MUS294

Career landmarks of Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry was one of the first people inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame when it first started in the mid 1980's. He was also in more than one of the Rolling Stones Magazine "greatest of all time" lists and the Rock N Roll Hall of Fames 500 songs that changed rock n roll (three are by Berry)

Chuck Berry vocal style

Chuck Berry's voice is mostly high pitched and excited focusing heavily on a sort of soft yelling tone. The way he sings and his tone are very consistent throughout the entirety of the song.

Jefferson airplane influencers

A lot of the San Francisco music came from the beatniks poets, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac and the idea if folk revival. The long instrumental solos and live performance was on a part of the San Francisco scene starting in the 1960's.

Led Zepplin Career

After changing their name from New Yardbirds, they signed a deal with Atlantic records and starting there many years of music in 1969 with their first album "Led Zeppelin". The song "Stairway to Heaven" is what kept and secured led Zeppelins spot in history for being one of the greatest rock bands at the time. It is arguably the best rock and roll song of all time.

The industry and Jefferson Airplane

At the time, the song was a lot different to that of a normal psychedelic rock song that would go on for 5 to 12 minutes just because of the instrumental solo. This is seen as a different and leading song at the time of this movement.

Youth of Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry grew up in an all-black community in St. Louis. He showed talent from a very young age but didn't start his career until he was older. His is said to have laid the groundworks for rock n roll as a genre. With songs focused towards a teen fan base and the use of showmanship with the guitar. His career had some ups and downs following multiple jail sentences throughout his life but his impact in the 50's specifically was huge and even after going to jail twice in his career he still was able to sell records and be considered one of the fathers of rock n roll.

I wanna hold your hand instruments

Classic rock ensemble

Youth of Cream

Baker came to see Clapton play with the Bluesbreakers and each was impressed with the other's playing abilities, prompting Baker to ask Clapton to join his new, then-unnamed group. Clapton immediately agreed, on the condition that Baker hire Bruce as the group's bassist; according to Clapton, Baker was so surprised at the suggestion that he almost crashed the car. Clapton had met Bruce when the bassist/vocalist briefly played with the Bluesbreakers in November 1965; the two also had worked together as part of a one-shot band called Powerhouse. Impressed with Bruce's vocals and technical prowess, Clapton wanted to work with him on an ongoing basis. In contrast, while Bruce was in Bond's band, he and Baker had been notorious for their quarrelling. Their volatile relationship included on-stage fights and the sabotage of one another's instruments. After Baker fired Bruce from the band, Bruce continued to arrive for gigs; ultimately, Bruce was driven away from the band after Baker threatened him at knifepoint. Baker and Bruce put aside their differences for the good of Baker's new trio, which he envisioned as collaborative, with each of the members contributing to music and lyrics. The band was named "Cream", as Clapton, Bruce, and Baker were already considered the "cream of the crop" amongst blues and jazz musicians in the exploding British music scene.

Music industry and Elvis

Being part of a same music company, Elvis would have never been as big as he was without the help of RCB Records. However RCB records used the image of Elvis to their benefit and made him into this image of an all American guy. Elvis did not like this and let himself be drafted into the war which he could have easily gotten out off. Even at war, his image was pushed to the public by this music company. They even had him show up in movies. After the war he was no longer the rebellious type that everyone knew and loved but submitted to the Records company ways.

Chuck Berry influencers

Berry was heavily influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship of blues musician T-Bone Walker. And other blues players like Muddy Waters whom he traveled to meet and helped him start his career.

Live Performance of Johnny B Goode

Berry was known for touring alone and hiring local bands to play his music when he performed. Some say this suggests that his music was in a sense generic and easy to play. This in a sense is true in the fact that his music defined the genre of rock and was so well known that finding people to play with him spontaneously wasn't really that hard. He was lively on stage dancing around and playing guitar in that special way that was so iconic and really helped make him famous.

Led Zepplin influencers

Blues artists and artists in the field of psychedelic rock

Story of Crossroads

Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tell of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.

Public Positions of Cream

Cream did not speak out about political issues during the time they were a band.

Live performance of Crossroads

Creams performances were heavily focused on the instrumental values of music and had a lot of heavy electric guitar solos that would go on for the majority of the time. They were known for a mentality that was forget the message forget the lyrics, just play.

