History of Rock and Roll

This Anchor Time Enrichment course will delve into the history of American Music. It will start with the Delta Blues in the 1920's as a reflection of the life of African-Americans in the rural south, and work it's way forward through modern day.

Here is a link to an Amazon Music playlist used in the class: History of Rock Playlist

Day 1: The Top 100 Guitar Riffs of all Time (BBC)

A quick google search and youtube search brings us quickly to the "Top 100 Guitar Riffs of All Time"... Of course these are obviously up for debate, which we will. But today in class we will start at 100 and work our way down to #1. We will listen to different selections as either I or the class wants, and debate whether or not a particular song should be on there, or if it's placement is appropriate.

Day 2: Delta Blues

Mississippi Delta Blues

Bessie Smith "Homeless Blues"

Charlie Patton "Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues"

Robert Johnson, "Crossroad" (1936)

Lightnin’ Hopkins, “Cotton” (1959)

Howlin'Wolf. "I'll Be Back Someday" (1964)

J.B. Lenoir Alabama Blues (1965)

Son House, "Death Letter Blues" (1968)

Mississippi River Flood, 1927

Sharecroppers

Sharecropping was a way for southern planters to keep former slaves on plantations as their labor force. While in theory former slaves could earn a wage, different methods were used by planters to make sure the freedmen were in debt at the end of the season and thus tied to the land until it was paid off. Of course, the next year they were even more in debt. The debt would also pass down to a sharecropper's children and would create generations worth of poverty. It is not surprising that a musical style that sounds oftentimes both sad and frustrated emerged from the situation of this group of people in the form of the Blues.

Sharecroppers

Day 3: Chicago/Electric Blues

Robert Johnson "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" (1936)

What instrument(s) do you hear?

Where would you guess Johnson is playing?

Why do you think Country Blues artists like Johnson played acoustic guitar?

Why do you think so many Country Blues artists performed as solo artists?

What is the overall effect of Johnson’s performance? What mood does it create? What images come to mind when you hear it?

Questions from www.teachrock.org

As the Great Migration occurred and African Americans moved north to cities like Chicago and St. Louis, they took with them their culture. Included in this is the blues. However, as the blues migrated north it underwent some changes, especially with the invention of the electric guitar.

Map retrieved from http://jorgesgreatmigration.weebly.com/map-of-the-great-migration.html

Chicago or Urban Blues:

Elmore James "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" (1936)

What instrument(s) do you hear? How many musicians do you think were involved in this recording?

Where would you guess the musicians are playing? What is the overall effect of the performance? What mood does it create? What images come to mind when you hear it? What are the main differences between this recording and Johnson's?

What are the main similarities between the two recordings? Would you classify them as belonging to the same genre of music? Why or why not?

Why do you think an artist like Elmore James might have wanted to use an electric rather than an acoustic guitar? What are the advantages of an electric guitar?

Based on what you have heard in these recordings, do you think the overall effect of the electric guitar on the Blues was positive or negative? Support your answer.

Questions from www.teachrock.org

Information on the invention of the electric guitar through the first few models can be found here.

Elmore James

If you want to hear the original Les Paul, here he is performing "Sleepwalk".

B.B. King "3 O'Clock Blues" (1952)

A quick reading about legendary blues artist B.B. King:

"The Lucille saga begins with her in the winter of 1949, when King – who turns 85 on today – was playing a Twist, Arkansas dance. A fight broke out and the burning barrel of kerosene that was used to heat the room spilled, spreading its flaming contents. Panic ensued as the fire began to cover the floor. Everybody, including King, fled. Once outside, he realized he’d left his prized guitar, a $30 Gibson acoustic, and returned to retrieve it.

The next day King learned two people had died in the blaze, and that the fight triggering the conflagration was over a woman named Lucille. He renamed his Gibson after her that day, as a reminder to never do anything as stupid as fight over a woman or enter a burning building again."

From: B.B. King and Lucille: A Love Story

B.B. King "Lucille" (1968)

Day 4: R&B and Doo Wop

R&B

LaVern Baker

Lavern Baker in 1956 (1929 - 1997)

Portrait retrieved here

LaVern Baker was one of first female R&B performers to cross over to reach large numbers of white listeners in the early days of Rock and Roll. Baker's exuberant delivery drove such mid-50s hits as "Tweedlee Dee" and "Jim Dandy," while 1958's "I Cried a Tear" showed her to be an effective ballad singer. From www.teachrock.org

Lavern Baker "Tra La La" (1956)

Chuck Berry "Maybellene" (1955)

Chuck Berry "Johnny B. Goode" (1958)

and of course: Marty McFly's Version (1985, in 1955)

Doo Wop

The Five Satins, "In the Still of the Night" (1956)

The Crests, "16 Candles" (1958)

The Flamingos, "I Only Have Eyes For You." (1959)

The Tokens, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (1961)

And just for fun, Jimmy Fallon and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin create a Doo Wop song with an iPad.

And as all of these artists and styles began to merge, from southern to urban blues, R&B, even gospel, a new style of music began to develop. Something that was truely American. It was an amalgam of styles from all different groups in society; black and white, rich and poor, male and female. In the 1950's Rock and Roll emerged.

Early Rock and Roll

Elvis Presley

"At the end of World War II, the United States sat poised on the brink of a Civil Rights movement that would challenge the nation’s inherent racial inequality and push for the integration of the races throughout American society. The second-class status of African Americans was a fact of life throughout the country, but particularly palpable in the Jim Crow South, where segregation prevented African Americans from voting, attending certain schools, sitting alongside whites on public transportation and even drinking from the same water fountains as whites.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring that state-sponsored segregation in America’s public schools was inherently unconstitutional. Though the decision marked a critical turning point in race relations, it would be many years before its promise of dismantling the machinery of segregation and ensuring full enfranchisement of minorities would begin to bear fruit.

Two months after the Brown ruling, 19-year-old Elvis Presley released his first single on Sun Records. The first side was a cover of “That’s All Right,” a 1940s Rhythm and Blues song written and originally recorded by African-American Bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. The “B” side of the single was a cover of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” a 1946 tune written and popularized by Bluegrass musician Bill Monroe.

