Rock n' Roll

David Bartholemew

worked with indie labels to get them players and then sent them to MAtassa

strophic song form

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subdominant

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tonic

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turnaround

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walking bass

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work song

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standard song form

AABA

Eddie Cochran

Influenced overseas a lot more than in the States - The Who and Led Zeppelin Roy Orbison Gene Vincent Ricky Nelson

Types of chords used to build tension

tonic (CEG) I, IV, V dominant (GBD) subdominant (FAC)

Alan Freed

"Moondog's Rock 'n' Roll Party" (1951) DJ who played R&B late at night (but he called the R&B "Rock 'n' Roll") Brought the music to the white audience (esp. the youth) B/c the white-owned radio stations wouldn't allow it if it had been referred to as R&B (black music --> advertisers would drop)

"smooch" tenor

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Chicago Rock n' Roll

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Griot (Jali)

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Memphis Country Rock

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New Orleans Dance Rock

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Northern Band Rock n' Roll

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Rock n' Roll=dancing/sex

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Rural Chicago Blues Characteristics

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Rural Mississippi Blues characteristics

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Rural Texas Blues characteristics

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Style Characteristics of Boogie Woogie

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Style Characteristics of Country and Western

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Style Characteristics of Rhythm and Blues

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Style Characteristics of the Blues

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Urban Chicago Blues

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Vocal Group Rock n' roll

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bent notes

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boogie woogie

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cover records

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dominant

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fill

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hillbilly

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polyrhtyhms

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race records

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riff

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shouter

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slide guitar

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Buddy Holly guitar style and influences

Combines elements of Memphis country rock and Chicago rock 'n' roll styles Background in country and western (born in Texas) Vocal characteristics Hiccupping Changing vocal tone color mid-song Recorded own material almost exclusively First group w/ instrumental lineup --> classic guitar band Electric lead guitar Rhythm guitar Bass Drums Everyone sings

string band

General characteristics lead vocalist 2-4 backup vocalists Fiddles Acoustic guitars Acoustic bass Banjo, Mandolin sometimes No piano, drums, horns (After 1931: Pedal steel guitar) Over 1920-1940 = -20 Three distinct styles: Bluegrass Southwestern country swing Southern country - most important to development of rock and roll

12 bar blues progression

In many rock songs, the use of the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords take on a longer, more complex pattern than the songs mentioned above. One progression that is the foundation of rock 'n' roll is the blues progression. The 12-bar blues progression is well known and is present in these examples which most people already know or will recognize when heard: Chuck Berry: "Johnny B. Goode", "Roll Over Beethoven", etc. Led Zeppelin: "Rock and Roll" The Beatles: "Birthday", "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (with some liberty) Cream: "Sunshine of Your Love" (in a minor key)

call and response

In the early blues Call and response (antiphonal) performance work songs - communal (chopping tree) '47 Head, overseer, etc. = calls out the song, solo Responded to by rest of workers Helps keep the work effort in time, metronomical Esp. African-American

Carl Perkins

Influenced Jimmy Paige and George Harrison Guitar style characteristics: Fingerpicking on electric guitar Right hand dampens strings Single, double string bends Extended chords (9ths, 13ths) Syncopated rhythms Chord anticipations "Blue Suede Shoes" Stop-time

Carl Perkins-guitar style and influences

Influenced Jimmy Paige and George Harrison Guitar style characteristics: Fingerpicking on electric guitar Right hand dampens strings Single, double string bends Extended chords (9ths, 13ths) Syncopated rhythms Chord anticipations "Blue Suede Shoes" Stop-time

Bo Diddley guitar style and influences

Influenced by Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker Style characteristics Heavy use of reverb in amplifier Raw-edged blues sound Chant-like, rhythmic solos Rhythms based on juba rhythm ("Bo Diddley beat" or hambone rhythm)

Bo Diddley rhythm

Influenced by Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker Style characteristics Heavy use of reverb in amplifier Raw-edged blues sound Chant-like, rhythmic solos Rhythms based on juba rhythm ("Bo Diddley beat" or hambone rhythm)

doo-wop song progression

Lead vocalist (usually high tenor) supported by 3-4 backing vocalists Most were all-male groups Tight, close harmony singing ("barbershop style") Backup sings nonsense syllables Instruments deep in background (except for solos) Band: guitar, drums, bass, piano, saxophone (soloist) Form: many songs in standard AABA song form 32 bars (8+8+8+8)

Cosimo Matassa

Most recorded in J&M Studio - Cosimo Matassa/Owner and Recording engineer Songs sound similar among artists Same sound engineer (Matassa) Same backup band players

rockabilly

Rock + Hillbilly = Roackabilly "Hillybilly" = 1920 derogatory term for country music players Characteristics Rhythm and Blues elements Emphasis on backbeat 12-bar blues format Propelled by slapped bass

12 bar-blues progression

Simple harmonic progression (I, IV, V) I = Tonic, home key IV = Subdominant V = Dominant IV & V = tension; I = release Strophic song form Series of strophes (verses) Melody, lead line, tempo, feel, and chord progression = relatively the same throughout Words change to keep interesting Church hymns, folk songs, 12 bar blues, etc.

standard song form

Standard song form:AABA; AABABA; ABBA; etc. A = verse B = bridge Each letter gets 8 bars "Blueberry Hill""Little" Richard Penniman (b. 1932) Characteristics New orleans dance rock n' roll

