ROCK AND ROLL is like a layered cake.. Or a well mixed drink.. There are foundational musical elements that sustained the ever changing exotic flavours.. This thread is a brief and fun exploration of this extraordinary music phenom of our times.. It is by no means complete.. Just to give you a taste of the layers and hopefully ignite some discussions (and farming.. Cos that's how we settle arguments in KaW).. Alright! Let's dive into the Rabbit hole shall we? CHAPTER 1: FOUNDATIONS Here, you will see the key elements that gave birth to the essence of Rock and Roll.. 1: FREDRICK CHOPIN What was Doc Holiday playing in the Saloon at Tombstone?.. That's right Fredrick ******* Chopin.. Chopin was a highly innovative pianist and produced individual fast (for its time) melodic nocturnes.. Well guess what.. They caught on big time at the frontier saloons (we're talking 19th century here) and a racing melodic heartbeat of Rock and Roll took hold in the new world.. 2: West African Rhythm and Beat Music traditions endured through the times of slavery and as America came out of its Civil war, free, the pulsating rhythms and beats of the far away coast are now being infused into the pulse of the new world music that would give rise to Jazz and Blues 3: GOSPEL Glory is meant to be celebrated.. And the music of Gospel and Soul would give rise to Motown and Funk and beyond.. 4: YODELLING Originally practiced to cause Avalanches in the Alps, yodelling and its undulating low-pitch to high-pitch vocal melodies was a cornerstone to the other music that would go on to influence Rock and Roll.. It's called the Country Music.. 5: LES PAUL Rock and Roll would never have happened if some electrical engineers haven't shoved some wires into a guitar.. And Les Paul (That's a dude) took it to the levels where the quintessential "Rock" sounds were originated.. His experiments in overdubbing, delays and multi tracking were all foundations to the modern Rock.. ...but Something else also went into the guitar along with the electricity that defined Rock and Roll.. For the last piece of foundation of Rock and Roll, I present to you, 6: THE DEVIL You see.. The devil always try to make his way into our world.. And way before modern marketing, big corporations, mass consumerism and people being glued to tap tap phones, he saw the makings of Rock and Roll and decided to imprint his mischief.. Why do you think the Pentatonic scale is so popular in Rock!? So whether it's fame (Robert Johnson), Gnarly sounds (Tommi Iommi), Eternal life (Keith Richards), or endless AirPlay (Chicago), the devil is a key foundational contributor to Rock and Roll.. CHAPTER 2: THE PIONEERS Here, we celebrate the pioneers who blazed the trail... The 50's.. All the musical elements that were swirling around in the early part of the 20th century, from Louis Armstrong's pioneering Jazz, Duke Ellington's Swing sounds, Jimie Rodgers yodel influenced country music - to Louis Jordan's experiments in "Honking" with an eclectic mix of electric guitars and saxophones, came together like a hurricane and in the 50's Rock and Roll was born.. Chuck Berry The Prominent pioneers of this first generation were Ike Turner, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Chubby Checker, Fats Domino, Connie Francis and Little Richard.. Jerry Lee Lewis OH.. And this kid from Memphis.. Elvis is the King.. He took Rock and Roll to the cultural heart of the boomer America.. And laid the foundations for the tumulus 60's and the incoming British Invasion... CHAPTER 3: THE VISIONARIES The 60's Rock and Roll established itself as the mainstream music form by the 60's.. Elvis was at the height of his power and the early part of the decade saw the likes of Roy Orbison and Ray Charles.. But across the pond, a lot of young folks were keenly studying the development of this new forms of music in the States.. And creating their own fusion of Blues, Rockabilly and electric sounds to their own distinctive lyrics and stories.. And by 1963, four of those youngsters invaded the U.S. The Beatles were massively talented.. And their embracing of Rock and Roll as the music medium in turn allowed Rock music to gain mainstream support and allowed it to mature and branch out in many directions.. By mid 60's other monster British bands landed on US shores with heavily influenced Blues and electric guitar riffs.. Most notables were The Yardbirds, Cream, The Who.. ...and this band that quite possibly injected the bad boy rebel essence to countless Rock and Roll Bands.. The Rolling Stones The Stones took the wailing blues riffs to mainstream by infusing with a machismo raw vocal and lyrics The Tongue Not to be outdone with the British Invasion, various unexpected places in America also gave strong and unique adaptations of Rock.. First off, is certainly one of the most influential performers (even though no one can really understand his singing) and songwriters of Rock.. Bob Dylan took