On the other hand, the fact that this melding of black and white culture was delivered through the voice of a white teenager demonstrates the racial realities of the mid-1950s. White audiences may have been ready for African-American-inspired Rock and Roll, but not necessarily to embrace music actually performed by African-American artists. Indeed, Sam Phillips, who produced Elvis’ first single, is said to have commented, “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.” When radio audiences responded enthusiastically to the first airing of Presley's “That’s All Right,” Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips went out of his way to let listeners know that Elvis was white." www.teachrock.org

"Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the leading figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines that coincided with the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, made him enormously popular—and controversial."

Elvis Presley "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956)

Unlike many white artists ... who watered down the gritty edges of the original R&B versions of songs in the '50s, Presley reshaped them. He not only injected the tunes with his own vocal character but also made guitar, not piano, the lead instrument in all three cases." It became the first rock-and-roll album to top the Billboard chart, a position it held for 10 weeks.

From From the man who would be King

Elvis Presley "Hound Dog" (1956)

Elvis Presley "Jail House Rock" (1957)

Elvis combined people and traditions like not many others at the time. He challenged the traditional role of race in music. Elvis also gave hope. He was an inspiration to many; the epitome of the American Dream. Read the following excerpt from teachrock.com's lesson on Elvis and Johnny Cash:

"The American Dream is an essential part of the national lore used to explain what it means to be a citizen of the United States. The story is everywhere: The well-known biography of Abraham Lincoln begins in a Kentucky log cabin and ends in the White House. Horatio Alger Jr.’s nineteenth-century novels depict characters rising from rags to riches, as achieved through honest work, courage, and perseverance. In the 1930s, novelist John Steinbeck published Of Mice and Men, in which the protagonists, migrant laborers George and Lennie, maintain their dream of owning a farm even as they face brutal poverty and economic disenfranchisement.

Just as Lincoln, Alger, and Steinbeck offered different views into the very concept of the American Dream, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash participated in updating the story for the Rock and Roll era, rising from working class beginnings to become legends in American life and culture."

The 1950's

In 1955 rock and roll has it's first nationwide #1 hit when Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" tops the Pop Charts. Although considered a novelty or fad by most, rock proves it's staying power. In 1955 black R&B artists Little Richard and Chuck Berry score significant Pop hits. Scouts from RCA records, looking to sign their own rock and roll performer, buy out the contract of Memphis singer Elvis Presley from regional label Sun Records. http://www.rockmusictimeline.com/1950s.html

Bill Haley and the Comets, "Rock Around the Clock"

Jerry Lee Lewis, "Great Balls of Fire"

The Platters, "Only You (And You Alone)"

Day 5: The Radio

What was radio before rock and roll? What was it used for?

From its birth in 1920 to the rise of television in the early 1950s, commercial radio played a central role in American life. For much of this era, the radio itself held an honored place in the center of the home. Entire families would gather around it to hear important news events, listen to live music, or catch the latest installment of a hit drama or comedy series such as The Lone Ranger or Amos ‘n Andy.

Franklin Roosevelt - Fireside Chat #1, On the Banking Crisis (1933)

The War of the Worlds - H.G. Welles (1938)

But by the early 1950s, technological shifts—most notably the introduction of television into the family living room—heralded significant changes in the American people’s relationship with radio. The rise of smaller, portable radios meant that individuals could now listen virtually any time or place. The growing popularity of television rendered radio drama and comedy series nearly obsolete; listeners were less satisfied with merely listening to stories on radio when they could see them unfold before their eyes on television.

But far from disappearing from American life, as some predicted, radio instead reinvented itself in the early 1950s. Recorded popular music would come to play an increasingly central role in radio programming over the next two decades, as opposed to the live performances that dominated the airwaves in the decades prior. As the major networks, such as NBC and CBS, shifted their attention from radio to television, radio stations came more and more under local control, allowing for greater experimentation and creativity in programming. One such local owner, Todd Storz of WKOH in Omaha, Nebraska, pioneered a new format in which listeners could hear recordings of their favorite songs over and over again, paving the way for what would soon become known as “Top 40” radio. Some stations began playing a broader range of recorded music, including some that emphasized Rhythm and Blues performed by African-American artists. These changes set the stage for radio to play a central role in the Rock and Roll explosion of the late 1950s.

Music on the Radio

From Rock and Roll pioneers like Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry to the U.K. artists, such as the Beatles and the Kinks, who heard American music and reinterpreted it for American audiences, radio was the place where they got their goods. And DJs were there to deliver them. Ambassadors and missionaries, they brought a steady stream of new music to expectant audiences. Among those DJs, several became celebrities in their own right. Murray the K fancied himself the fifth Beatle. Dewey Phillips was a regular at Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion. Alan Freed was listed as a co-writer on Chuck Berry's first single, "Maybellene" -- a situation that, due to Freed's high profile, Chuck Berry liked (until he definitely didn't like it). The DJs were the tastemakers that teenagers everywhere turned to.

Due in the second phase of this project, this chapter's lessons will demonstrate that the story of Rock and Roll radio is also a story of technology. With the birth of the transistor device, young radio listeners could break away from the family console to hear the DJs who geared their programs toward teens. Or they could dial in to the blackj stations where Rhythm and Blues was presented for African-American audiences but widely consumed by young white people. Of course, this racial mixing that radio allowed cut both ways: as Soul Music later revealed, African Americans in the South made up a big part of the Grand Ole Opry's listening audience. In the universe of radio, things were possible that were not possible elsewhere.

Of course, because of radio there was more money to be made on records sold. With the advent of Top 40 radio, the songs that made it to the upper reaches of the charts became even bigger as hits: the shorter the playlist, the more rotations for each chart-topping recording. And record companies had an interest in getting all the airplay they could. No surprise, then, that the 1959 "payola" scandal revealed extensive pay-for-play practices in the industry, bringing about the sad end of Allan Freed's remarkable career as a DJ.

The focus in the chapter's final lesson is Free Form FM radio, the brainchild of DJ and entrepreneur Tom Donahue. Different from Top 40, Free Form -- at least in it's purest version -- avoided the playlist, letting the DJ create a unique tapestry of musical choices. Born of the hippie ethos, Free Form threw out the rule book. What it didn't throw out, however, was the DJ.

