MUSC Midterm Review

Rocket 88. Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (1951)

Genre: R&B [claimed to be the first rock and roll song]
What I hear: catchy, fast, steady background rhythm, swing/jazz, loose/improvised sax
solos, drums, guitar, bass, piano
- good beat/rhythm (good tempo, groove)
- 12 bar blues
- Bass = shuffle (vs. walking)
- Tenor sax doubling the bass line
- Timbre (colour of the music) – sax solo = loud/strong/playful
- One part where they only go 8 bars = odd
Listening guide/textbook/reverb notes:
Technical: 12 bars/verse, simple verse form
Instrumental: piano intro, sax solo
Producer: Sam Phillips (who would later become Elvis’ producer as owner of Sun
Records)
Other: One of the speakers was damaged and created a “dirty” sound. This introduced the
“fuzz tone” which was later reproduced in a number of hits.

Somewhere over the rainbow. Judy Garlands with Victor Young

and His Orchestra (1939)
Genre: mainstream pop
What I hear: strings (violins ect), woodwinds (flute, clarinets), roboto (tempo shifts),
accompaniment to singer, refined, about the melody & smooth timbre)
- Sound ideal (rough/playful, or smooth)
- AABA, 8 bar units of 4/4 time, B = bridge (contrast), 32 bars
- 4 bar intro before vocals
- Outro
- Strict/formal frame work, but singer is phrasing to make it more interesting and
not always starting exactly on beat 1
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: AABA form, 8 bars/verse, bridge = 32 bars, time signature: 4/4
Instrumental: vocalist with orchestra
Example of Tin Pan Alley music  originated in NYC where song writers and producers
would establish sheet music as popular in regards to location and time (50’s)
Other: song made popular by Judy Garland in the movie Wizard of Oz. Changes in tempo
(slowing down, speeding up) help shape the vocal phrasing to make the lyrics/music
more expressive (conductor changes tempo and dynamics)
I’m Sittin’ On Top of the World. Les Paul and Mary Ford(1953)
Genre: mainstream pop
What I hear: quick pace music but slow/relaxed vocals, guitar, high pitch notes, walking
bass, AABA pattern,
- Les Paul invented over dubbing
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: AABA form (verse-verse-bridge-verse), time signature from 2/4 to 4/4 (and
then 2/4 at the end for big ending) – gives impression of music slowing down but tempo
does not change.
Instruments: layered electric guitars and lead vocals.
Produced by Les Paul. Words/music: Sam Lewis
Other: During second bridge, guitar solo – high and fast “chipmunk”guitar lines. Happy
and wholesome music.

Hey Good Lookin’. Hank Williams (1951)

Genre: country and western
What I hear: guitars, steel/slide guitar, bass, violin/fiddle solo, AABA
- Southern sound (associated with southern culture)
- Most music influence comes from the American south
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Form AABA (verse-verse-bridge-verse) similar to “sittin on top of the world”.
Time signature – 4/4
Producer: Fred Rose. Music/words: Hank Williams
Instrumentation: acoustic guitars, bass, steel guitar and lead vocal. No drums
Other: an entire AABA (2nd section) just instrumental  Steel guitar solo – plays vocal
melody, then fiddle picks up melody, then back to steel guitar. Hank Williams music was
straight from the heart and “pure country” and was a regular on the Grande Ole Opry. He
had a major influence on country performers and writers.

Evil. Howlin’ Wolf (1954)

Genre: electric blues
What I hear: harmonica, drums, sax, piano, 12 bar blues
- Country blues/rural blues records
- Electrifying (urban setting with electric instruments) traditional blues once they
moved north to Chicago/detroit ect. For jobs and escape racisms .
- Signifies changes/events of that time (traditional form with modern instruments)
- Timbre changes, especially for the word “evil”
- Phrasing/loose/playful
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: simple verse (no chorus and no bridge) but each verse returns with the same
lyrics which is referred to as the refrain.
Instrumental: piano, guitars, bass, drums, harmonica and lead vocals.
Production: Chess Record Productions
Other: High register piano and harmonica solo. Had adult-oriented lyrics (honest) that
were not polished, but had gusto. This was typical of Chess Records (early, using simple
instruments) they produced raw and technically unsophisticated recorded sound –
contrasting current record labels. That is why this type of music (electric blues) had a big
impact on rock and roll.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Big Joe Turner (1954)

