Music Appreciation: The History of Rock Chapter 3 and 4: Country and Western and Rhythm and Blues

Country and Western Music Derived from folk music brought by British, Scottish and Irish settlers to the Southern US and the mountain regions of the Eastern part of country. Meant to bring the nostalgia of a time before modern things but by the late 1920’s it was derogatorily referred to as hillbilly music.

Performance venues…. National Barn Dance- based in Chicago Grand Ole Opry- based in Nashville Both followed the format of simple, nostalgic music interspersed with jokes and monologues of country humor. Grand Ole Opry also introduced the TV version of the Barn Dance with Hee Haw! in 1969.

String bands The earliest of country groups (1900-ish) Consisted of lead vocalist, background vocalists, fiddles, acoustic guitars, banjo and acoustic bass; sometimes a mandolin. No piano or drums. By the late 1920’s, this had developed into three distinct but closely related styles: Southern Country, Bluegrass and Southwestern Country Swing.

Southern Country Strongest influence on rock and roll through the music of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Buddy Holly. Many southern country tunes are based upon standard blues progressions and the performance style also incorporates some of the techniques of blues like sliding between pitches and blue notes.

Characteristics of Southern Country music Simple melodies with narrow ranges Simple harmonies (tonic, subdominant, dominant) Simple rhythms Beat remains constant Lyrics often dealt with love, jilted lovers or love gone bad. Solos had little improvisation. Vocalists had a nasal quality, sliding from pitch to pitch and sometimes used a yodeling technique. Steel guitar sometimes used. Use of two-beat bass- tonic on the 1st beat, dominant on the 3rd beat.

Prominent musicians in the Southern Country style Jimmie Rodgers- the “father of country music” Greatly influenced by the blues music he heard growing up in Mississippi. Blue Yodel (1927) made him popular with a national hit. Yodeling was a trademark of his music and was influenced by street cries, field hollers, train whistles and imitations of Swiss yodeling.

Prominent musicians in the Southern Country style Hank Williams- born in rural Alabama in a logging community, raised by his mother and spent much time in church and was exposed to weekly Saturday night dances that featured old-time string bands. Rough and short life and he had hits that included Move It On Over, Lovesick Blues, Your Cheatin’ Heart, Cold, Cold Heart and was a huge hit on the Grand Ole Opry. Life went downhill due to a dependance on painkillers, alcohol, rough living. He was a heavy influence on the Memphis country rock style of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. This rock style was called rockabilly.

Western Swing Originated in the Texas string bands of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Along with the typical stringed instruments, it also contained drums, piano, steel guitar and in some cases, a horn section (saxophones, clarinet, trumpet, trombone). This music included folk and country ballads, but also popular blues, jazz and pop tunes. This style was generally more accepting of other musical styles and were not opposed to improvisation. Major figure in Western Swing was Bob Wills and he wrote Swing Blues No. 1

Chapter 4- Rhythm and Blues Race records- recordings made by African American artists. Generally produced by small, independent record companies (“Indies”) and were distributed within particular areas, often from the trunks of the company owners’ cars. After WW2, the RCA Victor record label started referring to it as Rhythm and Blues instead of race records. Eventually, Billboard and other trade magazines adopted this term as well for all music, other than jazz, by black artists.

Jump Blues Rhythm and blues were a part of the post WW2 urban blues scene of the mid to late 1940’s. It contained elements of the blues, boogie woogie and the black swing bands. Groups like Count Basie’s orchestra and smaller combos like Louis Jordan’s Tympany Five were popular in the SW and referred to as jump groups, named after a fast type of dance.

Jump blues, continued…. Generally consisted of a rhythm section with a piano, guitar, acoustic bass and drums. They copied the rhythms the boogie woogie player did with their left hand (remember Meade?). The band was fronted by a singer and usually a tenor sax player. Larger groups had a full trumpet, saxophone and trombone section and other vocal soloists like a ballad singer and a shouter/screamer. Shouters were known for novelty songs and or songs with “adult quality” lyrics that were thinly or blatantly disguised sexual innuendo…. Louis Jordan- Choo Choo Ch’Boogie- probably one of the most prominent jump blues musicians.

Rhythm and Blues transition from Jump Blues The R&B style that arose in the late 1940’s was directly descended from the jump blues. In R&B, vocal performances were harsher and lyrics were more risque than jump blues, but related in style and spirit to the jump band shouter. Instruments were played loudly, the rhythm section consisted of piano, drums and bass and at least a harsh, honking tenor saxophone.

Rhythm and Blues transition from Jump Blues…continued Rhythm is very hard-driving 2nd and 4th beats are heavily accented as opposed to 1 and 3. This became known as the backbeat and it became the heart of rock and roll. Harmonic progression is mostly the 12 bar blues progression. Lyrics were often expressions of love, life, jobs and other philosophies but the terms often had double-meanings and this is where music began to clash with parents and government regulators.

Prominent Rhythm and Blues musicians Roy Brown- a shouter and a pianist from New Orleans “Good Rockin’ Tonight” was recorded in 1948. One of the first songs to use “rock and roll” in the double meaning of the term.

Prominent Rhythm and Blues musicians Jackie Brenston One song that is frequently cited as “the first rock and roll song” is Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, released in 1951. First Rock and Roll song about a car. Rocket 88 was later covered by Bill Haley and set the way for the recording of R&B for white audiences.

Prominent Rhythm and Blues musicians Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton Self-taught musician who learned to play drums and harmonica Heavily influenced by Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie McCoy Her style was thought to only attract black audiences, but appealed to white audiences as well (think Eminem)…and had a huge hit with Hound Dog. Her version of Hound Dog was a model for Elvis Presley’s version and serves as a predecessor of the rockabilly style of Memphis country rockers.

Prominent Rhythm and Blues musicians Big Joe Turner A shouter from Kansas City After WW2, public interest in boogie woogie diminshed and Turner turned to the R&B style. Shake, Rattle and Roll was particularly instrumental in creating the new genre of Rock and Roll when it was covered by Bill Haley and His Comets and by Elvis Presley.