Progressive Rock to
Reggae
and
Hard and Soft Rock
in the 1970s
Chapter 20-21
Progressive Rock
Fascination with the possibility of fusing
rock stylings with broader instrumentation
of European art (classical) music.
Songwriters and producers from early 60s,
like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson brought
rock out of the garage and into the studio.
Music still had a light, trivial nature.
Progressive Rock
The new serious tendency in rock has
historically been labeled “progressive
rock.”
Movement is primarily British
British rockers “seem far too eager to
‘dignify’ their work, to make it acceptable
for upper-class approbation, by freighting it
with the trappings of classical music.” –
Historian John Rockwell.
These efforts were not widely applauded.
Critics from classical side and rock side
find progressive rock to be pretentious and
affected.
Progressive rockers were not trying to say
their music was better than existing
classical or rock music. They just wanted
a fresh sound.
Progressive Rock Emerges
Procol Harum – created one of the first and
most successful progressive rock recordings
with the 1967 hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPPtHdA
Based on Bach’s “Air On A G String.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2j-frfK-yg
Procol Harum
Their third album, A Salty Dog, was
released on A&M Records in 1969 and is
considered their finest.
Combined energetic rhythm and blues with
a large-scale classical music influence.
Matthew Fisher played organ, Robin
Trower played R&B guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6BzN
EZxbiw “A Salty Dog”
Moody Blues
Similar to Procol Harum
Started out as an R&B group but then
combined with the London Festival
Orchestra in 1968 and produced the
concept album Days of Failure Passed.
“Nights in White Satin” released in 1972.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdykXA
T19Go
Deep Purple
Harder sound than the Moody Blues.
1973 hit “Smoke on the Water”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arpZ3fC
wDEw
In 1969 Deep Purple combined with the
Royal Philharmonic to record “”Concerto
for Group and Orchestra” composed by
keyboardist Jon Lord.
King Crimson
In 1969 they appeared before 650.000
people in London’s Hyde Park, along with
the Rolling Stones.
Album In the Court of the Crimson King
featured challenging instrumentals,
powerful rock guitar, and doom-laden lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_MSK_z
t-nM
Pink Floyd
Begin in mid-1960s as a psychadelic blues
band named after bluesmen Pink
Anderson and Floyd Council.
Guitarist Syd Barrett, bassist Roger
Waters, Keyboardist Rick Wright, drummer
Nick Mason.
Began experimenting with long
improvisation, electronic effects, and light
shows.
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Joined with EMI in 1967, this was first
album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h99WP
2KUvLA
Contained images of childhood, strange
characters, and space travel
Featured long instrumental stretches.
Syd Barrett had mental problems and was
replaced by guitarist Dave Gilmour. Roger
Waters took over as primary composer.
Abandoned singles in favor of concept albums
Reached peak in 1973 - Dark Side of the
Moon, featuring sound effects, female backup
singers, and long instrumental stretches
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVN_T2v
490
1979 The Wall - double concept album dealing
with the walls that humans put up around
themselves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxk
U-U
From the 1980s on, Pink Floyd broke up,
but got together for tours of Dark Side of
the Moon or The Wall.
YES
The previous bands took a rock band and
plugged it into a classical music setting,
resulting in two completely different styles
of music occurring simultaneously. They
did not mix.
The group Yes utilized classically trained
musicians as the rock band.
Yes balanced vocals with LONG
instrumentals. Close to the Edge (1973)
had only 3 cuts on one side of the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNkW
ac-Nm0A
Rick Wakeman
Born in 1949, joined the group in 1971
Went to the Royal Academy of Music and
studied piano and clarinet.
Used electric and acoustic pianos,
synthesizers, electric organ and the Mellotron
- an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape
replay keyboard originally developed and
built in Birmingham, England, in the early
1960s.
Wakeman left Yes in 1974 and was replaced
by Patrick Moraz
He worked on his own albums from 1972
The Six Wives of Henry VIII was instrumental
featuring his multiple keyboards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjjYT90y
FxE
Journey to the Center of the Earth featured
his rock band and a narrator with the London
Symphony Orchestra and English Chamber
Choir – very Jules Verne science fiction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0iBTiQFp
oA
Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
Keith Emerson (b. 1944) – British
progressive rock keyboardist
Initially with “The Nice” – did adaptation of
classical pieces for rock band and
orchestra, ie. Elegy which had Bernstein’s
America From West Side Story in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45pIvr4
gJD4
Emerson met guitarist Greg Lake. The 2
recruited drummer Carl Palmer to form
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, or ELP.
