Transitions
1960-70
Overview:
The Youth Generation of the 1960s
• Kennedy's
assassination
• Social issues
• Sexual revolution
• Music was a central
to the 1960s
landscape
Bob Dylan
Birth of folk- rock
His lyrics are
significant for their
symbolism, internal
ironies, sarcasm,
thought-provoking
messages, dry wit,
surrealism, and graceful
flow
Aretha
Franklin
Aretha Franklin
• Early years
• Early 1960s, Aretha
pop singer for
Columbia Records
• Wexler and Atlantic
Records
• Songs by some of the
finest songwriters
• Vocal agility
Respect
• First up-tempo hit
• Emotionally redefined fast
soul
• Transforms sexual
machismo
• Became anthem for
women’s movement
• Interlocked rhythm section
Riffs or sustained chords
Respect
Gospel sound
Spelling out RESPECT memorable
Verse/refrain has changed Denser textures
San Francisco: Overview
1. Drugs
2. Volume levels at live
concerts reached a
new high.
3. San Francisco groups
often placed
considerable
emphasis on the
instrumentalists
4. Electronic
technology
Janis Joplin
Ball and Chain
• Stutters, reiterations
• Melismas,
interpolations
• Hommange to Smith?
• Hisses “sitting”
• Necessary
embellishments
Ball and Chain
• Joplin’s voice not
as rich as Smith’s
• Tempo of the
song slower
• Musical space
must be filled
• Progressively less
restrained
Pearl
• Roots in R & B and Gospel
• Janis was unique
Mercedes Benz
• Parodies hippie values and communalism
• A cappella
Art Rock And Frank Zappa
Art Rock And Frank Zappa
In the late 1960s, the creative minds in rock began to
expand
Just how far can Rock go?
Classical Elements and
Rock Elements
1. Quote a classical excerpt in the midst of a
rock song.
2. Use a classical melody as the basis of a
rock song.
3. Create a series of rock songs conceived as
units in a larger form.
Frank Zappa
Help I’m a Rock
A "It can't happen here"—non-metric, non-tonal
vocal expanding this lyric
B "Who could imagine"—(1) "freak out in Kansas"
(followed by improvisation on "Kansas")
(2) "freak out in Minnesota" (followed by
improvisation on "Minnesota")
C: Instrumental section—piano and drums in a
fragmented, non-tonal, pointillistic style
Help I’m a Rock
B: "Who could imagine"—"freak out in
Washington, D.C." (followed by
improvisation on "D.C.")
A: "It can't happen here"—enters underneath
previous section, but begins to dominate
D: "I remember"—metric; three phrases
Help I’m a Rock
A: "It couldn't happen here"—brief return
E: Suzy Creamcheese—dialogue with semi-
fictional Zappa character
A: "It can't happen here"—brief return;
filtered voices
Help I’m a Rock
• Combines two common classical forms: the
arch form and the rondo.
C
B B
A A
• Improvisation
• Experimentation with textures