“Rock n’ roll Ball” draws a huge white audience. And even though white teenagers could not get into black clubs and vice versa, black artists, black music got onto television and white teenagers could see them. With this result the independent labels (mostly black people) boomed with an increase in income from 22% to 56% in the late 50s. The four major labels had a decrease from 78% to 44%. The music market doubled from 1955 to late 50s and the rock n’ roll share of that was almost half. This shows us that clearly something big was happening within the music genre and society as well. Black and white music fusion was going on in the south, finally there was a time for young people to enjoy their youth and be rebellious. With this rebellious mind, I believe that there was a new generation growing up that was allowed to ask questions about things as civil rights, women’s rights and dared to show dissatisfaction and speak up about it. Maybe it was the music that changed society or it was the society that changed the music.
One of the biggest or most popular rock n’ roll artist was Elvis. The founder of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, discovered him when he came to his studio to record a song for his mother’s birthday. The thing that Elvis was most known for was his swinging hips when he performed. Young women went crazy over it and the older people dissociated themselves from it. His songs, affected by blues, folk, and country became more popular as he got famous and more pop like with catchy phrases and melodies. The funny thing though, is that Elvis didn’t write any of his own stuff. It was not so usual to do that in the popular music scene. When thinking about that, you could say that it is a bit unfair that he got to be so famous, while the songwriters who had really written the songs he sang, and probably were good artists, didn’t get half of the fame and wealth that he got. He was a product, an image with good hips to woo his audience and make the big money for the record label. Or was he a great artist? There are still people that worship him today. And probably it’s a question of love and hate. Either they love or hate, no in between.
One song that is well known among many others is Blue Suede Shoes, written by Carl Perkins. Carl Perkins recorded it much slower than Elvis sang it, more in a rockabilly style. It’s a standard 12- bar blues song, very simple and the Elvis version of it is more rhythmic, more rock n’ roll.
Doo Wop
“A form of R&B harmony vocalizing using phonetic or nonsense syllables”
Doo Wop is vocal groups singing love songs that have simple lyrics and simple music. With use of harmonies and almost no instruments the Doo Wop genre was closest to the pop music that white young people listened to before rock n’ roll.
One famous group was The Chordettes with hits like Lollipop and Mr. Sandman. Lollipop is about your loved one being as sweet as a lollipop. The instruments are all in the background and there is a focus on the voices and creating good harmonies. The Doo Wop of the fifties was about innocent young love themes. Even if it was very simple and maybe not so exciting lyrics, the focus on and creation of harmonies was quite brilliant. Like in Mr. Sandman when in the beginning the different voices almost function as an instrument and give a good rhythmic starting point. As a singer it is always interesting to hear harmony arrangements, so Doo Wop in that sense is great.
Soul
“A Merger of gospel-charged singing”
Soul music was created by Ray Charles and came out of fifties Rn’B. It was gospel music made secular. With famous artists like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke, the use of church music and instruments like the Rhoades in clubs created a lot of controversy. However the soul music was blooming with these great black artists becoming a part of the mainstream music charts. Even with a price- with for example Sam Cooke using the alias name “Dale Cooke” to attract a white audience. With gospel music these artists were not so poplar, because it was not regarded nicely that a gospel singer would perform in clubs and taking the church music to the clubs, making it secular. Sam Cooke was one of the founders of soul music. He was even called “The King of Soul”. While Ray Charles was screaming his voice sore when performing, Sam used a more soft approach with his voice. One of his many written hits was “You Send Me”, is a classic example, with very light drums and a clear soft voice.
Bibliography
Notes From Class
Pop Music, The Text Book; J.Winterson, P. Nickol, T.Bricheno.2003
Pop Music, The Text Book, Page 22