Message behind Crossroads

Crossroads in general are areas where two roads meet and there is a decision on which way to go. It is also talked about there may be some supernatural references to the song and that the original version has a myth tied to it of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. Although the song does not reference Satan but the idea comes from the known fact that the writer Robert Johnson was obsessed with supernatural imagery.

The Beatles Influencers

Early albums being very upbeat, with catchy tunes, lyrics about love, and focused heavily on harmonization were clearly influenced by artists like the Everly Brothers, but then their later albums such as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band the use of synthesizers and unique sounds were more influenced by bands like the Beach Boys (Pet Sounds) and the Who.

Public Positions of Elvis

Elvis Presley did not speak out about any public issues. He sang about teen romance and after the war, he made some records representing the older era.

Youth of Elvis

Elvis Presley grow up in a every town in the south call Tupelo Mississippi. When he was growing up, he was poor and did not have much. However, later down the road he was found for his musical skills and became known as the "king of Rock and Roll". As the story goes, he walked into Sun records in Memphis to record some songs and the worker got his contact information for the boss. His name was Sam Cook and at first wasn't sold on Elvis but was somewhat interested in seeing what he could become. His first records emphasized R&B and Country both at the same time. Even though rock and roll glory days did not start until about the 70's and on. Elvis Presley paved the way for many singers. Before the war, he was seen to be in his glory days and loved by all the women and almost seen at a pop star at the time. He was seen as a modern day Justin Bieber. After going to war, he was seen to be slowing down with all the drugs and alcohol use at the time. He finally died from drug over does but still life on through his records and music, inspiring the next wave of music.

Elvis Presley's influences

Elvis Presley was born in a poor family in Tupelo Mississippi. Where he was a part of a Baptist church and sang with the white quartet choir. He listen to many different types of music like the blues, R&B, and country.

Cultural and political forces-Hound Dog

Elvis Presley was coming up in the spot light in the 1950's. Segregation and racism in the south was a very brutal experience. There were many kills of African Americans let along leading into the Second World War. He went to war and after was a changed man. He did not want to be in the light of RCB and be seen as there all American puppet anymore. However after this happened, we start to see a different side of Elvis. This included many drugs and alcohol. This uses killed him in the end.

Cream Influencers

Eric Clapton specifically grew up with blues music and was influenced heavily by artists like Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Big Bill Broonzy. Noting that it was their techniques and attention to detail that really stuck with him.

Vocal style of Cream

Eric Clapton's vocal style in this song uses various pitches as emphasis. The beginning pitch is higher and louder and slowly throughout the verse becomes lower and softer. Since the song is more focused on the instrumental impact there isn't much singing throughout the entirety of the song. This was normal for Cream who as a band often had songs with long instrumentals and solos because the main focus of their music was the instruments not the lyrics and singing.

Message behind White Rabbit

For Grace Slick, this song was not intended to make the top of the charts at the time. However this song lead her to fame and pushed for the idea of women vocalist in the psychedelic rock industry. The message behind this set the tone for psychedelic rock and the type of stories and visuals that was a part of this rock music. It shows the freedom and crazy imagination that one can have through psychedelic rock and drug use

Vocal style in White Rabbit

Grace Slick has a very smooth but firm voice. She starts out slow but firm in the song but as she gets to the end of the song, it starts to speed up a little bit and he voice gets louder and more profound.

Live performance of White Rabbit

Grace Slick was a very free flowing singer when she performed. In a lot of videos, she seems to get in some type of zone in her mind that keeps that level of forces and control as she goes up and down on the level of her voice to the lyrics. Her level of forces would put people in a trance. Even though she looked so under control and forced, deep inside she was moving freely and moving her lyrics through her body out of her chest

Members of Jefferson Airplane

Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Jack Cassidy, Jorma Kaukonen, Spencer Dryden

Live Performace of Hound Dog

He appeared on the Melton Berle variety show in 1956, he was more of a newer up and coming artist at the time and was shown on T.V. for his sexualized acts with his legs and the girls screaming in the background. After this performance, many different channels had the bottom of his legs cut off from the screen because this type of sexualized actions were not normal.

Members of Cream

Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton

Public positions of Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane did not talk about social issues at the time but were more of a way to escape the idea of these problems with psychedelic music and drugs.

