Lecture 3 - The Postwar Era (1946-1954)

Question 1

Postwar Era is the decade leading up to what? Why was this decade important?

Answer 1

leading up to the emergence of rock and roll

because there were so many musicians whose music was recorded and their records sold in the millions and paved the way for America’s first rock and rollers

Question 2

What year did rock and roll emerge? What can be said about this period?

Answer 2

mid 1950s

it was a period of economic growth when soldiers returned home and life returned to some semblance of normal. many people wanted to settle down and have a family after this period of great uncertainty and sacrifice

Question 3

What 2 markets did the industry divide its attention between?

Answer 3

younger and older listeners

Question 4

Why did the industry want to target the teen market? How did this allow for the rise of rock ‘n’ rollers?

Answer 4

the economy grew from jobs and in the industrial and service sectors so now teenagers had more money and parents handed out allowances and with this money, teenagers bought tickets to movies, bought records to play on turntables or put coins in jukeboxes

because there was an infrastructure in place to tap into this new market and the younger market would listen to this music as a way to rebel against parents and express themselves

Question 5

What did the older consumers like?

Answer 5

romantic songs sung by crooners with orchestral string backing

Question 6

What is a crooner? What singer are the crooners opposite of?

Answer 6

a sweet sounding singer who uses the microphone to create a sense of intimacy

opposite of Ethel Merman who didn’t use a microphone

Question 7

Where did crooners come from? What is Big Band? Who was in Big Band?

Answer 7

came from the world of Big Band

a type of music that thrived in the late 30s and early 40s. Big Bands featured a singer rather than the other way around. The Big Band would be the main event and the singer added some variety.

Frank Sinatra

Question 8

How would Frank Sinatra sing? How did he treat the microphone as? What did writers say about the importance of the microphone to Sinatra’s vocal delivery?

Answer 8

he would sing through the microphone so he could croon and sing softly, expressively and effortlessly and the microphone would bring it to our ears

he treated it as its own instrument

that it is an extension of his voice and that he used it to maximize the capabilities and technology in a way that maximized or complimented his own voice

Question 9

What are jukeboxes? When were they first invented and when did they become popular? Why did black musicians consider the jukebox to be their best option for reaching the masses?

Answer 9

a technical innovation that had a big impact on music
coin-operated record players in public spaces like nightclubs, diners, and restaurants

first invented: 1800s and became popular in 1940s and 1950s

because the radio was playing white music during this period

Question 10

Who else was a crooner? What instruments were they accompanied by? Who is a current-day crooner?

Answer 10

• Nat King Cole
• accompanied by big bands or orchestras with lots of strings (violins, violas, cellos, double basses, etc.)
• Adele

Question 11

What were the 2 tiers of labels?

Answer 11

the majors (the big corporations) and the independence (the indies)

Question 12

What happened to the major labels during the postwar era? What did the major labels feast off of?

Answer 12

they experienced considerable growth

feasted on artists with mainstream potential and proven track records

Question 13

What was the Indies’ job?

Answer 13

to educate the majors. Indies were the talent seekers who went off the beaten track searching for new talent and new trends. It was the indies who helped reposition artists and push them from the periphery to the center where often the majors then realized the potential of the newcomers and would take over and usually take credit

Question 14

What was magnetic tape recording? What is the process referred to as? When was it developed? When was it adopted by record studios?

Answer 14

It made it possible to re-record over unsatisfactory parts of a performance

a process called overdubbing

developed in 1930

adopted in late 1940s

Question 15

What are the advantages of magnetic tape recording?

Answer 15

tape was better able to capture the full range of musical sounds than the older process of recording directly onto master phonograph discs

tape recording allowed musicians to re-record over the unsatisfactory parts of previous performances and add layers of sound to a recording which is the process of overdubbing

Question 16

What is the two-track recorder? When was it adopted?

Answer 16

used to record simultaneous inputs from two microphones and produce stereo effects

in 1949

Question 17

When were the 12-inch LP’s introduced by Columbia Records? How many minutes could they play?

Answer 17

• in 1948

-15-20 minutes on each side

Question 18

What was significant about the 7-inch singles (45s) produced in 1949?

Answer 18

allowed for listeners to create their own playlists by stacking the 45’s on a record changer

Question 19

When were TV’s invented? When did TVs become the central focus of leisure time in millions of households? How did TVs allow for musicians to become popular?

Answer 19

in the 1920s

early 1950s

New artists could be introduced in a TV program and by the next day, they could become stars overnight

Question 20

Who went from Big Band to a solo singer and had a viable career?