all the smouldering angst from the delta blues, civil rights movement, and counterculture movement.. Threw it into a harmonica and gave us the cornerstone Rock songs.. The laid back but adrenaline coursed surfing culture of the West coast threw both the meticulously crafted sounds of the Beach Boys, as well as the high energy surf music pioneered by The likes of Rich Dale and the Del-Tones and Surfaris.. The surf music also brought a key foundation to the Rock music going forward, their use of wet string reverb and fast tremolo picking brought The Fender guitars to the mainstream.. We ALL know about the Fenders now.. In LA, another band also emerged.. Taking inspirations from William Blake and Aldus Huxley, the Doors were unapologetic.. Their music and lyrics were raw.. Their charisma was magnetic.. And their influence to the mythos infused Rock was massive.. Then there was Berry Gordon, an automobile worker who, at the height of the Civil Rights movement, started an all Black owned, Black musicians recording label in Detroit and produced the Motown sound.. Motown music was groovin' n movin' but sad and mad at the same time.. All the roots of modern day Hip-Hop can be traced in those bands.. The Notable Motown ensembles ranged from Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips... And the fiery Diana Ross and the Supremes.. In the dusty mid west, Rock also fused with Country, Folk, Blues and Mexican El Mariachi to evolve into new directions.. Ritchie Valens in his short but groundbreaking career, pioneered that infusion of Country, Rock and Mexican Folk melodies.. And by the 60's, The Man in Black came along Johnny Cash The prototypes of "Southern Rock" also started in the 60's with the stripped down but hard hitting rock songs of Creedence Clearwater Revival Of course, one cannot mention the 60's without the Counterculture and the Hippy movement.. Love, Peace, and Tripping out to strange strands of Rock Music in the 60's... And musically, at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets, the forces of Jazz, Folk, and Rock, collided with Gypsy and Bohemian rhythms... Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Simon and Garfunkel, and Crosby, Stills and Nash brought the classics where most modern psychedelia can be traced.. Grateful Dead As the Woodstock wound down at the end of sixties, Rock was getting edgier, harder, and full of Angst.. There were a horde of innovating Rock musicians and Bands that will define Rock in the coming decade who were "Lighting their fires" in '68 and '69 But a notable few hit their apex, gave undeniable foundations of music styles to the Rock world, and flamed out shortly after.. Here's the notable 2.. Janis Joplin took the girl power to the next level in Rock.. She empowered the women fronting a Rock band and let it all out.. The soul, the angst, the screams.. Jimi... Well Jimi put everything into his guitar.. He played with his teeth, he lit it on fire, and put his heart and soul into it.. And the Heavy Rock sounds that never knew existed, were let loose in a purple haze of a voodoo cloud..
Very interesting read, this is great. Quite amazing how many of those late 60s and early 70s legends still are around (or until very recently). Makes me feel very old though
Very nice thread! The music back than is still a great ispiration to many artists today. My kind of music taste is quite different but I can respect and listen to everything to be honest as music brings up different emotions to many people and even connect a whole lot of people.
Your thread was good until i noticed you left out Led Zep. The biggest rock band of all time. Disappointed
And what about Queen? :roll: Here waiting for further rock history to see them. But it's still a great thread.
I need time for the 70's.. So many bad ass bands and musicians and directions that Rock went through.. Yes we will cover Heavy metal as it is considered to be born out of Rock.. One aspect I am cherishing and focusing on this thread are the "contributing factors" into Rock.. From Chopin's piano notes, hanging the vibrato down to simulate the ocean waves, to Rhythms of Gypsy and African beats, it is amazing how Rock got influenced and experimented..
I guess you could do a whole thread about the history of heavy metal, from Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Black Sabbath to today's stars. Patience, Ashes will cover Led Zep, Pink Floyd (hehe, got the vinyl The Dark Side of the Moon hanging on one of my walls), Queen, and a lot more in the 70s The Doors, Tina Turner, Donna Summer, David Bowie, ACDC, Kiss, Maiden,... those were the times! Will he identify the first Disco song? Very interesting to see you mention Frédéric Chopin (hey, he was frenchie after all). How about Paganini while you're at it? He certainly inspired works by Chopin (and even Yngwie Malmsteen!) and was said to be close to the devil (the catholic church did initially refuse his burial).