocal groups over individual artists.

Which artist grew up a child of a preacher, signing in their father's Baptist church?

Aretha Franklin literally grew up with gospel music; her father was the Reverend C. L. Franklin, the pastor for a large Baptist congregation in Detroit and himself an acclaimed gospel singer.

Who was the founder of Motown records?

Berry Gordy Jr.

What style of singing is present in both James Brown's and Aretha Franklin's soul style?

Both Brown (known as "Soul Brother Number One") and Franklin (known as "Lady Soul") brought experience with gospel singing to bear upon their performances of secular material. In so doing, they each developed an intense, flamboyant, gritty, and highly individual approach to the singing of pop music, and their approaches represented distinctive analogues to the "soul" style of Ray Charles.

Who was The Beatles' manager?

Brian Epstein

Who wrote Jan and Dean's hit "Surf City"?

Brian Wilson cowrote Jan and Dean's biggest hit, "Surf City"

Which band was the first "Power trio"?

Cream

Who was the first widely successful "roots" rock 'n' roll band?

Creedence Clearwater Revival

The discotheques that sprang up from the popularity of "The Twist" influenced what other types of dance scenes?

free-form dances like the pony, the mashed potatoes, the monkey, etc. as well as female "go-go" dancers

Who was the most influential of the young British guitarists emerging during the mid 1960s?

Eric Clapton

True or False? Creedence Clearwater Revival was a psychedelic band that specialized in exotic instruments and studio effects.

False, Creedence Clearwater Revival was untouched by the trappings of the psychedelic era.

True or False? Aretha Franklin was not empowered and spent most of her career in the shadows of record executives.

False, Franklin not only symbolized female empowerment in the sound of her records but also actualized female empowerment in the process of making them.

True or False? Country artists like Buck Owens, Kitty Wells, and Merle Haggard were equally represented on top 40 pop urban radio.

False, among all the artists just mentioned, only one achieved a national Top 40 pop hit during the entire decade, and he did so only once: Buck Owens's "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" got up to Number Twenty- five in 1965.

True of False? The Beatles, like The Beach Boys, relied on only one main song writer.

False, the Beatles' chief songwriters were Lennon and McCartney, who, at least at first, worked as a team, but eventually Harrison began to contribute songs as well, and by the end of the Beatles' career even Starr had emerged occasionally as a songwriter.

True of False? The song "El Paso" by Marty Robins was a hard driving, rhythm and blues song with doo-wop vocals.

False, was an acoustic, deliberately old-fashioned cowboy ballad

Which city was the center of the 1960s counterculture?

Fillmore East in NYC

Who was "the fifth Beatle"?

GEORGE MARTIN was sometimes called "the fifth Beatle" in acknowledgment of his increasingly essential role in the recording studio in the later 1960s, as the Beatles came to attempt more and more sophisticated arrangements and electronic engineering effects on their recordings.

Who was The Beatles producer?

George Martin

Who was the original writer and performer of "The Twist"?

Hank Ballard

Which artist's music is sampled more than any other artist's?

James Brown's records are sampled by hip-hop artists more than those of any other musician.

Who was the most successful white blues singer of the 1960s?

Janis Joplin

Who was the first nationally successful band to emerge out of the San Francisco psychedelic scene?

Jefferson Airplane

Who was the most prominent electric guitarist of the late 1960s?

Jimi Hendrix

Which is NOT an element of Phil Spector's music production techniques?

Many indie companies, mimicking the practice of major labels with earlier styles of pop music, rushed as many records as they could into the rock 'n' roll market, often without much thought for quality control, hoping for the occasional hit. In contrast, as would be expected from the description provided above, Phil Spector turned out an exceptionally small number of records, about twenty in a two-year period, an astoundingly large percentage of which were hits.

What is considered rock's first concept album?

PET SOUNDS was arguably rock's first concept album—that is, an album conceived as an integrated whole, with interrelated songs arranged in a deliberate sequence.

What other album was the single greatest influence on The Beatles' landmark 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

PET SOUNDS was the single greatest influence on the Beatles' landmark 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

What is meant by "The Brill Building became literally rock 'n' roll's vertical Tin Pan Alley"?

Producers and label executives were constantly in attendance or close at hand, and the Brill Building became quite literally rock 'n' roll's vertical Tin Pan Alley. The successful songwriters were often working with a number of different artists, producers, and labels at the same time, and consequently could hope to have several hits on the charts simultaneously; the regular work at a stable location and the promise of considerable royalty income made this type of work seem both more reliable and more potentially lucrative than that of performers.

Which early rock and roll artist or group was NOT an influence on The Beatles?

The Beatles WERE NOT influenced by the Rolling Stones, but they WERE influenced by: Pet Sounds, the Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, etc.

What musical instrument unique to India did The Beatles and The Rolling Stones use in their music?

The Beatles themselves modeled such receptivity in their own embrace of influences from Indian music—first heard as a surface element in their employment of an Indian instrument, THE SITAR, in "Norwegian Wood" (a track from the album Rubber Soul, 1965), and later heard as a more profound influence on both the sound and structure of "Within You without You" from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Who was the quintessential "live" rock band of the 60s, specializing in long jams that wander through diverse musical styles?

The Dead

Who was not part of the urban folk scene in the early 1960s?

The Grateful Dead?

Which 1960s music was also considered pre-pre-punk?

The Ramones?