Genre: hokum blues [R&B- jump blues]
What I hear: walking bass, piano, sax, 12 bar blues, stronger back beat/rhythm –
emphasis on beats 2 & 4 vs. beat 1,
- Jump blues
- Shouters came out of Kansas
- Rock & roll tied to juveniles/will ruin our youth & is sexually suggestive
- Popularity arc
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: format – simple verse-chorus. The chorus has the same lyrics – different than
sectional chorus
Instruments: piano, saxes, guitar, bass, drums and lead vocal
Production: Atlantic Records
Other: Hokum Blues usually suggest a more sexual interpretation of what the lyrics
actually mean on the surface. Even though lyrics were written by whites, the white
middle-class culture would not accept this. That is why Bill Haley changes the lyrics,
while the “one eyed cat” is still there, it no longer has sexual content.
Lecture 2

Technology  the role of technology in business

Examples)
- invention of the electric guitar
- mass media  radio
- national media  mainstream
- independent record companies
- sun records in Memphis  elvis, jonny cash
- atlantic records

Music can be part of your identity

Style  manner in which music is performed

♪ Blueberry Hill ♪ - Fats Domino (1956)

Genre: R&B [on pop charts  cross-over artist)
Fats Domino crossed over music (some pop, some R&B)

Listening guide textbook notes:

Technical: Form AABA (only bridge and last verse repeated) time signature: 12/8
Instruments: piano, electric guitar, acoustic bass, horns, and lead vocal
Other: Domino projected a warm, friendly image that could hardly trigger racism, as
opposed to big turner. This is partially why this song was #2 on the pop charts (#1 on
R&B charts)

♪ Johnny B. Goode ♪ - Chuck Berry (1958)

Genre: R&B and Pop charts

 His guitar style had a big influence on other guitar players

 Chuck Berry talks about: teenage life, cars, girls, school
 Allan Freed (cleavland) – first DJ to put rock an roll on a radio station.
 Blacks and whites started to dance with each other in the 50’s
 Anti-racism movements started in the late 1950’s
 Chuck Berry was a fan of country and western because he grew up listening to it
 Black people couldn’t create country and western music because it wouldn’t be
accepted. They were expected to make R&B
  A good example of a verse chorus is here: “go, go Johnny go…”
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Form- simple verse-chorus. Time signature- 4/4
Instrumemnts: electric guitar, piano, acoustic bass, drums and lead vocal.
Production: Chess Records production (Leonard and Phil Chess)
Other: famous guitar intro with double stops (playing two notes at the same time). Guitar
solo has more double stops, full of rhythmic drive but technically simple. Chuck Berry
blends R&B with country and western to target white audience. This song was a rock hit
that was influenced by his love for country music. Many whites assumed Chuck Berry
was white. Chuck Berry started appealing to teens, specifically writing songs about them
(ie, School Day). Since his songs were very catchy and easy to learn, many teenagers
would imitate/re-create his music.

♪ That’s All Right (Mama) ♪ Elvis Presley (1954)

Genre: Country and Western (although his music was strongly influenced
by R&B, early on, Elvis was known as “The Hillbilly Cat” and marketed as such)

 Elvis Presley was a white guy who sounded black

 Arthur Crudup originally sang this song
 Difference between Elvis’ version and Crudup:
 No drums
 cleaner sounds on Elvis // sharp tambours on Crudup
 Similarities
 Both had a scat solo (obviously influenced by Crudup because Elvis never scats)
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: simple verse. Time signature – 2/4 [country 2 step feel with alternating bass
notes]
Instruments: electric guitar, acoustic bass, and lead vocals. (slapping sound is Bill Black
slapping on his bass (not snare drum)
Producer: Sam Phillips – Sun Records
Other: Elvis started with Sam Phillips, but couldn’t find the right songs that would suit
him. One night he started singing this song, and Phillips recorded it. They recorded a
rocked up version of Blue moon Kentucky on the other side of the tape and this was
being played on the popular red, hot and blue radio show which made Elvis a local
celebrity. But Sun records needed more funding, and Phillips sold Elvis’ contract to RCA
which produced Heartbreak Hotel and became #1 on the pop and C&W charts. Parker
also worked on movie deals for Elvis. Parker and RCA made Presley an international star.
This song (and others from Sun records) was considered to be “rockabilly”. That is what
Phillips started searching for (rockabilly artists) after Elvis left Sun records.
Side note: slap back echo (effect on this song produced a sound of Elvis’ voice that he
could not do live)

♪ Blue Moon of Kentucky ♪ Elvis (1954)

Genre: Country and Western (although his music was strongly influenced
by R&B, early on, Elvis was known as “The Hillbilly Cat” and marketed as such)

Bass guitar makes clicking sound by the strumming of the strings hit the back on the
guitar.

