King of Skiffle
Lonnie Donegan
Skiffle Music
A tame brand of pop folk music and traditional jazz (from New Orleans style), it was popular in England in the mid-fifties
Beatles Early Period
Pop style
Love Songs
Driving beat/Up tempo
Four Albums
Beatles Middle Period
More acoustic/folk elements
Introspective style
Individuality more evident
Social statements
2 Albums
Beatles Late Period
Use of studio techniques
Music more individualized
Added instrumentation
Drug influenced
Last 7 Albums
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
Known as the elder statesman of British Blues
The Yardbirds
The starting point for Clapton/Beck/Page
Early pioneers of psychedelic music
Known for ad hoc jams
Ad Hoc Jams (Raves)
Mix of R&B with extended guitar/harmonica passages, blues with a fierce drive to the music
The Animals (Eric Burdon)
Second only to the Rolling Stones influence among R&B based bands
Them (Van Morrison)
Among the best of the British Invasion Bands
Considered most critically acclaimed pop music songwriter of the 1960’s
The Kinks
The most staunchly English group
Known as the precursors of heavy metal and punk rock
“power chord” playing
The Rolling Stones
Strive to be more earthy
Vulgar look
Andrew Oldham was manager
Considered dangerous alternative to the mercy beat of the Beatles
Jagger and Richards core of the group
Rougher and sexier than the Beatles
Mick Jagger
Drawl is like blues singer Howlin’ Wolf
Attracted to the gruff, eloquent directness of black music
White person singing black songs and flaunting it
Diana Ross & The Supremes
One of the most important female groups in rock history
The Supremes music is the purest expression of the Motown sound
The Jackson 5
Fronted by 10 year old Michael
Danced like a miniature James Brown
Transcended all race and age barriers
Rare Earth
Motown’s premier white rock and soul band
Motown’s experimental assault on the rock market
Labeled “Blue-Eyed soul”
Stevie Wonder
Most successful artist in Motown’s history
First big hit was Fingertips – part 2 (age 12)
First live recording to hit #1 in rock history
120 page contract with Motown made business history
By the 70’s was playing most of the instruments in his albums
Bob Dylan
Most important American contributor to the rock music
First poet of the mass media
Two distinctive time periods: acoustic and electric
Shows that folk IS rock
Fusion of country, folk, blues, rock 7 roll and poetry both ancient and new
Bob Dylan Acoustic Period
First album, the times they are a changin, became an anthem for frustrated youth
Was his most overt protest album, gave the feeling of “dustbowl” era
With God on our Side
Delivered as a war history lesson
An anti-war song with a clear religious element
Electric Period
Illustrates wit
Music was a catalyst for the drug culture and the Vietnam war
Dylan’s electric band went on to form The Band
Set the scene for “folk-rock”
Like a Rolling Stone
Critics considered it to be Dylan’s magnum opus
The Byrds
Group that synthesized Dylan and the Beatles
Dylan’s composition: Mr. Tambourine Man
Declared to be the first folk-rock hit in rock history
Beatles’ Ticket to Ride inspired the sound and feel
The San Francisco Scene – Haight-Ashbury
Consister of communes, starving artists, dropouts, the anti-establishment (aka existentialists)
Large community of folk musicians
The Acid Tests led by writer Ken Kesey became known as a “Happening”
Estimated there were 500-1500 bands in the SF area
Psychedelic Music/San Fran Scene
Floating quality to the music
Eastern Indian influence (sitar)
The Charlatans
Considered to be the start of the Haight/Ashbury scene
Contribution is more of a social one
Planted the seeds of the rock counterculture
Moby Grape
One of the best SF bands of the 1960’s
More versatile than other SF bands
Combination of folk, blues, country and classic R
Early Airplane played some of Moby Grape’s compositions
Jefferson Airplane
Most popular of the SF bands
Leaders of the protest movement and supporters of free love
Grace Slick
Great female rock voice
Represented the love-hate image of the 60’s
The Grateful Dead
Considered to be the ultimate cult band
Never really part of the mainstream music scene
House band for the Kesey Acid Test “happenings”
Music is an eclectic blend of folk, country, and the blues
Fans known as “deadheads”
The “Twenty-Seven Club”
Great/popular musicians who all died at the age of 27
Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison, Winehouse
Janis Joplin
A representation of a culture and a generation (much like Dylan)
Broke the barrier for women in the music industry
Overall, her performances were fresh and sincere
Sang the blues to transcend pain
Gained national fame at the monterey Pop Festival
Jimi Hendrix
Discovered by Chaos Chandler (ex Animal band member)
Three Studio Albums
Considered the best of his work
Jimi Hendrix – The Innovations
Redefined the guitar and the guitar performance
Able to explore and master ALL the sonic force of the instrument
Had the gift and the ability to harness the distortions
Distortion and feedback were not for gimmick
Wilson Pickett
Atlantic’s best-selling southern soul performer
In the Midnight Hour – one of the most successful songs of soul era
Otis Redding
Skillful at delivering ballads with passion
Earned a reputation as leading performer of soul ballads
His performance at the Monterey Pop Festival gained him a wider audience
Art Rock (aka Classical Rock)
Blending of classical music with rock
References to mythology
Use off odd meters and frequent mood/tempo changes
Large percentage of art rock bands were British
Art Rock vs. Progressive Rock