Day 6: The Early 1960's

"At the beginning of the 1960s, many Americans believed they were standing at the dawn of a golden age. On January 20, 1961, the handsome and charismatic John F. Kennedy became president of the United States. His confidence that, as one historian put it, “the government possessed big answers to big problems” seemed to set the tone for the rest of the decade. However, that golden age never materialized. On the contrary, by the end of the 1960s it seemed that the nation was falling apart."

http://www.history.com/topics/1960s

There was somewhat of a a gap between this initial stage of rock and roll in the early 1950's and the "British Invasion" of the mid 1960's. Harmonies became more important again with multiple voices on tracks. Rock became more polished during this time. It was also during this time that surf music began to take hold in the United States. Among the first to reach the charts with this style of rock was Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. Among his hits were "Misirlou", which enjoyed a short rebirth of popularity after the release of the film "Pulp Fiction" in 1994.

Other bands existed as well, and to us, sometimes indistinguishable from each other. Below is "Surf City" by Jan and Dean.

It wasn't until the forming of the Beach Boys in 1961 that surf rock began to become a national phenomenon though.

"As members of the Baby Boom generation, the Beach Boys grew up in a postwar nation that was characterized by rapid suburban development. According to U.S. Census figures, by the year 2000, half the American population lived in areas described as “suburban.” For teenagers, the shift toward the suburbs offered space that was both metaphorical and literal; their own room, perhaps, or maybe a garage or a finished basement where they might gather, away from adults. At the same time, the introduction of the transistor radio in 1954 gave teens more opportunity to listen to "their" music, away from the family entertainment console."

teachrock.org

In 1956 the Interstate Highway Act was passed, paving the way for the construction of interstates. This, combined with the return of soldiers from WWII and Korea who could afford cheap home loans with the G.I. Bill, gave way to the construction of the suburbs. Levittown in New York was the most famous. The Suburbs exploded:

By 1963, the Beach Boys had released "In My Room", which is a reflection on this life.

While their early hits were about surfing (and even some Dick Dale covers), they began to progress both in style and subject matter... all the way to major topics for teenagers at the time: cars and girls. The band's leader was Brian Wilson. While he was often ahead of his time in composing songs, he also suffered from mental problems that made him reclusive, refusing to tour, or even leave his house. When he wrote "Wouldn't It Be Nice" it was cutting edge. The British Invasion all but destroyed surf rock in the United States, but the Beach Boys were the one band who held on and could actually compete with the Beatles.

The Beach Boys, "Surfin" 1962

The Beach Boys, "Fun, Fun, Fun" 1964

The Beach Boys, "California Girls" 1965

With the mid 60's came a new kind of rock. This new music would change the way the United States teenager viewed music. When the Beatles released the "Rubber Soul" album, Brian Wilson's entire view on writing an album was changed. He wanted to create the greatest rock album of all time. Instead of having a few singles and "filler" music on an album which was standard practice for the time period, he was going to follow the lead of the Beatles and write an entire album of music from start to finish. This is when he wrote arguable one of the best albums of the 1960's if not of all time with "Pet Sounds"

Go ahead, click on an album cover, you know you want to!!

https://youtu.be/M7qNlocNIf8?list=PLAVVbHs60_-YaryBpLddypgwMTTyq47ov

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW79q83govkXJJBEnMnlvJ7B1b3xPosvO

Rubber Soul Album Cover Pet Sounds Album Cover

For a follow up he announced the album SMiLE, which unfortunately never get recorded. Click HERE to read a biography of Brian Wilson from his website, in which Pet Sounds, SMiLE, and his solo career are all discussed.

One track which was set to be on Pet Sounds but was not complete in time was "Good Vibrations", a hint of the complexity that would be expected from Wilson and the always awaited SMiLE album.

The British Invasion

No other Rock and Roll band has achieved the stature accorded the Beatles. They remain the most celebrated act in the music’s history. Their recordings, their performances, their songwriting, their singing: taken together, the band's output is widely considered unmatched in the history of popular music. How, then, did it all happen? What made the Beatles the Beatles?

Teach Rock

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was the Beatles' first number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 7 weeks at the top and a total of 15 weeks on the chart. Their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964, drawing an estimated 73 million viewers (at the time a record for an American television program) is often considered a milestone in American pop culture. The Beatles went on to become the biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed into the US charts by numerous British bands. During the next two years British acts dominated their own and the US charts with Peter and Gordon, the Animals, Manfred Mann,Petula Clark, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman's Hermits, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs, and Donovan all having one or more number 1 singles. Other major acts that were part of the invasion included the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five." www.wikipedia.com

"On February 9, 1964, an estimated 73 million people tuned in to see the Beatles perform live on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television program. This meant that 45% of homes with televisions in the U.S. were watching the Beatles, a record at that time. Their appearance on the The Ed Sullivan Show, coupled with radio play and album promotion, spurred their meteoric rise in America. By April 4, 1964, the group held the first five spots on the Billboard Hot 100 list of popular songs, with "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist and Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me" crowding the top of the charts. No other act in history has achieved such a feat. " Teach Rock

The Billboard Hot 100, April 4, 1964

Position, Title

No. 1, "Can't Buy Me Love"

No. 2, "Twist and Shout"

No. 3, "She Loves You"

No. 4, "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

No. 5, "Please Please Me"

www.billboard.com

Day 7: The Beatles

The Beatles are arguable the greatest band to ever. While some of their music doesn't seem as technical when compared to some more modern music, but the limits they pushed help further develop rock and roll throughout the early 60's. There influence over future musicians can't be quantified. Today we will look at a timeline of their music and see how their sound developed over the decade or so that they were at their peak.

The complete timeline can be found here.

1957 Mar: Lennon forms a skiffle group called the Black Jacks with Pete Shotton. The band is later renamed the Quarrymen

1960 May 05: The Quarrymen change their name to the Silver Beetles.

1960 Aug 17: The Silver Beetles change their name to the Beatles

1962 Sep 04: The Beatles' first recording session at Abbey Road Studios. They record "Love Me Do" and a demo of "How Do You Do It?." "Love Me Do" will also be recorded on 11 September with session drummer Andy White, but Martin will use one of the takes from today's session with Starr on drums for the original UK single release.