Bill Munroe (who originally sang this song)

- traditional string band
- traditional country
theres a course link of a video, where girls are screaming and old people are terrified and
Elvis (with his long hair and sideburns) is moving his hips in his performance (this was a
big deal back then) and his hips were not shown in the video (only from the torso up)

paying DJ’s to play music to make more popular was illegal  payola

industrialization and urbanization have changed perception of music from the previous
culture to the current mass culture: taste in music has lowered

Is taste really what you like or has society told you which music to like (and that’s why
you “like” it)

♪ Tutti Frutti ♪ Little Richard (1955)

“got a girl named sue, she knows just what to do” – sexual innuendo
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: simple verse-chorus. Time signature – 4/4
Instruments: piano, acoustic bass, drums, saxes, lead vocal

♪ Great Balls of Fire ♪ - Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)

Genre: R&B or Rock and Roll?

 #2 on the billboard pop charts

 #1 on the billboard country and western charts
 means everybody is listening to this
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: contrasting verse-chorus (chorus is first instead of verse). Time sig – 4/4
Instruments: electric guitar, acoustic bass, piano, drums, and lead vocal
Production: Chess Records production (Leonard and Phil Chess)
Other: Great example of contrasting verse-chorus.

♪ Heartbreak Hotel ♪ Elvis Presley (1956)

Genre: Country and Western (although his music was strongly influenced
by R&B, early on, Elvis was known as “The Hillbilly Cat” and marketed as such)
 - Reverbbed Echo
- Sang this in a movie
Therefore elvis was a movie star

Allan reed  made bad movies because he focused on the potential to sell music instead
of the actual movie.
Ex) the movie ‘Blackboard Jungle’ had the song – Rock Around the Clock. This
introduces rock and roll which accelerated especially with teens
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: simple verse. Time signature – 12/8 (shuffle in four)
Instruments: electric guitar, piano, acoustic bass, drums and lead vocals
Production: Steve Sholes
Other: Rare for the same song to climb all three charts (R&B, Pop and C&W). This song
provides a clear example of single-verse form: each 8 bar verse is based on the same
chord progression, which is actually an abbreviated version of the 12-bar blues (though it
is not a 12-bar blues). This song consists only of repetitions of the same music.

♪ That’ll be the Day ♪ Buddy Holly and the Crickets

(1957)
Genre: Pop and Country

 More tamed and subdued

 It was “more of a song” because there were more chords, more melody, more
harmony.
 This was a cross-over hit (pop, country etc.... Rock and roll encompassed all of
them)
 Late 50’s music dies.
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: contrasting verse-chorus with instrumental bridge. Time signature- 12/8
(shuffle in 4)
Instruments: electric guitar, acoustic bass, drums, lead and back up vocals
Production: Norman Petty
Other: on Pop and R&B charts. Guitar solo intro. Guitar solo bridge over 12-bars blues).
Clear difference between 8-bar verse and chorus sections. The chorus and verse are 8-bar
and not blues based yet the instrumental bridge has 12 bars and is blues based. Buddy
Holly was influenced a lot by Elvis, Berry and Little Richard. This song was his first hit
and got big in 1957 where he had many hits but died in 1959 in a plane crash. Was
thought to have gone more mainstream pop like Elvis.
Lecture 3

Watched a video:

 Sam Phillips joined black and white music together

 B.B. King was the first black artist to be on Sam Phillips radio station
 Rocket 88 was played on Sam Phillips radio station and white people listened to
this song and it was widely accepted.
 Sun Records (created by Sam Phillips)
 Sam Phillips wanted to find a white artist with a southern style
 In 1953, truck driver Elvis submitted his single and Sam liked him.
 Elvis recorded ‘That’s All Right (Mama)’ and then ‘Blue Moon Kentucky’
 It was apparent that Elvis had blues and country rooted in him from the beginning
 Marshall and Phil Chess (creators of Chess Records) went to Memphis to find
good black music
 ‘Maybeline’ by Chuck Berry was the first record on the top charts from Chess
Records
 ‘Blue Swede Shoes’ by Carl Perkins
 Elvis joined the army
 Jerry Lee Lewis was black listed for sleeping with his cousin
 Chuck Berry was arrested
 The Payola scandal was partly contributing to these unfortunate events because of
rock and roll

Music reflects and expresses identity:

Music is a median in which we express identity. Parents and older siblings can influence
our music choices. You either like it or you hate it. Social groups  music associated
with different groups, and through music, you can feel accepted
Music is beautiful, entertaining etc…. but most importantly it shapes our tastes and
values (identity)

Bob Dylan was influenced by Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is your
Land”

Folk Music:
Folk music was all about politics, the world, justice etc… and was really big during
1959-1963.

♪ Tom Dooley ♪ The Kingston Trio (1959) (Capitol Records)

Genre: Pop (folk revival)
 Acoustic instruments
 Very popular, scaled down version of political folk music
 Said to be authentic  closer to human emotion and not about making lots of
money.
  Anybody could play these songs because it was not complicated (therefore guitar
sales increased a lot at this time)
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Simple verse-chorus (begins with chorus). Time signature: 12/8 gentle rolling
four-beat feel.
Instruments: acoustic guitar, banjo, acoustic bass, lead vocal, two backup vocals
Production: Voile Gilmore
Other: repeats same 8 bar music for verses and choruses. Spoken intro, banjo plays vocal
melody intro. Vocals harmonize the same note first chorus, then solo vocal with back ups
with louder music, then goes quit again with solo vocal and backups, then all three at the
same time. Importance is that theres a “tag” at the end of this song  last 2 bars of
chorus are repeated 3 times.
This song climbed the pop charts and initiated folk revival in mainstream pop markets. Its
easy going and has an elegant arrangement. The Kingston trio had a pop-sensitive
approach to folk (very successful) targeted sophisticated album buyers (adults and college
students).

Producer:
Gets musicians together
Sets up studio times
Makes the big decisions
Powerful

♪ Down in Mexico ♪ The Coasters (1956)

Genre: R&B – example of hokum blues
 Produced by Leiber-Stoller
 Difference between this and Tom Dooley
 Electric instruments
 More complex (Tom Dooley only had 3 chords [simple])
 There were leads and backup singers
 Roboto – no pulse
 There were verses, refrains, bridges
 A lot of voice inflections
 Seems like it was very rehearsed and worked
 The producer was more involved in the finished sound (makes technical
decisions)
 Reverb  amount of echo, 3D, (farness)
 Pan  drums on one side, singer on the other
 Different dynamics and compressions (low/high frequencies)
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: AABA form. Verse-verse-bridge-verse. Each verse has refrain at the end.
Instruments: piano, bass, electric guitar, nylon-string guitar, percussion, lead and backup
vocals.
Production: Leiber and Stoller (produced, music, lyrics)
Other: Rubato (sax and guitar) intro then latin feel intro. Verses have sultry latin feel
while the refrain has a brighter latin feel (nylon-string guitar and castanets)
The Coasters recorded “playlets”  short songs that told an often-humorous story. Their
songs were usually based on black culture and geared towards blacks but whites liked
their music too. This song was on the R&B charts but missed the pop charts completely.
Partially due to its sexual content (girl dancer dances with singer doing “a dance I never
saw before”) and because of Leiber and Stoller’s production makes this song more latin
with the use of Mexican sounding nylon-string guitars and percussions.

♪ Only the Lonely ♪ Rob Orbison (1960)

Genre: Pop
 Little bit of an echo
 Beautiful falsetto
 Producer  will try to get the perfect sound even though it would only play on
the radio
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Derived from AABA form. Complex changes throughout the song – after
dramatic ending of the bridge, shorter verses. Time signature – 4/4 though 2/4 created in
the verse.
Instruments: piano, bass, electric guitar, orchestral strings, vibraphone, lead and back up
vocals.
Production: Fred foster
Other: doo-wop style back up vocals intro (dum dum dum) [and ends in this style].
Bridge has dramatic vocal solo with orchestra and vibraphone chords to add musical
emphisis. Second bridge- Orbison flips into his falsetto. This is his signature as he was
influenced with doo-wap practice. His vocal style influenced several later rockers.