Which style of music did collegiate baby boomers prefer for its political and cultural depth?

The baby boomers were reaching college age, demonstrating increasing cultural and political interests and awareness, and they represented an expanding audience both for traditionally based folk music and for newly composed "broadsides" on the issues of the day. ENCOURAGEMENT AND A SENSE OF HISTORY WERE PROVIDED BY ELDER STATESMEN OF THE URBAN FOLK SCENE, such as Pete Seeger and the Weavers, whose careers in turn were reinvigorated by the thawing of the political climate after the blacklisting days of the 1950s (see Chapter 2) and by the enthusiasm of younger folk performers and their audiences. By 1962 even the extremely popular Kingston Trio (see Box 3.4)—whose acoustic folk repertoire almost always stayed within the bounds of safe traditional material or the occasional novelty number—ventured to record Pete Seeger's poignant antiwar song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," unexpectedly scoring a pop hit with it (Number Twenty-one). This attests to the increasing politicization of the urban folk movement and its audiences at this time.

Who was responsible for dragging urban folk music into the modern era of rock?

The individual most responsible for this shift was not Peter or Paul or Mary, but the man who had written their biggest acoustic hit, "Blowin' in the Wind" (Number Two, 1963). He was also the man who, virtually single-handedly, dragged urban folk music—with some people kicking and screaming—into the modern era of rock. His name was BOB DYLAN.

The Beatles first number one in the U.S. was...?

Their first Number One record in America, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," topped the charts at the beginning of February 1964.

Who challenged the mainstream Top 40 AM pop music format by expanding and broadcasting on FM stations in the late 1960s?

Tom Donahue, a local DJ

True or False? "Georgia on My Mind" by Ray Charles was named the official song of the state of Georgia.

True

True or False? Ray Charles was never interested in being typecast as a rock 'n' roller.

True, Charles was never interested in being typecast as a rock 'n' roller, and he never consciously addressed his recordings to the teen market—or to any obviously de- limited market, for that matter.

True or False? Aretha Franklin wrote, played keyboard, and provided vocal arrangements for many of her recordings.

True, directly tied to this issue is the fact that Franklin was not only a vocal interpreter on her records but also—like Charles and Brown—a major player in many aspects of their sound and production. She wrote or cowrote a significant portion of her repertoire (this involvement goes back to her early days at Columbia). In addition, Franklin is a powerful keyboard player; her piano is heard to great advantage on many of her recordings. And she also provided vocal arrangements, which were colored by the call and response of the gospel traditions in which she was raised.

True or False? In the early 1960s it was fashionable for urban folk performers to look down their noses at rock 'n' roll.

True, in the early 1960s it was fashionable for urban folk performers to look down their noses at rock 'n' roll as "unserious."

True or False? None of the songs on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" were released as singles.

True, the singles gap was filled by the Beatles' release of "All You Need is Love".

True or False? Members of the 1960s counterculture were rock music fans who supported the civil rights movement and opposed the Vietnam War.

True?

True or False? The Woody Guthrie traveling exhibition brought his music and art to the attention of 21st-century artists who can access his full music archives.

True?

True of False? Motown records was intended to reach the largest audiences possible.

True? Gordy's organization was noticeably larger in its scope and ambition than Spector's. From the beginning, Gordy planned a group of labels rather than just one: records under the Motown, Tamla, Gordy, and Soul names were all issued from his Detroit headquarters, and each label boasted its own roster of hitmakers.

What song style did Ray Charles embrace in his recording of "Georgia on My Mind"?

When Charles recorded "Georgia on My Mind," he did not attempt to turn the Tin Pan Alley standard into a rhythm & blues song. Neither did he remake himself into a crooner. Rather than using the jump band group that had backed him on most of his earlier records— and then perhaps adding some superficial sweetening with strings and crooning background chorus—Charles wholeheartedly embraced the Tin Pan Alley heritage of the song and presided over a sumptuous arrangement of it, with orchestral strings and accompanying chorus, that virtually outdid Tin Pan Alley itself in its elaborateness and unrestrained sentiment. But against this smooth and beautifully performed backdrop, Charles sang "Georgia on My Mind" as if he were performing a deeply personal blues. While the original words, melody, and phrasing of the song were clearly conveyed, Charles employed an intense and sometimes rough-edged vocal timbre, used constant syncopation, and selectively added shakes, moans, and other improvised touches ("I said-a, Georgia") to reflect what was at this point his natural, individual vocal approach, rooted in gospel and blues. And he occasionally provided jazz-based fills in his piano part between vocal phrases, to evoke call and response within his own performance, while the backing chorus echoed his words at strategic intervals, producing call and response between them and Charles himself. The result of all this was AN EXTRAORDINARY AND UNPRECEDENTED JUXTAPOSITION AND DIALOGUE OF STYLES within a single recording.

What style of country music is Patsy Cline most associated with?

country/pop or the "Nashville sound"

Who suggested that Ernest Evans change his name to Chubby Checker?

his stage name was suggested by the wife of American Bandstand host Dick Clark, based on Evans's resemblance to a young Fats Domino

Which year was the "summer of love"?

summer 1967

Which song writing team wrote a series of hit songs for the singer Dionne Warwick?

the Bacharach-David team

Which group optimized the rise of suburban life in the early 1960s?

the Beatles

What was the name of Motown's house band?

the Funk Brothers

Jimi Hendrix was first seen in American at which important show?

the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967