Music 104: Exam 3
Grateful Dead influence of folk music
prominent on some of their earlier recordings -> was usually just below the surface -occasional gestures in direction of African or Asian Music
Breakup of the Beatles
-Paul McCartney officially dissolved the business partnership on December 31, 1970
Simon and garfunkel
-Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel -folk rock duo -> became counter culture icons for folk -their composer Tom Wilson turned "Sound of Silence" into a hit
Mama and the Papas
-sound based on vocal harmonies arranged by -> John Philips -> songwriter, musician, and leader of the group -> adapted folk to new beat style of early sixties -released five studio albums and seventeen singles -> six made the top ten and sold close to 40 records worldwide
Creedence Clearwater Revival
-southern california band -> southern twang and songs about the bayou -swampy, roots rock -> reminiscent of the Band -dibanded after four years of success when lead vocalist ( John Forgerty) left the group -music is a stable of american air play -> sold 26 million albums across US alone -> Rolling Stone tanked the band 82 on the greatest artists of all time list -"Proud Mary" (1969) -"Down on the Corner" (1969)
"Deadheads"
-the devoted fans of the Grateful Dead -> social phenomenon unparalleled in the history of American popular music -traveled incessantly in psychedelically decorated buses and vans -generally pursed a peaceful mode of coexistence w/ local authorities -hardcore deadheads lived for their band remaining band members periodically assemble to hit the road together -> with their huge entourage in tow
Radio
-top 40 playlist format dominated AM radio -proffessional programming consultants proving list of records that had done well in other parts of the country -radio playlists became more and more restricted -> made it difficult for bands without the backing of major labels to break into the Top 40 -primary medium for rock music was FM radio
concept album
-were intended as thematically and asethetically unified works -> not simply collections of unrelated cuts -The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" (1966) -The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967) -The Who's "rock opera" "Tommy" (1969)
market for pop music in 1970s
2 categories: -new generation of teens born in late 1950s and early 1960s -adults aged twenty-five to forty
Peter, Paul, and Mary
-"Blowin" (1963) -> performed at the March on DC -popular trio of early 60s folk sound -note difference in sound-harmony -> more polished and soft -"Lost on a Jet Plane" -> most popular hit-> written by John Denver in 1969 -> only number one hit -pivotal year for career in 1965
Growth in folk music interest
-1950s-1960s -elvis and early rock fans were maturing -> rock is juvenile -encouraged group singing -> a new way to participate -protest folk songs offered lyrics that were relevant to newly discovered social and politic ideals of maturing rock audiences -> 1963 march on washington -> "I Have a Dream" speech, assasination of pres in Nov. 1964
"California Dreamin"
-1965 -> #4 on pop charts -"Monday Monday" (1965) -> hit #1 with follow up album -> earned grammy that year for best pop performance by group or duo w/ vocals -daughters were part of 90s pop group -> Wilson Philips w/ Brian Wilson's daughter
The Beatles (1969)
-Abbey Road (1969) -> final album -disbanded in 1970 -"Come Together" -> first track and was #1 single
"Mr. Tambourine Man"
-Bob Dylan song that was covered by the a California group -> The Byrde -their shortened version soared to number one in June 1965 -> first folk-rock hit
"Somebody to Love"
-Jefferson Airplane -reached number five on the national pop charts in 1967 -exemplifies the acid rock approach -dense musical texture -plenty of volume and lots of electronic distortion
San Francisco Rock
-Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and the Grateful Dead -during late 1960s -> alternative rock music scene established itself in San Francisco
Guitar Heroes
-Jimi Hendrix -Eric Clapton
Grateful Dead pioneered
-adopted electric instruments -living communally in the Height-Ashbury district -participating in public LSD parties ("acid tests") before the drug was outlawed -quintessential "live" rock band, specializing in long jams that wandered through diverse musical styles and groves and typically terminated in unexpected places -only one single in top 40 ("Touch of Grey" #9 in 1987) -albums sold a lot to loyal fans -"Casey Jones" -> from Workingman's Dead (1970)
AOR (album-oriented rock)
