This page has examples that, first reveal a musical style that pulled itself away from previous African American musical traditions followed by a style that restored the traditions from a different perspective than before.
Dow-wop music was a conscious departure form the Blues and Rhythm and Blues before it. It's sound was more mainstreamed with pop music. Many of the tracks had string section accompaniment. It's subject matter was more about love and relationships as opposed to Blues-like topics that included lyrics about oppression, substance dependency, deals with the devil, or sexual prowess. It can be pointed out that Do-wop was a deliberate departure from the next generation of migrants in urban America. A generation that wanted to shake itself loose from the stigmas of slavery and sharecropping.
By the mid 50's as the Civil Rights movement developed even further, African American musicians began to seek out a departure from the congeniality of Do-wop, to music that was more African Americn in style. Spearheaded by Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, the resulting music became known as Soul music. It can simply be defined as "Gospel music made secular."
This is made obvious when you listen to Ray Charles' "I Gotta Woman" next to The Southern Tones' "It must be Jesus." I quick comparison will reveal that the Ray Charles track is simply a cover of the gospel track with not only secular lyrics but, highly suggestive sexual, secular lyrics. In spite of opposition from Black churches, this music sky rocketed commercially and served as the sound track for the Civil rights movement through the mid 60's when funk took over. Check out Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" below.
Also included here is some documentary footage about Alan Freed, the man who coined the phrase "Rock & Roll." Alan's story reflects the establishment's fear and opposition of any form of Black music being popularized.
The blatant opposition to this music is further emphasized by the comparison of a Little Richard song and a cover of the same song by Pat Boone. Pat's cover was part of the whole American Bandstand concept of delivering Black music to White youth via clean-cut and contrived performers.
We also have, what is considered by many to be the first Rock & Roll song by Jackie Brensten through the musical mastermind of Ike Turner.
And finally, I've included some examples from Motown. It is interesting to contrast this music with the Southern Soul of Stax. The Motown music was deliberately tailored to sell to crossover white audiences by the genius, African American entrepreneur, Barry Gordy. The Stax music, made no attempts to homogenize the Soul of the music and did not consciously target the Caucasian market. Motown continues in the next section where we see the artists of the label themselves pull the music into a more socially conscious direction.
This music developed in places like Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia and New York as a result of teens forming vocal groups that would harmonize on street corners. It didn't take long for the music industry to recognize this talent and pull these kids right off the streets an make them stars. Some of the became stars after just one 3 hr recording session.
This is a perfect example of Do-Wop. If you strip the instruments away you can imagine how this group would have sounded harmonizing on a street corner.
Also notice the lyrics. The singer is wearing his heart on his sleeve. This shows great contrast to the more blues oriented R&B that sometimes spoke of oppression or bragged of sexual prowess and conquest. Do-Wop was a more congenial music.
Topics: The Great Migration(the next generation), Do-wop music, Roots of Soul
Rock & Roll was an offshoot from R&B. In the early years it is often difficult to distinguish the differences. One difference is that Rock & Roll had an even more consistent and driving pulse than R&B which was a little funkier and more syncopated.
This song is considered by many to be the first Rock & Roll song for a number of reasons. Three primary reasons would be first it's steady pulse. The second would be it's title, which is refers to a car. The relationship of the American teenager and the car was epic in the 50's to say the least. It was a huge component of Rock & Roll from the freedom it represented to the fact that most early Rock was heard on car radios. Many rock & Roll lyrics referenced cars. As a side note, most Dow-wop groups were named after birds, cigarettes or cars. Third, the guitar track that percolates throughout the track has a distorted fuzz tone which eventually became th sound of Rock & Roll.
This fuzz tone has a great "Rock & Roll" story behind it. The speaker from the guitar amp that was used on the session was rumored to have been punctured while traveling to Memphis via Highway 61. In an attempt to fix this speaker, newspaper was stuffed into it and the resulting sound was produced by the rattling of the speaker against the paper. In a very Rock & Roll way, producer Ike Turner went with it as opposed to seeking out an undamaged amp.
Topics: The Great Migration, Early Rock & Roll culture, R&B, Sun Records
A comparison of these tracks is a lot of fun to use as a discussion or writing prompt for a class. The first by Little Richard is a straight up example of blatant Rock & Roll / R&B energy. It telegraphs rebellion, sexual promiscuity and of course references cars.
The second is a cover by Pat Boone. Not only is the overall attitude squashed, but they even changed the lyrics to eliminate any sexual innuendos that I can guarantee were not accidental in the Little Richard version. This Pat Boone version reflects the industry's attempt to sell Black music but not use Black performers to deliver it to a society of parents that were terrified of their kids listening o these cutting-edge artists. Dick Clark's American Bandstand TV show was created to promote this concept.
If you listen to the lyrics in both examples closely you will hear amusing differences. One notable difference can be heard in the first verse. Both start with I got a gal named Sue she knows just what to do, however, at the end of the verse, the lyrics differ: Richards version is "She rocks to the East She Rocks to the West, but She's the girl that I love best" where Pat says "I've been to the East I've been to the West, but She's the girl that I love best.
At the end of the second verse where they are both talking about a girl named Daisy: Little Richard says: "She knows how to love me yes indeed, boy you don't know what she do to me." where Boone says: " She's a real gone cookie, Yes, sir-ree, But pretty little Susie, Is The gal for me."
As you can see all sexual innuendos have carefully been removed from the Boone version.
