First Song recorded by Elvis. Notice strong Country soun

1
Rockabilly Elvis Presley

• Arthur Big Boy Crudup (1905-1974) Thats All
  Right Moma
• Blues Musician
• Elvis Thats All Right Moma (1954)
• First Song recorded by Elvis
• Notice strong Country sound (1st 5 seconds),
  also steel guitar,
• Big Moma Thorton Hounddog lyrics
• RB Musician

2
The Marketing of Elvis

• First as a CW act (Not RB or RR)
• Sold from Sun to RCA for 35,000 in 1956
• Manager Colonel Tom Parker
• Elvis to a National TV audience - 1956
• The Stage Show Jackie Gleason
• Texaco Star Theater
• Milton Berle Show
• Steve Allen Show
• Ed Sullivan Show (50K for 3 appearances)
• Marketing Elvis image
• Top 40 format
  

3
Public Reactions to Elvis

• National Press
• Government Leaders
• Religious Groups
• First time in American History that we see a
  Generation Gap in Popular Culture.

4
The Big Four of SunSam Phillips

• Elvis Presley
• Johnny Cash
• Carl Lee Perkins
• Jerry Lee Lewis

5
The Big Four of Sun

• Elvis Presley
• Johnny Cash
• Folsom Prison Blues (1956)
• A Boy Named Sue (1969)
• No.1 on Country Charts, No.2 on Pop Charts
• The only artist (besides Elvis Presley) to be
  inducted into both the Country Hall of Fame the
  Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
• Carl Lee Perkins
• Jerry Lee Lewis

6
The Big Four of Sun

• Elvis Presley
• Johnny Cash
• Carl Lee Perkins
• Poor Childhood
• Similar Sound and Style to Elvis
• Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
• Accident Primarily a songwriter, wrote for
  Elvis and others.
• Jerry Lee Lewis

7
The Big Four of Sun

• Elvis Presley
• Johnny Cash
• Carl Lee Perkins
• Jerry Lee Lewis
• I Sold 39 dozen eggs to pay for the gas. I said,
  Youve got the time. Im going to play the piano
  and youre going to put it on tape for Sam
  Phillips. He said, Well if you feel that
  strongly about it, you must be good.
• Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On (1957) Video 9
• Great Balls of Fire (1957)
• Note the echo effect

8
Decca Records

• Major Labels
• Columbia, RCA/Victor, Decca, Capitol, MGM, and
  Mercury
• Decca
• Bill Haley His Comets
• Pehaps the connection with a major label
  permitted his music to be featured in Blackboard
  Jungle?
• Rock n Roll Trio
• Buddy Holly

9
Buddy Holly

• Elvis Idol
• Strong CW influence
• Safer Image
• lacked sexuality of Presley and flamboyance of
  Little Richard
• Lyrics usually about uncomplicated teen life
• Only Rockabilly Artist to never chart as a
  country artist  
• Peggy Sue
• Not Fade Away
• Oh Boy (Video)

10
The Day the Music Died

• Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Big Bopper (2/2/59)
• Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13 yr. old cousin in
  1958
• Elvis Presley went into the army in 1958.
• Chuck Berry arrested in 1959 for transporting 14
  yr old across state lines.
• Little Richard became a preacher!

11

• What Happened to Rock Roll next?
• Who saved Rock Roll?
• Dick Clark American Band Stand
• "Take Good Care of My Baby" - Bobby Vee (1961)
• African-American Gospel
• Phil Spector / Don Kirshner (NY)
• Berry Gordy (Motown Records 1959)

12
Teen Idols/ Teen Idols

• Manufactured by Dick Clark on American Bandstand
  (began in 1957) in Philadelphia
• Teen Idols Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell,
  Neil Sedaka...
• Daily Live TV program
• Made RR respectable
• Introduced a number of teen dance crazes (Twist,
  etc)

13
Black Gospel to the Rescue!

• Formation of Independent Black Churches
• 1788 S. Carolina First African Baptist Church
• 1794 Philadelphia (AME) African Methodist
  Episcopal
• 1930s Gospel Groups/Quartets (Touring
  Recording)
• Women ---- Men

14
Doo Wop

• "Crying in the Chapel" - The Orioles (1953)
• Early RB Crossover Hit (Pop)
• "Sh-Boom" - The Chords (1954)
• Sh-Boom" - The Crew Cuts (1954)
• "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" - Frankie Lymon and
  the Teenagers (1956)

