Word Count: 1110In this essay, Im going to introduce to the reader a topic not
touched a lot because of its complexity and its avoidance by
conservative adults. This topic is, of course, .During one week, I looked for information in the library and
at my house, and from the information I gathered and my
one knowledge about the topic, Im going to lead the reader
to a better understanding of Rock n Roll. I chose to do
Rock music because I can identify myself with it.
Rock
music is very complex. In fact "Its stylistic scope is to broad
to be encompassed by any single definition" ("Rock Music",
Groliers, p.1). The nearest definition suggests a kind of
music that represents and speaks for the teenage society.This music is characterized by using a heavy beat. In this
essay, Im going to divide Rock music into four sections:
Rock of the 50?s, of the 60?s, of the 70?s and of the 80?s.
Within these sections Im also going to discuss several
sub-topics such as famous composers and groups, and
characteristics of the music. The first section of this essay is
Rock n Roll of the 1950s, when Rock n Roll was born. It
emerged from rhythm and blues, a music similar to jazz
played by blacks. This kind of music started to attract white
teenagers. Disc jockey Alan Freed was the one who
introduced this music and later gave it the name of Rock n
Roll.
Record companies distributed records played by
whites but composed by blacks. Whites were frustrated
because there werent any white artists and they didnt want
the blacks to be the stars until Bill Haley appeared with his
"Rock Around the Clock". In this decade, Elvis Presley
introduced a music that was sexual suggestive and outraged
dull adults. In time he changed the style of the music by
adopting a country and western style and became a national
hero. By the end of this decade and the start of the next,
Rock n Roll started to decline because it was formula
ridden and it was too sentimental. Teenage audiences
transferred their allegiance to Folk music.
In 1963 the
renewal of Rock n Roll came when The Beatles started to
play. The Beatles, for some the best rock group ever, were
from Liverpool, England. Through the 60s, The Beatles
dominated the record industries and with their dominant
instrumentation, which included: electric leads, rhythm, and
bass guitar, drums and sometimes an electric organ, changed
the name of Rock n Roll to just Rock. During the 1960s
many other styles of music arose from Rock like, Motown,
Soul music, Jazz-rock , Folk-rock and others. Folk-Rock
the most appreciated of this derivations and was first
suggested by Bob Dylan.
This kind of music brought to folk
music a hard beat and amplification; and to Rock, a new
poetic style. California was one of the major centers of rock
activity and experimentation during the decade. First it was
characterize for its surfing music, a very joyful music that
reflected the fun people had while surfing. The Beach Boys
were the ones who introduced this kind of music. At the end
of the century this happy kind of music changed to a more
rebellious style that was designated the name of "hippie
music".
Groups that played this music were Country Joe and
The Mamas and The Papas. Along with this hippie ideas
popularity of hallucinogenic drugs produced a psychedelic
style of music called Acid Rock. By the end of the 60?s the
distinctions between Rock n? Roll and Rock were evident.The early instruments- saxophone, piano, amplified guitar,
and drums- had been changed to electric guitar and bass,
amplified drums and other electronic devices. Not only did
the instruments change but so did the ideas behind the music.
For example, "to the lyrics of teenage love and adolescent
concerns were added social commentary, glorification of
drugs and free-association poetry"("Rock Music", Groliers,
p.1). Groups like The Beach Boys, Crew Cuts and The
Everly Brothers were replaced by more imaginative,
non-descriptive names groups like The Who, Jefferson
Airplane, Big Brother and Holding Company. The Who, the
most famous of these groups, were originally from England
and were reknowned because of their bizarre stage
performances, they would destroy their instruments after
their performance finished. The Who was one of the first
rock groups.
In the 70?s, the common barriers of rock
broke into more divisions, like hard rock and mellow rock.Hard Rock was extremely loud and electronically amplified
and Mellow Rock was softer and with acoustic instruments.In 1972, in Jamaica, a new style of music was created called
Reggae. Reggae is a mixture of rock, soul, calypso and Latin
music. The king of Reggae was Bob Marley. Other styles
more in rocks borders, since Reggae was more latin than
rock, were created in the middle of this century, like: bubble
gum rock, a funny playful music directed to the youngest
fans, Punk Rock, "a loud, hard rock style derived from acid
rock and marked by its extremes of costume and staging"
("Rock Music", Encarta, p.
1), and Heavy Metal, which
continued the approach to Acid Rock but with a simpler
musical dimension but relying upon the power of
repetitiveness, loud volume, and electronic distortion. One
famous group of Heavy Metal was Led Zeppelin, a British
group that was formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page (lead guitar),
Robert Plant (lead singer), John Paul Jones (pianist and
bassist) and John Bonham (drummer). Most music of this
decade was intended to be listened to, but not to be danced.But this intention wasnt kept by Disco music that arose in
1977 and was especially for dancing. One great group of
Disco music were the Bee Gees.
Disco music was described
by rock fans as mechanical, commercial and unlyrical (which
is true). At the end of this decade, rock, again became a
dominant cultural force. The last but not least section of this
essay is rock of the 80s. At the start of this last decade,
rock groups became more production oriented, mainly
because of the sudden explosion of videos.
This new
sensation was a good way to sell music to the people. Heavy
metal bands were greatly pushed by videos, but most helped
were the popular performers like Michael Jackson, Prince
and Boy George. The influence of British bands of punk,
disco, reggae and pop-rock was still big in the U.S. Rock
scene. At the same time, there of nostalgia to return to the
older pre rock music, like rhythm and blues, which was
suggested by played by Elvis Costello.
By the middle of the
80s, almost every country had begun to support indigenous
music, and at the end of this "a vigorous talk-song style
called rap became extremely popular among urban black
teenagers" ("Rock Music", Encarta, p.1.). Rock music taught
me to appreciate things in a different way. Ive learned this
since rock is not an exact science, it can change. In fact
Rock music helps me relax ( I would have been able to finish
writing this essay with rock music).
After writing this essay I
have learned the origins of rock and the branches of it, but
that wasnt my intention. I wrote this essay to express myself
with it because I feel I can show myself with rock music. I
think rock has become social phenomenal.
