3/23/15 1 Origins of Rock ‘n’ Roll •  Three musical ancestors of Rock – Country & Western •  Grand Ole Opry and image •  Controversial subjects in lyrics – Rhythm & Blues •  12-bar Blues, insistent rhythm, shout-style vocals •  Hokum, Boogie-woogie, Electric guitar – Pop music •  Strong connection to jazz (Big Band Swing) •  Simple, catchy melodies •  1950: all three coexisted in separate markets – Billboard magazine tracks sales of popular music – Separate charts for each genre •  By 1954, markets began to merge •  Crossovers: a crossover hit originates in one market, but also succeeds in another – “Earth Angel”—R&B song, made the pop charts – “Tennessee Waltz,” “Heartbreak Hotel”— C&W hits, on pop charts •  Covers: an artist’s version of someone else’s song – “Earth Angel”—original by The Penguins (R&B), covered by the Crew Cuts (Pop) 3/23/15 2 Emergence of Youth Culture •  Prior to 1950s, entertainment industry aimed at adults •  Mid-’50s: identifiable youth culture – Movies present images of rebellious youths •  Rebel Without a Cause, Blackboard Jungle •  New role models, dress code, slang, hairstyles •  Black leather jacket, upturned shirt collar, slicked back hair (“ducktail” or “d.a.”) •  Record companies realize teens have disposable income Bill Haley and The Comets •  Haley’s band started with C&W, began covering R&B songs – “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” orig. by Joe Turner – “Rock Around the Clock” orig. by Sonny Dae •  Featured on soundtrack to Blackboard Jungle •  Two months at #1 on pop charts (1955) •  Haley, born in 1927, too old to be the new face of youth culture •  Laid foundation for Rockabilly – R&B material, with C&W sound Elvis Presley (1935-’77) l Raised  in  poor  family  from  Mississippi   – Elvis  absorbed  a  variety  of  musical  influences   l R&B,  gospel,  C&W,  bluegrass,  pop   l Discovered  while  making  a  recording  for  his   mom   – Memphis  Recording  Service  and  Sun  Records   l Right  voice  at  the  right  Cme   l White  singer  with  a  black  sound   3/23/15 3 Sun Records •  Memphis, Tennessee •  Sam Phillips, founder – Appreciated talents of R&B musicians – Began recording them even before he started his own label •  Brings the music to a wider audience •  Sun Records credited with discovering Elvis – “Hound Dog” (1957) Importance of Elvis l Flexible,  invenCve  vocal  style   – Always  sounds  like  himself   l Wide  popular  appeal,  crossover  success   – Records  on  country,  pop,  and  R&B  charts   l Huge  commercial  success   – Sold  over  500  Million  records  by  the  Cme  of  his   death   Mainstream Rock ‘n’ Roll l  (DJ Alan Freed, coined the term “Rock ‘n’ Roll”) •  Heavily influenced by R&B – Little Ric ...

1. 3/23/15
1
Origins of Rock ‘n’ Roll
• Three musical ancestors of Rock
– Country & Western
• Grand Ole Opry and image
• Controversial subjects in lyrics
– Rhythm & Blues
• 12-bar Blues, insistent rhythm, shout-style vocals
• Hokum, Boogie-woogie, Electric guitar
– Pop music
• Strong connection to jazz (Big Band Swing)
• Simple, catchy melodies
• 1950: all three coexisted in separate
markets
– Billboard magazine tracks sales of popular
music
– Separate charts for each genre
• By 1954, markets began to merge
• Crossovers: a crossover hit originates in
one market, but also succeeds in another
– “Earth Angel”—R&B song, made the pop

2. charts
– “Tennessee Waltz,” “Heartbreak Hotel”—
C&W hits, on pop charts
• Covers: an artist’s version of someone
else’s song
– “Earth Angel”—original by The Penguins
(R&B), covered by the Crew Cuts (Pop)
3/23/15
2
Emergence of Youth Culture
• Prior to 1950s, entertainment industry aimed
at adults
• Mid-’50s: identifiable youth culture
– Movies present images of rebellious youths
• Rebel Without a Cause, Blackboard Jungle
• New role models, dress code, slang, hairstyles
• Black leather jacket, upturned shirt collar, slicked
back hair (“ducktail” or “d.a.”)
• Record companies realize teens have
disposable income
Bill Haley and The Comets

3. • Haley’s band started with C&W, began
covering R&B songs
– “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” orig. by Joe Turner
– “Rock Around the Clock” orig. by Sonny Dae
• Featured on soundtrack to Blackboard Jungle
• Two months at #1 on pop charts (1955)
• Haley, born in 1927, too old to be the new
face of youth culture
• Laid foundation for Rockabilly
– R&B material, with C&W sound
Elvis Presley (1935-’77)
in
poor
family
from
Mississippi
– Elvis
absorbed
a
variety
of
musical
influences
gospel,
C&W,

4. bluegrass,
pop
while
making
a
recording
for
his
mom
– Memphis
Recording
Service
and
Sun
Records
voice
at
the
right
Cme
singer
with
a
black
sound

5. 3/23/15
3
Sun Records
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Sam Phillips, founder
– Appreciated talents of R&B musicians
– Began recording them even before he started
his own label
• Brings the music to a wider audience
• Sun Records credited with discovering
Elvis
– “Hound Dog” (1957)
Importance of Elvis
invenCve
vocal
style
– Always
sounds
like
himself
popular

6. appeal,
crossover
success
– Records
on
country,
pop,
and
R&B
charts
commercial
success
– Sold
over
500
Million
records
by
the
Cme
of
his
death
Mainstream Rock ‘n’ Roll
• Heavily influenced by R&B

