The Beatles

Although the Beatles have never been one of my favorite bands, I've always admired them for what they did with their music. I respect them for how experimental they were in creating music that was unique. They never stuck with one sound or feel and they used many borrowed sounds and melded them into one original tune. Although they were only around for a little less than a decade, their influence has reached many types of today's musical genres.

I never did like Bob Dylan's music but I'm sure glad that he met up with the Beatles before they became too commercialized. The Beatles' sound brought back the authenticity to rock music but their lyrics were still very light and went along with the rest of the teenybopper music. At the beginning of their career, they were a bit too bubbly for my taste. Their main audience was teenagers obsessed with whatever was commercialized and shown as popular. Bob Dylan's music, however, was on the other end of the spectrum. His music appealed more to college-aged youth who were deeply involved with political issues and had intellectual leanings. At the end of one of the Beatles' tour in the U.S., they met up with Bob Dylan. He commented on their light lyrics and challenged them to be more real and political. After the meeting the Beatles began incorporating relevant lyrics to their songs. Bob Dylan also borrowed The Beatles' electric feel and turned a little more rock in his music.

Another thing that changed through The Beatles' musical career was their musical feel. Their music covered not just one genre but rather spread over a few different ones. The difference between the sound of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Helter Skelter” is so big that one could make the mistake that the songs are performed by different bands. That same capability in being diverse is what makes me respect The Beatles for what they did as a band. Another example of diversity can be seen in their lyrics. In “Can't Buy me Love”, the meaning of the song is clear and simple whereas “Hey Jude” isn't so basic. Many people have different opinions on the song's meanings which makes it more of a universal song. Because it's more open to interpretation, it can apply to a broader audience.

The Beatles will always be considered as one of the greatest influences on American music. Their diversity and originality assimilated them into American culture. Because of what they did for future artists, I can appreciate their music.

Final Project

For my final project I decided to do a triple swing dance to Elvis Presley's song “All Shook Up”. The dance represents how Elvis helped the music of that time transform into something completely new. Swing dancing was fresh and new when it was introduced, as was rock and roll. Elvis was one of the main artists who helped rock and roll become a mainstream genre in the music industry. Swing dancing and rock and roll music were both unique for their time and helped revolutionize the way youth would enjoy musical entertainment.

Elvis found his musical inspiration through an Assembly of God church that his family attended. When he was around 11 years old, he received a guitar for his birthday. He had no formal musical training but did take a few guitar lessons from his uncles. He never learned to read music and so every thing he played and studied was by ear.

After graduating high school, Elvis got a job as a truck driver. He would occasionally go to different studios and pay to record a few of his songs but nothing ever came of it. In the summer of 1953, Elvis went to Sun Records to make a couple of recordings. Sam Phillips, the owner of the company, was looking for a young white artist who had an African American sound and feel to his music. Phillips liked Elvis' style and invited him back for another recording session. The next year Elvis held another session with Sun Records. Towards the end of the recording session, which was mostly unsuccessful, Elvis picked up his guitar and started to play an old blues song, “That's All Right”. During the song he was dancing around which caused the other musicians to do the same and the music came alive. Phillips found the type of rhythm he was looking for. Elvis' career as a rock and roll artist had begun.

One interesting thing about Elvis was his wild stage presence. During one of his appearances on NBC's “Milton Berle Show”, Elvis performed the song “Hound Dog” without playing his guitar. Instead of playing, Elvis gave an energetic performance of the song, dancing around while exaggerating his body movements. His “gyrations” were considered inappropriate to many and caused a widespread controversy. Nonetheless, the broadcast drew in such high ratings that he immediately became a nationwide sensation. Ed Sullivan, who had his own variety show and who criticized Elvis' performance on the “Milton Berle Show”, ended up having Elvis perform on his own show. The reason that Elvis' music was so successful was his ability to match his stage performance with his genre of music. Since both his music and stage performance were innovational and unconventional, it created a stir among the younger generation that drew them to his music. That's why I believe that he was so significant in American culture. His music created a large generation gap. On one side you had youth that admired the music and on the other side were adults that detested not only the music but the artist as well. The same type of pattern in music can be found in today's mainstream genres.