-aimed at young white males -> thirteen to twenty-five -generally excluded black artists -featured hard rock bands -> Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple -rock bands such as -> King Crimson, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and Pink Floyd
period of increasing political restlessness in US
-america's engagement in Vietnamese civil war was steadily escalating -civil rights movement of racial segregation and equality on home front -youth audience for pop culture was directly implicated in politics of war -> men were drafted to fight -anti war groups and organizations attract large numbers of young men and women -a lot of young people involved in organizations, demonstrations, and legal initiatives that formed civil rights movement
American culture in 1970s
-americans tired of Vietnam war -Oil Crisis in 1973 -economic inflation -growing cynicism about politics -> Watergate and Nixon resignation -pop music remained target of conservative politicians and commentators -new market for pop music -nostalgia for Golden Age of 1950s -Film "American Graffiti" (1973) -Broadway musical and film "Grease" (1972 & 1978) -Tv Series "Happy Days" -disbandment of the Beatles -end of counterculture of rock fans -technology and music business
Big Brother and the Holding Company
-appearance at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 led to contract w/ Colombia Records -1968 album Cheap Thrills -> graced cover design by underground comic book artist Robert Crumb -> reached number one on the pop charts included -> number 12 hit single ("Place of My Heart" a cover version of 1960s R&B hit by Ema Franklin)
Bob Dylan
-born 1941 -Born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota -took stage name from his favorite poet -> Dylan Thomas -traveled to New York in 1960 -> settled in the coffeehouse folk music scene in Greenwich Village -"Blown in the wind" -> released in 1963 -made rock n roll for adults an baby boomers
The Grateful Dead
-career spanned more than three decades -"the dead" -> devoted followers -> grew out of series of bands involving: Jerry Garcia (1945-95) -> guitarist,banjoist, and singer who had played in various urban folk groups during the early 1960s shifting collective musicians gradually took firmer shape in 1967 was christened the Grateful Dead ( a phrase Garcia liked fom an ancient Egyptian prayer book)
explosive entrance of folk rock into american pop culture
-coincided w/ development of innovative approaches to rock n roll -maturation into early adulthood of baby boomer audience -maturation of those actually making music
"Like a Rolling Stone"
-composed and performed by Bob Dylan (1965) -Dylan entered recording studio w/ a rock band to cut his breakthrough single -reached number two on charts -timbre and overall sound were unique for the time -two keyboard instruments -> piano and organ dominate texture rather than guitar, bass, and drums -vocals cut aggressively through thick instrumentals -one of handful of watershed recordings in history of american popular music -form -put an end to previous restrictions on length, subject matter, and poetic diction that had been controlling influence on pop records -longest 45 rpm pop single ever released at the time
end of counterculture for rock fans
-death of leading figures in rock -> Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin (1970) and Jim Morrison of the Doors (1971)
Technology of 1970s
-eight track tapes and cassettes became popular -sales of tapes accounted for 1/3 of all music sales in US -recording industry was increasingly impelled to present more choices for customers
Psychedelic Rock
-encompassed a variety of styles and musical influences including -> folk rock, blues, "hard rock", Latin Music, and Indian classical music -San Francisco psychedelic music scene was focused on the Height-Ashbury neighborhood -> center of hippie movement and culture -reached new heights at Summer of Love- 1967
Jefferson Airplane
-first nationally successfully band to emerge out of the San Francisco psychedelic scene -founded in 1965 -> the Airplane was originally a semi-acoustic folk-rock band -> performed blues and songs by Bob Dylan -(along w/ Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Grateful Dead) J.A. was one of the original triumvirate of San Francisco "acid rock" bands -> plating Matrix Club (center of San Fran alternative night club scene) -> larger concert venues like Avalon Ballroom and Fillmore and communal outdoor events such as happenings and beins
Studio technology