15
Girl Groups-Brill Building/NY

• Don Kirshner
• Masterminded the takeover of RR
• Young 21 in 1958
• Aldon Music Publishing company w/Al Nevins
• Employed teams of young songwriters
• Neil Sedaka (songwriter/singer)
• Carole King-Jeff Goffin
• Many of the songs came out of the office in Tin
  Pan Alley (especially the Brill Building)
• "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" - The Shirelles
  (1961) written by King-Goffin / Scepter Records
• 1st smash hit! By an all-girl group
• Pop Latin sound (popularized in the US during
  the latin craze of 1930s-40s (conga audio)
• "The Loco-Motion" - Little Eva (1962) written by
  King-Goffin
• Creating Dance Crazes

16
Girl Groups (cont)

• Don Kirshner / Aldon Records (publisher)
• Phil Spector / Philles Records (label)
• Wall of Sound
• Wagnerian Sound?
• Redefined role of producer - from an obscure
  position to something more important - more like
  a film producer/director
• Took control of every aspect of production
• Young 21 in 1961
• Be My Baby - The Ronettes (1963)Da Do Ron
  Ron The Crystals (1962/63)
• Shangri-Las Leader of the Pack (1964)
• One of the few all-white Groups
• Video

17
Soul Music - Ray Charles

• I Got a Woman (1954) Ray Charles (video 1, 2)
• Lyrics
• RB Chartbuster
• The song, based on an old gospel song, was "the
  fusion of all the elements that till then had
  simply failed to coalesce," wrote music historian
  Peter Guralnick. "It was the uninhibited,
  altogether abandoned sound of the church it was
  the keening, ecstatic voicings by which the world
  has come to know Ray Charles best."
• Whatd I Say? (1959) Ray Charles
• Lyrics
• A hit that broke through into the white market.

18
Sam Cooke (1931-1964)

• Chicago-raised
• Gospel Quartet Roots (with the Soul Stirrers)Be
  With Me Jesus (1955) Touch the Hem Of His
  Garment (1956)
• You Send Me (1957), one of the biggest hits of
  the era first cross-over hit
• Wonderful World (1960), Chain Gang (1960)
• Bring It On Home To Me (1962)
• A Change Is Gonna Come (1964)

19
James Brown

• Roots in Gospel
• Started singing secular music in 1954
• Please, Please, Please (1956) Try Me (1957)
• Live at the Apollo (1963)
• Papas Got a Brand New Bag (1965) Lyrics
• I Got You (I Feel Good) (1965)
• Say it Loud Im Black and Proud (1968) Lyrics
• Written following Detroit and Newark riots of
  1967
• More blatantly a protest song
• Aside from lyrics, musically an affirmation of
  traditional African music
• Vocal style rooted in African-American RB style
• Call and response with childrens refrain Im
  black and Im proud
• Syncopated bass riff against straight drum
  pattern
• Clipped rhythm guitar parts
• Broken or supported by horn punches and riffs

20

Otis Redding/ Aretha Franklin

• Shout Bamalama (1960) (with the Pinetoppers)
• Volt/Stax Southern Soul label
• These Arms of Mine (1962) Written by Redding
• R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (1966)- Otis Redding
• Otis Redding became well-known after 1967
  Monterey Pop Festival.
• Stax Label (White Owned, Black Sounding)
• Rough, Angry Sound
• Recording in single track (contrast to Motown)
• R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (1967) remake by Aretha Franklin
• Sick of Yall (1966) Lyrics
• Try A Little Tenderness" (1967)
• Dock of Bay

21
Martha the Vandellas

• Dancing in the Streets (1964)
• Co-written by Marvin Gaye
• Anthem reflecting African-American sensibilities
  of expression, celebration, and community
• Not overtly a protest song, concerned more subtly
  with African-American solidarity
• Dancing in the streets a metaphor
• Associated with rock and with conquering public
  spaces

22
Rock Roll 1959-1963

• Rock Roll takes some hard hits in 1958 1959
• Independent spirit of RR replaced with
  manufactured music.
• Teen Idols in Philadelphia
• Girl Groups in NY
• Motown in Detroit
• Early spirit of Rock Roll is preserved in two
  places
• Soul Music
• British Rock Rollers