The Merseybeat Sound:
1.Sing-songy, bouncy and cute
2.Sentimental lyrics
3.Well-produced and polished performances
4.Formulaic pop music reminiscent of the
Brill Pop sound
5.Danceable
London Art School style features:
1. Angular, jerky rhythms
2. Primitive production style
3. Guitar band format
4. Improvised guitar solos
5. Chant-like backup vocals
6. Danceable
7. Lyrics based on the blues themes
Early Beatles (1962-64)
Albums: Please Please Me and With The Beatles
Short, danceable songs
Teen oriented lyrics focusing on adolescent
subject matter
Close knit, Everly Brothers-type harmony
Influenced by American rockers such as Chuck
Berry and Little Richard
Influenced by American production rock, i.e.
Brill and Motown
The Beatles Middle Period
Albums: Rubber Soul and Revolver
Increasing influence of Folk Music, Bob Dylan
and message songs
Longer, less danceable pieces
Lyrics become more introspective
Lyrics become political
Drug experimentation and psychedelics
The Beatles Middle Period
Exotic instrumentation and philosophical
stance
Affinity with the San Francisco Hippie
subculture
More complex harmony
Increase in George Harrison’s contributions
to songwriting
1.The lyrics are more subjective, not idealized
2.Folk-rock based accompaniment
3.Indian instruments; the sitar
4.The lyrics are ambiguous
The Late Beatles (1967-1969)
Albums: Sgt. Pepper to the White Album
“Art for Art’s Sake” attitude
Studio techniques
Album Oriented
Less collaboration among members
Abbey Road to Let it Be
“Back to Basic” rock
Mature, less experimental approach to music
McCartney struggles with expanded styles
Why is Sgt. Pepper Important?
Some of songs have nothing to do with Rock and
Roll as a style; the album expanded the
boundaries of pop music
The album provided increased freedom for other
artists to explore and innovate
Critics, even Beatles detractors, praised it
More maturity in the writing style; sophisticated
arrangements including exotic instruments and
full orchestra
Demonstrates the cyclical nature of Pop music;
folk music vs. art music
Significance of the Who:
Most important British Mod band
First band to use “theatrical” stage effects such
as smashing equipment. Soon joined by the Doors
and Jimi Hendrix
First use of sculptured noise and feedback
First band to use “power chords”
Pete Townshend wrote the first successful Rock
Opera: Tommy (1968)
British Blues Revival
The Yardbirds Guitarists:
Eric Clapton
Jeff Beck
Jimmy Page
Cream (1966-1968)
Eric Clapton, Guitar
Jack Bruce, Vocals, Bass
Ginger Baker, Drums
Solo
Blow By Blow
Wired
Derek and the Dominoes
Hard Rock
New Yardbirds
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Heavy Metal
Little Boxes questions the status quo and
“cookie-cutter” conformity of the 1950s
Shows contempt for upward mobile,
over-materialist America:
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•
•
•
Play on the golf course
Favorite cocktail drinks
Kids go to the best schools
Selection the “best” and “safe” majors
Rejects being compartmentalized and labeled “being
put in a box”
Between 1965-1969 the social-conscious
message song will hybridize with Rock and
Roll to produce a fundamentally new view
of pop music:
Folk-Rock
Festival
Newport Folk
Festival, Newport
Rhode Island
Attendance
71,000
Year
July 1965
Important Performers
Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger,
Peter Paul and Mary,
Joan Baez
Bob Dylan goes electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival
Festival
Attendance
Monterey
200,000
International
Pop Festival,
Monterey CA
Year
June
1967
Important Performers
Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and
the Holding Co. (Janis Joplin),
Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Otis
Redding, The Who, Ravi Shankar
Monterey Pop Festival was the first festival devoted to
Pop Music – almost everyone played for free. . . .