UNIT 2- THE ROOTS OF ROCK

King of the Chicago Style

*MUDDY WATERS* - Learned by imitating Robert Johnson...etc. - One of the 1st to play Country blues with an electric guitar - His success gave Chess Records financial stability That let them discover Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley...etc. - The Rolling Stones cite him as a major influence - His song "Rolling Stone" was taken for the band's name (and later, the magazine of the same name)

Descended from Classic Blues

*SMOOTH URBAN BLUES* - Jazz & Tin Pan Alley influence - BIG NAMES: - Nat "King" Cole (1919 - 1965) - Charles Brown (1922 - 1999) - Ray Charles (1930 - 2004)

Began as live radio broadcasts of country music from Nashville in the 1920s

*THE GRAND OLE OPRY* - Very important for bringing country and western music to a national audience - The Ryman Auditorium was one of the most famous auditoriums for the live broadcast

______________________ music popular in the 30's to 50's in the south

*WESTERN* - Image-driven, glamorized pop style - "The Rhinestone Cowboys" - Hollywood's version of Country

1902 - _________________ _________________ begins performing the Blues with her touring Minstrel Troupe Spread the Blues Nationwide...especially to Southern Black communities

'Ma' Rainey

The Empress of the Blues

*Bessie Smith (1894 - 1937)* - Learned by touring with "Ma" Rainey - She sang backup in Rainey's Troupe By 1924 - Highest-paid Black entertainer - Performed and recorded with Louis Armstrong - She was a big influence on 30's Jazz singers Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald

Descended from Country Blues

*CHICAGO BLUES* - Chess Records, The big blues label of Chicago - Big influence on British Invasion Bands Rolling Stones, Animals, Kinks, Eric Clapton...etc. - Big names: - Muddy Waters (1913 - 1983) - Howlin' Wolf (1910 - 1976) - John Lee Hooker (1917 - 2001)

THIS genre of music emerged from LA and the movies in country music.

*WESTERN* - Many felt it lacked the depth and authenticity of Country due to it's commercial emphasis

BIG NAMES in classic blues

- "Ma" Rainey (1896 - 1939) 1st person to regularly tour with the Blues - Bessie Smith (1894 - 1937)

HANK WILLIAMS

- (1923 - 1953) - 1947 -Launched by MGM records - Everything from Gospel to Honky Tonk - Popular in every genre he played - BIGGEST HITS: "Hey, Good Looking" (1951), "Your Cheating Heart" (1952) - Died young of heart failure due his drinking problem

THE BLUES FORM

- 12 bars - only 3 chords - AAB STRUCTURE, CALL AND RESPONSE

1930s history of country music

- 25% market share of music sales in the South - The Grand Ole Opry - A Barn Dance - Radio shows featuring local Country artists , 1932 - Aired in the South - 1939 - NBC took the show national (a barn dance) - Copycat shows helped Country spread rapidly

The Popularity Arcs of Music

- A genre begins - Once everyone notices - After the mainstream moves on

IN BIG BAND, when did the singers start to become the focus of the music?

- Attention shifts to the singers in the 1940's - Tin Pan Alley booked the shows & singers performed their songs - Bing Crosby (1903 - 1977) - the 1st break-out star - Other names included The Andrew Sisters, The Mills Bros.

WHAT famous instrumentalists led the Big Band Era?

- Benny Goodman - Tommy Dorsey - Glenn Miller

WHAT are the different forms of rock music?

- Blues: usually 12 repeated bars, "Mustang Sally" - Verse-Chorus-Verse (VCV): "Smells like Teen Spirit" - Song Form (AABA OR ABAC): Letters designate parts of a song, 'I want to hold your hand'.

POP in the early 50's had 3 main types. What are they?

- Corny Novelty Songs: Patti Page, "How Much is that Doggie In the Window?" - Sinatra-inspired crooning ballads ,Johnnie Ray, "Cry" - Post-Big Band instrumentals ,Lawrence Welk, "Cherry Tree"

WHAT are the two main types of The Blues?

- Country Blues - aka Rural - Classic Blues - aka Urban or City

HOKUM BLUES

- Country blues - songs laced with single & double-entendre lyrics (double meaning)

B.B. King (1925 - 2015)

- Country blues guitar style - Smooth singing style with Jazz - Playful personality Blended the Jazz harmony of Smooth Urban with the substance and style of Country blues

GENRES OF R&B

- Doo Wop - Jump Blues - Boogie Woogie - the Blues

1920s history of country

- Early on, Ralph Peer recorded music, naming it Hillbilly - Cheap transistor radios invented, rapidly spread

CLASSIC BLUES

- Formal and structured - Usually sung by a woman backed by jazz musicians - The performers were usually trained, touring professionals - More musicians means more structure needed - 1912 - W.C. Handy's published "Memphis Blues" This became the model Classic Blues imitated

T-Bone Walker (1910 - 1975)

- Influenced 50's Guitarists (Chuck Berry) - Wild showmanship

WHAT were the factors of spreading music to other parts of the U.S.?

- People migrating North (due to the Great Depression) brought their music - WWII Soldiers' tastes were shared with each other

The biggest names in Country Blues

- Robert Johnson (1912 - 1938) - Blind Lemon Jefferson (1897 - 1928) - Lead Belly [aka Huddie Ledbetter] (1889 - 1949)

BIG NAMES in Western music

- Roy Rogers (1911 - 1998) "Happy trails" - Gene Autry (1907 - 1998) " Back in the Saddle Again"

WHAT are the major themes in rock music?