Chuck Berry guitar style and influences

Style characteristics Strong use of syncopated rhythms Use of repeated rhythmic, melodic figures (riffs) Guitar accompaniment from boogie woogie accompaniment Use of double and multiple stops Use of bent notes, bent double stops Finger slides Single and double notes Cliché introductory figure Vocal sources R & B: Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner Blues: Muddy Waters Pop: Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole Country: Hank Williams (Berry lives in St. Louis, MO)

boogie woogie

Type of piano blues popular in late 1920s-1945 During the jazz "Swing Era" Popular w/ dance and their audiences Actually was a dance step, like ragtime, etc. Known as "honky tonk" from the type of bar in which the style originated Origin of word: Possibly from Mandingo word buga - to beat a drum Possibly from English slang bogey - at first meaning dark apparitions Later became a derogatory term for black people General characteristics: Eight quick pulses per measure (8 to the bar) Uses the barrelhouse rhythm (bounced) Improvised right hand part Steady pattern (ostinato) in left hand Uses 12-bar blues progression Complex polyrhythms between the two hands Three pulses in right against two in the left Meade "Lux" Lewis (1905-1964) "Honky Tonk Train Blues" (1937 version)

blue notes

Use of blue notes - lowered 3rd and 7th scale degrees (*test*) Not completely flat (sharp the flat just a touch) So that it's between the natural and the flat degree Charlie Parker and John Coltrane = blue 5th sometimes

two beat bass

Use of two-beat bass: root on 1, 5 on 3 and harmonic quality to fill 2 and 4 Little elaborate instrumental improvisation Vocalists often have a nasal quality Slide from pitch to pitch Use yodeling technique southern country

Jackie Brenston

ackie Brenston and His Delta Cats - "Rocket 88" (rec. 1951) First hit song recorded at Sun Studios About the 1950 Oldsmobile Hydra Matic Drive V-8 --> rock 'n' roll tradition to sing about cars Brenston - band member in Ike Turner's Rhythm Kings, but when the record was released by Chess Records the song was credited to Brenston and His Delta Cats with no mention of Ike Turner anywhere. Later covered by the western swing group Bill Haley and the Saddlemen (later to become the Comets), --> Haley's rhythm & blues hits

doo wop progression

adds a fourth chord to the three chords already mentioned. This progression adds the minor chord that is built on the sixth scale degree (submediant, vi) to the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords. I refer to this progression as the doo wop progression because it is present in many songs sung by the vocal groups of the 1950s and early 1960s. The chord pattern of the doo-wop progression (in C major) is tonic (C E G; I), submediant (A C E; a minor chord, vi), subdominant (F A C; IV), dominant (G B D; V), and ends on the tonic. Some songs that follow the doo wop progression include: Ben E. King: "Stand By Me" The Platters: "Only You" The Penguins: "Earth Angel" The Diamonds: "Little Darling" Gene Chandler: "Duke of Earl"

The Blackboard Jungle

board Jungle (1955)The Black First film to use rock 'n' roll in its soudntrack

barrellhouse rhythm

bounced ryhthm found in boogie boogie

slapped bass

country western muscic propelled by this

Sam Phillips

developed Sun RecordsSun Records figured prominently in the development of Memphis county rock, or rockabilly, and Chess Records was the primary force in Chicago blues, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll. See Chapters 7 and 8 below Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats - "Rocket 88" (rec. 1951) First hit song recorded at Sun Studios About the 1950 Oldsmobile Hydra Matic Drive V-8 --> rock 'n' roll tradition to sing about cars Brenston - band member in Ike Turner's Rhythm Kings, but when the record was released by Chess Records the song was credited to Brenston and His Delta Cats with no mention of Ike Turner anywhere. Later covered by the western swing group Bill Haley and the Saddlemen (later to become the Comets), --> Haley's rhythm & blues hits to come for white audiences

strophic song form

either a series of verses that are set to the same music (melody and harmony) but in which the words change from verse to verse, or it may refer to an alternation of verses and choruses in which the words of each verse change while the music remains the same, and the words of the chorus, or refrain, remains the same throughout the song.

downbeat

emphasized in post WW11 rhtythm and blues

Charley Patton

father of Delta Blues

double stops

found in memphis country blues

Phil and Leonard Chess

helped develop chicago rock n' roll, had a studio called checkers label Chuck berry and bo diddley

Scotty Moore

lead guitarists for memphis country rock artists

Col. Tom Parker

manager Bought Elvis's recording contract from Sam Phillips --> brought him to RCA Victor Other big labels include Columbia, MGM, Capital $35,000 for all of Elvis's Sun Records recordings $5,000 for Elvis Recorded in echo chamber (darker sound than tinny, trebley Sun Studios)

Elvis Presley Vocal Style and influences

modeled his voice after Dean Martin,urban blues, rural delta blues, frank sinatra, perry como

backbeat

post WWII jump bands

Norman Petty

producer/manager of Buddy Holly. Recorded him and the Crickets

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

recorded Hound Dog, Big Mama Thornton songwriters

Big Mama Thornton

sang and played harmonica and drums for various rhythm & blues outfits across the south ("Chitlin' Circuit") Performed Don Robey's clubs --> Johnny Otis (drummer) wanted her --> Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (songwriters) invited by Otis --> "Hound Dog" (rec. 1953) Number 1 on "R&B" chart for seven weeks Anticipates by two years the rockabilly sound - particularly the tinny, twangy sound of Pete Lewis' guitar Huge influence on Janis Joplin

field holler

scending melody from field hollers Post-Civil War/Reconstruction era (from one field to another) Full air so that next person hears you As you lose air, pitch drops as well as dynamic level Fruit vendor in Chicago

ostinato

single steady repetitive beat with one hand on an instrument