ELP’s work is a blend of Emerson’s
command of Jazz, classical, and rock
elements, and his keyboard mastery.
Songs were original works based on
classical models, and rock adaptation of
classical pieces.
Pictures at an Exhibition (1972) –
Mussorgsky’s 1874 work
Trilogy (1972) – Aaron Copland’s Hoedown
Brain Salad Surgery (1973) – Ginastera’s
First Piano Concerto
Works, Vol.1 (1977)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OLWgrr6
71g – Copland’s Fanfare for the Common
Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr6CnG5d
mvM Original
Frank Zappa
American progressive rock, even though
he seems to be more strange, obscene,
and satirical.
Topics include politics, religion, and
society. Dark sense of humor
Underneath the satire and strangeness,
Zappa was a serious and structured
composer. His music is the most
challenging and creative in the history of
rock or other genre.
Born in Baltimore in 1940, moved to
California in 1950
Guitarist, singer, and composer
Loved rhythm and blues as much as
complex classical music by Stravinsky
Moved to LA in 1964 and formed the
group Soul Giants, which was later
renamed the Mother of Invention
The Mother’s strange music and stange
antics made them popular with LA’s drug
crowd.
1st album Freak Out (1965) was a concept
album that preceded the Beatles’ Sgt.
Pepper, & according to McCartney, inspired
it.
Zappa was not impressed by the Beatles
however – released We’re Only In It for the
Money in 1967, attacking Beatles and their
fans
Listeners have difficulty following Zappa’s
music because it follows 20th century
classical music techniques that do not use
tuneful melodies to rhythmic pulses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql_3LS
_B4q0 on Steve Allen show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho37ar
U5-2g part two
British progressive rockers used 19th
century classical music techniques
The Perfect Stranger (1984)
Uncle Meat (1969) – music for a film that was
never created
Zappa was a spokesman for expression in the
arts
Explicit language kept him off radio and TV and
strained relationships with record companies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtZ6hjiJmTU
&list=RDDtZ6hjiJmTU Broken Hearts are for
#*&$#*$&*
Attacked music censorship in his music
and before government
Hated studio musicians and used
computer sequencing and synthesizers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZazE
M8cgt0 explains the decline of the music
business.
Died of prostate cancer in 1993.
Reggae
The US and Great Britain have been the
primary producers of rock, but rock music
has become a world phenomenon
Other cultures have been influenced by rock
music and have assimilated it into their
cultures
One hybrid that developed close to the US
was reggae
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh6qXWmL
prY Reggae version of Adele
Reggae is a musical product of the lower
class of Jamaica
Jamaica was settled by the Spanish, then
taken over by the British in the 1600s
African slaves were brought in to work the
land and soon became the dominant
culture on the island
The grandfather of reggae was a rural,
local music called mento
Mento rhythm was influenced by many
African-American and African-Carribean
styles, such as calypso and merengue
Its melodies and chords were influenced
by British folk songs, but was played on
rustic and traditional African instruments
In later years it was considered quaint by
the urban Jamaican youth and reserved
for entertaining tourists
Radio, again…
During the 1950s Jamaican music came
under the spell of American rhythm and
blues
Because of Jamaica’s close proximity to
the US its people were able to pick up AM
broadcasts from New Orleans and Miami
From their attempts to play it Jamaican
musicians developed a style known as ska
Familiar elements from rhythm and blues
can be found in ska music such as 12 bar
blues progressions and the shuffle rhythm
and strong backbeat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1gxJ7
mj2uY Reel Big Fish Sell Out
The Skatalites
The Skatalites, the most popular of these ska
groups, formed in 1963 included 4 trumpets, 2
trombones, 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxes
and a rhythm section of bass, 2 guitars, 3
keyboards and 3 percussionists
The concept of this horn section was as much
derived from Mexican mariachi bands as the
horn sections at Stax Records – no single
instrument dominates the style, they equally
contribute to the rhythm, melody and harmony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVoXUGolOlo
The Maytals
In 1968 the ska group the Maytals
recorded “Do the Reggay”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_IaoQ
xZMQ4
Reggae vs. Ska
Reggae uses slower tempos and a lighter
bass line that does not emphasize the
downbeat of each measure (unlike ska)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNuyeT
d5EAQ Difference between Ska and
Reggae
Reggae was a product of the poor blacks
of Kingston, Jamaica’s capital
Since the oppressing ruling powers of the
island did not allow reggae to be played on
