Music Chapter 12 Essay

-slick Nashville sound
-hardcore country (Merle Haggard)
-country pop (AM radio)

-grew out of 60s counterculture
-inspired by honky-tonk, rockabilly, singer-songwriter, country rock
-intellectual + liberal songs
-tested the limits of country music tradition

Artists: WIllie Nelson, Kris Kristopherson (“Help me make it through the night”), Tom T Hall (“Harper Valley PTA”), Townes Van Zandt

influential progressive country artist
Texas

“Crazy”

1971 outdoor festival of country: he organized it

bridged gap between rock + country without losing honky-tonk roots

“the Outlaws”: group he achieved fame from

center of “The OUtlaws”
joined the Crickets
stayed around Nashville
rebel image

Waylon Jennings, WIllie Nelson
rebellion against conservatism in country music, connected past and future

paved way for alternative country

progressive country singer-songwriter
underground classics

combined straightforwardness w/ poetic subtleties

inspired country + rock musicians

“Pancho + Lefty”

space, unpolished vocals, guitar w/ complex harmony, fits w/ European ballad tradition, old Spanish roots

mix of Caribbean folk + American R+B
70s

first style of rock to originate in 3rd World
born in Kingston, Jamaica from Jamaican country (mento)

popularized by film “The Harder They Come” + soundtrack

Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff

inspired rock musicians

slow tempo, wide spaces between notes, polyrhythmic, riddims, choppy guitar for bouncy up and down feeling, bass-drum combo, political messages (social injustice, racism)

mix of Jamaican folk, church hymns, sailor shanties, Cuban influences
19th century

led to reggae

onomatopoeic term derived from style’s typical sharp, offbeat accents

combo of Jamaican folk + American RNB

fast tempo, steady four-beat pattern of bass, piano/guitar/drum backbeat

Don Drummond + the Skatalites

religious movement, reinterpreted bible focusing on passages about slavery, salvation, Babylon (apocalyptic consequences on oppresors), association w/ ganja (marijuana), dreadlocks

theme in reggae music

founded by Josiah Marcus Garvey who inspired “Back to Africa” repatriation movement among black Americans

urban popular music, updated version of ska (slower tempo)

rock steady patrons
informal, unruly Jamaican youth movement against “the system”

conflict w/ police, covered by media

interlocking rhythmic patterns played by guitar, bass, drums

from Jamaica, did reggae
film star, rebellious spirit

“The Harder they come”

led the Wailers, national hero in Jamaica
reggae’s most effective international ambassador

songs of determination, rebellion, faith, roots in Rastafarian, worldwide audience

“I Shot the SHeriff” cover

Millie Small: “My Boy Lollipop” ska-flavor
Johnny Nash “Hold Me Tight”
Desmond Dekker + the Aces “Israelites”
Jimmy Cliff “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”
Bob Marley “I shot the sheriff”

NYC dance clubs in mid 1970s
latin-oriented, experimental blend of ballroom dance music, afro-Cuban rumba drumming, modern jazz

stars: Eddie Palmieri, Willie Colon, Ruben Blades

“Pedro Navaja”

1970-1978 golden age, NYC
back to basics rebellion against perceived artifice + pretension of corporate rock, getting away from its pomposity + self-conscious artistry

influence on alternative rock

cultural style + attitude rebelling aginst authority, rejecting middle-class values

ripped stockings, patched outfits

dark dimensions of human existence: drug addiction, despair, suicide, lust, violence

began from garage bands

The Velvet Underground, the Stooges, the NY Dolls

developed alongside punk rock
self-conscious artistic + experimental terms

rough + ready, DIY attidue

paved way for punk rock

NY group promoted by Andy Warhol
punk
rough-edged, chaotic, loud

focus on sexual deviancy, drug addiction, violence, social alienation

led by Lou Reed, John Cale

punk group in Michigan
working-class motorcycle-riding, leather jacketed

led by Iggy Stooge

“1969”