Career Landmarks for the Beatles

In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr Members of the Order of the British Empire. They were recipients of seven Grammy Awards have been awarded six Diamond albums, as well as 24 Multi-Platinum albums, 39 Platinum albums and 45 Gold albums in the United States. In the UK, the Beatles have four Multi-Platinum albums, four Platinum albums, eight Gold albums and one Silver album. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Career Landmarks of Cream

In 1993, Cream were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and reformed to perform at the induction ceremony. In February 2006, Cream received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their contribution to, and influence upon, modern music. They were included in both Rolling Stone and VH1's lists of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time," at number 67 and 61 respectively. They were also ranked number 16 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".

Instrumental solo in Hound Dog

In the beginning of the song, we do not hear any instrumental solos other than his vocals starting it off. In the middle of the song, after two verses, we hear a guitar solo. This guitar solo is not the guitar solo that we would hear in a psychedelic rock song. However the guitar solo is short but smooth and has a backup chorus that goes along with it. It is heard one more time near the end of the song.

Career landmarks for Elvis

In the end of his high school career, Elvis Presley went to Sun Records in Memphis and payed a couple of dollars to get his music recorded. The worker gave Elvis the bosses contact number to because she though he might be interested. Now Sun records was a very small recoding company that mainly did R&B. The owners name was Sam Cook and at first wasn't sold on Elvis but was somewhat interested in seeing what he could become. His first records emphasized R&B and Country both at the same time. After they could see that Elvis was going to become big, he sold his contact to RCB Records for 35,000. He appeared on the Melton Berle variety show in 1956, he was more of a newer up and coming artist at the time and was shown on T.V. for his sexualized acts with his legs and the girls screaming in the background. We then see him going to war and when he came back he seemed different. He started to get into drugs and alcohol and over does. He won three Grammys, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He was later found died in his home of august 1977.

What is the message behind stairway to heaven?

In the song, there are many reference to the end time and the book of revelations is used in a way to show the ideas behind the song. It shows that the end it coming and how people need to show each other. It had reference of "then the piper will lead us to reason" talking about Gog leading his people to his kingdom. It talks about how there are two roads to take and the there is still time to take the right one. This it meant the path of salvation to God. This whole song has a massage pretty much bringing the idea of salvation from god is the key to the stairway to heaven. This song is very i interesting at the time because many song were about fights the power or the civil right. however this song at a biblical message to it and change the idea of music.

Cutural and political forces of Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane formed during the Americans revolution of the 1960's and the civil rights movement. At the time racial and racism inequalities were put to question by African Americans. There were standing up against the stereotype's that have been given to them since their ancestors were slaves. Also the women were questioning their roles in society and wanted to be treated as equal as men. The Vietnam War was also going on and people wanted to know the purpose of being there. The only way to get away from all of this hate and anger was by psychedelic rock. What I mean by that is the kind of drugs and music that would take you away from these problems at the time. This would get you away from the troubles of the world.

Jefferson airplane artist history

Jefferson Airplane started in 1965. The main people in the band were Jack Casady, Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Jorma Kaoukean Paul Kantner, and Spencer Dryden. The group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They were headliners at the three most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s—Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969) and Altamont (1969)—and the first Isle of Wight Festival .

Members of Led Zeppelin

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones

The personal characteristics of Led Zepplin

Jimmy page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. They roots were based of blues and psychedelic rock. After changing their names from the new Yardbirds, they signed a deal with Atlantic records.

Members of the Beatles

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr

Public positions of Led Zepplin

Led zeppelin didn't talk much about public issues seen in life but pushed for love, sex and rock and roll and fit right in with psychedelic rock.

Cultural and political forces Chuck Berry

One of Berry's main political and Cultural forces was his focus on segregation of the time. This can really be seen in how Berry, once he started to grow to fame, opened and ran a racially integrated nightclub in St. Louis (Berry's Club Bandstand).

Vocal style of Led Zepplin

Robert Plant voice is a soft but frim vice. This vocals are pushed out from his chest but not in a loud way. This vocals echo very faintly at the end of every word said. He goes from low to higher notes throughout the song. Near the end of the song it get more intense and starts screaming into the mic.

