Listening Journal Week 6

Wow these chapters cover a lot of ground. From Woodstock to Reggae the music in these chapters seems to cover a lot of ground. However, like most of the other chapters, a lot of these genres were happening simultaneously in different parts of the country. These selections were also a little more challenging, not just because of the variances in the genres, but also because our listening guides were farther and fewer between. Most all of the songs in the 1970's follow a strophic format, with verse refrain. The only exception to this is the Love theme by Barry White. I found a 1984 live video from Paris, and it is interesting to think of the Iconic Barry White, leading an orchestra for the instrumental Love's Theme Most of these songs also are longer than the previous decades and tend to push the envelope. I enjoyed these selections from the 1970's. They reminded me of music, my parents, particularly my dad, used to play for me. He was a great fan of these groups. Carole King's It's too Late Baby follows the typical strophic format with simple instrumentation. She is what I consider a typical singer songwriter from this time period. With other successes, such as I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet, she rose to popularity very quickly. It's too late baby describes a relationship and shows her maturity as a songwriter. It has a long interlude which preceeds the final verse, yet still keeping the strophic format. Superstition shows the musical virtuosity of Stevie Wonder. Using overdubbing he played most of the instruments in this track. This song "blends elements from different aspects of African Aerical musical traditions". This is one thing that I have noticed in several of our chapters, many genres build off of other genres. Much the way blues built off of the Spritual, Stevie Wonder expands on those traditions and creates a totally new sound. One thing that is also new in this selection is the use of synthesizers. Stevie Wonder was a pioneer in the use of this instrument. Elton John's Crocodile Rock reminds me of the songs from earlier decades, particularly the rock and roll genre of the late 50's and early 60's. Although using the same chord structure, Crockodile Rock puts a new twist on this genre. It is meant to be nostalgic and does a great job of doing so. Moving on to Barry White's Love Theme, we go back to the Tin Pan Alley format of AABA. Thinking of Barry White's more popular songs, it is interesting to see him as conductor. This song uses a full orchestra and no lyrics. Best known for his voice, this was surprising to me to hear this with only instruments. John Denver is perhaps one of the most iconic players during this time. He got his start as part of the urban folk scene and continued to flourish throughout the 1970's. The rural flavor of this piece add to that flavor and tell a story again following the strophic format. The new light style of this creates a new lighter version of country music. The Eagles stretched the boundaries of time limit with their song Hotel California. This song tells a story and was one of the Eagle's most famous hits. Hotel California is in a minor key and stretches all of the boundaries while keeping the 1960's light rock feeling. Although the shape and tonality lend itself to the earlier decade, the length and tone of the lyrics puts this piece clearly in the 1970's. Another popular genre in the 1970's was Hard Rock most clearly demonstrated by Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin. We have no lost the "Peaceful Easy Feeling" of the 1960's and moved into something more heavy. This is the most famous recording for the group. Another song that pushes the boundaries of time limits, this single comes in at about 10 minutes. This recording can be divided into three sections, one that follows a AbAbAa' format, the second, BaXbAXB and the third, CXBCX. The harmonies are intense in the vocals and the guitar solos are heavy. Like the other decades we have Latin Music influences in Rock. This is most famous with Carlos Santana and his Oye Como Va. This single is a wonderful representation of the blending of LAtin styles and American Rock. It follows a ABCBB'C format with intermitten instrumental solos on organ and guitar. CArlos Santana is known for his intense guitar skills and they are showcased in this piece. The two pieces by Donna Summers represent disco music of this time. Both of these pieces, Love to Love You Baby and Bad Girls define the Disco beat and the medium fast tempo. These pieces touch on deep subject matter of love and loss with straightforward lyrics and limited harmonies , all characteristics of the Disco Life. Pancho and Lefty was one of my favorites from this sections. I love how country music of this time period tells a story. Also, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard are two two of my husband's favorite singers. The lyrics are the focus of this song and it is in a particular ballad format. Another outisder music was reggae music, and the beginnings of Rap. Exmplemified in The Message I must say, I laughed when I first listened to this piece, just because it seems so simple compared to Rap music of today. But it does demonstrate the same type of subject matter and a crossover into early hiphop.

