NSS Enriching Knowledge for the Music Curriculum i Introduction to Popular Music AM Session

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NSS Enriching Knowledge for the Music Curriculum
(i) Introduction to Popular Music (AM Session)

• Speaker Dr. Ivy Man

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Objectives

• To have an overview of the academic study of
  popular music in general
• To examine the cultural and historical context
  that led to the emergence and development of rock
  n roll
• To understand the characteristics of Elvis
  Presley and the Beatles songs

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• Whats goin on?

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• "There are five things to write songs about I'm
  leaving you. You're leaving me. I want you. You
  don't want me. I believe in something.
• Five subjects, and 12 notes. For all that, we
  musicians do pretty well."
• Elvis Costello

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The Study of Popular Music

• 1970s Media Studies
• 1980s Cultural Studies
• 1990s onwards Musicology

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Terminology

• Popular
• Appealing to the people
• More grounded of the ordinary people
• Commonly liked or approved of by a large
  audience/general public

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• Popular Music
• Has always been a great mainstream with many
  tributaries, it deals with an impressive range of
  these, including jazz, blues, R B heavy metal,
  etc.
• (The Penguin Encyclopaedia of Popular Music)

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• Rock, a term roughly contiguous with popular
  music post the emergence of rock n roll in the
  1950s
• (Rolling Stone, Miller 80, Ward et al. 86,
  DeCurtis and Henke 92)
• When we speak of popular music we speak of music
  that is commercially oriented
• (The Global Jukebox the International Music
  Industry Burnett, 1996)

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• popular music is its relationship to
  technology
• (Understanding Popular Music, Cutler cited in
  Shuker,1994)
• popular music should be characterised according
  to the nature of its distribution (usually mass)
  how it is stored and distributed (primarily
  recorded sound) the existence of its own musical
  theory and aesthetics and the relative anonymity
  of its composers
• (Introductory Notes to the Semiotics of Music,
  Tagg, 1999)

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Starting from Blues
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The African American Legacy

• Blues Origins
• African Slaves in South America
• Developed from the music of slave plantations of
  the Southern United States (e.g. work songs)
• Developed out of an individual style of singing
  field hollers

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• Rural and Urban Blues
• Worsening social and economic conditions for
  African Americans in the South
• Pursuit of work roamed from rural to city
• Developed out of the field holler, and call
  response work songs

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• Boogie Woogie developed in Chicago in early 20th
  century
• Chicago Blues(1940s/50s) use of amplification,
  harmonica tremolos, heavy and rough vocal timbre,
  rhythmic guitar, bass, drums piano
• Developed into Rhythm and Blues in 1950s

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Rock Around the Clock!
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• Development of rock n roll
• Post WWII American society
• DJ Alan Freed played R B since early 50s
• The Indies, which distributed R B and country
  music, dominate the record charts in early 50s

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• R B accepted as music for white teenagers
• Bill Haleys Rock Around the Clock in
  Blackboard Jungle, 1955
• Rock n roll with youth culture
• - Appeared as a hybrid form

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• Some Musical Features of rock n roll
• Based on 12-bar blues harmonic framework
• Blues singing style
• Electric and bass guitars, drum kit (piano,
  saxophone)
• Accentuated backbeat by snare drum
• Fast rhythmic drive

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Elvis Presley, the Legend(1935-1977)
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• The Sun Records, 1954-55
• Sam Phillips, Suns owner record producer
• If you can find a white singer with a black
  mans voice, we could make a fortune
• Recorded songs in earliest year
• 1. Blue Moon
• 2. Thats All Right, Mama
• 3. Milkcow Blues Boogie

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• The Early RCA Recordings, 1956-58
• One of the important recording organisations
• Elvis unique vocal style, Money Honey
• Aggressive quality of rock n roll, Hound Dog
• Soundtrack-album, Love Me Tender, Loving You,
  Jailhouse Rock

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• Nashville Hollywood Years, 1960-66
• Stereo recording techniques, Are You Lonesome
  Tonight
• New direction
• Doin the Best I Can
• Summer Kisses Winter Tears
• Crying in the Chapel

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• Revival Change, 1966-68
• Soundtrack recordings continued
• British invasion, the Beatles
• Revivalist Style
• How Great Thou Art
• In the Garden
• Run On

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• Back on Stage, 1969-74
• Back to live performance with new image in Las
  Vegas
• RCA recorded the live concerts and released later
• Compilation old new songs

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• The Final Years 1975-77
• Recorded cover version
• 1st time recording in Graceland in 1976
• Vocal quality fades and breaks, Unchained Melody,
  She Thinks I Still Care

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The Beatles The British Invasion
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• Post-war UK, 1940s-1970s
• Rely on loans from the US after WWII
• Rebuilding continued
• Radio was the main media in 50s
• Relatively prosperous times since 60s
• Spare money to pursue personal hobbies
• Religious observance declined
• The Beatles were seen as leaders of youth culture

