Closed Frontier: Is rock over? "Rock ’n’ roll is to 21st-century America what the Wild West was to 20th-century America: a closed frontier, ripe for mass mythology....Exciting new music still thrives in the subgenres, but modern musicians draw increasing amounts of inspiration from tradition, not originality. The sexagenarian Rolling Stones do serial victory laps around the world, just as an aging Buffalo Bill toured America and Europe in the 1880s and 90s, performing rope and horse tricks alongside Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull."
posted by Sticherbeast
on Apr 3, 2012 -
193 comments
Before
hip-hop beefs, there were response records, also known as
answer songs, usually replies to well-known songs. There are a few key eras: blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s, including a number of responses to "
Work With Me, Annie" (1954), recorded by
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, with answers including "
Annie had a Baby," and "
The Wallflower" by Etta James; and Big Mama Thornton's "
Hound Dog" (1953), with a quick response by
Louis Innis and Charlie Gore, made a mere week after the original was released, and
Rufus Thomas' "
Bear Cat" (1953),
Sun Records' first hit. Country, rock & roll, doo-wop and pop music picked up where the blues left off, with most activity in the 1950s to 60s. Two examples from this era are
"Are You Lonesome To-night" and "Who Put The Bomp," and responses to both. The most well known from the next decade was Lynyrd Skynyrd's "
Sweet Home Alabama" (1974), a response to Neil Young's "
Southern Man" (1970) and "
Alabama" (1972). Until the 2000s, no answer songs had charted as high as the original hits. That changed with
Frankee's "
F.U.R.B. (Fuck You Right Back)" (2004), a response to
Eamon's "
Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)" (2003), which was the first answer song to reach number 1 in the UK. Six years later and across the pond, Katy Perry's "
California Gurls" was a response to "
Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z. It was the first answer song to reach No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100. More Responses inside.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Mar 31, 2012 -
53 comments
Do you know
The Treniers? Back in the 40s and 50s, they straddled the lines between jump blues, swing, early rock'n'roll, jazz dance, hep jive and comedy.
They were a whole hella fun, and they happened to be the backing band for what must be the best dance performance
Jerry Lewis ever gave the world. That particular clip, BTW, from a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis "Colgate Comedy Hour" in 1954, is purported to be the first rock'n'roll performance on national television, and it may well have been.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Mar 28, 2012 -
14 comments
Sleazefest: The Movie [
rather nsfw] is a documentary of the first Sleazefest, a two day festival of bands, barbecue, b-movies and beer that took place in August of 1994 at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. The festival was extended to three days and became an annual event for the next
decade.
[more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue
on Sep 1, 2010 -
3 comments
You Can't Catch Me, Music and Lyrics by Chuck Berry.
The Stones covered it. John Lennon was
sued (twice!) for
covering it and
appropriating the lyrics. If Iggy Pop and the Stooges were never sued for doing the same thing as "Come Together" in
1970, perhaps it's because nobody could understand what exactly he was saying,
not even the bands that took their names from the adapted lyrics. Perhaps JJ Cale was thinking of the chorus when he wrote
Call Me The Breeze in 1971. Finally, though Jonothan Richman's "Roadrunner" clearly took inspiration from the
Velvet Underground's Sister Ray and Bo Diddley's "
Road Runner"(
among other things), but,
as a Berry fan, you can hear Richman echoing the lyrics in the Spirit of 1956 going Faster Miles an Hour, with the radio on, tuned to Rock And Roll.
[more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue
on Jun 19, 2010 -
43 comments
Larry Williams is not as famous as many of his contemporaries, but was responsible for a long string of hits beginning with
Short Fat Fannie in 1957. He continued to produce such rock and roll staples as
Slow Down,
Bony Moronie, and
She Said Yeah. His songs are probably better known today through other artists' interpretations of his songs. Williams' songs have been covered by:
The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones,
The Beatles,
The Replacements,
The Beatles,
Johnny Winter,
The Who,
The Plastic Ono Band,
Paul McCartney, and
The Jam.
Also Sha Na Na. And every garage band in the world. [more inside]
posted by marxchivist
on Sep 30, 2009 -
14 comments
It's not so often that a US Top 40 chart hit is a song whose origins can be traced back 300 years, and even less often that such a song would be sung in Spanish. So when
Ritchie Valens went into a studio and recorded
La Bamba 50 years ago this month, he carved himself what would become a special place in American pop music history. It was one of those cases of the B side becoming the hit, though: the A side was
Oh Donna, which showcased a sweeter, croonier side of Valens (singing in English), but was a somewhat unremarkable tune on its own. Here's a
live recording of La Bamba by Valens, who, of course, along with rock'n'roll legend Buddy Holly, lost his life in an airplane crash just as his career was blossoming. Almost 30 years after
La Bamba's original release,
a version by Valens' natural heirs Los Lobos became a hit once again. And, admittedly, I didn't make it through the entire clip, but it's perhaps worth noting, for the record, that a
Barack Obama-related version is available for your listening and viewing, er, pleasure?
