Midterm Flashcards
When was ragtime popular?
1890s through the 1910s and teens
Who was the main composer of ragtime?
Scott Joplin
When playing ragtime what does your left and right hand play?
Left hand = plays bass and chords in steady rhythm
Right hand = plays mostly syncopated melodies
What is urban blues?
often infused with hope, lines usually unrelated and strung together, rough style
what instruments are used in urban blues?
Piano, harmonica, and especially drums and bass
who were the urban blues main singers?
Bessie Smith and Mammie Smith
what is rural blues?
emphasis on lyrics that tell a story, smooth, theoretical, often speaks of hopelessness
What region of the country is associated with the roots of the blues?
Mississippi Delta
Where (what city) did jazz begin?
New Orleans
What city became the center for jazz in the 1920s because of the great migration?
New York
When and where was the first commercially successful Dixieland jazz recording
In New Orleans in 1917 “Livery Stable Blues”
Bessie Smith
Backwater blues- 1927
1st Hillbilly records
recorded by Ralph Peer, 1927 in Bristol Tenn.
The Carter Family
was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956.
Jimmy Rogers:
1st real country star, yodels, hillbilly and blues
Robert Johnson
1937 – influenced Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and other British guitarists
What was the history of the terminology that describes black music?
1921 - Race Records = By and for African Americans
1949 - Billboard Magazine replaces race records with the term rhythm & blues
1951 – Rock & Roll – Alan Freed (DJ) used the term on the radio to attract whites
1960s into the 1970s – Soul - Billboard adopted Soul in 1969
how media has allowed for the dissemination of popular music during different eras?
1900 - 1920s – records
1920s- radio begins - Networks start around 1925
1930s – Depression & Swing era - people stop buying records – most have radios which become the primary way popular music is promoted.
1945 + Development of the LP (33 1/3) and 45 records
Late 1940s – TV
Dixieland instruments- frontline and rhythm section
Frontline = trumpet, clarinet, & trombone
Rhythm section = various combinations of piano, drums, tuba, & banjo
Swing big band instruments
larger brass sections & add saxophones
Rhythm section = piano, drums, string bass & guitar
Rock and roll instruments
Buddy Holly & the Crickets – Lead and rhythm guitars, string bass, drums
60s = replaced string bass with electric bass guitar (“Fender Bass”)
What was Your Hit Parade and what was the most popular song in its history?
Every Saturday evening, the program offered the most popular and bestselling songs of the week. The most popular song “My Reverie” by Larry Clinton.
How did musicians promote their music?
sang on the street in Tin Pan Alley or having individual publishing houses in gospel
recording studios in Memphis associated with rockabilly and southern soul active in the 50s?
royal studios
recording studios in Memphis associated with rockabilly and southern soul active in the 60s?
Sun studio
Which recording studio did Jerry Lee Lewis serve as house pianist?
Sun Records Studio
Where was Booker T & the MGs the house band?
Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee
Who started Sun Records?
Sam Phillips
What recording by which singer was the first to be number 1 on the pop, country, and rhythm and blues charts simultaneously?
“Hound Dog”
Explain what top 40 means.
the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music.
What key event was the song “The Day the Music Died” About?
Richardson and Ritchie Valens were killed in a plane crash on the way to their next concert
What year did “The Day The Music Died” happen and what or whom was the significant loss to rock and roll?
On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and JP (The Big Bopper) Richardson died in a tragic plane crash
What did it take to be a teen idol in the early 60s?
Clean cut, carefully marketed young men who were designed to appeal to teens as “ideal boyfriends” as apposed to Elvis or James Dean’s bad boy image.
What was different about performances on the Ed Sullivan show and American Bandstand?
Ed Sullivan show artists authentically played their music
American Bandstand every artist on stage would lip sync their music rather than actually play it
What were the results of the payola scandal?
– Congressional hearings
-Payola made illegal
-Radio stations feared the FCC
-Fewer black artists on the radio
Who are some of the R&B and Soul singers during the 50s and 60s who started by singing gospel music?
Ray Charles, Etta James, Sam Cooke, Clyde McPhatter, Little Richard, and Hank Ballard
What style of soul music do we associate with Stax and the Atlantic label?
Southern Soul music
How is Motown different from southern soul music?
Motown, with its refined pop sound and Stax, with its raw blues-gospel sound. Motown songs were written by songwriters and producers, while Stax songs were created by the performers and were arranged in recording sessions
What is sweet soul and what former gospel singer sang this style?
Singers often use a wide range of rich vocal timbre, expressive in sound and feel, and also in the lyrical content. Songs often describe trials and tribulations, or love stories, including heartbreak. Arthur Conley sang sweet soul.
What style of white music do we associate with Sun Records? Who recorded there?
Rock and roll, country, and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley
Know the 6 members of the Beatles team and their contributions to the band during their most successful years.
John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar.
Paul McCartney – vocals, rhythm guitar.
George Harrison – lead guitar.
Len Garry – tea chest bass.
Eric Griffiths – rhythm guitar.
Colin Hanton – drums.
The Rolling Stones name came from the name of a song by whom…..?
“Like a Rolling Stone” by Muddy Waters
What song is both the first important hit for one of the most popular bands in all of rock and the first use of the fuzz pedal in a major rock hit?
“Satisifaction” by The Rolling Stones
What event in Feb. 1964 completely changed the pop music world?
an estimated 73 million people tuned in to see the Beatles perform live on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television program.
What was the recording process for the Beatles in their early records and then how did it change in their later recordings?
New techniques and sonic effects emerged through their recording sessions, such as Artificial Double Tracking (or ADT) for vocals
Did Pete Seeger get a lucrative recording contract leading to financial success?
He performed many concerts to raise money for civil rights organizations, and helped spread the song “We Shall Overcome” to civil rights workers at the Highlander Folk School.
Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” inspired a folk singer to counter with an alternate vision of America. Who was it and what is the name of the song?
“This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie
What was the music festival, held in Bethel, NY, in August, 1969 that is remembered as the high point of the rock hippie culture.
The Woodstock Music Festival began on August 15, 1969
Besides being a collection of great songs performed well on record, what distinguished Stg. Peppers so that it led the way to a new kind of record?
an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music.
How did Cream get its name; what is the significance of the name?
Clapton, Bruce, and Baker were already considered the “cream of the crop” amongst blues and jazz musicians in the exploding British music scene.
What San Francisco band used psychedelic rock to have commercial success with several singles, while flaunting drug use in their lyrics?
Jefferson Airplane
John Lennon claimed that his son brought a picture that he painted home from kindergarten. What song did he tell Rolling Stone magazine that this inspired him to write?
“Lucy – in the sky with diamonds”.
