HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL

Lecture Ten: Black Music of the 1970s

Changes in Soul•Two soul production powerhouses, Motown (Detroit) & Stax (Memphis),

saw declines in the early 1970s

•James Brown

•Aretha Franklin

•Marvin Gaye

•Potential reasons:

•Soul linked to civil rights movement, race riots of Detroit, Newark, Watts (LA)

•Association with Malcolm X & MLK,Jr assassinations

•Radio stations and record companies refused to program music that deemed “confrontational”

•Atlantic Records built one of the best soul, R&B, and jazz catalogs; shifted focus to Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Philadelphia Sound

• Also known as “soft soul”

• Heavily produced, lush string arrangements, smooth vocal harmonies

• Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff, songwriters, produced 30 gold records 1968 - 1973

• Thom Bell produced the Stylistics (“Betcha by Golly, Wow,” #3, 1972) and the Spinners (“Then Came You,” #1, 1974)

• Other important voices:

• Al Green - Lets Stay Together, #1, 1971

• Roberta Flack - “Killing Me Softly,” #1, 1973

• Barry White - “Cant Get Enough of Your Love Baby”, #1, 1974

Listening Example: “The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP)” by K. Gamble & L. Huff; performed by MFSB

Funk Defined•As Philly was smoothing over soul, another trend was finding the

grit and edginess within it and branding itself funk

•Opposed to soft soul’s smooth production, funk identifies the groove

•layers of syncopated rhythms

•simple one- or two-bar phrases

•loose structure, extended improvisatory sections

•vocals include shrieks, grunts & screams

•Definitive recordings by James Brown

•Papas Got A Brand New Bag - 1965

•Cold Sweat - 1967

•Get Up - 1970

Listening Example: “Rubberband Man” by T. Bell & L. Creed; performed by The Spinners

George Clinton

Parliament - Funkadelic• Started the Parliaments at age 15 (1955) in New Jersey; 12

years later first hit with “Testify” (#20)

• Staff writer with Motown Records in Detroit

• Legal dispute forced Clinton to change name of group

•Parliament became the commercial-oriented group

• Funkadelic, the more experimental

• Mixture of psychedlia, R&B, jazz in music; lyrics spoke to imaginary cosmic worlds with crazy characters like Cro-Nasal Sapiens, Thumposorus People and Dr. Funkenstein

• Built a cult-like following throughout the 1970s

P-Funk All-Stars & Mothership Connection•Names of others groups he toured or recorded under

•Concerts were alarmingly experimental:

• Clinton dressed in elaborate costumes jumping out of a coffin

• Band members wearing diapers

•Giant flying saucer “Mothership” descended from a huge denim cap

•Critics described performances as James Brown on acid or a black Frank Zappa

•Biggest hit, recorded as Parliament - Tear the Roof Off the Sucker, #15 in 1976, off the Mothership Connection album

Listening Example: “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker” by G. Clinton; performed by Parlliament

Sly and the Family Stone

Sly and the Family Stone

• Disc jockey and record producer Sylvester Stewart created a hybrid of soul, R&B, psychedelic rock and jazz - with a heavy dose of pop commercialism

• Formed the Family Stone in 1967

• Two women: Cynthia Robinson, trumpet; Rosie Stone, piano

• Two white musicians: Greg Errico, drums; Jerry Martini, sax

• Brother Fred Stewart, guitar

• Larry Graham, bass

• 1968: “Dance to the Music” hits #8

• 1968 - 72: 11 Top 40 singles, including “Everyday People,” “Thank You,” and “Family Affair”

Listening Example: “Everyday People” by G. Clinton; performed by Sly and the Family Stone

Sly and the Family Stone

• Song features:

•Sing-along hooks: “Dance to the Music”

•Social commentary: “Stand”

•Militant statements: “There’s a Riot Goin’ On”

• Larry Graham - perfected slap technique of bass playing which became standard in funk

•Left to form Graham Central Station

• Following Graham’s departure, group floundered

•Sly became known for concert no-shows and rampant drug use

• Recent times have seen many of S&tFS’s hits used in advertising campaigns

Earth, Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind and Fire•One of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed

and commercially successful pop-funk bands of 1970s

•Used Latin rhythms, stacked horn lines, and a nod to Egyptology to form an interesting blend of pop & funk

• 14 Top 40 singles and eight platinum albums between 1974 - 1979

•Major hits:

• “Shining Star” - # 1 , 1975

• “September” - # 8, 1978

• “Boogie Wonderland” - #6, 1979

• “After the Love Has Gone” - #2, 1979

• “Let’s Groove” - #3, 1981

Listening Example: “Shining Star” by M. White; performed by Earth Wind and Fire

Other Important Funk Acts

Stevie Wonder

Kool and the Gang

The Commodores

Isley Brothers

Isaac Hayes

Jazz-Rock Fusion•Late 1960s: rock and jazz musicians began to experiment fusing the two

styles

•Miles Davis began in 1969 with In A Silent Way, following up with double album, Bitches Brew

•First groups on the rock side were:

•Electric Flag

•Chicago Transit Authority

•Blood, Sweat & Tears

•Tower of Power

•ChaseListening Example: “Free” by M. White; performed by Chicago

Chicago Transit Authority

• Unquestioned pop powerhouse of jazz-rock bands

• Following issue of first album shortened name to CHICAGO

• Sold more than 100 million records

• Fifteen platinum or multi-platinum albums

• Driven by

• Robert Lamm and James Pankow

• David Garibaldi (drums)