Public positions of the Beatles

The Beatles as shown earlier were very open politically and were seen as being all about the idea of world peace and equality. They became a catalyst for bohemianism and activism in various social and political arenas, fueling movements such as women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism

The industry and the Beatles

The Beatles really changed the music industry. They have been credited by some as the most influential band in rock and roll and game changers in terms of the idea of teen idols, creativity and uniqueness. They were the start of the British Invasion in America and really opened the door for other artists to cross over from music industry to the next. They redefined the idea of the album, and the music video, and had global impacts on fashion and activism.

Liver Performance of I wanna hold your hand

The Beatles were energetic performers, that were loved by their fans and performed exceptionally. Their performances which normally included cohesive outfits and the same general set up of the classic rock line up were simple enough to not be considered showy but also not seen as boring. They knew what their fans liked and how to respond in way that was consistent and reliable for fans in all places

Vocal style of the Beatles

The Beatles were known in the earlier years of their career for their cheerful voices and tones and catchy yet original songs. With noticeable harmonization and the use of high pitched tones they established themselves as a major force in rock especially among the younger generations.

Cultural and political forces of The Beatles

The Beatles were very open about many political issues, speaking out and even writing songs addressing issues they did not agree with. Issues like the war, taxes, religion, etc. were all topics they had addressed at some point in time. Some members were more open politically, wearing clothing that could be seen as protest and holding things like sit ins and attending different rallies.

Youth of the Beatles

The band had four members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. John, Paul and George all met at a younger age through school in their mid-teens and the band actually had a different drummer for some time, before adding in Ringo. The group was heavily influenced by artists like Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers. The Beatles continued to gain influences after their initial success, often finding new musical and lyrical avenues by listening to their contemporaries, including Bob Dylan, the Who, Frank Zappa, and the Beach Boys, whose 1966 album Pet Sounds amazed and inspired McCartney and really changed the overall sound of the Beatles later albums.

Music industry and Cream

The band is widely regarded as the world's first successful supergroup. The band made a significant impact on the popular music of the time, and, along with Jimi Hendrix and other notable guitarists and bands, popularized the use of the wah-wah pedal. They provided a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed and influenced the emergence of British bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck Group, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the late 1960s and the early 1970s.

Message of Hound Dog

The first message we see is from Big Mama Thornton and the idea behind her song is about a cheating husband. In the song it's more dragged out and talking about how she can tell her husband is doing things behind her back. He's a good for nothing = what the idea of the hound dog is. In the song made by Elvis, we see a different message. We see that he is essentially making fun of himself and calling himself out and talking to his past self. The hound dog is supposed to be him and his past self and how he was poor and wasn't going anywhere. In the song it says "you never caught a rabbit" meaning that you never did anything for me. This song was very controversial when it came out not on records but seen on T.V. When he performed live on T.V. he moved his legs in a very sexualized way. This was not at all normal at the time and when showed again on T.V. they has to cut out the bottom half of his body so people didn't see what he was doing with his legs.

Cultural and political forces of Cream

The members of Cream did not really have much political influence in their short time as a band.

Message of Johnny B Goode

The message itself is very straight forward and it's all about the idea of dreaming and using music to get oneself out of one lifestyle into another. It is the idea that anybody can be a star and anybody can use their talent even someone with minimal skills beyond music because music itself is different. Talent comes from all sorts of people. This song is happy and draws ideas of optimism to many different types of people, especially in the time it was released in the late 50's when there was still major discrimination and struggles for minorities.

Message of I wanna hold your hand

The message of the story is quite simplistic and is about a profession of love for a special someone. This can be seen through the lines of "And when I touch you, I feel happy inside, It's such a feeling that my love can't hide" and then goes back into the simple chorus that repeats "I wanna hold your hand."

Music industry and Led Zepplin

The music industry at the time was very strong. Led Zeppelin had joined up with Atlantic Records and from there started there well known career.

Public Positions of Chuck Berry

The only Public position it was clear Berry was really open and interested in was integration which as earlier talked about was seen in his night club he owned.

Instrumental solo in white rabbit

The only instrumental solo that is heard in the song is in the beginning of the song were the bass is doing a bass riff. However this is only for a very short amount of time. It is weird to think that such a famous psychedelic song does not have a super long instrumental solo of any kind that was normally seen in the San Francisco music sense at the time.

Story of Hound Dog

The original song came from Big Mama Thornton. The song its self has to different theories to it and at correlates to the message.

