Week 5

The early sixties bring great change to both the culture of America and the music of America, we begin to see the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, a controversial war, and an unstable social climate. It is often said that music reflects the culture of the times and I think this is very much the case for this time period. Be My Baby and Uptown are two of Phil Spector's pieces performed by All Female groups. Uptown The next two songs, My Girl and You Can’t Hurry Love represent the Mowtown style of the 1940's. This style is a particular favorite of mine. My mom was a big fan of the Supremes and I get nostalgic when I remember popping in the white tape that had this song on it. This is a song that bring up memories for me much like many of the others. Listening to this song now as an adult and being able to follow the form gives me a much better understanding of the artists intentions. I remember getting surprised when that A section would return unexpectedly and catching myself off guard forgetting to remember those words. Please Please Me I became a fan of the Beatles in high school when my friend gave me their One Cd. On that CD was A Hard Day’s Night, Yesterday and Eleanor Rigsby. I loved how Eleanor Rigsby told a story I could picture the story lyrics in my head on the verse and still come up with the same mental picture. The Beatles revolutionized American Popular music speaking on topics that were perhaps controversial and exposing Americans to all things "British". Most of the Beatles songs carry an aab form repeating it throughout the song. Please Please Me does add a c and d section. Being one of the Beatles earlier works, I wonder if this is something they evolved away from on purpose. The Beach Boys offer a different feel of music with Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. With this song, they break away from the normal music of the popular 1960's adding a C and D section as well as a variation on the B section. You send me back goes back to the AABA form we studied of Tin Pan Alley. It still offers most of the instrumentation popular in the 1960's however the form takes us aback. Cooke's voice helps separate this from most of the other records of this era. The string instrumental introduction in A Change is Gunna Come almost reminds me of the early crooners. Blending styles of blues, and gospel traditions, the lyrics of this song represent the changes in the civil rights movement coming during this time in the United States. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag and Respect represent soul music of this time period. Both use intense vocals. James Brown's call and response style with instrumentation reminds me of the Louis Armstrong we studied earlier. We also hear this wonderful deep sultry vocal style with Aretha Franklin in Respect. I am not sure there is an opening phrase that is more known than this one. Both of these songs are timeless. Also using a call and response with the lead and back ground vocals. Finally we come to Like a Rolling Stone and Crossroads both considered folk music of this time. With these songs, we also have poetic diction and the return of the Strophic form used by country musicians such as Hank Williams. Although more of a mainstream feel with the use of electric guitars, this music still offers the story telling lyrics familiar with most of the folk styles we have studied.