Musc 200 226 1st Edition Lecture 17 Outline of Last Lecture I Test Outline of Current Lecture II 2nd generation of rock and roll A The Everly Brothers III Doo Wop Rock and Roll s Vocal Groups a Social context b Sounds and styles Current Lecture 2nd Generation of Rock and Roll The Everly Brothers Don and Phil Everly Originally wrote for the country market and considered themselves country artists Their record label and management took advantage of their youth and steered them towards a rock and roll direction First hit in 1957 with Bye Bye Love o Had a string of hits from 1957 1962 Broke up in 1962 due to conflicts between the brothers o Their independent careers never took of o Got back together in the 80s for a few tours Listening Bye Bye Love by the Everly Brothers Blends of harmony singing Country nasality Emphasis on rhythm guitar like Buddy Holly Both play the acoustic guitar in this track o Playing Gibson guitars giving a full and rich sound 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 Song begins with an instrumental hook giving power and the defining sound for this song Though the Everly Brothers wrote many of their own songs they did not write this one Combines country and the blues to create a rock and roll vibe Teen themes Listening Wake Up Little Susie by the Everly Brothers Reverb and echo o Reverb is the reflected sound that lasts for less than 5 milliseconds o Echo is the reflected sound that lasts for longer than 5 milliseconds Teen themes Lyrics 2 teens go to a drive in movie fall asleep and wake up after curfew They are afraid people will think they had sex even though they didn t Very controversial song made many people upset o Was banned from airplay in Boston It still sold very well but the brothers didn t like the reaction they got Listening All I Have to Do is Dream by the Everly Brothers After their last controversial song the brothers did this ballad steering towards the mainstream so as to not be controversial Chet Atkins was a studio guitarist who played in this song o The creativity of studio musicians could turn a good song into a great song o Used the tremolo efect electronic efect built into amps that would cyclically boost and cut the sound o Without tremolo play a note and it fades away With tremolo play a note and it goes up and down while fading away Listen to the very beginning of this song to hear the tremolo efect clearly Chorus verse song like almost all other second generation rock and roll songs we ve looked at and also typical in country music Doo Wop Rock and Roll s Vocal Groups Doo wop songs were some of the first crossovers in the 1950s and doo wop lasted until 1964 It was brought back in the late 60s Most doo wop groups consisted of 4 African American males backed by a small rhythm band Doo wop was coming out of almost every city in the U S Lyrics focused on teenage themes as the groups were composed of mostly teens Precursors to doo wop include the A Capella male quartets with their smooth harmonies wide vocal ranges and arrangement devices o Doo wop unlike the A Capella male quartets had a band backing them up but the focus was still on the vocals o Doo wop also didn t have any previous gospel singers so they avoided the wrath of gospel people The Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers were two African American pop A Capella male quartets that were very popular in the 30s and 40s Played jazz inflected TPA Listening Sh Boom by The Chords Backed by a small band 4 singers with one of them as carrying the main melody This is the original version by The Chords Social Context of Doo Wop Early 50s small groups of teens would meet up and sing for entertainment on street corners o Called street corner harmonies o Mostly in urban areas o Teens didn t have instruments or had nowhere to play so they would sing for fun Several Italian American groups o Strong biases against Italian Americans o Italian American doo wop groups and African American doo wop groups shared styles Many doo wop groups were one hit wonders because na ve teenagers would sign bad contracts with record labels Then when they got a hit song and wanted to do another album they wanted a better contract But the record labels saw doo wop groups as replaceable as there were so many groups and they rarely had a front man like other rock and roll bands So they would get cut Sound Style of Doo Wop Ballads slow romantic the lead singer typically steps forward more o More ornamentation and vocal techniques o To be continued next class Up Tempo fast and elaborate o Backed by a standard rock and roll rhythm section o Used triplets o Lowest bass singer was often used for a comedic efect in the intro or outro and also used stop time breaks o Punchy rhythmic phrases by vocals o Sing chords and harmony o Vocables nonsense syllables to articulate punchy strong rhythms o Purpose was to drive the time and give a percussive rhythmic interest Tons of creativity in arrangement Listening Gee by The Crows Straightforward arrangement The 3 back vocalists have the chords and the other carries the melody Listening I Wonder Why by Dion and the Belmonts More independent and elaborate than the last song Independence between the bass singer and the other two backing singers Back vocals are more melodic and respond to the main vocalist During the bridge the back vocals and lead vocal sing slightly diferent rhythms with the lead in falsetto Listening Blue Moon by the Marcels Comic bass at the beginning and end Originally a TPA hit but was rearranged towards the end of the doo wop period Complex background arrangement but with a straightforward melody o Almost like 2 diferent melodies Call and response between 2 beats Very elaborate with big chords moving to crescendos and then leading smoothly back to the verse