- Social, political & cultural issues - Race - class & gender - The music business - Music technology

CHARACTERISTICS of Country Blues

- The 1st Blues style, but last recorded - A solo style - usually one man and a guitar - Simple, loose form often improvised during performances - Bottleneck (slide) guitar was very common

WHAT were some big names in early country music?

- The Carter Family (Strong religious themes and Southern values) - Roy Acuff (1903 - 1992) & his Crazy Tennesseans (Introduced Hawaiian Slide guitar to Country) - Jimmie Rodgers (1897 - 1933)

WHAT was the business model of Tin Pan Alley?

- The money was in Sheet Music - Pushed the song to many artists - More versions = more money for the copyright holder, Called royalties - The music was in Song Form (AABA or ABAC)

RHYTHM AND BLUES

- The popular music in Black Culture during the 40's & 50's - Played by Black musicians - Intended for Black Audiences - Evolved from Blues and Jazz of the early 1900's

KRAFT MUSIC HALL

- Very popular variety show hosted by Bing Crosby - At its peak had nearly 50 million listeners - The variety of music helped to bring many styles from regional to national ears - SET THE STAGE TO THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW *there was not tv in this era, so it was a radio show*

SO when does rock and roll happen or start being a thing?

- When three musical streams come together: Rhythm & Blues Country Music With dashes of Mainstream Pop, Jazz and Latin

CHESS RECORDS

- a Chicago record label that specialized in blues, R&B, soul, and gospel music from 1947-1970. - An Indie Label - a small, independent record company - Chess was the biggest of these - became even bigger with all of the good artists they had

TIN PAN ALLEY

- is the name given to the collection of New York City-centered music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

WHAT were the genres that played a part of the roots of rock and roll?

- mainstream pop - country and western - rhythm and blues

Popular movies helped make certain songs __________________________, rather than ____________________________.

- national rather than regional - ex. somewhere over the rainbow, singing in the rain

Music was performed live for a variety of everyday functions in what settings?

- parties - civic festivals - dances

Many musicians (amateur and professionals) didn't even.....

- read music and learned it through an aural tradition

Many Americans played music themselves for fun, and would purchase _______________ ______________________ at their local stores.

- sheet music - sheet music sales were the primary source of income for song writers, not recordings

A _______________________ is a song's structure

FORM

Country Music's 1st big star ,"The Singing Brakeman", a yodeler & Brilliantly marketed

Jimmie Rodgers

Descended from folk traditions - Religious Hymns and Work Songs

THE BLUES - Simple form with strong emotional impact - The Blues was a way of "getting rid of the Blues"

The Great Depression led to millions leaving the South Called....

THE GREAT MIGRATION - Mostly went to Chicago, Kansas City, New York & L.A. - Blues would be influenced by their new city's styles

Publishing center of New York in early 1900s and is the 'nickname' for the style.

Tin Pan Alley

1912 - _______ ________________________ publishes "Memphis Blues" , The 1st published blues, sold as sheet music across the country.

W.C. Handy

A sub-genre, __________________ __________________ was popular in the South. Dance-bands (Big Band influence), mixed with hoedown stomps.

WESTERN SWING

Popular in the 20's & 30's in the South and originally called Hillbilly (derogatory)

country music - Simple folk style, big in the Southeast - Religion, family values, stories of hard times - Hillbilly evolves in 40's Folk music

1949 - Billboard formally splits Country into 2 styles. WHAT are they?

Country and Western

King of the Delta Blues (a kind of Country)

Robert Johnson (1911 - 1938) - Best known Country Blues musician - Famous for his "ties to the Devil" - "Crossroads" ,"Hellhound on My Trail" - Huge influence on rock - Eric Clapton & Keith Richards both cite him as a major influence - Pioneer of the guitar style and use of bottleneck

THE ROOTS OF ROCK TIME PERIOD

1920s-1955

Mostly instrumental dance music, Tin Pan Alley arrangements.

Big Band

THIS type of music was actually looked down upon from parents in this generation of 1935-1945

Big Band

The "Pop" music of the era 1935-1945

Big Band

Vocalists were highlighted but not the main source of this kind of music

Big Band

1935-1945 is the _____________ ___________ Era

Big Band Era

A hybrid blend of Smooth Urban Blues crossed with the electric Chicago Blues

ELECTRIC URBAN BLUES - BIG NAMES: - T-Bone Walker - B.B. King

The first teen idol

Frank Sinatra - A new kind of celebrity - Teens worshipped & imitated him - Built the model for future Rock Icons

His style of singing was called 'crooning' and he was a singer of smooth pop ballads

Frank Sinatra - Went solo in 1943 & signaled the end of the Big Band Era

Most influential early Country & Western Star, the king of The Grand Ole Opry, Widely imitated

Hank Williams

1930's and 1940's are the "golden age" of the.....

Hollywood movie musical - music was a huge part of movies back then

1920 - ________________ _________________ records "Crazy Blues" The 1st Traditional Blues recorded (in Classic Blues style)

Mamie Smith

Roy Acuff's publishing company was the main hub in this place

Nashville

1940 - ___________________________ becomes the center of Country

Nashville - All major recordings & songs were written there

"The Great American Songbook"

Not a literal book, but the canon of American popular standards written in Tin Pan Alley from 1920-1950.

Aimed at Upper-Class Whites & Catered to adults & Primed the music scene for teen rebellion

Pop in the early 50s

White audiences were basically unaware of ___________ pre-1940

R&B