New York City

c. 1940s

Later 1930s: Changes in Jazz1. New format: smaller combos

2. Sax becomes dominant jazz instrument

3. New approach to form: head, solos, head

4. Dance vs. listening music (like classical)

5. “Playing the changes”– Improvising around the chords not the

melody– Fresh style of extemporizing

Later 1930s: Changes in Jazz

Ex: Coleman Hawkins – “Body and Soul” (1939)• Playing the changesEx: Benny Goodman Sextet – “I Found A New Baby” (1941)• Charlie Christian on guitar• Post-big band jazz• Drums: rhythm carries by hi-hat

1940s: Bebop• Jazz becomes less commercial/pop music• 1st sub-style to embrace this was bebop• More insular• Core of how people understand jazz today• Harlem: after hours clubs

– Minton’s Playhouse; Monroe’s Uptown House– Jam sessions and cutting contests

1940s: Bebop

• 1942-1944 AFM recording ban• Aimed at virtuosos

– Difficult to play– Difficult to listen to

1945: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie record together

Ex: Dizzy Gillespie feat. Charlie Parker – “Salt Peanuts” (1945)

• All canonical features of bebop:– Form: 12 bar blues and pop standards– Drums: polyrhythms– Fast beat– Bass: consistent, basic pulse, walking bass– Piano: comping style, tricky rhythms

Ex: Charlie Parker – “KoKo” (1945)

Ex: Charlie Parker – “Out Of Nowhere” (1950)• Typical bebop slow ballad• Rhythm section plays behind the beat

– Esp. bass

Ex: Bud Powell – “A Night in Tunisia” (1951)– Bebop piano– Latin elements in drums– Afro-Cuban flavour (polyrhythms)

Typical bebop story:• Racial agenda to take jazz back from

mainstream white audience• More likely: not anti-commercial, but an

attempt to be successful on one’s own terms

• Creative control• Implicitly political

Negative reaction from older jazz musicians:Louis Armstrong• Says bebop tries too hard• Shallow, toneless, grotesque, ugly, strange,

noise• No standard to judge right from wrong

• Art vs. entertainment• Bebop: last jazz genre seen as threatening

1970s Punk

4-5 waves of punk

1. Pre/Proto Punk – before there was the term “punk”

2. NYC Punk, 1974-19753. UK Punk, London, 1976-19774. US Indie network, 1980s, California5. Pop punk, 1990s-present

Punk

• Connection to avant-garde art world• Musical simplicity

– Sometimes through choice– Sometimes lack of skill

Roots of Punk: Velvet Underground• Mid-late 1960s, NYC• Andy Warhol connection (EPI, and producer)• Lou Reed (connection with John Cale)Ex: Velvet Underground

– “I’m Waiting For The Man” (1967)• Simplicity as extremism• Dark themes: heroin

Roots of Punk: The Stooges• Detroit scene• No art world connections

Ex: Iggy and the Stooges – “Search and Destroy” (1973)

• Very loud: sonic assault

NYC mid-70s: CBGB Scene

• NYC music club• Continuing Warhol/EPI style scene• Band with nowhere else to play• Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, etc.Ex: Patti Smith – “Gloria” (1975)• Song builds in intensity

NYC mid-70s: CBGB SceneEx: The Ramones

– “I Wanna Be Sedated” (1979)• First real punk band stylistically• “Can’t play” – drew attention to that• Catchy melodies, pop form• Not aggressive compared to the Stooges

UK Punk, 1976-1977• Malcolm McLaren• Rooted in pub rock (vs. US, art music)• Class anger/political (vs. US non-political)Ex: Sex Pistols – “God Save the Queen” (1977)• 1977 US tour, deep south• Johnny Rotten• Disaster image – totally fucked up

Hip Hop

Origins of Hip HopHip hop is generally said to have originated in the Bronx, New York City in the late 1970s.

There are “4 elements” to hip hop culture:1. Rapping2. DJing or Scratching3. Break dancing4. Graffiti

Any others?

Hip Hop SourcesDJs:• Early personality DJs who speak and become MCs• DJ as musicianMCs:• The Dozens (battles)• Singing preacher• Beat poetry, Black Nationalist poets• Jamaica: yard parties, DJs try to outdo each other

– Toasting, dub and versions

Pre-hip hop

Jamaican music:Ex: U Roy – “Version Galore” (1970)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIk3q3ZSa24

• How is this similar tohip hop, and not just rapping?

Pre-hip hop

New York Jazz Poetry (“Jazzoetry”):Ex: The Last Poets – “Black Is” (1971)

- Lyrics- BlackConsciousness

Generally regarded as the first hip hop song (it’s not)

Ex: The Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)Unusual backing track- Mood and themes typical of early rap- Controversy in hip hop community

Another important early rap songEx: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five –“The Message” (1982)Describes social conditions of poor areas of NYC• Context and photos

Bronx, NYC, circa late 1970s

Bronx, NYC, circa late 1970s

What is Djing?• Records (Vinyl)• Breaks/Break beats• Beat Juggling• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEKRAn-ZleM

• Ex: Scratch (film 2002)• 17:00-19:30 demo• 15:00 – new song out of old• 28 – beat juggling example• 62:30 – creating your own vinyl

Wild Style (1982)