1962 Nov 26: The Beatles record their second single, "Please Please Me" / "Ask Me Why"

1963 Jul 12: Twist and Shout released.

1963 Aug 23: "She Loves You" / "I'll Get You" released.

1963 Nov 29: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" / "This Boy" released.

1964 Feb 09: The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show

1964 Jul 13: "A Hard Day's Night" / "I Should Have Known Better" released.

1965 Aug 13: Help! released. (Album)

1965 Sep 13: "Yesterday" / "Act Naturally" released.

1965 Dec 03: Rubber Soul released. (Album)

1965 Dec 03: "We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper" released.

1966 Feb 15: "Nowhere Man" / "What Goes On" released.

1966 Aug 05: "Yellow Submarine" / "Eleanor Rigby" released.

1967 Feb 13: "Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever" released.

1967 Jun 01: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band released.

1967 Jul 07: "All You Need Is Love" / "Baby, You're a Rich Man" released.

1967 Nov 27: Magical Mystery Tour released.

1969 Jan 30: The Beatles give their final public performance on the rooftop of the Apple offices on Savile Row. They play nine songs in forty two minutes, including repeats of three songs.

1969 Apr 11: "Get Back" / "Don't Let Me Down" released.

1969 Sep 20: In a meeting to sign a new recording contract negotiated by Allen Klein, Lennon tells McCartney and Starr (Harrison was not present) that he is leaving the Beatles.

1970 Feb 26: Hey Jude released.

1976 May 31: "Got to Get You into My Life" / "Helter Skelter" released.

1980 Dec 08: Lennon is shot and killed outside his New York City apartment building by Mark David Chapman.

2000 Nov 13: 1 released.

2001 Nov 29 L Harrison dies of cancer on 29 November 2001 in Los Angeles.

2010 Nov 16: Music catalogue released on iTunes.

Independent/Solo Releases:

John Lennon, "Imagine".

John Lennon, "Instant Karma"

Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton, "While My Guitar Gentle Weeps" (George Harrison Tribute)

Paul McCartney and Wings, "Maybe I'm Amazed"

Paul McCartney, "Live and Let Die"

Guns and Roses, "Live and Let Die" (cover)

Rihanna, Kanye West And Paul McCartney, "FourFiveSeconds"

Day 8: The British Invasion

The Rolling Stones began their life as an act dedicated to playing the Blues. They were, in effect, a cover band. However, the influence of manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham was substantial. the most important thing Oldham did was to get Mick Jagger and Keith Richards writing their own material. After the first few albums, which featured covers of songs recorded by Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, and others, the balance began to shift. Jagger and Richards were soon among the most formidable writing teams in popular music, and they had just the right band to back that material. By the time "Satisfaction" was released as a single in 1965, it became clear that the Stones were putting out some of the most important music of their time, and it was unlike anything else out there.

Perhaps more than any other group, the Stones cultivated a bad-boy image that would become the image most associated with Rock and Roll by the 1970s. Gone were the sunny faces of Herman's Hermits and the Dave Clark Five. The Stones were dark, even menacing. If youth culture was about challenging the parent generation, loving the Stones made the process rather easy. Lessons in this chapter will explore all of this and more, with upcoming lessons analyzing the mid and later parts of the band's career, a time when they were regularly billed -- not casually -- as "The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band."

teachrock.org

They released their 1st Album in 1964. Since then they have released 29 studio albums as well as 24 compilations, 13 live albums, and a number of other releases. They had such a long and well known career that one of their biographical movies, "Shine a Light", was directed by Martin Scorsese.

One of the first singles they released that was written by them was "Satisfaction" in May of 1965.

It was followed by "Get Off of my Cloud" in September.

Between 1964 and 1979 they released a large number of their singles. Some highlights are listed below. Often times other musical genres would influence their sound. Blues at the beginning, country at times, and even disco in the 1970's.

19th Nervous Breakdown

Paint It Black wikipedia article about the song.

Ruby Tuesday

Jumping Jack Flash

Sympathy for the Devil

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

Miss You

Beast of Burden

Remember, this is only from 1964 to 1979. They are still touring and writing songs today.

Other Honorable Mentions from the British Invasion:

The Animals, "House of the Rising Sun"

The Troggs, "Wild Thing"

Herman's Hermits, "I'm Into Something Good"

The Hollies, "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress"

The Kinks, "You Really Got Me"

The Who, "My Generation"

The Who, "Pinball Wizard"

The Yardbirds, "For Your Love"

The Yardbirds achieved notice on the burgeoning British rhythm and blues scene that month when they took over as the house band at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, succeeding the Rolling Stones. Original lead guitarist Topham left and was replaced by Eric Clapton in October 1963. But Clapton was a blues purist whose vision extended far beyond three-minute singles. Frustrated by the commercial approach, he abruptly left the group on March 25, 1965, the day that "Four Your Love" was released to the public. Soon Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, but not before he recommended Jimmy Page, a prominent young studio session guitarist, as his replacement. Unwilling to give up his lucrative gig and worried about his health, Page in turn recommended his friend Jeff Beck. Beck played his first gig with the Yardbirds only two days after Clapton's departure.

From www.wikipedia.com

The Yardbirds, "Heart Full of Soul".

In June 1966, shortly after the sessions that produced Yardbirds, Samwell-Smith decided to leave the group and work as a record producer. Jimmy Page agreed to play bass until rhythm guitarist Dreja could rehearse on it. A Beck–Page lead guitar tandem, however, is heard on the counterculture-era psychedelic rock highlight "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" (with future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones instead of Dreja). It was backed in the U.K. with "Psycho Daisies", with Beck on lead and Page on bass; the U.S. B-side, "The Nazz Are Blue", features a rare lead vocal by Beck.

There was also one recording made by Beck and Page with John Paul Jones on bass, Keith Moon on drums and Nicky Hopkins on piano—"Beck's Bolero", a piece inspired by Ravel's "Bolero", credited to Page (Beck also claims to have written the song). "Beck's Bolero" was first released as the B-side of Beck's first solo single, "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and was included on his first album, Truth.

After a tour stop in Texas in late October 1966 Beck was sacked both for being a consistent no-show and difficulties caused by his perfectionism and explosive temper. The band continued as a quartet thereafter, with Page as sole lead guitarist.

On 7 July 1968, the Yardbirds played their final gig at the College of Technology in Luton, Bedfordshire. Rolling Stone magazine announced the break-up by saying that "Jimmy Paige [sic] intends to go into solo recording work..." Page and Dreja, with a tour scheduled for the autumn in Scandinavia, saw the break-up as an opportunity to put a new lineup together with Page as producer and Grant as manager. Young vocalist and composer Terry Reid was asked to replace Relf but declined because of a new recording contract with Most and recommended the then-unknown Robert Plant. Plant, in turn, recommended his childhood friend John Bonham on drums.