♪ Surf in USA ♪ Beach Boys (1963)

Genre: Pop
 Beach boys were influenced by Chuck Berry
 Had a male lead and back up singers
 Southern California life style
 Brian Wilson wants harmony
 Teeny-bopper song
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Simple verse form. With refrain of “surfin’ USA” (may seem like chorus but
not actually verses)
Instruments: electric guitar, bass, drums, organ, lead and back up vocals
Production: Nik Venet
Other: intro has a chuck berry-style guitar intro (heavy reverb). Beach boys were
influenced by chuck berry (this song is a rework of berry’s ‘sweet little 16’) and Phil
Spector’s Wall of Sound. Also influenced by black doo-wap groups and mainstream
white vocal groups. Surfin USA was catchy, seemed simple but harmonies were very
complex. Signed with Capitol. Had big competition as british invasion was taking
American pop by storm.

Spector’s Wall of Sound  a unique recording technique in which he would use many
instruments (multiple guitars, other strings, bells etc…) in a very small space, creating a
rich, complex sound complimented by strong vocals.

♪ There goes my baby ♪ The Drifters (1959)

Genre: R&B (pop charts)
 No drums, no electric guitar/bass
 Huge strings sections
 Different concept
 Lots of reverb
 Doesn’t have that rhythm section
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Simple verse-chorus. Elements of improv. w/ change in cellos and continues
improvising throughout the rest of the song (and then the back up singers come back with
the song fading out)
Instruments: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, tympani, orchestral strings
Production: Leiber and Stoller
Other: At this time, producers became important to rock music. Leiber and Stoller made
this a hit on the R&B charts, but Wexler (fellow producer) said that he was confused by
the sound because R&B typically did not have orchestral strings, so the classical,
combined with doo-wap was weird. The call-and-response exchange that introduces
orchestral music sounds like it came from gospel traditions (b/c Stoller was classically
trained). It was a risk Leiber and Stoller were willing to take and it worked. This became
the prototype for sweet soul.

♪ Be my Baby ♪ Ronettes (1963)

Genre: Pop
 Girl group
 Sax, singers, guitar all playing at same time  big sound
 Produced by Phil Spector (Spector sound)
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: contrasting verse-chorus. Time signature – 4/4 hand claps and percussion were
used to build excitement and drive towards the chorus
Instruments: piano, bass, electric guitar, drums, horns, orchestral strings, percussion, hand
claps, lead and back up vocals.
Production: Phil Spector
Other: Drum intro (heavy reverb). When Lead and back up vocals sing Be my baby, this
is the “hook” – part of the song that listeners will remember.
Spector was known for being a perfectionist. The second chorus adds another brick to the
Wall of sound by bringing in strings. Song stood out because it created ‘an aural
impression of grandness of scale’.
Lecture 4 (snow day)

Why were the Beatles so Popular?

- Very popular in England and Europe already

- Even before they came to America, everyone listened to them because they were
always on top of the charts in Europe  Beatlemania
- Some people think that they were popular because it was at the time when
president kennedy was assassinated (howard spring doesn’t think so)
- Real Reasons:
- Good music group
- Produced by Capitol Records
- Exotic and fun
- Continue to evolve (Started as interesting musicians and actual stayed that way ie.
Every album was made different)

Beatlemania
- the term “mania” was not exclusive for the Beatles
- But The Beatles were the first international music group with the label “mania”

The Beatles influenced British music and became popular in America which was usually
the other way around

British Invasion – learn about it

Mr. Tambourine man  artisits had very long hair just like the Beatles.
Musical hair  musical symbolic meaning

Beatles introduced the idea of how you can do different things in pop music.