-high-fidelity sounds -> heard through good speaker or headphones -> placed listening in the middle of music -quadraphonic music (surround sound) -sixteen, twenty-four, and thirty two track recording consoles and electronic sound devices enables musicians, recording engineers, and producers to create complex aural textures and construct any given track on an LP over time adding or subtracting (punching in or punching out) individual instruments or voices -recordings took much longer to create and became very expensive -a few multitalented musicians could play all of the instruments on a given track
counterculture
-late 1960s -meeting of the culture surrounding new rock music w/ the political and social discontents that largely defined the era resulted in this famous, if slipper, phenomenon -subcultures go against societal norms
Jimi Hendrix
-most original, inventive, and influential guitarist of rock era -most prominent African American rock musician of late 1960s -formed band called Jimi Hendrix Experience in London -> first seen in America in 1967 at Monterrey Pop Festival -> where he stunned the audience w/ his flamboyant performance style -creative employment of feedback, distortion, and sound manipulating devices (the wah-wah pedal and fuzz box) coupled w/ fondness for aggressive dissonance and incredibly loud volume -> represented important additions to musical techniques and materials available to guitarists -"Purple Haze" -died of asphyxiation from vomit by extreme alcohol/barbiturate intoxication at 27 (1970)
Janis Joplin
-most successful white blues singer of 1960s' -born in Port Arthur, Texas -> went to San Fran and joined a band -> Big Brother and the Holding Company -full tilt singing style and directness of expression were inspired by blues singers like -> Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thorton recordings -she preferred short. exception career to a long career as an unexceptional performer -died of heroin and alcohol overdose at 27 -posthumous number one w/ "Me and Bobby McGee" (1971)
Folk Music
-music of the common people -expressing the feelings of the people of a particular religion -lyrics more significant than the music -> some melodies still beautiful and memorable -pivotal year in 1965
"Sound of Silence"
-overdubbed rock band accompaniment onto original recording -increased tempo slightly -changed title to what it is now -released as a single -did it all w/o S. or G's prior knowledge or permission -became number one pop hit in 1966
Hair (the musical)
-product of hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of 1960s -> several songs became anthems of anti-Vietnam war peace movement -musical's profanity, depiction of use of illegal drugs, treatment of sexuality, irreverence for American flag, and nude scene caused much controversy -broke new ground in musical theater by defining the genre "rock musical" -> used racially integrated cast, and invited audience on stage for "Be-In" finale - 5th dimension "Aquarious/ Let the Sun Shine In" (#1, 1969)
Why Bob Dylan Stood out
-remarkable quality of his original songs -> reflected from the beginning a strong gift for poetic imagery and searing intensity of feeling -> sometimes moderated by quirky sense of irony -rough-hewn, occasionally aggressive vocal, guitar, and harmonica style demonstrated strong affinities for rural models in blues and early country music
Elvis
-returned to live performances at the International hotel in Las Vegas -> broke all attendance records in his 57 concert run -"In the Ghetto" -"Suspicious Minds"
Rock Comes of Age (1970s)
-rock music diffuses into every corner of music industry -many progressive rock musicians viewed themselves as artists -> their recordings were works of art -interracial integration stops -early rock festivals (Monterey in 1967 abd Woodstock in 1969) regarded as climax of the 1960s counterculture -> developed into highly profitable mass-audience by mid-1970s -series of bands sprang up during early 1970s (Styx, Journey, Kansas, REO, Speedwagon, ZZ Top, Rush) tailored their performances to the concert context -> touring the country w/ elaborate light shows, spectacular sets, and powerful amplification systems (birth of arena rock)
corporate consolidation during 1970s
-six huge corporations were responsible for over 80 percent of record sales in Us by end of the decade -Colombia/CBS, Warner Communications, RCA Victor, Capitol-EMI, MCA, US-MGM -industy came to depend on a relatively small number of million-selling platinum LPs to make a profit -a small number of "multiplatinum" superstars negotiated multimillion dollar contracts w/ the major record companies -independent labels accounted for only one of every ten records sold in the early 1970s