The band restyled itself "Led Zeppelin", a term believed to have been coined, originally, by Keith Moon in reference to the supergroup that had performed on "Beck's Bolero". Moon had quipped that a Beck/Jones/Hopkins/Moon/Page lineup would go down "like a lead zeppelin." The spelling of "lead" was changed to avoid confusion over its pronunciation. This effectively closed the books on the Yardbirds – at least by name – for the next 24 years.

Day 9: Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968.The group consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. The band's heavy, guitar-driven sound, rooted in bluesand psychedelia on their early albums, has earned them recognition as one of the progenitors of heavy metal, though their unique style drew from a wide variety of influences, including folk music.

Led Zeppelin is the debut studio album. It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studiosin London and released on Atlantic Records on 12 January 1969 in the United States and 31 March in the United Kingdom. Featuring integral contributions from each of the group's four musicians, the album established their fusion of blues and rock.

www.wikipedia.com

Led Zeppelin I Track Listing:

Side one:

1. "Good Times, Bad Times"

2. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"

3. "You Shook Me"

4. "Dazed and Confused"

Side two

5. "Your Time Is Gonna Come"

6. "Black Mountain Side"

7. "Communication Breakdown"

8. "I Can't Quit You Baby"

9. "How Many More Times"

Click on the Album Cover below to listen to the album on youtube.com!

The Song Remains the Same In Through The Outdoor Coda

Stairway to Heaven Live

Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin II Untitled

Day 10: Rock comes to Folk Music

Houses of the Holy Physical Graffiti Presence

Folk culture offered a kind of artistic, cultural, and political "authenticity," something seemingly more real than the consumerism, conformity, and pop culture of the 1950's. Like Punk Rock and, later, Grunge, Folk music offered a kind of alternative -- it was a place to be, a way of thinking, a community: all sitting outside of the mainstream but somehow commenting upon it.

“Folk culture is a category that didn't exist until there was a modern world to invent it… Which is to say, folk culture emerged as a concept when the modern world started shuttling forward in time and, along with the joys of progress, faced a growing anxiety, an anxiety about all that forward momentum. Folk culture suggested something outside of all that movement and industrializing, commercializing energy. It was William Morris's fantasy of the Middle Ages. It was the Brothers Grimm collecting folk tales that had been passed along not through the channels of print but through oral transmission. In most cases, an interest in folk culture is, among other things, a kind of response to something that is going on — in music, it’s often a response to commercialization. It points to a past that feels, to the Folk enthusiast, more 'pure.'”

With its spare melodies and acoustic instrumentation, Folk music indeed embodied a kind of purity. It evoked a simpler past, a non-commercial culture. There was romance in the common-man rambles of Folk heroes like Woody Guthrie. And the simple musical base of Folk music meant that it was easy to pick up and, further, provided a platform for lyrics that ranged across the political and socio-cultural landscape. It gave ample room for commentary, political and social. If some teens in the 1950s connected with the Rock and Roll of Elvis and Chuck Berry, others who found Folk more immediate entered a Folk scene in which ideas associated with everything from existentialism to Civil Rights were being contemplated, and artists like Pete Seeger were sharing a world view that challenged the ideas of the American mainstream. When Rock and Roll evolved in the mid-1960s, no surprise then that a Folk-Rock hybrid would emerge as what might be called the conscience music of the Hippie movement.

~Teachrock.org

Many took to the call, choosing acoustic instrumentation over the emerging electrified pop rock:

Peter Paul and Mary, "If I had a Hammer"

Peter Paul and Mary, "Puff the Magic Dragon"

Peter Paul and Mary, "Leaving on a Jet Plane"

The Byrds, "Turn, Turn, Turn"

The Byrds, "Hey Mr. Tambourine Man"

Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth"

Joni Mitchell, "Big Yellow Taxi"

The Counting Crows covering Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi"

Simon and Garfunkel, "The Sound of Silence"

Simon and Garfunkel, "America"

Simon and Garfunkel, "Mrs. Robinson"

Bob Dylan, "Blowin in the Wind"

Bob Dylan, "All Along the Watchtower"

Jimi Hendrix covering Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower"

Dave Matthews covering Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower"

As the 60's moved forward and America lost its innocence, folk rock began to plug in. Some transformed into psychedelic rock which was a new trend, heavily influenced by the drug culture of the 1960's. Combined with the deaths of Martin Luther King Junior and Robert Kennedy, the Vietnam War, it culminates with the Woodstock Music Festival in Upstate New York in the summer of 1969.

Joe Cocker, "With a Little Help From My Friends"

Jimi Hendrix, "Purple Haze"

Santana, "Soul Sacrifice"

Jefferson Airplane, "Somebody to Love"

Jefferson Airplane, "Volunteers of America"

Jefferson Airplane, "White Rabbit"

Richie Havens, "Handsome Johnny"

Janis Joplin, "Another Piece of My Heart"

Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Fortunate Son"

Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Run Through the Jungle"

Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Bad Moon Rising"

The Band, "The Weight"

Ten Days After, "I'd Love to Change the World"

Day 11: Psychedelic Rock

From the second half of the 1950s, Beat Generation writers like William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg wrote about and took drugs, including cannabis and Benzedrine, raising awareness and helping to popularise their use. In the same period Lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD, or "acid" (at the time a legal drug), began to be used in the US and UK as an experimental treatment, initially promoted as a potential cure for mental illness.

In the early 1960s the use of LSD and other hallucinogens was advocated by proponents of the new "consciousness expansion", such asTimothy Leary, Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley and Arthur Koestler, their writings profoundly influenced the thinking of the new generation of youth.[22] There had long been a culture of drug use among jazz and blues musicians, and, in the early 1960s, use of drugs (including cannabis, peyote, mescaline and LSD had begun to grow among folk and rock musicians, who also began to include drug references in their songs.

The most successful were probably the Doors in the United States. The Grateful Dead were also popular. My favorite from the UK would be without a doubt Pink Floyd.