♪ I Want to Hold your Hand ♪ The Beatles (1963)

Genre: Pop
 This was something new (fresh and now)
 12 bars
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: AABA. Intro of the song is created cleverly by the last 4 bars of the bridge.
Time sig- 4/4 “Mersey beat” – accents on beat 2 and 4
Instruments: electric guitar, bass, drums. Hand claps, two part lead vocal with sections in
unison and harmony.
Production: George Martin
Other: First amercian hit. Influenced by many artists. Example: the driving guitars, the
chuck-berry-like chords in the lower register, the hand claps from the Ronettes, the
“ooo’s” from little Richard.
♪ Tomorrow Never Knows ♪ The Beatles (1966)
Genre: Pop
 3 years after ‘I want to hold you hand’
 Different than anything out there
 Tape loops (sound that plays over and over again)
 Real life sounds (birds in the background)
 A lot going on in this song:
 Instruments playing backwards  recorded on tape then played backwards
 Uses a sitar (bringing in exotic instruments
 Production starts playing a major role
 Bass player plays one note throughout the song (which is influenced by Indian
music)
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: simple verse. Droning of bass creates music sound static, suggests Indian
influence. Time signature – 4/4 (repeated notes of the bass w/ repeated drum pattern =
rhythmic feel that seems unrelenting)
Instruments: bass, sitar, drums, organ, backward guitar, tape loops, piano (at end) and
electronically processed lead vocal.
Production: George Martin
Other: Experimental manner in which they recorded this song. Opens with sitar and then
other instruments and then tape loops enter. Catchy drumbeat and drone bass. The
randomness made this song hard to duplicate or perform live.

Covach says that Beatles went from craftsmen to artists

Howard says tha beatles are more of an artist because they are different in that they made
individual compositions

Rolling stones
- can be seen as ‘edgier’
- black leather jackets, tough guys

♪ I Wanna be your Man ♪ Sang by Beatles and Rolling Stones

Beatles: more drums, more vocal range

Rolling Stones: more bass, edgier and tougher

♪ The Last Time ♪ Rolling Stones (1965)

Genre: Blues-Rock?
 Chorus – sweet harmony (very much like Beatles)
 Trying to keep their own identity, but can not ignore the Beatles
 There is a backbeat
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: contrasting verse chorus. Opening guitar riff is used in the intro and outro just
like what the Ronettes did in “Be my Baby”. Time signature 4/4 except for the chorus
Instruments: electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, tambourine, drums, lead and
backing vocals.
Production: Andrew Loog Oldham (music and lyrics by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)
Other: When this song was a hit (65) it was very popular in the UK but not in the states.
This was partially due to the fact they tried to have a nice guy image like the Beatles, but
did not come close. Oldham then gave them a bad boy image, and after a few “rebellious”
songs that they came out with (ie, paint it black, get off my cloud etc…) their popularity
in the US rose. Did not use AABA forms, instead used contrasting verse course forms so
that was not like the Beatles.

♪ Heart Full of Soul ♪ Yardbirds (1965)

Genre: Blues
How is this different than Beatles/Rolling Stones?
- steel string acoustic guitar
- British invasion
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Contrasting verse chorus
Instruments: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, bongos lead and backup vocals.
Production: Giorgio Gomelsky
Other: Yardbirds wanted to stick with blues roots originally. So followed in Stones’
footsteps.

♪ You Really Got Me ♪ The Kinks (1965)

Genre: Pop (aggressive pop, some considered rock and roll)
 From the album – ‘The British are Coming’
 American bands influenced British music and then British bands influenced
American music
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Simple verse form. (2-chord pattern repeatedly increased to intensify verses)
Time signature – 4/4.
Instruments: electric guiar, piano, bass, drums, tambourine, lead and backup vocals.
Production: Shel Talmy
Other: Like the Beatles, the Kinks depended on strong songwriting from within the
group. Like the Stones, their emphasis on rhythmic drive made them the best of American
R&B. they billed their music as “maximum R&B”. So having the raw power and
ambitious lyrics made them a favourite band in the states and more so in the UK
Lecture 5

Music is a PROCESS (not broken down periodically – like a product)

Bob Dylan’s music was very simple

Political views
Bob Dylan expressed that you have to change the system
He was deep in folk music and country music
People thought that Bob Dylan had a terrible voice
But he writes good songs (poet)
Not part of the british invasion

Music in the 60’s was a part of a political movement

Rebellions
Optimistic about changing the world
This scared the older generation

♪ Positively 4th Street ♪ Bob Dylan (1965)