Art Rock – rock music influenced by jazz styles
Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed
Paved the way for other art rock bands
Pink Floyd
Experimental “space-rock” band
Inclusion of “concrete music”
Creation of themes result in concepts on a massive scale
Syd Barrett – an important founding member
Barrett played a major role in the musical and stylistic direction of the band’s early work
Frank Zappa
Music combines an understanding and appreciation of
1. 20th century composers
2. Late-50’s doo-wop rock & roll
3. Social satire and stinging wit
4. Avant-garde jazz
5. Guitar-heavy rock and R&B
6. Collages of many styles
Satirist with a wicked sense of humor and absurdity
Led Zeppelin
Considered to be the first band of heavy metal
Established the concept of album oriented rock
Stairway to Heaven was never a single
Jimmy Page
Along with Hendrix – expanded the sonic vocabulary of the electric guitar
Later albums move to more folk-derived material and Celtic mythology
Once a member of The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin
Proto-Punk
Never quite fit into the mainstream rock & roll of the late 60s and early 70s
Sowed the seeds for the punk revolution of the late 70s
MC-5 (Motor City 5)
Essentially laid the foundations for the emergence of punk
Led by John Sinclair (leader of the infamous White Panther Party)
White Panther Party
Far left, anti-racist, white-American political collective founded in 1968 co-founded by John Sinclair
Aligned itself with radical politics
Iggy pop
The “Godfather of Punk Music
Carried on the stage drama of Jim Morrison
Early group: The Stooges
Alice Cooper
Father of shock-rock
Influenced by comic book stories & RKO horror movie shows
Lou Reed
Use of sing-speak vocals and gripping narratives
Helped define street savvy rock & roll
Walk on the Wild Side
Song received wide radio coverage, despite its touching on “unusual” topics
Subject matter “missed” by the censors
About a series of individuals and their journeys to NYC
Punk
Returned rock & roll to the basics
Three chords and simple melody
In America, punk remained an underground sensation
In UK, it was full-scale phenomenon
Two most popular punk bands
1. The Ramones (US – NY)
2. The Sex Pistols (Great Britain)
CBGB’s
Important venue for punk and new wave bands
CBGB: Country BlueGrass Blues
Richard Hell
One of the original punk rockers to emerge from NYC in early/mid 70s
Often pointed to as a major influence by other subsequent punk bands
Formed the band called the Neon Boys which was later renamed Television
Television
One of the most creative bands to emerge from NY’s punk scene of the mid 70s
Viewed to be the antithesis of the “happy culture” (hippies)
Back to the short hair and street clothes
Debut album was Marquee Moon
Marquee Moon
Laid the groundwork for many of the guitar-based post-punk pop groups of the late 70s and 80s
Patti Smith
Improvised lyrics that reflected life in NY
Combines 60s garage rock with the literary writing styles of Rimbaud, Burroughs, and Ginsberg
Referred to as the “Godmother of Punk”
Horses (1975)
Anticipates new wave music
A hybrid of classic rock and post-Beat poetry
The Ramones
Most popular of punk bands
“Bubble-gum punk”
Crystallized the musical ideals of the genre
Cut rock & roll down to its bare essentials
1. Four chords
2. Simple catchy melody
3. Irresistibly inane lyrics
4. Very fast tempos
Punk – The British Connection
Brought to the UK by Malcolm McLaren
McLaren became the sex pistols manager
The Sex Pistols
The anti-British group
Represented the young bored Brits
Rebelled against the staunch upper class
Anarchy in the UK (1976)
Sex Pistols debut single
Touched off a social/musical firestorm
Created fear about political instability and youth running wild in the streets
Lyrics contain gleeful snotty name-calling
Declares the royalty ineffectual and irrelevant
Poses Britain is a country in decline, ignoring the bleak times ahead
CBGB’s
Important venue for punk and new wave bands
CBGB: Country BlueGrass Blues
Richard Hell
One of the original punk rockers to emerge from NYC in early/mid 70s
Often pointed to as a major influence by other subsequent punk bands
Formed the band called the Neon Boys which was later renamed Television
Television
One of the most creative bands to emerge from NY’s punk scene of the mid 70s
Viewed to be the antithesis of the “happy culture” (hippies)
Back to the short hair and street clothes
Debut album was Marquee Moon
Marquee Moon
Laid the groundwork for many of the guitar-based post-punk pop groups of the late 70s and 80s
Patti Smith
Improvised lyrics that reflected life in NY
Combines 60s garage rock with the literary writing styles of Rimbaud, Burroughs, and Ginsberg
Referred to as the “Godmother of Punk”
Horses (1975)
Anticipates new wave music
A hybrid of classic rock and post-Beat poetry
The Ramones
Most popular of punk bands
“Bubble-gum punk”
Crystallized the musical ideals of the genre
Cut rock & roll down to its bare essentials
1. Four chords
2. Simple catchy melody
3. Irresistibly inane lyrics
4. Very fast tempos
Punk – The British Connection
Brought to the UK by Malcolm McLaren
McLaren became the sex pistols manager
The Sex Pistols
The anti-British group
Represented the young bored Brits
Rebelled against the staunch upper class
Anarchy in the UK (1976)
Sex Pistols debut single
Touched off a social/musical firestorm
Created fear about political instability and youth running wild in the streets
Lyrics contain gleeful snotty name-calling
Declares the royalty ineffectual and irrelevant
Poses Britain is a country in decline, ignoring the bleak times ahead