Week 6:  Rock & Roll

Rock and Roll (Rock) is a vast genre of popular music that developed in the 1950s.  Its roots are in jazz blues, rhythm and blues, soul and country music. In early rock, the piano or saxophone was the primary instrument.  Later, the electric guitar became the primary instrument. Rock music incorporates a steady, heavy rhythm and blues beat with a light "off-beat", usually played on a snare drum. 

Rock has been the most influential genre of music on many aspects of culture, including social, political, racial and generational divides, dance styles, and the development of musical instruments. What connects all rock styles is the desire to express emotional responses to the experience of being human, from everyday relationships to world events and conflicts. Every decade of rock music has its own sound and expression.  By listening to rock music from different decades, you can learn something about the thoughts, ideas and experiences of people living at that time. 

"Rockabilly" is an early style of rock made that blended hillbilly boogies with rhythm and blues.  "Doo wop" was a form of rhythm and blues-based rock that featured close vocal harmonies. "Surf" rock expressed the experiences of the beach culture of California. In the 1960s, "Progressive" rock rejected earlier rock forms, incorporating different instrumentation and drawing on folk, jazz and classical influences. "Punk" rock is a style originating in the 1960s, often self-recorded and produced in the garages of young bands, that used minimal instrumentation. "Disco" is a style of music that heavily influenced dance styles of the 1970s. "Heavy Metal" is music springing from counterculture to disco and mainstream rock, characterized by a heavy beat, distorted guitar sounds, and the use of loud volume as expression. "Pop" is a form of rock emerging in the late 1970s that focused on commercial appeal, using professional songwriters and advanced recording techniques and technology. "Alternative" rock emerged in the 1970s from independent record labels as a response to the commercialism of pop rock. "Hard" rock emerged in the 1980s from progressive rock and incorporates a heavy sound, aggressive lyrics and distorted electric guitar.  In the 1990s, "Grunge" rock gained popularity. It is characterized by a "grungy" sound due to using less sophisticated recording methods and incorporates introspective lyrics. "Electronic" rock focuses on repetitive rhythms and uses only electronic instruments.

Today, rock music is the most prolific (plentiful) musical genre with hundreds of sub-genres, styles and expressions. It is continually evolving and incorporates musical traditions from all over the world and from all earlier genres of music.  

• Little Richard (1922-2020): Known as the "Architect of Rock and Roll", Little Richard was a flamboyant pianist who combined boogie woogie piano, blues chords, rhythm and blues instrumentation and soul style vocals to create the "new" rock and roll sound. Listen: Good Golly Miss Molly

• Chuck Berry (1926-2017): Chuck Berry is known as the "Father of Rock and Roll" and the first rock guitarist.  He refined the rhythm and blues sound into what we associate as "rock" today, using drum sets for percussion and the electric guitar.  Listen: Johnny B. Goode

• Jerry Lee Lewis (1935-2022): Jerry Lee Lewis was a pianist and pioneer of the rockabilly style. He was a dynamic performer and often played his piano in wild ways, using different body parts and sometimes even setting it on fire.  Listen: Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

• Elvis Presley (1935-1977): The "King of Rock and Roll", Elvis Presley was a singer and instrumentalist. He could not read or write music, learning to play the guitar, piano and bass by ear. His charismatic dance style and music influenced heavily by rhythm and blues captivated American youth, causing racial and generational controversy during a transformative era of American history. Listen: Jailhouse Rock

• Buddy Holly (1936-1959): Buddy Holly was a singer, songwriter and guitarist.  He is known for establishing the (now) classic rock band instrumentation of two guitars, bass and drums.  Listen: Crying, Waiting, Hoping

• The Del-Vikings (est.1955): The Del-Vikings was an early rock doo wop group.  They combined early rock instrumentation and rhythms with harmonized vocals.  The group is also one of the first multi-racial vocal groups.  Listen: Come and Go With Me

• The Beach Boys (est.1961): The Beach Boys were a rock group that wrote music reflecting the southern California "beach" culture.  They are known for classical, jazz and rockabilly influences in their music, as well as tight vocal harmonies.  They are considered the first American "pop" rock musical group. Listen: Good Vibrations

• The Byrds (est.1964): The Byrds was a progressive rock group that pioneered the folk-rock, psychedelic-rock and country-rock sub-genres. They are also credited for being the first to use a 12-string guitar in their music. Listen: Turn! Turn!Turn!

• The Grateful Dead (est. 1965): The "Dead" was an eclectic rock fusion group that combined rock, blues, reggae, bluegrass, folk and psychedelia styles with world music and jazz improvisation.  Listen: Fire on the Mountain

• Creedance Clearwater Revival (est. 1967): Creedance Clearwater Revival was a "Swamp" (southern bayou) rock group that pioneered the southern rock style.  Southern rock is a blues-based style characterized by themes about the culture of the American South, usually played with a heavy rhythm and the use of electric guitars. Listen: Fortunate Son

• Chicago (est.1967): Chicago is a rock band that utilizes a full brass horn section and sometimes woodwinds in its sound.  Listen: 25 or 6 to 4

• Cher (b.1946): Nicknamed the "Goddess of Pop", Cher is a singer and actress who broke barriers for women in the male dominated music industry. Her style is continuously evolving, and after 7 decades of making music, Cher continues to make music relevant to the times we are living in.  Listen:  Bang Bang

• Donna Summer (1948-2012): Donna Summer was a singer, songwriter and cultural icon best known for her disco music.  She grew up in Boston was the first African American woman to be nominated for an MTV Video Music Award.  Listen: I Feel Love