Genre: Pop/Folk (rock influence)
- pop music
- if played acoustic then it is not commercial
- Bob Dylan had new fans (fans that were into rock)
- But he lost fans (fans that were into folk music)
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Simple Verse. Time signature – 4/4 (finger cymbals on every beat 4 of each
measure)
Instruments: electric guitars, piano, organ, bass, drums, finger cymbals, lead vocal.
Production: Shel Talmy
Other: The track remains static (no real change in instruments) leaving listeners to focus
on development of the lyrics. Bob Dylan was a folk singer and had a lot of folk
following. He got interested in trying the electric instruments, and when he did, the songs
did not chart. His hit ‘electric’ song was “subterranean homesick blues’ was a hit because
half of the song was acoustic and his folk followers were not resistant in that. And even
Pete Seeger (who influenced Bob Dylan) felt betrayed by his turn to electric instruments
(b/c he is all about folk revival). His folk followers reacted negatively to this and in turn,
Dylan felt betrayed by their response. Dylan used this song as a “finger pointing” song to
point the finger at the folk community that he felt had unfairly criticized him. Dylan
showed that his lyrics could express seriousness (instead of love teen romance for ex) and
became a model for other songwriters in the future. Folk community thought Dylan was
getting too commercial but its nothing to what comes after him.
♪ Mr. Tambourine Man ♪ The Byrds (1965)
Genre: Folk/Rock (Rock version of a Folk song)
 The guitar was a twelve string guitar
 More worked up, therefore more commercial
 Good example of folk-rock
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Contrasting verse chorus (begins with chorus). 2 min limit for radio. Time
signature – 4/4
Instruments: electric 12 string guitar, electric 6 string guitar, bass, drums, solo and duet
vocals
Production: Terry Melcher and lyrics by Bob Dylan.
Other: intro of 12-string guitar, then bass, then entire band. This version of Mr.
Tambourine Man by the birds brings together folk revival (Dylan’s song), girl groups,
surf music and the British invasion (b/c of the 12-string guitar). The Byrds modified
Dylan’s version from acoustic to electric and just used 3 verses to keep within the 2
minute length.

♪ California Girls ♪ Beach Boys (1965)

Genre: Pop
 Big sound, lots of reverb
 All instruments are upfront (no pan, 3d)
 Phil Spector sound (he produced it)
 Glockenspiel – weird instrument for rock (bell sound)
 More harmonically complex
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Contrasting verse chorus. Time signature – 12/8 shuffle in four.
Instruments: electric 12 string guitar, organ, bass, drums, glockenspiel, horns, percussion,
lead and backup vocals.
Producer: Brian Wilson
Other: Bouncy, Easy-going rhythmic feel. “California Girls” uses many elements from
previous songs such as call-and-response, doo-wap inspired backup vocals, chorus
repetition for fade out and the song’s hook: “I wish they all could be…”. Wilson (inspired
by Spector) focused on making records. California Girls displayed complex musical
structures, broader use of instrumentation, including orchestral instruments.

Garage Band
- get people together and play instruments
- non-professional (no experience necessary)  leads to Punk (covach says)
- Howard does not believe this is the reason it leads to punk
♪ Louis Louis ♪ The Kingsmen (1963)
Genre: Pop (garageband)
 --Lead singer makes a mistake—
 Why did they leave that mistake in?
 Because it adds believability that it is a garage band (not commercial)
 Part of the rebellion point
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Simple verse chorus. Entire song built on famous 4-chord sequence that opens
the song. Time signature – 4/4
Instruments: electric piano, electric guitar, bass, drums, and lead vocals
Other: Guitar solo shouldve been 16 bars (double the verse) but mistake was made
leaving the guitar solo 18 bars. It was thought that the mistake was a lyric containing foul
language, but after investigation, there was no profanity. It was a mistake that was left in
because it adds to the believability that the song is a “garageband” song and not
commercial. This also contributes to the fact that this was an example of a rebellion point.

♪ Last Train to Clarksville ♪ Monkees (1966)

Genre: Bubblegum – aimed at young /Pop-Rock
 They didn’t write the songs
 Didn’t play the instruments
 Fabricated, but still popular
Listening guide textbook notes:
Technical: Modified simple verse. Time signature 2/4 (hint of two step country feel)
Instruments: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, tambourine, lead an backup
vocals.
Producer: tommy boyce and bobby hart.
Other: Beatle-esque guitar lick played intro. Read lecture notes.