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.

Listening Journal Week 4

The music from this weeks listening recordings represents the styles of American Music after the second world war. From Doo Wop to Rock n'Roll the music of the late 1940's through the 1950's brought "enormous changes to American popular music"( Satrr Waterman p.240) After the second world war, Frank Sinatra becomes a popular singer and leads his big band to great success. Like some of his other hits from the Swing Era, Frank Sinatra's "Nancy" follows an AABA form, however, in this song we hear new instrumentation with the dominant instruments being string instruments. We can contrast this piece with Sinatra's contemporary Nat King Cole, and his recording of Nature Boy. Using mainly just the piano, and string instruments. Cole's treatment of the voice is much more deliberate than Sinatra's and each note is treated as it's own entity. Sinatra has always been a favorite of mine. Having not listened to a lot of Nat King Cole, I like his more deliberate style and freedom with the melody. However, I also love the way Sinatra connects the melodic line syncing the notes with the textual meaning. During this time we still see Dance influencing our music. We are given two examples of the Mambo here and I can just see Ricky Ricardo and his band playing music similar to this on the I Love Lucy Show. I am used to the Dean Martin version of Mambo Italiano and was pleasantly surprised to hear it sung by Rosemary Clooney. The rubato of the tempo was well delivered with the text, almost as a recitative in an opera. Mambo No. 5 Without text here, it is easier to see the dance sequence play out in my head each little section representing a different part of the dance. Also during this time we see the emergence of R&B. Like the blues we have seen before, these songs play out life and tell a story. I love the deep raspy voice ofBig Mama Thornton. The a a a b form represented in the R&B music reminds us of the 16 bar blue form with few variations. Country music during this time was also changing. Some country musicians fought to make country music more mainstream, while others, like Bill Monroe fought to keep the traditional backwoods style in focus. Bill Monroe's bluegrass music uses influences from black and white music of the Appalachian mountains. Another popular star of Country music of this time is Hank Williams. One of my husbands favorites, Hank Williams music was perhaps more mainstream as he had 10 top 10 records between 1947 and 1953. These songs follow a more strophic structure of verse refrain verse refrain. Also, much like the blues music and country music we've heard before, these songs talk of despair and tell a story. Each of the listenings in this section had different style and it is hard to imagine all of these different styles happening at the same time, however, if we think about it there are many different genres happening now simultaneously giving different people different styles of music to enjoy.

Listening Journal Week 3

The listening's from these chapters still seem to break things down both by race, and social status. This has been one of the most interesting things for me to discover through reading these chapters. It furthers the thoughts that social status and racial segregation proved apparent even in the vernacular music. The St. Louis Blues performed by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong epitomizes the blues music of this time. I find this recording most interesting, because it blends the forms of the typical Tin Pan Alley and 12 Bar Blues. I loved how the instrument and the voice played off of each other. It was almost as if the cornet was feeling the same pain and desperation as the singer. This song feels as though this is the upper crust of blues music once you compare it to the more "front porch" style blues as recorded by Blind Lemon Jackson and Charley Patton. Those two songs, seem to have more of a lower class feeling of down home music rather than the upscale version of the St. Louis Blues. The vocal styles are less clear, and the instrumentation is more simple. However, "That Black Swann" did use the call and response type instrumentation between the singer and the guitar. Very few genres during this time period blended styles particular by one race, however, the music of Jimmie Rodgers does seem to have some of the styles from the African American centered pieces we have heard to this point. He was able to blend styles from blues and hillbilly music that would allow his music to cross over to the popular style and connect to the mainstream audience as well. Producing million dollar sellers and appearances on the pop charts. These music selections by Jimmie Rodgers bring me back to my grandfather's couch. I can remember listening to this style of music quite often. The distinct nasal "country" twang is distinct for this style of music. Like the blues, most of these early country/hillbilly songs display emotions of despair and sadness. Most likely a reflection of the hard times during the depression. With church music, we also see a separation between race. We have gospel music that is essential white, such as the Carter family which mirrors the secular country music as well as African American gospel music of the Golden Gate Quartet. Being encouraged not to participate in music the black gospel music was more ornate. It reminds me of a barber shop quartet or a minimal version of the popular "A Capella" genre of today. Using the bass voices for instrumentation this music was much more ornate. As we move to the Swing Era, we get music of what I would perhaps call the upper crust music. The music of the swing era was not created on someones back porch or in the valley of Tennessee. Most of the dance music from this era was performed in clubs and sophisticated venues. Although still segregated, it was not uncommon for the Cotton Club to be full of a white audience although a black band was playing there. Although Benny Goodman integrated parts of his band, segregation through this genre within the cities, was still apparent. I have always enjoyed this era of music. In fact, one of my favorite musicals is Swing. I enjoy the vocal style such as presented in "Taking a Chance on Love" The instrumentation and the simple form. With all of these recordings, I could see the dancing in the clubs. The primary purpose for this music was for dances. "In the Mood" has always been one of my favorites. From the very beginning opening fanfare, your attention is hooked and you immediately start to move. Also during this time we get a reoccurrence of Latin influenced Dance music with Caravan, and Brazil. These two pieces made me immediately think of the I Love Lucy show, another one of my favorites. The dark textures of the Latin inspired music with it's rhythmic syncopation just bring the samba and salsa to my mind and I can just see Ricky Ricardo singing "Babaloo" and conducting his big band. The fiddle techniques to incorporate different timbres in Caravan just give it the lasting piece of Latin Flavor. The percussion effects also give you the tropical feeling. The instrumental introduction puts you in the mood to dance and takes you back in time.