Answer 20

Bing Crosby

Question 21

In Big Band, who made the way for the singer to be the star and not the band? He also paved the way for rock ‘n’ rollers like Elvis. When did he go solo? Who did he attract attention from?

Answer 21

Frank Sinatra

in 1943

teens and the whole family

Question 22

What did Sinatra’s distinctive singing style draw on?

Answer 22

drew on Italian bel canto (operatic-style) (which he learned from instrumentalists as a member of the Italian working class family) and big band instrumental music (he owed it to the musicians he listened to during the big band era)

Question 23

What did Sinatra’s success lead to? What did they replace? As a result, what did clubs and other performance spaces start favouring? Why? What made big bands break up? What year did this happen?

Answer 23

led to imitators

they replaced big bands

they started favouring singers backed by fewer musicians as it was cheaper than a full big band

financial pressure because paying all those instrumentalists was just too much

after 1945, big bands became too expensive

Question 24

‘Nancy with the laughing face’ - Performed by who? When? Written by who? Who was it about? What form?

Answer 24

Frank Sinatra

1945

Tin Pan Alley veteran Jimmy Van Heusen and TV and film comedian Phil Silvers

Frank Sinatra’s daughter

AABA form with 3 orchestral sections favoring strings and an extra statement of A at the end

Question 25

What is an interlude?

Answer 25

a section for instruments (no voices) between sections, often leading to a return of the A section. An interlude is sometimes used as an opportunity for an instrumental soloist to showcase their skills. If a song starts out this way, it is called an introduction

Question 26

What is tempo rubato?

Answer 26

An Italian expression, meaning “stolen time,” which refers to passages of music in which a soloist or conductor takes liberties with the usual steady beats, either slowing down or speeding up, as a way to maximize the expressivity of the music

Question 27

What is coda?

Answer 27

An Italian term, meaning “tail,” which usually comes at the end of a piece of music. In the coda , the music is extended briefly and reiterates concluding grammatical periods or exclamation marks called cadences

In popular music, the coda is often referred to as the outro, and in jazz as the tag

Question 28

What is a cadence?

Answer 28

A melodic or harmonic event that signals the end of a phrase, section, or piece

Question 29

Nat “King” Cole - Who was he? When did he form his own group called the King Cole Trio? What did he play?

Answer 29

also a crooner and the most successful black recording artist of the postwar era

in 1937

he a brilliant jazz pianist and improviser

Question 30

Between 1946 and 1954, how many recordings did Nat King Cole place on the top 10 pop charts?

Answer 30

14

Question 31

Nat King Cole was one of the first black musicians to do what? What was his speciality?

Answer 31

to crossover to the white audience

sentimental ballads with elaborate orchestral arrangements

Question 32

What makes Nat King Cole’s success even more extraordinary?

Answer 32

the racial prejudice in the American music industry and society as a whole

Question 33

Nat King Cole was the first black musician to do what? He recorded over 100 records with who?

Answer 33

to host his own weekly radio series and the first to have a network TV show

with Capitol Records

Question 34

‘Nature Boy’ - Performed by who? Who was the composer and what was significant about him? When was it composed? This song was the first of many what? How long was it #1 on the Billboard pop charts for?

Answer 34

By Nat King Cole

Eden Ahbez was the composer and he was as far away from the professional songwriting business as possible. He was a hippie.

1948

the first song to pair Cole’s voice with full orchestral accompaniment

for 8 weeks

Question 35

Who was the song ‘Nature Boy’ arranged by/who was the arranger? What instruments are present in the song? What form does the song follow? What is unusual about this song in terms of popular music?

Answer 35

Frank DeVol

French horn, flute, oboe, violin, and piano

ABAB with an added AB

Nature Boy was composed in a minor key (sad, depressing) and mainstream popular songs are usually written in a major key (happy)

Question 36

How was Frank Sinatra’s approach to singing different from Nat King Cole’s?

Answer 36

Sinatra’s approach was different: he sang smoothly connecting one note to the next while Nat King Cole would give special words extra attention and he changes the timbre of his voice when singing these words

Question 37

What is significant about the last B section in ‘Nature Boy’?

Answer 37

The words in the final line are exposed; Cole sings them with almost no instrumental accompaniment, except for his own sparse piano playing to allow the weight of the words, the punchline, the moral, to sink in and resonate with us

Question 38

What is a composer?

Answer 38

A person who creates the music

Question 39

What is a lyricist?

Answer 39

A person who creates the sung words

Question 40

What is an arranger?