7. – Little Richard, piano
• Combined blues, gospel, boogie-woogie piano
» Clear, locked-in rhythm
» Outrageous persona
» Creates a spectacle
– Jerry Lee Lewis, piano
• White counterpart to Little Richard
3/23/15
4
Chuck Berry (b. 1926)
• First Rock ‘n’ Roll guitarist
– Transferred boogie-woogie piano lines to
the guitar
– “Johnny B. Goode”
• blues based verse/chorus form
• Overdubbed guitar part (rhythm and lead
both played by Berry)
The Music Industry
• Music publishing diminishes
– R ‘n’ R relied on oral tradition; played by ear
– R ‘n’ R hits were short-lived
• Rise of independent record companies

8. – The Majors: RCA Victor, Capitol, Columbia,
Decca, Mercury
– Indie labels take off, create chaos
• By 1956: there are 25 different companies with hits
The Music Industry
• Radio
– Best way to promote new music
– Payola Scandal
• Cash and other incentives to disk jockeys
• 1959: FCC took action, charges against record
companies and DJs (Alan Freed)
• Television
– 1957: Dick Clark’s American Bandstand
• TV show focused on teens and Rock
• Launches many new dance crazes
– The twist, the pony, the mashed potato, the hitchhiker
3/23/15
5
The Day the Music Died
• Feb. 3rd, 1959

9. • Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, J.P. Richardson
• Immortalized in Don McLean’s song
• Rock ‘n’ Roll seemed like a fad that had
run its course
3/31/15
1
Post World War II
Musical Modernism
The Media Revolution
• Record companies seek out niche markets
• Columbia, Paramount
• Many marketed and sold to a black audience
• “Race records” – became popular with white
audiences also
• “Hillbilly music” marketed to rural white
southerners
• continuation of pre-1920s fiddle tradition
• fiddle contests and medicine shows
• Unregulated Mexican radio stations

10. • could reach Canada and China
The Media Revolution
• 1946: Television industry begins
• By 1950s, TV common in most households
• Soap operas, sit coms, variety shows, mysteries
• Radio stations begin to play more pre-
recorded music
• Disc Jockeys (DJs) become important
3/31/15
2
Record Formats
• 78 rpm records: 3-4 minutes of music
• Major record companies begin issuing
Long-Playing (LP) 33 rpm records
• Up to 26 min. per side (12”)
• Targeted at adults
• Often classical music, musical theater,
easy-listening
• 45 rpm Singles (7”)
• Marketed to teens
Pop Music

11. • Strong connection to Swing
• Continued innovations of popular
1930s vocalists
• Armstrong, Holiday, Bing Crosby
• Song Interpreters
• Each singer recognizable by their style
• Personality becomes part of the song
Pop Music
• Nat “King” Cole (1917-1965)
• Formed a popular jazz trio
• First black artist to host a TV show
• Several pop hits:
• “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” “Unforgettable”
• Frank Sinatra (1915-1998)
• Got his start singing with Big Bands
• Became a teen idol in early 1940s
• Formed his own record company
• “You Do Something to Me” (1950)
3/31/15
3
Woody Guthrie (1912-’67)

12. • Lived a wandering life
• Hobo lifestyle, inspired his poetry
• Experiences during the Depression
• Dust bowl drought, New Deal politics, unions
• Political radical
• Lyrics about social justice, inequalities
• 1940: “This Land is Your Land” written in response to
Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”
Woody Guthrie
• “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You” 1940
• Story about west Texas during the Dust Bowl
• Ironic jabs at religion and society
• influences folk-revivalists, singer-songwriters, and rock
musicians for years to come
Urban Folk Revival
• Guthrie, Pete Seeger form Almanac Singers
• Starts the urban folk revival
• Younger Americans seeking authenticity and
directness in music
• Qualities that were missing in pop music
• Folk songs let performers comment on current events
• Join political movements, play for rallies
• Songs of protest against social ills

13. 3/31/15
4
Country & Western
• Folk becomes Country
• Radio broadcasts
• Nashville becomes epicenter
• 1927: The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN
• Other barn-dance radio shows pop up
• Promotes “down home” image
• as opposed to European opera
• overalls, straw hats, etc.
Post-War Country Music
• Hank Williams and Kitty Wells
• heard on jukeboxes as well as radio
• smaller record labels release 7” singles
• “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”
• Kitty Wells (1952)
• Songs tackle subjects other genres avoid
• adultery, divorce, drunkenness
Rhythm & Blues
• Term used to replace “race records”
• Includes several styles
• Characteristics:

14. • strong beat (backbeat)
• use of blues style and form
• shouting vocal style
• Hokum, Jump Bands
• Upbeat lyrics, riff-style melodies
• Electric Blues
• Country blues played with electric guitars
3/31/15
5
• Hokum – blues novelty style
• Upbeat, good-humored, light-hearted
• Influential on early rock
• Lyrically, and fast tempos
• “It’s Tight Like That”
• By the Hokum Brothers
• Georgia Tom (piano) and Tampa Red (guitar)
• 12-bar blues
• Verse – chorus structure
Muddy Waters (1915-1983)
• born McKinley Morganfield
• Delta blues musician
• Moved to Chicago’s south side

15. • First to use the electric guitar for blues
• Added a full band:
• el. guitar, bass, drums, piano, harmonica
• Little Walter (harmonica)
• Other important Electric Blues artists:
• B. B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy
• “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” (1954)
• Form: variant of 12-bar blues
• Rhythm section
• Independent parts, no unison playing
• Similar to N.O. style jazz
• Each instrument fulfills their role
• Distorted guitar tones