Listening Journal Week 2

The Songs from these two chapters represent two very distinct styles of American Music. The first being Jazz music which was popular during the 1920's and 1930's as well as what American's classify as the "standards" also popular during this time. Each of these styles differs from the other in many ways, however, both include some of the same instrumentation and form. For example, the Jazz style that we saw in the recordings by The Original Dixieland Band and Jesse Europe's Orchestra followed a much more free style of form. Most of the Jazz songs had room for improvisation and "scat singing" which was not something that was popular in the style of the classic Tin Pan Alley Songs. The Jazz pieces did not seem to follow such as strict identifiable form as the Tin Pan Alley Pieces. My favorite piece from this section was East St. Louis Toodle-OO performed by the Duke Ellington Band. This piece seemed to have a melody, performed by a muted trumpet, as well as the typical improvisational style of the Jazz. Although not one of my favorite singers, Ethel Merman's performance of I've Got Rhythm perhaps is one of the most famous songs from the Tin Pan Alley Selections. I have performed this piece myself several times and thoroughly enjoy the rhythm, lyrics and form of the piece. I can see why it was recorded by so many artists after it's original release in 1930. Bing Crosby's voice is a much better representation of vocal technique during this time period than Ethel Merman's. His performance sounds genuine and thoughtful. Again following a verse refrain format, the song is accessible to many different voice types and talent levels. It's poetry is meaningful and the use of questions in almost every line makes the song more intimate and intense. I also listened to the Frank Sinatra version of this song, which was recorded about 10 years later. Using a slightly different orchestration, it still presents the same intimate meaning.

Listening Journal Week 1

Not having my text yet, I was unable to listen and find to all of the pieces on the music list. However, the ones that I was able to listen to, offered some great insight to American Music. The first one I listened to was Barbary Allen performed by Jean Ritchie. I enjoyed that this piece was a cappella with just a simple vocal line. Her voice was clear and had a celtic tonal influence. The next piece I listened to was Soldier's Joy performed first by Old tanner and the Skillet Lickers and second by Tommy Jarnell. Although the same song, the second piece was a variation of the piece. Both pieces had Appalachian influences an fiddle techniques. This piece, as well as the next two pieces reminded me of the movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou". The Coo coo and Long John were pieces that reflected African American Culture and offered some insight into early African American Pieces. I was unable to find a recording of Enrique Nigue, however was able to find Son De La Negra. Son De La Negra had a great Hispanic influence and used upbeat rhythms. Finally, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, culminated the American Art Song. Thomas Hampson's version was more classically sung than the other popular from different cultures. These pieces show how different cultures have effected American Popular Music. America is often called "the melting pot" and these pieces definitely represented many different cultures of America.