Answer 40

A person who adapts an existing composition to suit the capabilities and instrumental resources of a soloist or ensemble. For example, a simple pop tune can start as a piece for voice and piano and then the arranger could set it for big band with saxophones, trumpets, trombone, clarinet, guitar etc. Different arrangements of the same music can sound remarkably different and demonstrate a range of styles

Question 41

What was country and western music referred to as?

Answer 41

hillbilly music

Question 42

Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers played string band music. Where dad that type of music originate from?

Answer 42

Europe

Question 43

In 1949, the terms ‘hillbilly music’ and ‘race music’ were changed to what?

Answer 43

Hillbilly music: country and western or just country

race music: R&B (rhythm and blues)

Question 44

What 3 outlets did people have at least one access of and allowed for the dissemination of music?

Answer 44

1. phonograph records
2. radio
3. traveling musicians

Question 45

In the 1920s and 1930s, who owned larger radio stations? As a result less playing time, what did R&B musicians have to rely on to get their music heard? What happened in the late 1930s that allowed R&B musicians to be heard more?

Answer 45

by whites and white performers including country

records and, to a lesser extent, jukeboxes and small, regional radio stations

Jack Cooper started an R&B music show in Chicago

Question 46

How did country music become popular? In 1922, what was aired in Atlanta? What was the Grand Ole Opry?

Answer 46

In those early days of radio, country was played a lot especially in the south

The first hour long radio show featuring country

a radio show that grew into a TV program which featured all sorts of different instruments playing country such as string bands, solo and duet singers, white gospel singers, Hawaiian guitars bands, harmonica players, saw players, whistlers, and yodellers

Question 47

Who was an important figure in the early history of country and one of the first country music stars? What did he accompany himself on? Who did he usually sing songs about? Who did his songs appeal to? What was his song? What was his trademark? What was one reason for his success? What can his voice be described as?

Answer 47

Jimmie Rodgers

acoustic guitar

men who lived unsettled existences such as hobos and gamblers, convicts, cowboys, and railway workers

rural and urban white audiences

‘Blue Yodel No. 2’

yodelling

his ability to blend elements of country music with African American music but would still appeal to white audiences. Use of blue notes, slides and expressive vocal declamations common in African American performances and his lyrics were sometimes encoded with sexual messages which also brings African American music of the era to mind

high, lonesome sound which is what we describe as the quality of many white rural singers

Question 48

Who was Hank Williams? What did he start off as? In 1948, he got his first taste of success performing where? Between 1947 and 1953, how many of his records reached top 10 on the country charts? What was his distinctive singing style? What song did he record? What label became the headquarters for country in 1945? Who was the song aimed at? What is the form? How did Williams know about this form? Which instrument are playing? What is the relationship between the instruments and the voice?

Answer 48

Singer-songwriter from rural Alabama and one of the most important figures in country

Williams started as a songwriter, not a performer

regularly performing on the new radio show “Louisiana Hayride” and “Grand Ole Opry”

36

his vocal inflections and heartfelt lyrics create an impression of sincere emotional expression

‘Hey Good Lookin’’

Nashville

aimed at a youthful audience as the lyrics suggest cars, dancing, young love, etc.

introduction, AABA, AABA, AABA

from his publisher (Fred Rose) who had relocated from NYC (where Tin Pan Alley is) to Nashville

Acoustic guitars, bass, steel guitar, fiddle, and lead vocal

The piano and steel guitar take turns playing fills behind the vocals as though commenting on each line

Question 49

‘Hey Good Lookin’’ Uses the lap steel guitar as a source of accompaniment. What is it?

Answer 49

a type of steel guitar that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position on the performer’s lap or otherwise supported. The performer changes the pitch of the lap steel guitar by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings as opposed to a traditional guitar where performers’ fingertips press the strings against the frets.

Question 50

The postwar era saw the rapid spread of the radio. What happened in 1949? By this point, where were radio stations playing country and western?

Answer 50

over 650 radio stations were making live broadcasts of country performers

Grand Ole Opry and radio stations across the country, not just in the south, were playing country and western on the radio by this point

Question 51

What is Bluegrass? When did it originate? Who can it be traced back to? When did they perform at the Grand Ole Opry? When did they gain popularity? Who was Earl Scruggs? What explains the blues quality of Monroe’s music?

Answer 51

a type of country music that has its roots in string band music and sounds old

in the post-war years

Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys who played mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, and sang traditional harmonic vocals

1939

late 1940s

a banjoist in Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys who developed a technique called the “3-finger roll,” which allowed him to play passages of greater complexity

He was influenced by a black railway worker named Arnold Scholtz . Listening to Scholtz in particular exposed Monroe at an early age to the blues

Question 52

What song did ‘Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys’ record? What type of music does it draw on? What instruments are used? What are hallmarks of bluegrass that the song also draws on? What instruments did the bluegrass boys avoid? What do the players demonstrate in the song? What is Bill Monroe’s voice like?

