History of Rock and Roll Rhythm and Blues

History of Rock and Roll Rhythm and Blues 2 (Pictured above: Sister Rosetta Tharpe)

R&B and the Influence of Gospel GOSPEL: a musical root that runs through country, blues, and rhythm and blues vocals Because Rock and Roll came directly out of rhythm and blues, this gospel influence will continue throughout the history of Rock and Roll Mahalia Jackson

Rhythm and Blues Vocal Style Several different kinds of vocal styles can be associated with early R&B: a carry-over of the blues “hollering” style a smooth tenor sound, with well-blended background voices a strong, booming bass as lead vocal a powerful, expressive female lead vocal the use of a “talking bass” in the middle of a song

The Ink Spots: If I Didn’t Care Released in 1939. A popular, New York-based group from the mid 1930’s The Ink Spots focused primarily on ballads The “talking bass” was one of their trademarks Had great crossover appeal to white audiences

The Ravens: Gotta Find My Baby Released in 1950. Although the Ravens influenced younger groups, their success was mostly in the R&B market. What is different about this song when compared to the previous?

The Orioles: It’s Too Soon to Know Released in 1948 Originally from Baltimore, the group eventually became regulas at the Apollo in Harlem. How is this song different from the previous two?

R&B “crosses over” to white audiences 1950 s: Popular music had two different categories of “Charts: “ Pop Music Charts Rhythm and Blues Charts These categories featured hits in very divergent styles. 1953, Pop charts biggest hit: Patti Page’s “how much is that Doggie in the Window” 1953, R&B charts biggest hit: Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” Early 50 s: R&B was attracting a large teenaged white audience. factor: boredom with bland pop songs factor: the influence of popular deejays.

Alan Freed – from R&B to “Rock and Roll” Famous Cleveland DJ- R&B show called “Moondog Rock and Roll Party. ” Influential broadcast style: energetic, wild, manic Also hosted live shows which drew huge, racially integrated audiences ( “Moondog Coronation Ball, ” shows at the Paramount in NY)

Alan Freed, continued Freed was a strong advocate for black music at a time when there was still rampant racism He was eventually involved in a scandal over “payola” (what is “payola? ”) Freed is sometimes credited for coining the term “rock and roll”

The Clovers: Don’t You Know I Love You Released in 1951 Listen for the rhythm Listen for the way the background vocals help ‘fill out’ the song Take note of the production style, it is in the ‘jazz-based Atlantic production’-style

R&B / Rock and Roll “controversies” Racist reaction against “black music” Objections to the fact that R&B was attracting young white audiences Lots of ridiculous rhetoric about the “dangerous beat, ” etc This reflected trends in the society at large

R&B / Rock and Roll “controversies, ” continued Reaction against “explicit lyrics” Blues had a long legacy of explicit lyrics Now some of these explicit lyrics” were showing up on the “pop charts” as well as the R&B charts

The Dominoes: Sixty Minute Man Released in 1951 While this may sound harmless to us now, at the time of its release, it was considered lewd, explicit, and pornographic. G. Gass (text) remarks that the Dominoes were “the 2 Live Crew of 1951”

Hank Ballard & the Midnighters Work With Me Annie Released in 1954 The following year, the Midnighters followed this song with one entitled: “Annie Had a Baby, Can’t Work No More” Listen for the lyrics & imagine your grandparents dancing to this one!

Clyde Mc. Phatter Influential, “First soul singer” Gospel influence trademark vocal “sobs” “melismas” – singing one syllable over the course of several notes Sang with the Dominoes, then the Drifters

The Drifters: Money Honey Released in 1953 Clyde Mc. Phatter formed this group after leaving the Dominoes Mc. Phatter died at the age of 41 (1972) Elvis later covered this song, we’ll see video of that when we discuss Presley.

R&B / Rock and Roll “controversies, ” continued Blues / R&B vs Gospel: “Worldly” vs. “Sanctified” Blues and gospel have a lot of the same kind of rhythmic and expressive “feel” Blues and gospel have a very similar lyric style, but in blues you find it aimed at “the woman” and in gospel you find it aimed at “The Lord” Sometimes one genre borrowed material (lyrics, tunes) from the other – and this use of gospel for secular R&B was controversial Many artists who had begun in gospel were conflicted about performing “Worldly” music vs. “sanctified” music

R&B / Rock and Roll “controversies, ” continued White “covers” of Black music hits 1950 s: increase in “crossover” hits (meaning white and black audience sales) Pa Major-label record companies begin the strategy of hiring white groups to do “cover” versions of black R&B hits Major labels hire talent scouts (“A&R men”) who monitored the R&B charts for “potential crossover hits. ” Pat Boone had a big hit with Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame”

The Chords: Sh-Boom Released in 1954 Listen closely for what makes this song work, we’ll hear the covered version of this soon. Hiring white acts to re-record these songs often included re-writing “questionable” lyrics, but both songs often competed for the same audience.

The Crew Cuts: Sh-Boom Released in 1954 How is this different from what we just heard? The act of hiring white artists to re-record African-American songs encouraged the belief that it was whites who were making all the musical advances.

The appeal of R&B to a crossover listening audience eventually gave rise to white musicians who adopted the sound and style of rhythm and blues. These were the first groups usually described as “rock and roll” groups in the 1950 s.

Bill Haley and his Comets Bill Haley, b. 1925 Began with Pop / Country musical mix 1949 formed “The Saddlemen, ” eventually became the Comets

Bill Haley and his Comets Their sound combined R&B, country, pop High energy, strong beat, appealed directly to the young market “Shake, Rattle ‘n’ Roll” “Rock Around the Clock” “See You Later Alligator” “Don’t Knock the Rock”. . and many more

“Big” Joe Turner: Shake, Rattle & Roll Released in 1954, before Haley’s version was released. Notice the different lyrics Notice the “pop” sound of Haley’s compared to Turner’s Notice Haley’s strong beat & high energy level – just what the kids wanted

The most successful “white man singing rhythm and blues” was discovered by Sun Records’ producer Sam Phillips, who discovered that potential in a young singer from Memphis named Elvis Presley – the topic of the next lecture.