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 15, 2008 -
44 comments
Paul is NOT dead. Paul goes into the studio, alone, no songs prepared at all. Thirteen songs in thirteen days -- one each day -- Paul playing every instrument, writing lyrics on the fly, ripping a line from a poem, the next spontaneous, off the cuff, really gutsy. The album,
Electric Arguments, to be released next month.
[more inside]
posted by dancestoblue
on Oct 11, 2008 -
116 comments
If you've seen
clips of Bo Diddley performances from the early 60s, you'll surely have noticed the presence of one or more female guitarists on stage, churning out that chunky six-string rhythm alongside the esteemed Mr. Diddley. Might've been
Lady Bo that you've seen or heard, or it might've been
The Duchess. Either way, hats off to some fine guitarists: women who filled a job category generally reserved (especially at that time) for the menfolk.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Mar 4, 2008 -
13 comments
Hey daddy-o, when you hear that big brash horn section pump out that
oddly familiar riff, only to stop cold and make way for that that prescient single note from an electric guitar, followed straightaway by a twangy voice in
perfect rockabilly delivery proclaiming "
well, she's got a dress that looks like a sack!", then brother, you're listening to the hoppin' boppin' sound of
Wally Deane's
Drag On. Once you hear it, you'll wonder why Quentin Tarrantino never put it in a movie.
Wally Deane: one of the greatest rockabilly acts you never heard of.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 8, 2007 -
21 comments
It's hard to think of any music that's any more
fun than
The Ventures, and here they are, live in Japan, 1965, at the top of their game. This footage is
really good:
Walk Don't Run.
Wipe Out.
Apache.
House of the Rising Sun.
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.
Flight of the Bumblebee.
The Cruel Sea . . . But WAIT!
Opening for the Ventures on that steamy summer night was homegrown Ventures
cover band
The M-Ventures! Straight outta Tokyo! Check out their versions of
The Pink Panther Theme,
Surf Rider and
Yellowjacket. And in case you were wondering if the Ventures' influence is
still being felt in Japan, well, check out 9-year-old guitarist Chicchi's versions of
The Cruel Sea,
Penetration,
Walk Don't Run and
Pipeline.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 19, 2007 -
36 comments
After the Storm Sometime this weekend, you may be able to hear one of the best expressions of New Orleans’ role in music and culture available in any mass media. It's American Routes, a weekly show carried on
many US public radio affiliates. Programmed and hosted by
folklorist and
UNO professor of folklore and culture Nick Spitzer, the show normally broadcasts from a studio in the heart of the French Quarter, but has found a temporary home on a
Creole/Cajun French/English public radio station in Lafayette. Spitzer
told the NYT that he began planning
the music for this week’s show as he was fleeing the flooding city in his car, playing Fats Domino’s
“Walking to New Orleans."
This week’s show highlights New Orleans’ recovery from disasters past, emphasizing the city’s role as the greatest single wellspring of American music. The Crescent City, after all, has either
birthed or nurtured everything from
jazz,
R & B,
cajun and the related black-influenced zydeco,
soul,
blues,
gospel, and
rock and roll.) With an encyclopedic knowledge of American vernacular music, an utterly democratic spirit, and an unmistakeable respect and love for American musical forms and the people who create them, Spitzer has
stepped forward several times this week to serve as a compassionate and optimistic spokesman for the irrepressible
creative spirit of a suffering city and a
culture in diaspora.
posted by Miko
on Sep 10, 2005 -
19 comments
April is Rap Month on Michaelpella. Watch and listen [avi files] as some internet guy (and an occasional friend) butcher some rap classics by the likes of Ice Cube and Public Enemy. I don't know much about rap, so I enjoy perusing the
50+ song archive chock full of chestnuts like "Runaway," "Rawhide," and "Love Shack." Send in your requests now.
posted by marxchivist
on Apr 15, 2005 -
7 comments
Rock and Roll Part 2 Often associated with the glam rock likes of T-Rex, Gary Glitter, and Sweet, the 6/8 schaffel beat (German for shuffle) is now adding a teutonic swagger to minimal techno. DJ and blogger Philip Sherburne puts together this excellent mix (92megs).
posted by dydecker
on Aug 16, 2004 -
14 comments
So You Think You Know All About Rock Music, Do You? Well, try Rough Music's
Rock Challenge quiz. (
Click on the top left-hand corner, where it says "Test Your Rock Knowledge", include nom-de-plume and imaginary e-mail addy - with spaces even - and prepare to ransack that befuddled memory of yours.). There's additional fun to be had by betting on each question. I loved it! Be warned, though: if you're any good, it's a great time-waster!
P.S. The site itself isn't half-bad either. (
Via LinkFilter.)
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Oct 15, 2003 -
24 comments
Do you have to be black to possess that elusive quality known as "soul"? Soul Music's
New Face: 16, Blond And British.