Iggy Pop, James Osterburg, famous for outrageous stage performances, punk

stage diving, cutting self with beer bottles, rubbing self with raw meet

punk, NYC
fishnet stockings, bright red lipstick, cellophane tutus, ostrich feathers, army boots, all-male dolls

response to English glam rock movement

began at Christmas party in Manhattan hotel

succumbed to drug + alcohol abuse

country, bluegrass, blues, + other music for urban gourmandizers

Patti Smith (rock), Blondie

first bonafide punk rock band, NYC
high-speed, energetic, extremely loud, garage band like

catchy, pop-inspired melody, fast tempo, short, raw, hard-edged

influenced English punk groups (Sex Pistols, the Clash)

street-tough image

Jeffrey Hyman (Joey), John Cummings (Johnny), Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee), Tom Erdelyi (Tommy), managed by Danny Fields

“Sheena is a punk rocker,” “I wanna be sedated”

self-consciously artistic, exploratory side of alternative rock scene, mid 1970s, CBGB

David Byme, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth (RISD)

reflected minimalism, combo of colors, shapes, sounds, words

riff-based rhythms like James Brown

simple structure, strong pop hooks

slacks, sweaters, vests, cerebral, nerdy college students, awkwardness as cool

“Psycho Killer”

(led to disco) brought focus of dancing into pop mainstream

“tear the roof off the sucker”

white male audience, back to basics, impulse to dance

“funki” = “healthy sweat” : strong body odors, quality of earthiness, authenticity

profane + down to earth

characterized by strong, dance-oriented rhythms, catchy melodies, call-and-response exchanges between voice + instrument, heavy reliance on repeated, rehythmically interlocking patterns

rhythm + horn sections

vigorous reassertion of African American musical values, paved way for disco

ex: Kool and the Gang, Ohio players, chic

inspiration for funk

strong rhythmic momentum + groove, electric bass + bas/snare drums playing on beats

interracial psychedelic soul band
bridged gap between rock + soul

fiery performance at 1969 Woodstock
“Dance to the music” “everyday people” “thank you” “family affair”

Sylvester stewart
gospel to RNB/Rock DJ to the Stoners (band)

diverse musical experience (jazz, soul, San Fran psychadelia, folk rock)

led Parliament/Funkadelic (loose aggregate of 40 musicians playing funk): spectacular concerts, wild costumes, elaborate sets, innovative concept albums
“give up the funk (tear the roof off…

)”

ex-RNB vocal leader/songwriter

mixed polyrhyrthms, psychedelic guitar solos, jazz-influenced horn arrangements, RNB vocal harmonies

reconfigured black popular music as positive moral force

wove mythological narratives
blend of social criticism, wacky humor, psychedelic imagination
influenced Dr. Dre + RHCP

“Free your mind, and your a** will follow”

heavy, syncopated electric bass lines
interlocking rhythms underlain by strong pulse on each beat of each measure
long multisectioned arangements featuring call+ response between horns + keyboard synthesizer
RNB style vocal harmonies
verbal mottos chanted by fans

used by Clinton + Parliament/Funkadelic

spurred more popular debate than any other genre
based on principles derived from African tradition (rhythmic momentum, complex tone colors, dense textures, appreciation of improv, innovative approach to technology)

response to oppression + racism

multiracial, multicultural, transnational audience

emerged in 70s

forged by African American + Caribbean American youth in NYC (Bronx)

distinctive styles of visual art (Graffiti), dance (break dancing, freak), music, dress, speech

rejection of mainstream dance, shaped by disco DJs

Kool Herc
Grandmaster Flash
Afrika Bambaataa

spun records at block parties, gym dances, dance clubs, public spaces, parks

ancestors of rap producers

developed personal styles

developed technique of 2 turntable mixing to create smooth transitions between records

stripped melodies to feature rhythm section

switching between turntables, backspinning discs to repeat break over and over (refined by Grandmaster Flash)

recited rhyming phrases over backbeats produced, some based on toasting

rhythmic sound collages, inspired name for break dancing

pioneered by Kool Herc

used headphones to pinpoint beginnings of breaks: very refined skill

Theodore was his protégé (developed scratching)

“the message”: portrait of life in S Bronx, trend of social realism in rap

form of poetic storytelling w/ roots in trickster tales of W Africa, inspired raps of Kool Herc, black inmates of prisons

portrait of the urban underworld of gamblers, pimps, hustlers
comprised prison toasts
album by Jala Uridin (led Last Poets: group of militant ex-convicts)
Bronx

master of ceremonies
DJs that did verbal performances

controlled crowd behavior at large dances
ancestors of contemporary rappers

“Rapper’s delight”: popularized term of rapper as equivalent for MC, unexpected success popularized rap

crew based in Harlem