The Grateful Dead, "Uncle John's Band"

The Grateful Dead, "Casey Jones"

The Grateful Dead, "Friend of the Devil"

Jefferson Airplane, "White Rabbit"

The Doors, "People Are Strange"

The Doors, "Roadhouse Blues"

The Doors, "Riders on the Storm"

The Doors, "Spanish Caravan"

The Doors, "5 to 1"

Pink Floyd, "Intersteller Overdrive"

Pink Floyd, "Speak to Me/Breathe"

Pink Floyd, "Money"

Many people believed there was a link between Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album and the film Wizard of Oz, replacing the audio of the movie with the album. There are some eerie matchups in both what is going on in the movie as it relates to specific lyrics, but also the tempo's match, and the mood of the music match the movie at times... see for yourself:

Pink Floyd, "Wish You Were Here"

Pink Floyd, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" (Live from the Pulse tour, Earl's Court, London, 1994)

The Wall album was a two vinyl (four sides) set that told the story of a Rock musicians descent into madness. It is one of their trademark albums.

Some highlights:

Pink Floyd, "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II"

Pink Floyd, "Hey You"

Pink Floyd, "Comfortably Numb"

Pink Floyd, "Run Like Hell"

Day 12: Roots of Hip Hop; The Early 1970's

Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.

Smokey Robinson, "Tracks of my Tears"

Smokey Robinson, "You've Really Got a Hold On Me"

Smokey Robinson, "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" from Sesame Street

Smokey Robinson with Sheryl Crowe, "You've Really Got a Hold On Me"

But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.

Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way.

Heavy D discussing the influence of Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield, "Superfly"

Isaac Hayes, "Theme to Shaft"

James Brown, "Get On Up"

James Brown, "I Got You ( I Feel Good)"

The early 1970s were an unsettling time in America. The nation was divided about U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, and Americans were still reeling from the 1968 assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Race riots in cities like Watts, Newark, and Detroit indicated a high level of tension and frustration. During the Civil Rights movement, African Americans had fought hard for equal rights, but in the early 1970s, many of those rights were still unrealized. Not surprisingly, the Soul music of this era, according to Hip Hop pioneer Chuck D, was “darker,” reflecting national tensions.

Motown recording artist Marvin Gaye addressed some of these realities with his albumWhat’s Going On, speaking directly about Vietnam and the political upheaval of the time. Meanwhile, Curtis Mayfield, who with his group The Impressions had recorded the hopeful Civil Rights-era anthem “People Get Ready,” began producing new songs that captured the raw facts of ghetto life. When Mayfield released the soundtrack album for the movie Super Fly in 1972, it seemed to epitomize the direction in which music was moving. The age of Funk was coming. “The groove was so thick you had to get with it,” recalls Chuck D. Though Hip Hop would not enter the picture until the late 1970s, this period of “Social Soul” in the early 1970s was planting the seeds for Hip Hop’s deep groove and social awareness.

Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On"

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

Arethra Franklin, "Respect"

Stevie Wonder, "Superstition"

The Isley Brothers, "That Lady"

Parliament Funkadelic, "We Want the Funk"

Dobie Gray, "Drift Away"

Glady's Night and the Pips, "Midnight Train to Georgia"

The Indigo Girls cover of "Midnight Train to Georgia"

The Jackson Five, "I'll Be There"

The Jackson Five, "ABC"

Edwin Starr, "War"

Day 13: The 70's: Singer Songwriters to Disco

I want to briefly mention the singer-songwriter before we move on. This was a group of people that not only wrote music, but performed the music they wrote. This was unusual in the early stages of music. Even going back to the 1920's and Tin Pan Alley, some people wrote music, and others played and performed it. In the late 1960's and early 1970's the singer songwriter became enormously popular. They tended to try and draw attention to some of the problems of the day, protest the futility of the war in Vietnam, or to evoke images and scenery that make your mind drift and forget about the problems... My mom has a special place for this music, and would sing us to sleep with it. Of course, i have a place for it too. Here are some examples:

Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock"

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young covering Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock"

James Taylor, "Carolina On My Mind"

James Taylor, "Sweet Baby James"

Carol King (feat. James Taylor), "So Far Away"

Carly Simon, "You're So Vain"

Don McClean, "American Pie"

Seals and Croft, "Summer Breeze"

Jim Croce - "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song"

Jonathon Edwards, "Sunshine"

Arlo Guthrie, "Motorcycle Song"

Arlo Guthrie, "Alice's Restaurant"

Jackson Browne, "The Load Out/Stay"

Fleetwood Mac, "Landslide" (Live)

The Dixie Chicks covering Fleetwood Mac, "Landslide"

...and then there was Disco.

The rise of Disco in the 1970s had an enormous cultural impact on the American audience. It was the music they heard on the radio, the music they danced to. It affected fashion. It affected club culture. It even affected film.

Disco's roots were multiple. It had connections to R&B and Funk, but it was also born out of the urban gay culture in New York City. But no matter its roots, it quickly moved into the mainstream with a string of best-selling hits by artists from Donna Summer to the Village People. The phenomenally successful 1977 film Saturday Night Fever took Disco's commercial popularity to surprising heights.

The vibrant sound and energetic dance moves of Disco provided young people with an escape from what film critic Roger Ebert called “the general depression and drabness of the political and musical atmosphere of the seventies.”

But almost as powerful as the embrace of Disco was the backlash against it. For those who grew up with three-minute songs, bands playing instruments, and the raw aesthetic of early Rock and Roll, Disco was part of a new problem. Ultimately, Disco's rise helped to foster the fragmentation of the 1970s and changed the shape of popular music culture.

Here are some of the hits:

Donna Summer, "Hot Stuff"

The Bee Gee's, "Staying Alive"

The Bee Gee's, "You Should Be Dancing"

Chic, "Le Freak"

Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Survive"

Cake covering "I Will Survive" (Live)

Day 14: The 70's: Something a little better... Heavy Metal, Glam Rock, and Prog Rock

If the Singer Songwriters avoided costumes and dance steps and elaborate sets, if they quieted the room down for introspective musings, Glam was the backlash. The theater was back. And there were those among the audience, particularly among the working classes, who wanted their Rock and Roll to be different from everyday life. They didn't want commentary on politics or someone else's relationship, reflections on modern life, and the like -- they wanted a high-end party, with lights and costumes and dance. Just as Hollywood offered some of its most glitzy productions amidst the Depression, when people wanted to get away from the brute facts of life during an economic downturn, in popular music Glam offered audiences just such an escape from the troubles of everyday life.