• Chester Thompson (Hammond organ)

• Tower of Power horn section - which goes on to tour and record on its own

Listening Example: “Does Anybody Really Know What It Is?” by R. Lamm & J. Pankow; performed by Chicago

Reggae

Roots of Reggae

• Indigenous music of Jamaica - combining Jamaican folk, American R&B, traditional Afro-Caribbean musics

•Riddim: intertwining rhythmic pattern played as a unit between guitar, bass and drums

•Reggae is played slowly to understand the lyrics that concern political protest, social injustice, racism and the Rastafarian movement

•Rastafarianism: movement based on writings of Marcus Garvey, writer & political activist, wrote of crowning a black king to be redeemer to move the black race back to Africa

Bob Marley

• Most famous reggae artist

• Moved to Kingston at age 14, writing songs, playing guitar

• Formed band, theTeenagers, morphed to the Wailing Rudeboys, then simply Wailers

• Endured years of financial hardship in spite of occasional successful singles

• 1969: Signed with producer Lee Perry, beefed up lineup adding Aston & Carlton Barrett

• Released Catch A Fire and Burnin; singles “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Get Up, Stand Up”

Bob Marley• Eric Clapton covers “Sheriff” in 1974 - Marley’s

album sales take off

• Peter Tosh & Bunny Livingstone leave group; bring in I-Threes vocal group (wife Rita)

• Marley uses fame for political standpoints and Rastafarianism

• In exile for a year following attempt on his life in 1976

• Collapsed in Central Park in 1980 - discovers has cancer in brain, liver, and lungs

• Final album released shortly before his death, 11 May 1981

Listening Example: “One Love/People Get Ready” by R. Marley; performed by Bob Marley & the Wailers

Disco

•Disco hit the pop music world with sudden, over-powering force in the mid 1970s

•Biggest music trend in history controlling the popular music charts for better than 3 years, then totally vanishing - Comparable only to Swing music era of 1940s

•Disco was conceived of as dance music fending off movements where rock became

• too artsy (art or progressive rock)

• too angry & pretentious (heavy metal)

• too self-absorbed (singer/songwriters)

•Disco reconnected dance to rock music, paving the way for MTV generation of rock stars

•Michael Jackson

•Madonna

• Prince

Underground Revolution Underground Rising•Discotheques became popular in late 1960s, but fell from

favor, going underground catering to Black, Hispanic and gay communities

•With innovations in turntable technology, DJ were able to match BPM (beats per minute) and seamlessly string records together

•Mid 1970s: infectious long-playing dance segments attracted ethnic audiences in urban East Coast America

• “Rock the Boat” (1974) by Hues Corporation enter pop charts

•Disco-flavored hits by Elton John (Philadelphia Freedom), KC and the Sunshine Band (“Get Down Tonight”) and Van McCoy (“The Hustle”) break into mainstream pop charts

The Brothers Gibb

•Brothers Barry ( 1946), Maurice and Robin Gibb (1949) born on the Isle of Man, soon moved to Australia

•Formed group Bee Gees in AUS - named for radio DJ Bill Gates who promoted them

•First internationally successful album Bee Gees goes to #7 US, #8 UK in 1967

•Second album doesn’t do quite as well, but features #1 UK single “Massachusetts”

•Sibling rivalry gets the best of them and group fractures

Listening Example: “Massachusetts” by B., M, & R Gibb; performed by the Bee Gees

Kings of Disco• 1975: relocate to Miami, producer Robert Stigwood convinces them to flavor

their songs with emerging disco/R&B rhythms

• Hits followed:

• You Should Be Dancing

• Jive Talkin

• Commissioned to write music for Saturday Night Fever

• Stayin Alive

• How Deep Is Your Love

• Night Fever

• If I Cant Have You

• Saturday Night Fever became highest selling soundtrack to that point, remains #4 all-time

• Wrote new title track for movie, Grease

• Fell from favor in 1980s, but continued to produce records and other acts

• Barry Gibb is 2nd most commercially successful songwriter after Paul McCartney

Listening Example: “Night Fever” by B., M, & R Gibb; performed by the Bee Gees

Donna Summer• Dubbed the Queen of Disco

• Born in Boston, involved in church choir before being influenced by Motown sound

• First major release in Disco era “Love to Love You Baby” in 1976

• Biggest release: Bad Girls in 1979; started fast string of 8 Top 5 singles in a two year period

• One other hit in 1980s - “She works Hard for the Money”

• Her close association with the disco era decimated her mainstream popularity

• Her vocal prowess and star power made her an exceedingly popular nostaglia act on tour

Listening Example: “Hot Stuff” by P. Bellotte, H. Faltermeyer & K. Forsey; performed by Donna Summer

Sources

•Hickok, Robert. Exploring Music. Fifth Edition. Brown & Benchmark/McGraw-Hill, New York: 1993

•Larson, Thomas E. History of Rock & Roll. Second Edition. Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, IA: 2007

•Zorn, Jay D. & June August. Listening to Music. Fifth edition. Pearson-Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ: 2007

1980s: A Decade of Development & Decadence

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