• The first hip hop film• “Acting”/Documentary Narrative • Examples of all 4 elements of hip hop

Ex: Public Enemy – “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (1988)

• Chuck D’s rhythmic approach and flow• Hard to predict the next accent, often on offbeat,

continues to next phrase• Rhythmically similar to jazz• Nation of Islam (Black Panther outgrowth)• Punk politics, rebellion• Sampling started around this time (mid/late 80s)

Nashville, Tennessee

Origins of Country MusicRalph Peer• Publishing house owner, talent scout• 1920s: coined term hillbilly and race records• One of the first to see commercial potential of

this music• In it for the $$ - he was embarrassed by the

“low” music he produced

“Hillbilly Records”• Performers generally urban, played many

styles, and used this as a shtick• Performers either went with the stereotype or

against it (well dressed, dignified)• Hillbilly: generally South, but also rural North• AKA Old Time Music• Southern radio shows (live variety shows)

– Most famous: Grand Ole Opry

String Bands and Fiddle MusicThis was the core of the hillbilly concept:• Fiddles, banjos, guitar, dulcimer, bass

– Guitar still secondary instrument

Ex: Uncle Eck Dunford– “Old Shoes and Leggins” (1928)

Country Music• Bristol Sessions, 1927• Before this, hillbilly records sold well, but no stars• Ralph Peer• Jimmie Rodgers• Carter Family

The Carter FamilyEx: The Carter Family – “Wildwood Flower” (1928)• Started as a husband-wife-cousin team, but grew

(2nd generation)• Clean cut, wholesome values-look• Maybelle Carter guitar style• Ballads, country/folk/gospelEx: The Carter Family – “Keep On the Sunny Side” (1928)

Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933)Ex: Jimmie Rodgers – “Waiting for a Train” and “Blue Yodel” (1930) from The Singing Brakemanhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyHulWOZBpk

• Layers of manhood: daddy at home; womanizer• “Blue Yodels”

Ex: Tau Moe Family – “Mai Kai No Kauai” (1920s style)

• Slide guitar and yodeling – influences country

Country Brother Duos

• Vocal harmonies• More polished, complex than Carter Family

Ex: The Monroe Brothers – “What Would You Give In Exchange” (1936)

Cowboy Image• Emerges as country music and Hollywood

image simultaneously• JR: all the elements• Cowboy poetry, Southwest motif, slide guitar

Ex: Gene Autry – “Home on the Range”• Hollywood cowboy, late 20-30s• Very poppy• Icon of the singing cowboy

By the 1940s…• Folk and Country are 2 separate genres• But they came from the same starting point of

“old time music” from 1920s• Country followed the Hollywood lead towards

pop• Mid-30s/40s: Western Swing, Honky Tonk• 1945: Bluegrass

Western Swing

• Country dance with big band style arrangements• Bob Wills: Early 30s-40s band leader• Leon McAuliffe – popularized steel guitar

Ex: Bob Wills and Leon McAuliffe – “Steel Guitar Rag” (1936)

Honky TonkEx: Ernest Tubb

– “Walkin’ The Floor Over You” (1941)• Drinkin’, breakin’ up, being sad

– Stereotypes of country sadness– Hurtin’ Songs

Ex: Ted Daffran & His Texans – “Born To Lose” (1942)

• Electric, acoustic and steel guitars, and bass

Bluegrass• Invented tradition, mid-40s• String band style

– Old time songs and/or instruments

• 1930s Brother duo style– Vocal harmonies

• Jazz– Solos, virtuosic, speed, excitement

Ex: Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys –“Nobody Loves Me” (1945)

Grand Ole Opry• Est. 1925• Longest-running radio show in US• Peak 1945-1965• Saturday nights• Amateur to professional• Led to Nashville as the centre of country music

– Music City, USA

Hank Williams (1923-1952/3)

• 35 Top 10 singles• One of most important country singers and

songwriters

Ex: Hank Williams – “Hey Good Lookin’” (1951)• Many cover versions

• Back pain, alcohol, drug abuse

Merle Travis (1917-1983)

• B. Kentucky• Learned his virtuosic guitar style from local

coal miners • Lived in California, 1944-50s• Nashville, 1968Ex: Merle Travis – “Cannonball Rag” (1952)

Chet Atkins (1924-2001)

• Guitar virtuoso • Nashville, 1950• Session musician• Solo artistEx: Chet Atkins – “Mister Sandman” (1955)• Producer: “neutral sound”

– Crossover

“Nashville Sound”• Pioneered by producers: Chet Atkins (RCA), Owen

Bradley (Decca), Don Law (Columbia), andKen Nelson (Capitol)

• Strings and horns (not typically written out)• Vocal choruses• CrossoverEx: Patsy Cline – “Crazy” (1961)• Produced by Owen Bradley

Patsy Cline (1932-1963)• Iconic country vocalist• Crossover• Grand Ole Opry, Johnny Cash Touring Show• American Bandstand, Hollywood Bowl,

Carnegie Hall

Johnny Cash (1932-2003)• Sun Records, Memphis, mid-50s• Married June Carter, 1968• Large crossover appealEx: Johnny Cash – “Folsom Prison Blues” (1968, Live at Folsom Prison)• Rick Rubin –American Recordings, ‘94-death