1970's:

T. Rex, "Get it On"

David Bowie, "Ziggy Stardust"

David Bowie, "Space Oddity"

Alice Cooper, "School's Out"

Mott The Hoople, "All the Young Dudes"

Slade, "Cum On Feel the Noize"

David Bowie, "Rebel Rebel"

The term "Hair Band" became popular in the 1980's as glam rock evolved with the times, but the theater was still there. Part glam, part metal, and insanely popular in the 80's, this list could go on and on... It may not be the greatest music ever made, but dang, it can be fun!!

1980's:

Bon Jovi, "Wanted Dead or Alive"

Bon Jovi, "Living on a Prayer"

Bon Jove, "You Give Love A Bad Name"

Def Leppard, "Pour Some Sugar on Me"

Def Leppard, "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (With Taylor Swift)

Guns and Roses, "November Rain"

Van Halen, "Why Can't This Be Love"

Whitesnake, "Here I Go Again"

Twisted Sister, "We're Not Going to Take It"

Scorpions, "Rock You Like a Hurricane"

Def Leppard, "Photograph"

Perhaps the most ridiculed and reviled of all Rock and Roll related genres, Progressive Rock, or so-called Prog Rock, has often had an uneasy relationship with Rock and Roll audiences and a downright bad relationship with music critics. Prog comes out of the experimental side of 1960s Rock. Extended solos (and not just on guitars), fusions of Jazz and Rock, Rock Operas: these are some of the tendencies that prefigure Prog. If Rock and Roll came from the margins, has always had a strong connection to the working classes, and is celebrated for its immediacy, its succinct musical character, and its sheer approachability (almost anyone can play it without much training, if not all of it and if not well), there has also been a kind of inferiority complex that goes along with all of this. It has taken Rock and Roll decades to get the respect many feels it deserves. The Classical musicians, the Opera singers, and the Jazz musicians have, for years, had bestowed on them a kind of credibility that Rock and Rollers simply haven't.

Some would argue thus: Prog plays with virtuosity, with Classical allusion, with the extended narrative of Opera, with the improvisation of Jazz, and more, drawing what it can from the "legitimate" musical traditions to raise Rock's status. Some would argue that this approach transforms Rock and Roll into a pretentious, humorless exercise in destroying Rock and Roll's spirit. Others feel it has opened up new possibilities for Rock and Roll as a whole. www.teachrock.org

All that said, some of it is really good...

Yes, “Heart of the Sunrise”

The Who, “Underture”

Pink Floyd, “Time”

Jethro Tull, “Thick As a Brick”

Pink Floyd, “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” (live in 1994)

Day 14: 80's (and early 90's) Pop

Much to Ansley's dismay, we have some more of the 80's to cover before we move onto the 90's. We've covered glam and progressive rock, but we haven't mentioned pop. Some very classic, "get stuck in your head", kind of songs that people can still get into today. It was a decade of spending and excess, which showed itself in the music. It was also the age of MTV, and the music video. Most of the links below will lead you to the music video. Synthesizers, electronic drums, and effects were huge. We will have a quick sampling of them before we move on.

1980: Movie Release: The Empire Strikes Back

Queen, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"

Blondie, "Call Me"

1981: Indiana Jones; Raiders of the Lost Ark

Hall and Oates, "Your Kiss Is On My List"

Rick Springfield, "Jessie's Girl"

1982: (This is when the 80's shakes off the remnents of the 70's and really starts.) This is the Cheesy 80's everyone loves. That said, it will last into 91'.

Olivia Newton John, "Physical"

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, "I Love Rock n' Roll"

The Human League, "Don't You Want Me"

Michael Jackson, "Thriller"

A Flock Of Seagulls, "I Ran (So Far Away)"

1983: Movie Release: Return of the Jedi, The Big Chill, A Christmas Story

Men At Work, "Down Under"

Toto, "Africa"

Michael Jackson, "Billy Jean"

Dexy's Midnight Runners, "Come on Eileen"

Michael Jackson, "Beat It"

Lionel Richie, "All Night Long"

1984: Movie Release: Ghostbusters, Footloose

Culture Club, "Karma Chameleon"

Deniece Williams, "Let’s Hear It For the Boy"

Ray Parker Jr., "Ghostbusters"

Wham!, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"

1985: Move Release: Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club

Simple Minds, "Don't You Forget About Me"

Tears for Fears, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"

Huey Lewis and the News, "The Power of Love"

Wham! "Everything She Wants"

Dire Straits, "Money for Nothing"

A-ha, "Take on Me"

1986: Movie Release: Top Gun

Jefferson Starship, "Sara" (yes, this was Jefferson Airplane from the 60's that did "White Rabbit"...)

Robert Palmer, "Addicted to Love"

Pet Shop Boys, "West End Girls"

Madonna, "Live To Tell"

Genesis, "Invisible Touch"

Peter Gabriel, "Sledgehammer"

Berlin, "Take My Breath Away"

The Bangles, "Walk Like An Egyptian"

1987:

Bon Jovi, "Living On A Prayer"

Cutting Crew, "(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight"

U2, "With Or Without You"

U2, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

Michael Jackson, "Bad"

George Michael, "Faith"

The Cure, "Just Like Heaven"

The Beastie Boys, "No Sleep Til Brooklyn"

Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child o' Mine"

Acoustic Version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" below:

1988:

George Harrison, "I've Got My Mind Set On You"

Michael Jackson, "The Way You Make Me Feel"

INXS, "Need You Tonight"

Rick Astley, "Never Going To Give You Up" (ever been Rick Rolled?)

The Beach Boys, "Kokomo"

Bobby McFerrin, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Bon Jovi, "Bad Medicine"

1989:

Bobby Brown, "My Prerogative"

Paula Abdul, "Straight Up"

Fine Young Cannibals, "She Drives Me Crazy"

New Kids On The Block, "Hangin Tough"

Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Higher Ground"

The Cure, "Lovesong"

These are just a few selections from each year. You can her the 70's fade, the electronic sound, and then the movement into the heavier 90's.

Next Up: the 1990's!!!

Day 15: The 1990's

"The 1990s were a watershed decade when it came to rock and roll music. It was a period of time that saw the established musical order turned on its ear and then beaten until it was a shadow of its former self. Those who had performed the thrashing would soon find themselves co-opted into an even more powerful musical machine which would then commoditize their rebellion and package it into neat, easy to digest parcels that were quickly devoured by a ravenous teen populace. Anyone curious about the cyclical nature of the music industry and its trends would do well to study the 1990s.