Joss Stone, the 16 year-old winner of the BBC TV talent show Star for A Night, traveled to Miami to work on songs for a pop album. Instead, she hooked up with a group of gifted but
long-overlooked musicians who were among the prime movers and shapers of "The Miami Sound" of the Seventies: Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman"), Timmy Thomas ("Why Can't We Live Together"), Latimore ("Let's Straighten It Out") and Little Beaver ("Party Down"). Some of them had not been in the studio for years; Little Beaver was working for Amtrak and Timmy Thomas was a college administrator when they got the call. Together they recorded her first album,
The Soul Sessions, in only four days. Listen on
All Songs Considered or download full mp3 versions of the first 2 songs at
Amazon.
posted by probablysteve
on Oct 14, 2003 -
46 comments
Greendale. For his recent
tour, Neil Young is staying true to form and surprising the hell out of people by performing his new multimedia-rock-opera-dvd-epic-type-thing in its entirety and
yelling at the increasingly unruly audience who came to hear his classics. Although a project of this magnitude has long been the domain of wonderfully, unashamedly
pompous old bands in the 70's, I find myself rather intrieged. Am I alone in welcoming this kind of concert surprise?
posted by ghastlyfop
on Jul 3, 2003 -
47 comments
Yesterday's
post about Buddy Holly, spurred me to look deeper into the pop charts back when American Pie was in the top 40. I was fairly amazed at the list of songs
charting that week. We've got
Horse With No Name, Heart of Gold, Mother and Child Reunion with artists like Harry Chapin, Roberta Flack and Nilsson. Sure, there's some pop
pabulum, but I was blown away at the litany of performers whose very personal songs, and not very pop themes, were all be charting together. When compared to
today's chart, it makes you wonder - what happened to the pop performer as an artist? Is there room for a unique artistic voice in today's pop?
posted by pejamo
on Feb 4, 2003 -
36 comments
The Day the Music Died ...It was February 3, 1959 that Buddy Holley, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash. You need look no further to find one of the true
icons of rock and roll than
Buddy Holley. Originally scheduled to fly, Waylon Jennings gave his seat to an ailing Big Bopper. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your old bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your plane crashes." This friendly banter of friends would haunt Jennings for years. And can anyone really decipher Don McLeans' "
American Pie"?
More.
posted by Mack Twain
on Feb 3, 2003 -
23 comments
The King of the Jukebox who disturbed the status quo They called rock music
jump blues during the World War II era, and this
amazingly talented clown was its master, with over fifty Top 10 R&B hits --
eighteen reached #1 -- between 1942 and 1951. Chuck Berry identified with him
"more than any other artist." James Brown said,
"He was everything" and considered him one of the earliest rappers. A pioneer of
music video, the first black artist to
cross over from the "race" market to a white audience and a
central link between big bands and rock, he was a primary influence on
Bill Haley,
Ray Charles and B.B. King, who once said,
"I wanted to be like him." Rest in peace, Louis Jordan. [Dozens of one-minute song clips
here]
posted by mediareport
on Jul 10, 2002 -
11 comments
E Street Band guitarist and erstwhile
Sopranos star
Little Steven is launching a syndicated
radio show to be centered around garage rock of the '60's plus latter day punk as well according to this
story. Steve's own site includes some great
live reviews and excellent garage rock
links . I, for one, am really looking forward to hearing this show. Good luck, Steve.
posted by jonmc
on Apr 4, 2002 -
11 comments
The best CD I've purchased so far this year is the
latest from the
Blind Boys of Alabama. this record features superb vocalizing, great bluesy guitar, and a Sones(!) and Tom Waits(!!) cover. In an age where "gospel music" has sunk into the quagmire of
"Contemporary Christian", its easy to forget that
old-school gospel both
black and
white were
huge influences on rock and roll. Little Richard, for one, took his trademark "Whoo!" from Marion Williams and countless rockers from Aretha to Elvis learned to sing in church.
Now, can I get an Amen?!
posted by jonmc
on Apr 2, 2002 -
25 comments
The Perfect Rock 'n Roll Photo A photo of The Clash bassist Paul Simonon smashing his guitar on stage has been picked as the perfect rock 'n' roll photo of all time. It's a great picture, summing up violence, anger, frustration and an adandonment of common-sense. But do you agree?
posted by skinsuit
on Jan 23, 2002 -
46 comments
You'd have to be a Rock Star for service like this! It's Nutter butter cookies &
Unscented Kleenex for
MATCHBOX 20... And better be certain there's
no hair in the food for the artist formerly known as
Puff Daddy, and for
The artist known again as Prince, who likes to shoot up before going onstage, make sure everything is rapped in plastic! and if
Mariah should stop by, please provide some crystal champagne glasses & bendy straws.. Rock stars & their backstage requirements, from the
The Smoking Gun What would
you ask for? (besides bendy straws of course)
posted by danger
on May 28, 2001 -
16 comments