The reason I chose to perform the triple swing with one of Elvis' songs was because the two fit very well together. Both the triple swing and Elvis were very popular among the younger generation during the 1950s, yet both were shunned upon by the parents of that same generation. While I was trying to find a song to dance to, I was able to listen to many different Elvis songs. However, after seeing a clip of one of his songs played on the “Milton Berle Show”, I realized that half of the talent in Elvis was in his stage presence. Elvis was a sensation because he was the first artist to create a fusion with his music and his stage presence. He also had a very interesting way of fusing rhythm and blues with country music. He took two existing genres and melded them into one to create his own type of music.

Through this project I've gained a greater respect for Elvis and what he did as an artist. I've always known who Elvis was but I never fully understood how he affected American music and how it's viewed today. He truly was the King of Rock and Roll.

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“Sing, Sing, Sing”

Benny Goodman and his band's performance of this song is the epitome of swing music. I've danced to this song and have appreciated its exhilarating beat before but after listening to Benny Goodman's comments on how that song came about, I've looked at his accomplishment in a whole new perspective. Their performance at Carnegie Hall was swing's debut to mainstream, american culture. The fact that it was at Carnegie Hall must have been intimidating enough to Goodman and his band. Another thing that I noticed from the recording and commentaries was that the soloists didn't have a sheet of music to play off of. They played what came to them and had to think up of their own chord progressions.

This spontaneity relates to how people dance to the music. “Swing dancing” is considered a social dance, meaning that there is no routine to a certain song. It's expected that two strangers can begin dancing without planning anything out. The man improvises while the lady follows. In Benny Goodman's song, “Sing, Sing, Sing”, the same improvisation occurs. The soloist will choose the way he wants to play his segment while the rest of the band follows his lead. It's fantastic to see how this genre of music is so spontaneous and improvisational.

“Good Vibrations”

When I chose this song, I thought that the credit and praise was going to go to the Beach Boys themselves. I didn't know that so much of the song's success and popularity had to do with the songwriter, Brian Wilson. It is one of the most influential American songs of the twentieth century because of how innovation and experimentation played a part in putting the song together.

One thing that I found interesting about the song was how much work Wilson did in putting the different parts of the song together. It was very packaged and dressed up by all the studio work that he put into it. I always thought that the Beach Boys were like the Beatles and played most of their own music. I was a little surprised to hear that the only part that they had in the recording was the vocals. The peculiar thing is that after listening to how the song came about, my appreciation for it diminished. I'm the type of listener that appreciates a band for their talents in both playing and singing their own music. If someone else wrote the lyrics and the sheet music, that's ok. However, when I hear a band play live, I want to hear the same musicians that were playing when the music was recorded in the studio. Otherwise a band loses its identity. The songs they make are shared among too many producers and writers and become too much of a group effort. I respect the band that produces their own music.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

I've heard this song several times growing up as a kid, however, I've never known the origins of it nor did I realize how it kickstarted a genre of music. Nirvana is a band that fits the style of a post-modernist band. They weren't anything created by corporate producers and their success came from a small group of guys who just wanted to play their own music. One of the reasons that I like the song is how it was able to give birth to a new type of popular genre that was so different than anything before it's time. The way that Nirvana became successful inspired many youth with aspirations to create their own music. Nirvana became great because they were a few young guys that wanted to have fun playing in a band they formed. The message that the self-made artists gave to the public was that anyone can make great music.

One thing that I've realized about this genre of music is that it gives the listener an outlet to release a certain set of emotions. While reggae encourages a relaxing mood and swing music invites a more spontaneous attitude, grunge rock provides a way for the listener to release adrenalized and aggressive energy that's stored within. Because youth have more of those feelings stored within them, the genre is more appealing to a younger audience. Adults, however, have spent more of those same emotions on life and have forgotten about those feelings. That's why this genre of music is so foreign to them.