In the beginning there was metal. And hard rock. And a whole lot of hair. The first year of the final decade of the millennium were pretty much business as usual for the leather-clad rockers spawned from more traditional heavy metal artists like Black Sabbath and Motorhead. Metallica released their enormously successful 'Black Album' in 1990, which would produce the mega-hits 'Enter Sandman' and 'The Unforgiven.' The following year Guns N' Roses would drop the 'Use Your Illusion I / II' double album, a ponderous work of sprawling ego that would have teenagers slow-dancing in school gyms across the country to the nearly 9-minute make-out classic November Rain.'

Both of these bands and scores of their lesser-talented comrades in arms would slowly begin to see themselves displaced from the musical charts by a groundswell of equally hard music which almost seemed to be anti-metal in both its philosophy and execution. Dubbed 'alternative rock' by the media, this new movement was catalyzed by the phenomenal success of the album 'Nevermind' from Nirvana, which was released in 1991 and which would gather incredible steam over the course of the year to become an absolute sales monster. Nirvana's legend would survive the death of lead singer Kurt Cobain in 1994 and be bolstered by the success of bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and the Smashing Pumpkins. These bands espoused a do-it-yourself philosophy common to punk music in combination with a love for melody that elevated their music above the usual three chords and the truth songwriting style of that genre.

Of course, it wasn't long before major labels took control of the alternative rock reigns and began to exert their incredible marketing influence over a booming trend that had caught them completely unawares. In 1994 Green Day would release 'Dookie,' a 'punk' album that would bear a remarkable sheen thanks to pop-focused production. Alternative rock and punk would continue to be sanitized and sold to the youth of the day, with bands such as the Goo Goo Dolls and Blink 182 eventually making the full transition from alternative to mainstream pop. Even Nirvana's legacy was not immune to the lure of wider audience acceptance as former drummer for the band Dave Grohl would guide his new group the Foo Fighters towards tighter and tighter synchronization with the predominant sounds of the day.

By the end of the decade, the infusion of Britpop in the form of Oasis, Radiohead and Garbage would not be enough to stave off the homogenization of the alternative rock genre. Whereas once the label had applied to inventive music developed outside the dominant culture, it had now been claimed by bands like Bush, Creed and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who had morphed into swaggering arena rock radio gods not all that different from the pop metal bands that alternative rockers had set out to replace. Dubbed 'modern rock,' the format would go on to dominate radio playlists and record sales into the year 2000 until it was taken down a peg by the growing influence of hip hop."

from History of 90's Rock Music

Like the 1980's, lets go through some selections from the billboard charts by year. It gives you a good feel for how things developed throughout the decade. There is still some synthesizer at the beginning, but you can hear the angst and emotion being pulled back in.

1990:

Alannah Myles, "Black Velvet"

Sinéad O'Connor, "Nothing Compares 2 U"

Wilson Philips, "Hold On"

Vanilla Ice, "Ice Ice Baby"

1991:

C+C Music Factory, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"

Amy Grant, "Baby Baby"

Extreme, "More Than Words"

EMF, "Unbelievable"

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, "Good Vibrations"

Michael Jackson, "Black or White"

1992:

George Michael and Elton John, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"

Mr. Big, "To Be With You"

Sir Mix-a-lot, "Baby Got Back"

Boyz to Men, "End of the Road"

The Heights, "How Do You Talk To An Angel"

1993:

Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You"

SWV, "Weak"

Mariah Carey, "Dreamlover"

Meat Loaf, "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"

1994:

Ace of Base, "The Sign"

All 4 One, "I Swear"

Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories, "(Stay) I Missed You"

1995:

TLC, "Waterfalls"

Seal, "Kiss From A Rose"

Coolio, "Gangster's Paradise"

Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, "One Sweet Day"

1996...

As you can see, the pop charts end up with a lot of pop.. of course, but that wasn't the only music during the 90's. When you look at the alternative charts, which are more closely related to rock and roll, you get the following:

The first few songs in each year reached 1st on the billboard alternative/modern rock charts. The other songs were songs that help define the decade in rock and roll, but didn't reach the top.

1990:

Depeche Mode, "Enjoy the Silence"

Jane's Addiction, "Been Caught Stealin"

Other notable songs:

Tom Petty, "Free Falling"

Black Crowes, "Hard to Handle"

Black Crowes, "Twice As Hard"

Faith No More, "Epic"

1991:

Jesus Jones, "Right Here, Right Know"

R.E.M., "Losing My Religion"

Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Give It Away"

Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Wierd Al Yankovic, "Smells Like Nirvana"

U2, "Mysterious Ways"

Other notable songs:

The Black Crowes, "She Talks To Angels"

Metallica, "Enter Sandman"

Guns N' Roses, "You Could Be Mine"

Guns N' Roses, "Don't Cry"

Guns N' Roses, "November Rain"

Alice in Chains, "Man In the Box"

1992:

Major events that occur in 1992:

Four officers acquitted in Los Angeles beating of Rodney King; violence erupts in Los Angeles (April 29 et seq.).

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed (Dec. 17).

Bush and Yeltsin proclaim a formal end to the Cold War (Feb. 1).

Compact discs surpass cassette tapes as the preferred medium for recorded music.

U2, "One" (featuring Mary J. Blige)

Cracker, "Teen Angst"

The Cure, "Friday I'm In Love"

Other notable songs:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Under the Bridge"

Nirvana, "Come As You Are"

Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"

The Black Crowes, "Remedy"

The Black Crowes, "Thorn In My Pride"

Pearl Jam, "Even Flow"

Van Halen, "Right Now"

Temple of the Dog, "Hunger Strike"

Arrested Development, "Mr. Wendal"

1993:

Major events that occur in 1993:

Two police officers convicted in Los Angeles on civil rights charges in Rodney King beating (April 17); sentenced Aug. 4.

House of Representatives approves North American Free Trade Agreement (Nov. 17); Senate follows (Nov. 21).

A 13-year-old Los Angeles boy accuses Michael Jackson of fondling him. Jackson vehemently denies the charge. The two parties reach an out-of-court settlement.

River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose on Halloween. He was 23.

Movies

Schindler's List, The Piano, Philadelphia, Six Degrees of Separation, In the Name of the Father