• Aerosmith (est. 1970): Aerosmith is a hard rock band from Boston.  They are pioneers of taking a blues-based sound into the heavy metal sub-genre.  The band started when lead singer, Steven Tyler met lead guitarist, Joe Perry while working at an ice cream shop in Sunapee, NH! They helped bring hip hop music to a mainstream audience by partnering with Run-DMC for Walk This Way in 1986. Their music can be heard in many video games.  Listen: Dream On

• The Ramones (est. 1974): The Ramones were on of the first American punk bands. They are known for their fast-paced, hard, raw sound, which they developed to counter the growing commercial, heavily produced "pop" movement that they found boring and uninspiring. Listen: Blitzkrieg Bop

• Santana (est.1966): Santana is a band from California, founded by Mexican American guitarist Carlos Santana and best known for its fusion Latin-rock sound utilizing Latin instruments, afro-beats and blues electric guitar. Listen: Jingo

• The Eagles (est. 1971): The Eagles are one of the most well-known bands of the 1970s.  They are most known for their blues-based country rock sound. Listen: Take It Easy

• Journey (est.1973): Journey is a progressive rock band that gained popularity in the early 1980s when led by vocalist Steve Perry.  Since their debut, Journey has become one of the world's best-selling bands known for their "arena rock" sound.  Listen: Don't Stop Believing

• Stevie Nicks (b.1948): Stevie Nicks is a singer-songwriter and philanthropist best known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac.  She is a colorful performer, though she wears only black on-stage. Over a career of 5 decades, many artists including Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Eminem name her as a being influential in the development of their music.  Listen: Rhiannon

• Michael Jackson (1958-2009): Know as the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson was a singer, songwriter, dancer, philanthropist and cultural icon. He began performing at the age of 6 with his older brothers as part of the Motown group the "Jackson Five".  His personal style, original dance moves, theatrical performances and cinematic, story-based music videos revolutionized commercial pop.  Listen & Watch: Thriller (younger students may want to listen only, as the video may be scary)

• Bruce Springsteen (b.1949): Nicknamed the "Boss", Bruce Springsteen is a singer-songwriter from New Jersey best known for pioneering the "heartland rock" style with his back-up the "E Street Band", mixing a mainstream rock sound with poetic and socially conscious lyrics.  He is ranked among the best songwriters of all time and is known as a generous and authentic performer.  Listen: Thunder Road

• Billy Joel (b.1949): Billy Joel is a singer-songwriter and pianist. He is one of the world's best-selling artists with hits spanning 50 years. He is most known for his pop rock, piano-based ballads (sentimental, romantic songs), but has written songs in a variety of styles.  Listen: Tomorrow Is Today

• Madonna (b.1958): Madonna is a singer, songwriter, actor and pop icon.  She is a controversial artist known for pushing the boundaries of social convention. Over her 40-year career, Madonna has continuously sought to redefine herself, experimenting with new images and new sounds.  Listen: Like A Prayer

• Metallica (est.1981): Metallica is a heavy metal rock band known for its musicianship and complex compositions influenced by classical music.  It helped establish the sub-genre of "speed" metal characterized by fast tempos and aggressive instrumentals, though their music incorporates other sounds as well.  Listen: Battery

• R.E.M. (est.1980): R.E.M. was one of the first alternative rock bands, known for a fusion punk-folk-rock sound mixed with introspective and often cryptic lyrics.  They redefined the alternative music scene by remaining true to their artistry, while also being commercially successful. Listen: It's The End Of The World As We Know It

• New Kids on the Block (est.1984): New Kids on the Block was a Caucasian boy band from Boston that combined the wholesome image of early rock teen idols with the polished performances styles of early R&B groups, quickly becoming teen heartthrobs of the 1980s.  They are often regarded as the first modern boy band, although the Latino group Menudo and African American group New Edition preceded them slightly. They helped inspired the boy band culture that swept through American pop music in the 1990s. Listen: You Got It (The Right Stuff)

• Nine Inch Nails (est. 1988): Nine Inch Nails is an industrial rock band with punk influences. Industrial music is characterized by heavy, electrical and mechanical sounds and themes that contrast social convention. The band brought the style mainstream and influenced future electronic bands.  Listen: Every Day Is Exactly The Same

• Pearl Jam (est. 1990): Pearl Jam is band from Seattle, WA that popularized the "grunge" movement of the 1990s.  The movement was characterized by shunning the culture, commercialism and production of pop music. Pearl Jam is known for its style that incorporates classic rock elements with the angsty and cynical lyrics of 1990s "Generation Xers".  Listen: Black 

• Evanescence (est. 1994): Evanescence is a "goth" rock band that combines classical, heavy metal, rock, electronic and industrial styles to make one all their own.  Listen: Bring Me To Life

• The White Stripes (est. 1997): The White Stripes were an indie blues-rock duo from Detroit that revitalizes the garage band sound of the late 1970s. The group used "low-fidelity" production quality, meaning that their recordings contained imperfections and interferences that higher quality sound reproduction would not have included.  Listen: Seven Nation Army

• Linkin Park (est. 1996): Linkin Park is an alternative rock band known for their musical experimentation. Their albums span many different styles including heavy metal, hip hop and electronic.  Listen: Somewhere I Belong

• Jack Antonoff (b.1984): Jack Antonoff is a singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is currently the lead singer of Bleachers, and was a previous member of Fun and Steel Train.  He is most known for his work writing and producing songs for other artists such as Taylor Swift, Lorde, Sara Bareilles and Pink. He has won 10 Grammy Awards.  Listen: All My Heroes

• The Black Keys (est. 2001): The Black Keys is an indie rock band that began self-producing their albums by recording in their basement. They are known for their blues-influenced style.  Listen: Wild Child