Answer 52

‘It’s Mighty Dark to Travel’

anglo-american string band music, tradition singing of the Appalachian Mountains and influences from black music, especially the blues

Acoustic made up of a fiddle, mandolin, banjo and guitar string bass

fast passagework, which showcases the talents of the members of the group, and high energy

amplified instruments

improvisation so we have sections of flashy improv called breakaways when the soloist breaks away from the main texture of the group and shows us what they can do on their instrument. This is also a characteristic of African American music so we have an example of black music leaving its mark on country music.

high lonesome sound

Question 53

What is rhythm and blues? What did R&B include in the late 40s and early 50s? What did regional radio stations do?

Answer 53

popular music played by black musicians intended for black listening audiences

1. Swing-influenced jump bands
2. Tin Pan Alley-style love songs sung by crooners
3. Various styles of urban blues
4. Gospel-inspired harmony groups

focused their attention of marketing R&B to black audiences

Question 54

What is Jump Blues? What influenced jump blues? Why did jump blues become a thing? What instrumentalists did jump blues include? What kind of music did they play? Who was the biggest proponent of this style? What was the first commercially successful category of R&B?

Answer 54

it was the first commercially successful category of R&B and it flourished just after WW2.

Big Bands influenced jump blues but jump blues bands are just smaller with fewer musicians and therefore fewer people to pay.

This initially happened out of necessity because during the war, big band leaders had to cut back so they formed small combinations

a rhythm section with bass, piano, drums, and sometimes guitar and one or more horn players

played upbeat danceable songs, often with humorous lyrics

Louis Jordan

jump blues

Question 55

Who was Louis Jordan? Who was he popular with? What was he trying to make instead of pop music?

Answer 55

a saxophonist and singer

black and white listeners just like Nat King Cole’s experience

he was trying to make art

Question 56

What was Louis Jordan’s biggest hit? What does the title of the song draw on? What type of hit was it? When was it released? What charts did it reach? What was boogie-woogie music? What form? What instruments?

Answer 56

‘Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie’

draws the parallel between the motion of a train and the rocking rhythm of boogie-woogie music

jump blues hit

1946

R&B charts and crossed over to the billboard’s pop hit list

a popular jazz blues piano style of the 1920s and 1930s featuring strong bass patterns in the left hand and syncopated chords and melodies in the right

3 alterations of verse and chorus with instrumental sections

The arrangement features horns, imitating the sound of a train whistle, the rhythm section maintaining a steady boogie-woogie rhythm and solos for the saxophone and piano

Question 57

What is electric blues? What year did it emerge? What is it also referred to as? Electric blues developed in part due to what? What were Chess recordings known for?

Answer 57

When musicians move north, into city bars and clubs, they often form combos using electric guitars, bass, piano, drums, and harmonica and the style of electric blues came to be with these instruments

1950s

Chicago electric blues

an indie label called Chess which opened in 1947 by Phil and Leonard Chess who were 2 white fans of black music

rough edged and emotional vocals which were created by the simplest of equipment which produced a raw, technically unsophisticated recorded sound in marked contrast to the kinds of records the major labels were releasing but people loved that unsophisticated sound

Question 58

Who was Muddy Waters? Who was he discovered by? Who was he recorded for? When did he switch his acoustic guitar to the electric guitar? Why did he switch to the electric guitar? What was he known for? What did he sing?

Answer 58

Singer-songwriter and guitarist from the Mississippi Delta

folk music scholars who came along and recorded him

recorded for the Library of Congress

when he moved to Chicago

to be heard over the lively crowds and also to satisfy the needs of dance music

his rock-steady, churning rhythm, blues licks, buzzing tone colours (made by using distortion), long sustained notes (made by feedback), and rough, intense vocals

sang raunchy, dirty lyrics

Question 59

‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ - Performed by who? What type of hit? When was it released? What chart did it reach? What form? What can be said about his voice in the song?

Answer 59

Muddy Waters

electric blues hit

1954

R&B charts

simple-verse form with 3 verses and an opening introduction

dense textures, buzzing, growling tones, rock-solid beat, Waters’ rough vocal style, and adult-oriented lyrics

Question 60

Listen to:

Answer 60

Nancy (with the Laughing Face)
Nature Boy
Blue Yodel No.2
Hey, Good Lookin’
It’s Mighty Dark to Travel
Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie
I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man