Origins of Rock and RollSpatial Tradition and Area Studies Approach

Appalachian Suiteprelude

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http://yifanhu.net/MusicMap/index.html

Landscape of Music

Ford, Larry. 1971. Origin, evolution, and diffusion of rock and roll music.

FOLK AND POPULAR CULTUREA.Main conclusions

1. Basically Rock emerged as a combination of:-Black: Rhythms & Blues and Gospels-White: Country and Westerna. Ethinic groups included:

- African Americans spread throughout the South- Scots-Irish in Appalachia- Note “cowboy” music although related to yodeling was not

limited by ethnicity but Germanic groups first brought it

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FOLK AND POPULAR CULTUREA.Main conclusions (cont.)

2. Rock music represented “a revolt by the provinces against the old cultural capital, NYC,” because NYC wasn't filling local needs

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B. Concepts

1. Ford deals with a series of concepts or tools very similar in definition to ones we have talked about and will see in exploring language, religion, agriculture, industry…

-Cultural hearth area-Process of diffusion (spread)-Patterns of:

-acceptance-rejection

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B. Concepts

2. Hearth area (review Rubenstien chapter 1), the question that Ford wishes pursue here is:

Why did a particular trait start at a given point and not some other -- what was present there that enabled a critical mass

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B. Concepts

3. Spread & Diffusion (again review Rubenstien chap 1), realize that Ford's use of these concepts varies slightly from Rubenstien's but that they are basically the same

a. Personal Contact (contagious)b. Relocation of individuals (relocation)c. Objectification for easy transmittal (move

from folk to popular – “industrial” input)

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4. Acceptance & Rejectiona.Satisfaction -- if an origin area is already satisfied then it may not desire to change the status quo:

a. for example, the Buddha was an Indian Hindu but Buddhism no longer exists in large numbers in India. What about Jesus??? Did all Jews become Christian?

b.Barriers -- local conditions can prevent acceptance or don't provide necessary conditions to cause components to come together

-South, racial segregation prevented groups from interacting

-South, also had lower urbanization rates, leads to more conservative outlook and greater social control 7

5. Final note -- study concentrates on verbal (vocal) aspect of Rock's evolution

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C. White Country & Western Music -- History & Development

Isolation of Appalachia1. What is the major ethnic group of the

Appalachian region? -- Where did they come from?– What is their musical heritage?– Historically, what instrument did they use? How did this change over time?– Does Isolation play a role in this musical type? Explain.

Song Sweet William and Lady MargaretMorris Family Old Time Music Festival

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2. Exposure to change -- early 20th centuryWhat caused this exposure?Why/how is it continued?

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Folk

Center/Hearth

3. Need for a center as demand increases (Nashville, TN)

How does the hearth area develop? What created the critical mass?What kinds of diffusion were important and how did they interact?Be sure to locate the primary hearth area on a map.Did this folk custom evolve into a pop custom at this time? Explain.

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Folk to Pop

4. Market area -- How extensive is the market area in the 1920s and 30s? Functional Region?

• Grand ole Oprey on TV for the hicks• Grand ol oprey• Move to mainstream popular Culture

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5. Western music

What can be concluded about the ethnic background of this group? Think about yodeling.

• Yodeling• Explanation of Yodeling• Jamie Foxx Yodeling

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6. North – Rejection of Country & Western

• What did the North think? Why?

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D. Black Music -- Gospel & Blues

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Blues Gospel

D. Black Music -- Gospel & Blues

• 1. Gospel -- mainly from southern Baptist and Methodist churches a. Why were African-Americans Christianized during the slave period? What kind of religions were they permitted to join? If this is stated as the interaction of a dominate culture with a non-dominate one which one dominated and what is the process being identified here?

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1. Gospelb. Gospel music arises, and due to the Civil War

split of the Baptist and also Methodist churches, plus the establishment of all black congregations in the South, this evolves under social isolation.

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Mahalia Jackson--How I got over LIVE America’s First Gospel Group: The Fisk Jubilee SingersA group of former slaves started a singing group to keep their school from shutting down - and more than a century later, America's first all-black “hit” singing group is still going strong. http://gimundo.com/news/article/americas-first-gospel-group-the-fisk-jubilee-singers/

Circa 1870s

2. Blues -- mainly from "field holler" and chant work songs

a. What is the historical origin of this music? What was its original purpose? Musical techniques maintained until the present include: statement by individual followed by response from chorus or call and response; falsetto breaks and vocal twists and snaps; and the inclusion of the blue note (flatted third and seventh note to mimic African scale more closely)

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• Work Song – sanitized• Prison Work Song the real thing• Field & Work Song• Song from a Cotton Field - Bessie Brown

Mississippi Delta

Mississippi Delta another version19

Blues

b. What is the "blue note"? Flatted third and seventh notes. What was its purpose?

c. Why is the Mississippi delta so important in the development of Blues? Where is the Mississippi delta (locate it on a map)?

d. Who was W.C. Handy and why was he important? First African-American to create sheet music using blue note style.

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21http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgogFa_46D8&feature=related

Blues

e. How does Memphis fit into this entire development? Beale Street becomes Blue's hearth area for first the sheet music, then later record industry. These records by blacks were referred to as "Race" records and by other terms…

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Blues

f. Why was the spread of blues so slow in the south? Is there a term that Rubenstien might have used to describe this situation?

g. What was White reaction to blues?

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Mixing the two – Gospel + Blues

• Ray Charles – Georgia On My Mind• Ray Charles – I Can’t Stop Loving You• Ray Charles – I’m Busted

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E. New York City

1. Rubenstein details musical development in NYC, where and what occurs here?

2. What is the nation's general reaction to pre-1950 NYC tin pan alley music? Indifferent acceptance.

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F. The Midwest Industrial Heartland

1. What brings Country & Western and Blues into the Midwest?

2. What differences occur in the Midwest that

hadn't occurred in the South?

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G. Birth of Rock and Roll

1. Who was Alan Freed and why is he important? Why was the term "Rock and Roll" coined?

2. How does race and mass communication fit into the development of Rock?

3. Finally, early on why didn't Rock take hold in the South? Why didn't it originally develop in the South?

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Rock

4. What was the reaction of the older generation of the middle class to Rock? Does this sound familiar? What will happen when you turn middle aged?

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Alan Freed’s Rock’n Roll Party

Covers

Detroit Hounddog Comeback 2008 take

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Additional Notes

Where do Folk and Popular Cultures Originate and Diffuse from

Be sure you have looked over the examples on Tin Pan Alley, The Amish, and Sports (including piece on Lacrosse)

Why is Folk Culture Clustered Be sure to read the section on US folk house

forms

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Additional Notes

Why is popular culture widely distributed Why does globalization of popular culture cause

problems? Read this chapter very carefully. Popular culture

is many times synonymous with American culture (but less so in East Asia today). Are we doing a good thing or not in spreading our popular culture?

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American Roots

• Interested in this area – listen to American Roots a program on NPR

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