Musical Patterns in Crossroads

The song begins with an opening instrumental by the band, the unique part of this song is that the version Cream does takes out the middle section of the song and replaces it with the guitar solo. So this cover of "Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson only had the first and last sections.

Musical Pattern of I Wanna Hold Your Hand

The song begins with and short intro from all the instruments starting at the same time. Then goes verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus, bridge again, and then ends one last verse, chorus pairing. Could be described as A B A B C A B C A B (A being the verse, B the chorus, and C the bridge)

Musical patterns in Hound Dog

The song starts out with the vocals and then about a second later all the instrumentals come in and start playing their parts. The differences between this type of music and the 70's and 80's is that normally one instrument or vocals would start it off for a little bit and then other instruments would join in. It seems like in this song all the instruments come together at once. The song that we see is a perfect example of the A B A pattern. A meaning vocals and B being the instrumentals.

Musical patterns in Johnny B Goode

The song starts with a solo by the electric guitar and then the other instruments add in at the same time. The lyrics go verse, chorus, verse, chorus then goes into an instrumental section. Then again verse, chorus.

Music industry and Chuck Berry

The song was a major hit among both black and white audiences, peaking at number two on Billboard's hot R&B sides chart and number 8 on its Hot 100 chart. It is seen as one of the most recognizable rock n roll songs ever made.

Musical pattern of white Rabbit

The songs starts out with a bass riff as a very small solo but then leads into the drums and the guitars jumping in. It's weird to say but the song is just one continuous motion and does not have much of a chorus and just seem to have verses the whole time just she just constantly singing. She gets louder and louder as she goes through the song. It ends out with the last verse and words said and then everything is stopped. It could be said that the song is an B A B with the B being the instruments and the A being the verse.

Story behind white rabbit

The story behind "White Rabbit" is the story of Alice and Wonderland. It is the idea of tripping out to drugs and making you high. It talks about how you meet the white rabbit and all of these tirppy things that you would only see in a dream or high on LSD. It gives visuals to people that were tripping on LSD.

Story of Johnny B Goode

The story is about a boy growing up in rural Louisiana who is great at playing the guitar. Even though the boy is poor and not well educated he is special because he can play guitar like no one else.

Story of I wanna hold your hand

The story is about a man trying to convince a woman to go steady with him, seen in the verse that says, "let me be your man." And to show the world openly by ways of public affection like holding her hand.

What is the story behind Stairway to Heaven?

The story is of a women that has always gotten what she want and she was buying her way to heaven. It talks about the end of the times and how God will being calling all his people to heaven and to live earth. It talks about two paths and how you still have a chance of going down the right path. Thus pushing people to help each other find the truth of life.

Vocal Style in Hound Dog

The vocal style of Elvis is set at a very smooth but strong tempo. He delivers the music he sings more out of the throat then just his chest. He pushes the end of every sentence with a final breath. In some of his verses, it seem to sound a little fuzzed but pleasing voice structure.

Instrumental solo in Johnny B Goode

There are multiple long instrumental solo's in this song focusing mainly on the electric guitar but also adding in the other instruments present. The majority of the song is the instruments playing together and feeding off one another and less focused on the actual singing part.

Live performance of stairway to heaven

There live Performance was the normal rock and roll image. Guitar player, bass and drum and vocals. They performed with fire in their hearts but would be cool on the outside. They were seen as any other rock band.

Instrumental solo in Crossroads

This song has multiple instrumentals, mostly focused on the electric guitar. The song starts with an instrumental section and has two longer solos in between the verses of the song. These solos are heavily focused on the electric guitar played by Clapton.

Social and political forces of Led Zepplin

This was during a hard time of hate from the government and like of crime was starting to increase. Many people at the turn of the decade were turning to music for a new way of seeing the word. In the song "Stairway to heaven" we see a idea of finding God in these hard times.

Johnny B Goode Instruments

Vocals, Drums, Electric Guitar, Cello, Piano (some recordings and videos are seen with just him and the electric guitar)

Hound dog instruments

Vocals, Drums, electric guitar, bass, and throughout the song we hear clapping and at the time that was unusual in fill in empty space.

Stairway to Heaven instruments

Vocals, Electric guitar, flute, guitar, Drum set, (Bass is in the background, but not all the time).

White rabbit instruments

Vocals, drums, 2 electric guitars, Bass is present in the video and piano

Cream instruments

Vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums.