“The Journey from Rhythm & Blues to Rock & Roll.” Claude Cailliet Mike Jacobs

 Q: What is R & B? (A: Rhythm & Blues)  How did we get there?  What happened/evolved to cause R & B to transform into Rock and Roll?  What is Rock and Roll? Rockabilly?  Why is this an important period in American history? Or American culture?  Why is this an important Music? THE JOURNEY FROM R & B TO ROCK AND ROLL

String Band  Blues (Delta)  Minstrel Show  Cakewalk  Ragtime Vocal  Spiritual  Blues  Minstrel Show Brass Band  Parade Music  Military Music  Blues  Ragtime Piano  Classical (“Lite”)  Ragtime JAZZ Transition to JAZZ / ca. 1900

JAZZ Blues  City  Urban  Chicago Vocal  Blues  Gospel  Swing  Crooning Brass  Early Jazz Combo  Big Band (Swing) Piano  Stride Style  Boogie-Woogie  Swing JAZZ branching out: (1920s – 1940s)

Country  American Southern folk  Appalachian folk  Old Time/Hillbilly/Cowboy Folk  Pre-20 th Century European/American origin  Appalachian  Traditional  Topical  Protest  Singer/Songwriter  Western Swing  Bluegrass  Honky Tonk *Acoustic Instruments* Transition of Folk and Country Styles (mid-1800s through mid-1900s) Transition of Folk and Country Styles (mid-1800s through mid-1900s)

Al Jolson & “Gus”

Rhythm & Blues Evolving out of jump blues in the late '40s, R&B laid the groundwork for rock & roll. R&B kept the tempo and the drive of jump blues, but its instrumentation was sparer and the emphasis was on the song, not improvisation. It was blues chord changes played with an insistent (heavy) backbeat. Eventually, R&B transformed into soul, which was funkier and looser than the back-beat rhythms of R&B. Soul came to describe a number of R&B-based music styles.

Blues  City  Urban  Chicago Vocal  Blues  Gospel  Swing  Crooning Brass  Early Jazz Combo  Big Band (Swing) Piano  Stride Style  Boogie-Woogie  Swing Style / Tonality  Form (12-bar) + Blue-notes  Shouting (“gritty” vocals)  Melisma  Lyrics Groove  Swing + Boogie Woogie  Up-Tempo Early R & B  Jump Blues  Jump Swing  Jump Boogie  Jump Shuffle Doo Wop Popular Styles leading to R & B (1930s – 1940s) Popular Styles leading to R & B (1930s – 1940s)

Great Migration: by decade 1880s 70, s 168, s 170, s 450, s 750, s 350, s1,600, s1,500, s1,400,000

Dave Brubeck Quartet

R & BCountry Rock and Roll What is Rock and Roll?

Rhythm & Blues  Blues Form  Jump  Boogie  Up-Tempo  Back-Beat  Small Combo  Dynamic Vocals Doo Wop  A-A-B-A Form  12/8 Groove  Slower Tempo  Acapella (accompanied)  Crooning - Falsetto  Lyrics – Novelty Country/Folk  Strophic Form  Straight-up Groove  Two-Beat  Plaintive Vocals  Duple-Meter  3-Part Harmony  High Lonesome Sound  Storytelling Rock and Roll R & B + Country/Folk Attributes leading to Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll The blending of:  R & B and Folk/Country attributes +  Focus on Amplified Guitar  Even More Energy  “Catchy” Melody Rockabilly  Early form of Rock and Roll that retained more Country influence  Performed by Southern “white” musicians  “Twangy” Electric Guitar  “Slap-Back” Bass  Production style (Sun Records)  Echo (vocals) – Reverb (mix)

Rock and Roll Innovators R & B Side  Chuck Berry  Little Richard  Bo Diddley  Big Joe Turner  Fats Domino Country Side  Bill Haley  Elvis Presley  Jerry Lee Lewis  Carl Perkins  Buddy Holly  Roy Orbison  Everly Bros  Eddie Cochran  Gene Vincent

“Father of Rock and Roll” ?

Jerry Lee Lewis – Ferriday, Louisiana Elvis Presley – Tupelo, Mississippi Buddy Holly - Lubbock, Texas