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• The Formative period, 1957-62
• John Lennon Paul McCartney (rhythmic guitar)
  1957
• George Harrison (lead guitar) 1958
• Stuart Sutcliffe (bass guitar) 1960
• Pete Best (drums) 1960
• Perform in Hamburg, Germany
• Mein Herz it bei dir nur appeared on charts
  under Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers

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• Brian Epstein became the manager in 1961
• Got EMI recording contract (1-year renewable)
• Ringo Starr joined the Beatles in 1962
• The Beatles 1st hit, Love Me Do,
• ranked no. 17 in UK

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• Fame in the UK US, 1963-
• 2nd hit Please Please Me ranked no.2
• I Want to Hold Your Hand received overwhelmingly
  positive response (no. 1) in the US
• First live television appearance in Ed Sullivan
  Show, 1964
• Beatlemania in Australia and Hong Kong

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• Film starring the Beatles, 1964-65
• Soundtrack albums
• A hard Days Night
• Help!

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• Innovative Stage, 1965-
• -Rubber Soul (1965)
• Norwegian Wood (The Bird Has Flown)
• The Wood
• Nowhere Man

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• Nowhere Man by Paul McCartney and John Lennon
• He's a real nowhere Man,Sitting in his Nowhere
  Land,Making all his nowhere plansfor
  nobody.Doesn't have a point of view,Knows not
  where he's going to,Isn't he a bit like you and
  me?Nowhere Man, please listen,You don't know
  what you're missin',Nowhere Man, the world is at
  your command.(lead guitar)He's as blind as he
  can be,Just sees what he wants to see,Nowhere
  Man can you see me at all?

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• Nowhere Man, don't worry,Take your time, don't
  hurry,Leave it all 'till somebody elselends you
  a hand.Doesn't have a point of view,Knows not
  where he's going to,Isn't he a bit like you and
  me?Nowhere man please listen,you don't know
  what your missin'Nowhere Man, the world is at
  your commandHe's a real Nowhere Man,Sitting in
  his Nowhere Land,Making all his nowhere plans
  for nobody.Making all his nowhere plans for
  nobody.Making all his nowhere plans for nobody.

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• -Revolver (1966)
• Taxman
• Eleanor Rigby
• Tomorrow Never Knows
• -Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
• Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
• -Study meditation with Maharishi,
• 1968

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• Taxman by George Harrison
• 1,2,3,4,1,2Let me tell you how it will
  be,Theres one for you, nineteen for me,Cos
  Im the Taxman,Yeah, Im the Taxman.Should five
  per cent appear too small,Be thankful I dont
  take it all.Cos Im the Taxman,Yeah yeah, Im
  the Taxman.(If you drive a car car), Ill tax
  the street,(If you try to sit sit), Ill tax
  your seat,(If you get too cold cold), Ill tax
  the heat,(If you take a walk walk), Ill tax
  your feet.Taxman.

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• Cos Im the Taxman,Yeah, Im the Taxman.Dont
  ask me what I want it for(Ah Ah! Mister
  Wilson!)If you dont want to pay some more(Ah
  Ah! Mister Heath!),Cos Im the Taxman,Yeeeah,
  Im the Taxman.Now my advice for those who die,
  (Taxman!)Declare the pennies on your eyes,
  (Taxman!)Cos Im the Taxman,Yeah, Im the
  Taxman.And youre working for no-one but
  me,(Taxman).

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• Let it Be, the Break-up, 1970
• Let It Be

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A musical sense of place

• Does the song suggest a particular place or
  atmosphere to you (county, location,
  inside/outside, rural/urban etc)? If so, how does
  it do this?
• Would you identify the song with a particular
  scene, audience or community? Describe how you
  make this link?
• Are lyrics key to understand the song? How is
  meaning produced in a song without lyrics?

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References

• Brackett, David. Interpreting Popular Music.
  Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 1995 pp.1
  33.
• Middleton, Richard. Studying Popular Music.
  Milton Keynes Open University Press, 1990.
• Shuker, Roy. Understanding Popular Music.
  London, Routledge, 1994 p. 1-25, 139-191.
• Friedlander, Paul. The Rock Window A Way of
  Understanding Rock Music. Popular Music Studies.
  1988 1,1.
• Aspinall, Neil. The Beatles Anthology, vol.1-8.
  London Apple Corps Ltd, 2003.

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World Wide Web

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vOms6o8m4axgampfea
  turerelated
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vMDCNbacVt5w
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vvVf47ERGAlk
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vGAOeoDSMz
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vjLD5H4uQ1xs
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v7sXSg-1ITR4
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v058celljkKk
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vRAonlWEWYF8ampfea
  turerelated
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vx5OZ9tOvhg0
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v4vH-ed92wVY
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vX5JALwwaASg
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vHZBUb0ElnNY

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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v6DtMFXlFUEM
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vl5DF2j0Ml7A
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vRc1PYPZYy0c
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vOJTY4YJIHBM
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v6nQxsXcgczc
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vAAguMZZSFSs
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vMyrQqmc5UT8
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vVPLN38__4xo
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vkLekFHARRro
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vgjOsKrZ4H8Mampfea
  turerelated
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vfNf046Uo2gI
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vwGV5P1ePILcfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vRaNQjhXhfVs