the government controlled radio stations,
the music was disseminated by “sound
systems,” portable DJ systems set up on
the streets that played records for the
crowds
Chris Blackwell, born in London of
Jamaican descent moved to Jamaica at 18
He became enamored with reggae and
established Island Records to record it
Because of his ties with England, his
reggae recordings had a great influence
on English rock musicians, notably Eric
Clapton and the Police
Bob Marley
In 1972 his attention was drawn to Bob Marley, the
leader of the Wailers
Although his music was popular on the island
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XiYUYcpsT4
, Clapton’s recording of “I Shot the Sheriff”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10qLYy6hiFQ
brought his music into the spotlight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gq9GFEIbSA
One Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpSBsUjY-0
Buffalo Soldier
Reggae, and thus Bob Marley,
experienced more success in England
than in the US, where Americans had a
difficult time figuring out how to dance to
the disjointed rhythms
Americans has also become accustomed
to slick, lavish stage shows; since reggae
was primarily studio music, it often proved
disappointing in concert
Bob Marley died of cancer in 1981
HEAVY METAL
As the 1960s came to an end, so did much
of its culture and musical experimentation
Between 1968 and 1971 a number of
influential figures died including Martin
Luther King, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix,
and Jim Morrison
Naïve middle class youth who had abandoned
themselves to drugs and nonmaterialistic
communal living soon realized the harsh
consequences of their lifestyles
The “us” generation became the “me” generation
The music business reached unprecedented
heights of profitability in the 1970s, creating a
conservative institution that left little room for
experimentation
Heavy Metal
Some bands began to get louder and
more aggressive in the 1970s, building on
the fancy guitar work by Jimi Hendrix and
the higher distortion of the Who
Stage shows included flamethrowers and
smoke machines
Lyrics and stage presentations drew on
themes of horror and the occult
Led Zeppelin
Formed in 1968 in England
Originally began as a blues based rock band
Vocalist Robert Plant had a high, shrieking style
of singing that would define heavy metal singing
As they went into the 1970s, they began to wear
more flamboyant clothing and their lyrics
became more oriented toward mythology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcL---4xQYA
Stairway to Heaven
Black Sabbath
Formed in 1969, their first album was
released in 1970 and exhibited a full-blown
heavy metal style
Guitarist Tony Iommi lost the tips to two of
his fingers in a factory accident at the age
of 17, contributing in part to his sound and
playing style
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdAwXV7eVM
Paranoid
Blue Öyster Cult
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUO_5
EALZoM Don’t Fear the Reaper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGBD1K
Uz2RA
SNL
Organized in 1967 in Long Island,
strongest early contribution to heavy rock
Music featured in films (Halloween) and
TV miniseries Stephen King’s The Stand
Aerosmith
Glamour Rock 1970s in Boston
Steven Tyler
Modeled after the Rolling Stones – heavily
blues based and danceable
Third album – Toys in the Attic was the
breakthrough. 1980s slump, but single “Walk
This Way” with Run DMC brought them back
from their slump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_UYYP
b-Gk
Van Halen
Most notable for guitarist Eddie Van
Halen’s guitar work – he used a multitude
of new or less frequently used techniques
in new ways
Although he didn’t invent the technique of
fingertapping on guitar, he is most
famously known for using the technique
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlq0lYB
3iSM Jump
Stadium Rock
Grand design to accomdate large crowds in
large spaces
Power ballads – slow, dramatic songs
Rush, Styx, Heart, Boston, and Kansas
They followed formulas that would eventually
lead to underground rebellions with musical
styles such as disco, punk, and grunge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkGQGz7dvTs Styx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRfcq4M2VsM Boston
FUNK
First ½ of 1960s, soul music held strong
against British rock. Second ½ it began to
follow safer pop thoughts and a growing
black middle class.
Funk came forward bold
James Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnn8hM8G
gG4 , Sly and the Family Stone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyaHsCBul
I0
Vamp tunes with pounding bass, staccato
guitar, and horn lines.
The terms funk and funky were not in use
in the 19602, but Dyke and the Blazers’
“Funky Broadway” brought it into
mainstream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttwPeVL
je8k
George Clinton, b. 1940
The “father of funk”
Doowop group called the Parliaments in
1950s.
In 1968, renamed the band Funkadelic and
changed format to a free form psychedelic
band.