Topics: Early Rock & Roll culture
Alan Freed's story segues perfectly from the previous two examples. Freed was a cutting edge DJ who was instrumental in popularizing Black music, he even coined the phrase "Rock & Roll" while he was on the air on WJW in Cleveland." His relentless plugging of R&B and Rock & Roll made him a controversial figure as the White establishment was concerned about this music "mongrelizing America." He was made the scapegoat and prosecuted for receiving funds from payola in 1959. Interestingly, Dick Clark, who was also a recipient of payola was acquitted. Dick Clark was associated with "American Bandstand" and was known for popularizing White artists covering Black Music. Alan's story is told in the documentary below.
Topics: Early rock & Roll culture, Payola
Soul music was the result of interjecting nuances of Gospel music into secular pop music. This concept, that developed in the early to mid 60's goes hand-in-hand with stronger and more aggressive developments in the Civil Rights Movement. By incorporating elements of music from the Black church, elements that were unique to that church, African American performers were able to create a sound that was purely their own. This was a big departure from Do-wop, where the goal was to be closer to the mainstream of what was already accepted.
Topics: Civil rights act of 1974, March On Washington, Montgomery Bus Boycott, MLK, Any early 60's Civil Rights topics.
The birth of Soul Music can be traced to the release of Ray Charles' early Atlantic Records hit "I Got a Woman." Ray basically pulled a song from the church repertoire, "It must Be Jesus" and replaced the lyrics with secular, and slightly suggestive ones. This not only caught on to the attitude of the the early to mid 60's as part of the quest for more African American individualism and pride. It also represented a time in Ray's careers where he wanted to separate himself from his mentors, like Nat Cole, and find HIS own voice. Below are examples of Ray's "I Got a Woman" followed by the original inspiration for the song by "The Southern Tones. It should be noted that deep devotees to the church were not to pleased with Ray's use of this music.
The emergence of Sam Cooke from his gospel group "The Soul Stirrers" into secular music went hand in hand with Ray's movement to a churchier sound. The difference between Ray and Sam was that Sam came directly out of the church. He was a key icon in Gospel music before moving to the other side. He even put the "e" on the end of his surname (Cook) to disguise himself a bit but, he could not hide that unmistakable smooth and soulful voice. While his devoted church fans were crying "blasphemy," he was making tons of money from the secular charts.
When you look at the careers of Soul/R&B and the protest music that was representing the Civil rights Movement, it is evident that there was not a lot of protest music coming from African American performers at this time. Most of that protest music regarding Civil Rights, was coming from folk singers like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. This was mainly due to the fact that Black performers at this time, who were enjoying prosperity and popularity, did not want to endanger their careers by becoming too political. This was a very understandable position that would soon change with the emergence of funk and through future soul artists like "Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions." Sam Cooke's example below is an acception to this rule. It is a very well know song about growing up in a segregated world.
I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh, and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will
It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will
I go to the movie and I go down town
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around
Its been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will
Then I go to my brother
And I say, "Brother, help me please."
But he winds up knockin' me
Back down on my knees
There been times when I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will
The existence of Stax is tailor-made for these web pages. First it was one of the most important record labels for the popularization of Soul music, But second, and more importantly here, it exemplified what true racial integration should like like and work. And... what's even more remarkable is that this was done in the segregated southern city of Memphis.
Stax was founded by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton with the intention of recording Country and Rockabilly music. It did not take the brother and sister team long to discover that the goldmine in their town of Memphis was the talent of the Soul and R&B performers that were right in the neighborhood. As the label grew, they began to hire other executives to co-manage the organization. These new co-mangers were African American and worked side-by-side with the caucasian founders. Their combined expertise created an unparalleled sound of arguably the strongest and best recorded Southern Soul.
But Stax's integration model was not just a "behind the scenes" model. Their main rhythm section, that played on most of their early recordings in addition to being one of their popular artists "Booker T and the MGs, was a racially 50/50 combo. This group was comprised of two Black and two White performers who openly displayed how integration could make great things happen.
I've included 4 clips here:
The first, is a good look at Booker T and the MGs, the amazing integrated Stax rhythm section that served as the foundation for most of their early tracks.
Second, I added an Otis Redding song, this exemplifies the sound of Souther Soul and is a great track to play particularly if you intend to contrast the Stax sound vs the Motown sound below.
Third I added a Staples Singers song that not only represents the development of Stax over the years but it also reveals how soul music DID eventually work it's way into more socially conscious/protest topics.
And fourth I out in a clip from the WattsStax festival, I kind of African American Woodstock that took place in LA in the interest of Black pride and contained performances from all of Stax's top artists. this clip is an introduction from Jesse Jackson that exemplifies the movement at the time.
Topics; Any Early-mid 60's Civil rights topics, integration vs segregation
While Stax was creating music targeted at African American audiences, Berry Gordy at Motown was making it his mission to popularize Black artists as mega crossover pop stars. Influenced by Henry Ford's assembly line concepts, Gordy devised a system for his signed artists that taught them how to sing, dance, dress and even speak as part of the Motown brand.
Gordy was a smart business man and had an intuitive sense of what the public demanded musically. He hired the best writers and musicians available from the Detroit area and his formula made him the wealthiest African American business owner at that time. While the music had soulful foundations, it was clearly a form of POP music particularly when compared to the raw Soul of Stax. This doesn't make it a bad thing, just a different thing. As Motown moved forward the artists themselves took the label into a more socially consious direction. This will be covered in the next section.