History of Rock and Roll (1) Buddy Holly (2) Early 60’s Pop

Buddy Holly  Born 9/7/36, Lubbock, TX  His band was “The Crickets”  Short but intensely successful career  Died in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, 2/3/59

Buddy Holly: Musical Facts  Style: multiple musical influences - often credited with being the great “transitional figure” between the 50s and 60s  Ensemble concept very influential: 2 guitars, bass, drums (think Beatles!)  Multiple musical roles: guitarist, vocalist, arranger, songwriter  Distinctive singer, with certain trademark vocal “tricks”

Buddy Holly – guitar facts  Buddy Holly popularized the Fender Stratocaster  His playing style was a combo of rhythm & lead – thick texture, using all 6 strings

Buddy Holly in the Recording Studio  First major white RR artist to write AND produce his own songs  First hits recorded in Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, NM  First RR star to use the recording studio as a creative “instrument”

Buddy Holly: That’ll be the Day  Recorded in 1957 at Petty’s Clovis studio  Holly & Allison wrote this song after watching a John Wayne movie  Holly tried to record this in Nashville  Petty is named co-author on this song

Buddy Holly: Not Fade Away  Recorded in 1957  Written by Holly & Petty  This is a great example of the “Bo Diddley” beat as used by Holly  The Rolling Stones re-recorded this song & released it as their first U.S. single (1964)

The Beatles: Words of Love  Holly recorded this in 1957  Holly originally recorded this song by himself, playing & singing all parts on his own  The Beatles’ version is heard here  The Bealtes’ recorded this in 1964  Released on “Beatles for Sale”

Ritchie Valens: La Bamba  Recorded in 1959  This is a Mexican folk song from the Jalisco region of Mexico  This song features Earl Palmer (of Little Richard) on drums  Valens was known as the “Little Richard of the Valley” (California)  Valens wrote, sang, & often recorded all the instruments on his recordings.

Plane Crash – 2/3/59 Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake, IA. The plane went down in bad weather. People drove to the crash site from hundreds of miles around. The crash made national and international headlines. The phrase “The Day the Music Died,” later made famous in the song American Pie, refers to this event – so great was Holly’s influence in the rock world.

: “End of an Era”  Deaths of influential rockers such as Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran  Elvis in the army  Little Richard back in Bible School; Jerry Lee Lewis blacklisted; Chuck Berry arrested  Payola scandal hits the broadcast world  The beginnings of rock “nostalgia” – the first appearance of compilations of “oldies.”  Trend toward a more commercial, “pop” sound

Ricky Nelson ( ) 50s 1971  “Teen idol” of the early 60s  TV star – son of “Ozzie and Harriet” (Ozzie is NOT Ozzy!)  Smooth vocals, slick production, slight rockabilly influence  Long list of hits  Formed a country band in the late 1960s  Died in a plane crash, 1985  “Hello Mary Lou”

The Everly Brothers  Don and Phil Everly  Known for close vocal harmonies  “Country duo” sound with rock / pop arrangements  Recordings backed by top-notch Nashville session bands  Long string of big Top 40 hits – “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up, Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do is Dream,” Cathy’s Clown,” “When Will I Be Loved”

The Everly Brothers: Wake Up Little Susie  Recorded in 1957  This song was actually banned by some stations!  Listen to the lyrics, this is the same kind of storytelling we heard with Chuck Berry  Notice the close vocal harmonies & prominent acoustic guitar sound  Both brothers joined the Marines in 1962

American Bandstand  TV show based in Philadelphia, center of the teen-idol industry  Host Dick Clark  Important showcase for rock and roll groups

Payola Scandal  The payola scandal was about broadcast industry people receiving favors or money in return for promoting a certain recording.  The practice was rampant in the 1950s and still goes on today.  Two of the main characters in the payola scandal of the late 1950s were Dick Clark and DJ Alan Freed.

Payola, continued  Clark’s career was not severely damaged by the payola scandal  The career of Freed, a more controversial figure, was virtually ruined

“Brill Building” Songwriters  1958: Publishing house called Aldon Music founded by Al Nevins and Don Kirshner  They assemble a great team of songwriters to churn out hits for the pop stars of the early 60s  Their location, in New York’s Brill Building, leads to their being called the “Brill Building” Songwriters

Examples of Brill Building Songwriters  Gerry Goffin and Carole King  Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil  Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield  Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman  Burt Bacharach and Hal David  Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich

“Girl Groups”  One musical trend in the early 1960s was the popularity of “Girl Groups”  Influenced by doo-wop, but much more heavily produced  Many hits written by Brill Building songwriters  Role of producer very important (example: Phil Spector)

The Chantels: Maybe  Recorded in 1958  Written by their 16 year old lead singer, Arlene Smith  The Chantels were one of the first “girl groups” & were very influential on the groups that followed.

The Shirelles: Will You Love Me Tomorrow  Recorded in 1960  Produced by Luther Dixon & purposefully allowed for the sound to be less polished  The success of groups like the Chantels and Shirelles paved the way for some of the later groups

The Marvelettes: Please Mr. Postman  Recorded in 1961  The Marvelettes were one on Motown’s earliest acts, & this was one of Motown’s first hits  The Carpenters later recorded a version of this in it was a hit

The Chiffons: He’s So Fine  Recorded in 1963  A group of high school friends who did a demo for Ronnie Mack (songwriter)  Many years later, George Harrison was found guilty of copyright infringement by “borrowing” this song or his composition “My Sweet Lord”

The Angels: My Boyfriend’s Back  Recorded in 1963  This was the first girl group to reach #1 on the pop charts  (Rumor) Inspired by a teenage fight in Brooklyn overheard by the songwriter

More Girl Groups: Phil Spector and the Wall of Sound TheCrystalsTheRonettes Spector’s signature production sound featured the following:  Layers of instruments and voices  Strong beat, big drum sound  Use of symphony orchestra  Huge instrumentation for basic tracks, recorded live

The Crystals: Da Doo Ron Ron  Classic example of Spector’s “Wall of Sound”  Recorded in 1963  Produced by Phil Spector  How many instruments and/or voices can you make out?

The Ronettes: Be My Baby  Another classic example of Spector’s “Wall of Sound”  Recorded in 1963  Spector married the lead singer (Ronnie Bennett)

The Shangri-las: Leader of the Pack  Heavily influenced by Spector’s production style  Co-written by the same writers as the previous two examples (minus Spector)  Recorded in 1964  #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (1964)  Has charted (in the U.S. & the U.K.) four times since its release  It was briefly banned in England (for fear of violence between rival “gangs” the “Mods” and the “Rockers”

Phil Spector’s influence, continued  Huge success at young age – “retired” in mid-20s  Production style hugely influential  Also produced the Beatles’ “Let it Be” album and the Ramones’ “End of the Century” album  Became millionaire recluse – went on trial for murder in 2005; trial was supposed to continue Jan ‘06 Spector,1960s Spector, at murder trial, 2005