Recorded as Funkadelic and Parliament
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuZWkdg
2aIQ “We Want the Funk”
Earth, Wind, and Fire
Mainstream funk led by drummer Maurice
White
More in the direction of jazz, African music,
and soft soul music.
Singer Phil Bailey
Horn section, known as the Phoenix Horns
were in demand by other artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2UmP6C9
rcs
Funk also influenced jazz
By the end of the 1908s, funk was
undermined by rap and hip hop
Funk gained new life as rap artists used
groove samples in recordings and
performances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0wEC
W8k5Fs Dr. Dre - Let It Ride
DISCO
Disco
Disco took on new significance in the
1960s and 1970s, when progressive rock
and heavy metal reigned (more for
listening than dancing)
Also born from the emerging gay culture in
NY. Live acts often refused to perform in
gay venues. DJ entertainment was the
only option.
Music was soon fashioned to fit the format
of the disco.
Extended Disco Singles were issued to
DJs only
Bass drum on every beat, 132 beats per
minute, emphasis on textural instruments
rather than elaborate vocals.
Donna Summer
Born Donna Gaines in Boston in 1948
Touring Europe in Hair, met electro-pop
arranger Moroder
1975 recorded “Love to Love You Baby” –
16 minute riff-drive production
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5AztW
seIdU
Saturday Night Fever
Released in 1978, featuring John Travolta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9ZP_tTtLc
Featured music of the Bee Gees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAb
hExY and the Trammps “Disco Inferno”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opY4qcidFk
Village People
The gay aspect was being ignored
Village People – a cowboy, a policeman,
biker, soldier, construction worker, and
american indian – male images juxtaposed
with homosexual image.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S
5w2k
By the end of the 1970s, it had run its course,
only to be brought back by tacky leisure suits.
SOFT-SOUNDING
SINGERS/SONGWRITERS
Soft Rock
Light love songs most popular even during
turbulence
Preferred style of adolescent femailes –
majority of the market
Some prominent soft rock stars were
around, but unknown during the 1950s1960s.
Carole King wrote “I’m Into Something
Good” for Herman’s Hermits and “Will You
Still Love Me” for the Shirelles. Neil
Diamond wrote “I’m a Believer” for the
Monkees.
By the 1970s, they were solo artists
The Neils
Neil Diamond
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vhFnTj
ia_I
Neil Sedaka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uec35p
pYLIc
James Taylor & Carly Simon
Married, but achieved fame individually
Taylor wrote many songs while
undergoing treatment for heroin addiction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwugjye
SKx4 “Fire and Rain”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0A7jA
VDPJU “Coming Around Again”
Joni Mitchell
Born in Canada
In late 1970s, moved toward a jazz format.
At 2008 Grammy Awards, her album River
– The Joni Letters won Best Album, the
first time a jazz album had won that
category since 1964.
Billy Joel
Long Island
1974 “Piano Man’ Spoke of characters he
saw in the bar he played in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEPV4kol
z0
In 1977, he began to move into mainstream
pop and released 3 successful albums
Many styles from doo-wop to pop-rock
Bruce Springsteen
From Asbury Park, NJ
His voice and the sound of his band was rough
and raw
His music shows the influence of Chuck Berry,
Bob Dylan, rockabilly, and other sources, but can
just be described as good old rock and roll.
Appeal lay in his folk-like social commentary on
behalf of the American blue collar worker and the
unpretentious hard drive of the E Street Band
1973 – Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3CsbZ2YX0
1975 – Born to Run – fame started
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuThN
gl3YA
1984 – Born in the U.S.A – peak of fame
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPhWR
4d3FJQ
Glitter Rock and Gender
Benders
David Bowie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7W
p9kKjA
Elton John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBi
rqD2s
PUNK ROCK
PUNK ROCK
Punk rock was intended to be anti-everything, including
antimusic
It was part of the new counterculture of the 1970s,
rejecting society and the corporate monstrosity that rock
music had become
Punk is at least partially derivative of heavy metal and
progressive rock
It was developed in the social undergrounds of New York
and London
Yet like the hippie culture, a softened commercialized
version of punk, new wave, eventually deflated the
original spirit of the movement
Punk Rock
English society was separated by class,
with lower-class teens having little hope
for a better future
They were further angered by the
increasingly lavish performances of
wealthy rock stars and welcomed the raw,
shocking, and anarchistic style of the New
York Dolls and the Ramones
Characteristics of Punk Rock
energetic, driving beats
typically controversial lyrics
raw, sloppy sound
The Ramones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQeo3Of
uEDM “I Wanna Be Sedated”