Musc 200 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture II Elvis Presley cont III Carl Perkins IV Johnny Cash V 2nd Generation of Rock and Roll Outline of Current Lecture VI 2nd Generation of Rock and Roll VII Buddy Holly and the Crickets Current Lecture 2nd Generation of Rock and Roll cont Songs more heavily focused on romance and love Simple chords on the electric guitar became a focal point Buddy Holly Has the 50 s sound but also contemporary elements Born in 1936 in Lubbock TX Raised on country music and had a local radio show He was the opening act for many national events that would go through Lubbock o In 1955 he opened for Elvis Had a record contract with Deca Records a major label but nothing came out of it and he was dropped Moved to New Mexico to work in a recording studio with Norman Petty o Petty s studio was small and not as expensive as major labels o This allowed Buddy Holly and the Crickets to spend a lot of time polishing their sound and working on tracks In 1955 people viewed the goal of recording music to capture the live sound But by 1957 people began to view recording music as a creative element itself These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute o Played with music technology manipulated electronics and created high tech sounds Buddy Holly and the Crickets released That ll be the Day in 1957 which hit 1 on pop charts o This was a big deal because this song came out of a studio in New Mexico that no one in the mainstream industry had heard of From 1957 to 1959 Buddy Holly and his Crickets had many hit singles toured a lot and also suffered conflicts between themselves and Petty February 1959 Buddy Holly took a plane to the next tour spot and it crashed killing all on board o They were on a Midwest package tour many artists often from the same label would tour together o Package tours were good for audiences and record labels because only the hit songs were played but bad for artists because they were traveling non stop only played for about 15 minutes and didn t get paid much Known as the day music died because Buddy Holly the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens all died Buddy Holly s persona and style was the opposite of Elvis o He was seen as the boy next door wore thick black rimmed glasses was gangly and didn t have that movie star look o He looked vulnerable and shy and he played up that image o His songs didn t display rebelliousness or coolness like Elvis Buddy Holly and the Crickets set many of the standards of what a rock and roll band should be like o Writing their own songs was one of the major things Buddy Holly was the songwriter but he wrote with the band and the Crickets had a big part in the composition o They also set the default for rock band instrumentation drums bass 2 guitars lead and backing vocals o Choice of guitar Fender Stratocaster Meant to give a space age sound This guitar was cutting edge in the 50s It had 2 cutaways which could be done because it was solid bodied Gave a bright jangly sound Had 3 pickups with a selector switch to shift which pickup to use or combine them Rhythm pickup gave a more muted sound in the lower frequencies so the focus was on the singer Lead pickup was more for solos and gave a bright jangly clear sound Buddy Holly s music was extremely experimental and explored the musical possibilities of recording studios o Began to look at creative possibilities beyond the live sound Listening Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly and the Crickets Reverberation reflected sounds o Electronic recordings could electronically create reverb o This was a completely new sound o Can be heard in the drums two beats without reverb then 2 beats with it o Only the drums have reverb Placed a microphone right next to Buddy Holly s guitar so you can hear the sound of his pick on the guitar strings o This also was a new layer of texture Switches between pickups before the guitar solo and then after Listening Words of Love by Buddy Holly and the Crickets Overdubbing record two separate parts then in the final version play them at the same time o Buddy Holly sings both the melody and the harmony in this track o New thing in the 1950s o Gave a better blended sound because it was the same person singing both parts o Les Paul also did overdubbing previously but this was the first overdubbing in the context of rock and roll Double Tracking type of overdubbing o Record the same guitar parts two different times and in the final version play them at the same time o Reason for this you re never able to play the exact same way so it creates a richer and fuller sound Buddy Holly sings close into the microphone giving an intimate sound o He also pulls on the vowels and draws them out to complete the warm intimate feeling Emphasis on rhythm guitar chords Listening Well All Right by Buddy Holly and the Crickets Acoustic guitar chords are very prominent and front and center Listening Listen to Me by Buddy Holly and the Crickets Arpeggios notes of the chord are played one after another and let them ring together