In the book All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America, by Glenn Altschuler, touches on the development of rock ‘n’ roll between 1945 and 1955 cautiously observing that it is a “social construction not a musical conception (Page 27).” This definition of rock ‘n’ roll gives him space to focus on arguable topics much as exploration, and, in some cases, combining of differing styles, cultures, and social values. In the book the first three chapters focus on those argued areas by looking at generation differences, race, and sexuality. In his discussion of race, he obscures the traditional view that white artists did damage to African American artists when he says that in some a way it helped lift them by giving them more radio time and publicity.…
Elvis Presley is one of the world’s most popular music icons. The article “Elvis Presley and the politics of popular memory” is written by Michael T. Bertrand, presenting the two different views on held by Black and White Americans around the iconic pop culture Elvis Presley. The number of people at Elvis Presley’s funeral was tremendous and received thousands of people’ mourning. His passing away had caused a huge loss for the music industry as well as in people’s hearts. However, there are two opposing arguments about Elvis Presley.…
They educated, motivated, strengthened, and provided hope for a race who was in turmoil and transition” (Davis). “Of all the musical styles on which soul music is built, the two most prominent are gospel and blues. Both are expressions from the human heart of love, pain, and longing. Gospel is church-based and sung to God, while the blues is secular and often sung to another person-often a spouse or lover, present or former. Both musical forms release the participants from their immediate confines, offering refuge for the spirit” (Stax Museum…
In the late 1940’s, a new genre of music was starting to take shape. Music artists were starting to combine different elements of country, western, and rhythm and blues (R&B) to create what would eventually evolve into rock and roll. Of these earliest artists, Bill Haley and His Comets would rise to popularity and become known as (if not, one of) the Father(s) of rock and roll. Haley was not the creator of rock and roll, but he was the one that changed rock and roll from a “ ‘virtually an underground movement, something kids listened to on the sly,’ wrote journalist Alex Frazer-Harrison. ‘This changed after ‘Rock Around the Clock.’…
Similar to many eras and generations before the 1950s struggled for the control of pop culture. For the first time, this particular new genre of music was able to bring African American music into white homes. Altschuler’s detailed accounts of musicians, such as Elvis Presley, gave credit to African Americans with the creation of this new sound of music. Although many adults believed rock was a detriment to social values it also had the ability to unite…
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His parents are Vernon and Gladys Presley; he also had a twin brother, who died at birth. Presley’s middle name was originally spelled Aron after his brother passed, but he later legally changed it to the more traditionally spelling “Aaron.” Elvis started singing and dancing at a very young age, and he now has immortality even after his death. Elvis Presley is one of the most tremendous musicians of the fifties Rock and Rolls era; because of his phenomenal talent and his miraculous way of dressing and dancing, he changes the world’s perspective of music with his incredible talent and charisma (Petersen 1).…
Elvis Presley, a very influential person of the 20th century, was an actor and a music artist. Many people looked up to him as he made a great impact in much of the cultural and lifestyle of this era. During his career, he sold over one billion records and actually made 33 movies. He never really stayed in one spot while he was with his parents, and all the moving made him connect to only about two things; his music and his family. Elvis was born in 1935 and made a huge difference all the way through 1977, but people still celebrate and commemorate his life.…
In this paper I will be writing about the differences between Big Mama Thornton’s recording of "Hound Dog" with that of Elvis Presley recording. The first difference between Big Mama Thornton’s and Elvis Presley’s version is that Big Mama recorded the song “Hound Dog” as a blues song. Whereas Elvis version is considered to be Rock N Roll. Another difference between the two different recordings of Hound Dog is that both artist decided to start of the song differently.…
Toward the end of your participation in the online discussion for Lesson 3, submit your final assessment of why so many people seem to consider Elvis a seminal figure in rock. Include in your written discussion the role of mass media and its possible influence on cultural fashion. Also include references from the online discussion where appropriate. Be sure to cite your sources. Elvis Presley, also known was the “King of Rock,” played a very important part in the 50s.…
Rock n’ Roll music has had a major influence on the American culture and it has been an influence to other genres of music. The music has helped bands and the people after WWII and the Vietnam War, it has also changed America entirely. The way that Rock n’ Roll music had an impact on America was that it started a trend. It made people express themselves better by changing the way they dressed, the dance styles, or the way that they acted or what they did that made them stand out in the crowd.…
The blues possessed an easier form, in which harmonies were not changed often and there were as little as three chords in a piece at once. This three-chord format proved to be extremely influential in the structure of future jazz compositions. One of the most notable pieces was W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues”, which was made up of simply twelve measures. Handy, notable known as “the daddy of all blues”, perfectly demonstrated the development of jazz from blues: “We didn’t call it jazz before the ‘Memphis Blues’, but that blues is remembered by many musicians allowing each musician to ‘do his stuff’ at the break in the last strain – the first jazzing [1].” In addition to three chord structure, chord progression and blue notes were also elements that influenced jazz.…
The African American musicians of the late 50’s, early 60’s “bleached” their music in order to be heard by America’s youth during the civil rights movement. White artists transformed black music into hits by simply changing a few lyrics and maybe the tempo so that it would appeal more to the white, youth population. In fact, Elvis Presley, an immensely popular musician, “bleached” Willie Mae Thornton’s “Hound Dog” and transformed it into it a number one hit around the country. Another African American, Chuck Berry, performed at mixed race clubs; he would change his dialect so that it was “harder and whiter”. A while later, The Beatles took the sixties by storm.…
Ragtime was a synthesis of African syncopation and European classical music, while blues was a synthesis of African American work songs and European American folk songs and harmonic structure. Since many Europeans passed by sea ports for trades, they were frequently exposed by African Americans’ music cultures. Europeans combined rhythms and created new ones from the originating African music. Since both ragtime and blues arose from the African background, they similarly dealt with the problems of slavery and work environment. Although the two genres seem to have much in common, they are in fact vastly…
During a period in time where African Americans were physically and systematically oppressed, the Blues gave people hope, a way of grieving or expressing pain. The blues speak out to me, you could literally feel the artist’s pain in blues music. As a result, I choose this genre of music, because it truly intrigues me. Furthermore, “blues music gain popularity through the publication of Memphis Blues in 1912 and St Louis Blues 1914 by W.C. Handy (1873-1958)”…
“Melodically it contains no borrowing from the Blues except for a timid and no doubt involuntary during the exposition of the violin theme, where is some major – minor playing around with the third degree” (pg.256, Jazz its Evolution and Essence). Some blues notes can be seen in ragtime, but these notes are not expressive and played with other sounds that drags the music away from the essence of blues. “Some vague blue notes are scattered around in the principal melodic design of Piano Rag Music, but they are surrounded by a polytonal accompaniment that robs them of all resemblance to the Negro music.” (pg. 256, Jazz its Evolution and Essence). A big contributor to jazz was Louis Armstrong.…