Rock Music Style

1
Rock Music Style

• The Country Roots of Rock Music

2
Origins of Country Music

• From British immigrants settled in the Southern
  and Appalachian rural regions the tradition of
  old-time folk music was born, mixing various
  music traditions from the British Isles,
  religious music and African-American music.
• Fiddlin John Carson from Georgia was one of the
  first old-time music player whose performance was
  recorded.

3
Origins of Country Music

• Dance music was played with fiddles (violins) and
  rhythm instruments.
• Songs are accompanied by a fiddle, a piano,
  harmonica, guitar or unaccompanied.
• West Virginia Fiddler, Edden Hammons accompanied
  by his son, James, on banjo.

4
Origins of Country Music

• African-Americans developed banjo and it was
  adapted by white Americans by the time of the
  Civil War.

5
Origins of Country Music

• Dock Boggs (1898-1971) - an influential singer,
  song writer and banjo player, mixing old-time
  Appalachian music and blues.

6
Origins of Country Music

• After the old-time music was broadcast on the
  radio and recording technology was developed, the
  folk-music from the Southern regions became to be
  called hillbilly.

7
Origins of Country Music

• Bluegrass - a form of American folk music, whose
  characteristics is to have from four to seven
  musicians, inc. rhythm section of guitar and
  string bass.
• Bill Monroe (1911-1996) Blue Moon in Kentucky

8
Origins of Country Music

• Honky-tonk - a bar with entertainment music. As
  its atmosphere is boisterous, it needed louder,
  heavier, and stronger music. Honky-tonk
  emphasizes rhythm more than melody and harmony,
  with a strong beat and boogie-woogie patterns.
• Hank Williams, Honky-tonk Blues

9
From Country to Rockn Roll

• White musicians began to cover blues and RB
  recordings, while blues and RB musicians started
  covering country music.
• The styles are combined in various ways and
  rockn roll was born.

10
From Country to Rockn Roll

• Bill Haley (1925-81) was one of the first rockn
  roll musician. Coming from Michigan, he was
  first country singer and guitarist. In 1951, his
  group, the Saddlemen, covered and recorded
  Rocket 88.

11
From Country to Rockn Roll

• Bill Haleys coverage was a bigger hit but many
  listeners sought out Joe Turners music.
  Turners songs are full of sexual references and
  his lyrics were incompletely cleaned up by white
  musicians who covered them.

12
From Country to Rockn Roll

• The record sale was not good.
• Discovery his white audiences enthusiastic
  response during live performances.
• Next year, began playing rockn roll changing
  their name into Bill Haley and His Comets.
• Their cover of Big Joe Turners Shake, Rattle
  and Roll in 1954 - the worldwide hit.
• Their most famous was Rock around the Clock
  though it was unsccessful at its launch.

13
From Country to Rockn Roll

• (Big) Joe Turner (1911-85) - a jazz and blues
  singer and also known as shouter.
• His hit songs include Chains of Love and Sweet
  Sixteen but when Bill Haley and His Comets
  coverage of his Shake, Rattle and Roll enhanced
  his career.

14
Rockabilly

• Sam Phillips and Sun Record
• Founded his record company at the age of 21 and
  recorded blues as he liked African-American
  music.
• By 1951 he founded Sun Record Company.

15
Rockabilly

• Sun Studio in Memphis where Elvis Presley and
  Carl Perkins made their first recordings.

16
Rockabilly

• Sam Phillips recognition
• despite the rising interest in blues and RB
  among the white Americans, they tended to buy
  more often the records of white musicians
• sanitized versions.
• He let white American musicians record
  African-American music.
• Discovery of Elvis Presley
• Formation of rockabilly (rock hillbilly)

17
Rockabilly

• The earliest form of rockn roll.
• Combination of blues/ RB and hillbilly.
• General tendencies
• - Strong rhythm like blues and RB
• - Loose twelve-bar structure like blues
• - Back beat
• - Tempo is generally faster than blues and RB
• - Voice is softer, higher and smoother

18
Elvis Presley

• Elvis Presley (1935-77) is singer and actor -
  King of Rockn Roll or the King.
• Began his career as rockabilly musician.
• His characteristic rendition of existing songs
  mixing white and black sounds.

19
Elvis Presley

• Sun Records to RCA
• In RCA Presleys music refined with better
  recording technology and arrangement
  doo-wop-style vocal backings and fine piano
  accompaniment.
• Blue Suede Shoes

20
Elvis Presley

• Television Age
• Presley appeared on TV and excited the teenagers
  with twisting dance and seductive gaze and voice
  scandalized the older generation with them.
• Heartbreak Hotel
• I Want You, I Need You
• Hound Dog

21
Elvis Presley

• Hound Dog by Willie Mae Big Mama Thornton
• - The lyrics were sung by a woman to a man who
  has cheated on her.
• - Classic blues style
• Hound Dog by Elvis Presley
• The lyrics were sung by a
• man to a woman who has
• less value than a hound dog.
• More smooth urban blues

22
Elvis Presley

• His Rockn Roll career was cut short when he was
  drafted for two years.
• His greatest strength was his silky voice,
  sensual good look and musical versatility.
• Returning to civilian life, his music became less
  provocative and Rockn Roll type.
• Various types of music from rock to smooth, pop
  like love songs.

23
Rockn Rollers

• Carl Perkins (1932-1998) a rockabilly musician
  and rockn roller.
• Successor to Elvis Presley though he wrote his
  own music.
• The car accident damaged his career.
• The composer of Blue Suede Shoes

24
Rockn Rollers

• Jerry Lee Lewis (1935
• Rockn Roll singer, song writer and pianist.
• Truly virtuoso piano playing, for which he was
  nicknamed the killer.
• He did not sanitize lyrics, when he covered
  African American music
• Whole Lotta Shakin Goin on

25
Critical Thinking Questions

• What sort of decade was the 1950s, particularly
  in America.
• How was Rockn Roll connected to this decade?
• - Culture, trends, economy, other media
• - What were the music and images of Rockn
  Roll musicians?

26
Critical Thinking Questions

• Rebelliousness
• Can you find any equivalence to Rockn Rollers
  today?
• What gender, class and racial issues do you find
  in Rockn Roll music?