Exam 1 Essay Qs Flashcards
Describe the various strategies Motown Records employed to create, package, and sell great
R&B and pop music to the American mainstream in the mid-1960s, naming specific people
(artists and label employees) in your essay
take artists, clean them up in presentation and marketing, very polished and everything was in-house
Maxine Powell–> finishing school
Maurice king–> music director
Stevie Wonder and Jackson 5
The early 1960s, while dominated by teen pop, also saw some important creative innovations
in rock music which laid the groundwork for the next great wave of musicians. Explain,
detailing the contributions of specific artists in your essay.
Increased sophistication of songwriting and lyricism with brill Building and Bob Dylan, better studio techniques that sophisticated production, animated stage performances from James Brown
Describe the roots of the mid-1960s folk music revival (pre-Bob Dylan)
Appalachian folk music played on stringed instruments. like banjo, guitar, violin. Alan Lomax and Harry Smith recorded and compiled these field recordings. Ex of an artists in folk music revival were the almanac singers, pete seeger and woody guthrie. pol context for folk revival: protest songs abt war and poverty, artists get blacklisted
what is payola? how and why did it become illegal
pay for play. pushed down black music, put out more refined white music. illegal over a scandal about quiz shows. it was a backlash against rock and roll. alan Freed
Describe how specific changes in technology, media, the economy, and demographics in the
mid-1950s combined with Elvis Presley’s talent and charisma to create his overwhelming
dominance during this period of rock history
Tech: portable transistor radios so teens can listen without parents
Media: TV–> Ed sullivan–> in every living room
Economy: baby boom and growing economy, allowed teens to be able to buy music
demography: Teenage girl fans
Describe musical characteristics of the three musical traditions which were the primary roots
of rock and roll, and name at least one artist from each pre-rock genre. Of the three traditions,
which one played the most dominant role in the creation of rock
1) country western: story telling and lyric writing (Johnny Cash)
2)pop: professionalism and sophistication in songwriting and arrangement (Nat King Cole)
3)R&B: most influential (Jackie Brenston) hard edge electric guitar, powerful vocals, rawness and power, showmanship, lot of influence on rock, elements of sexuality
What significant event in rock history happened at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival? Why
was this event important, and how did rock music, and folk music, change in the aftermath?
Dylan went electric. Important bc bob dylan introduces electric guitar and highly symbolic and important bc it was a fusion btwn folk and rock music. This effected the genre as a whole→ greater lyricism than rock. Expands rock’s instrumental palettes. Folk had wider range of instruments and were introduced into rock bands. (Siimon and Garfunkel, The Band, Mamas & Papas)
Describe the shift in musical style which happened between the mid/late-50s and early 1960s.
What were the forces that created this shift, in terms of both specific artists and the
surrounding culture?
50s- more rocking ,hard edge (elvis, chuck berry, little richard) and 60s was more folk or softer edge rock ( Bob Dylan, Penguin)
parent backlash, provocative dancing, desegregation and racism, the day the music died so lots of artists left the scene, payola
