1950s

Introduction

Within in this page, I am researching how music evolved within the 1950s through the inspiration of blues music that impacted future artists.

The 1950s was the decade for libertaion, where the civil rights movement sparked revolution and equality amongst black individuals and white individuals. After the death and murder of a young black boy named Emmett Till, The newspaper coverage and murder trial galvanised a generation of young African Americans to join the civil rights movement. Musicians took part within the civil rights protests such as Fannie Lou amer, Betty Mae Fikes, The SNCC singers etc all led the singing in mass meetings and rallies.

The Origins of Blues

An introduction to the world of Blues music

The music genre 'Blues' originated in the Deep South of the United States in the 1860s. The blues were cultivated by the descendants of slaves and the expression of freed African Americans. The emotion expressed is generally one of sadness or melancholy, often due to problems of love but also oppression and hard times.

The American composer W.C Handy popularised the blues idiom and made the genre famous. Handy's contributions in shaping what would be called the blues were inspired by the African-American musical folk traditions that he experienced during his travels and performances.

Many of the best-known blues musicians came from Southern states of America and some argue that the Mississippi Delta was the birthplace of the blues. This area had a greater concentration of black people than any other part of the country, and an economy based largely on cotton farming which meant that this was also an area in which segregation and social isolation of black people through lack of economic opportunity was deeply established.

Hound Dog By Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley embodies the 1950s rock n roll genre, while singng hound dog live he broke rules through his dance moves on stage and dispalyed a provocative side through the pelvis-shaing moves that left his fanbase in shambles. He was inspired as a child by watching black musicians exoctically rebelling against the restricted white msic staus. Elvis had an extensive cultural impact on Black blues artists. He took inspiration from musicians such as B.B. King, Little Richard, Big Mama Thorton where in which Elvis covered 'Hound Dog'.

Hound Dog was orignially sung by Big Mama Thorton in 1952 and Elvis later released his version in 1956. Elvis was born in Tupelo Mississppi, where a broad community of Black families was from, Elvis was inspired by the community, he could hear this music being played off the streets and pouring out of clubs in his neighbourhood.

Harmonic Analysis

During the 1950s, the creation of 12 bar blues structure made up of a pattern using the three primary chords; 1, 4 and 5. The 12-bar blues chord pattern became an important element in the substructure of jazz and influenced later styles of music including rock n roll. Within Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode takes om the 1950s rock n roll genre, the 12-bar blues is used with repetitive chords that hide under Chuck Berry's lead guitar solo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y4T9SkNYFo

Within this video, the narrator simplifies the structure of the 12-bar blues in order to create the melancholic sound used by blues artists. As well as the origin of the blues originating among African Americans. The chord progression was developed by W.C Handy:

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/discovering-music-the-blues/content-section-12.3#:~:text=Handy%20claimed%20to%20have%20noticed,all%20jazz%20and%20popular%20musicians.

W.C Handy claimed that he saw a regular and repetitive pattern in the chord structure, his work helped develop yhe conception of the blues as a harmonic framework within which to improvise.

Additionally, the bassists typically would move around the bass with a jazz-like feeling to the rhythm. Songs such as 'Tutti Frutti' by Little Richard and 'Great Balls of fire' by Jerry Lee Lewis all use the walking bass line.

Lyrical Analysis

Within the 1950s, the lyrics associated with the theme of blues music expressed feelings of grief or heartbreak. The idea is that they spoke about life and how its sometimes good or bad. During the 1950s the civil rights movement and the aboliton of slavery took place, the music of the decade reflected those social and cultural changes. A common structure used in blues is called the 'AAB lyrical structure' its inspired by the call and response style of singing in African American spiritual and work songs. Within gospel churches this structure is very much used, when the pastor or song leader calls out or sings a line, and the choir responds.

Call and response is highly used within gospels, where the preacher or storyteller calls out to their audience or chorus and they would respond. Often with call and response, the first two lines and repeated and then the third line is the response. In contemporary society, the call and response is used today within live performances. Such as Freddie Mercury calling out his 'AYYO' chant towards the crowd and they will repeat back to him.

Elmore James's track 'Dust My Broom' embarks on the AAB lyric structure as he repeats the same starting lyric and then responds soon after. The meaning behind the name 'Dust my broom' is to signify moving away quickly and starting a new and better beginning and life. Elmore James was known as 'The King Of Slide Guitar' James often used a metal slide to tremble and bite the fret board to create an icnoic blues sound. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/elmore-james-life-king-of-slide-guitar/.

W.C Handy was a jazz musician and became the 'father of the blues' as he simply changed the course of popular music by combining the blues idion into then- fashionable music.

The Walking Bass-Line

The walking bassline was a key musical technique that was used and developed in the 1950s and influenced further bassists. It usually features the upright bass, playing a steady quater-note rhythm.

The name given literally states that the bass is walking to the note movement, like a pair of feet walking. In this video, John Clayton is a double bassist, he personifies the bass in his song 'you ain't seen a walking bass' like a character. While he tells the story, he walks up the bass with a simple C major chord progression.

The blues inspired many contemporary artists beyond the 1950s. The Beatle's 1968 track 'Yer Blues' is a 6-bar blues structure but the lyrics discuss moments when John Lennon was trying to reach out to God, and feeling suicidal. The track takes the depressive tendency of traditional blues lyrics where individuals spoke about feelings of sadness.

Blues musicians put their own experiences into their music makes the story personal and blues artists often related their songs about themselves and what they are experiencing.

Instruments

During the 1950s playing the guitar went from primarily being acoustic to becoming a central rock n roll instrument. Especially among young teenagers, who were hungry for new and different music that was far different from traditional jazz. The rock generation symbolized rebellion and how youths rejected their parent's expectations.

Instruments

Guitar

During the 1950s, one of the most important instruments during the rise of rock n roll was the use of the electric guitar and how different musicians played them. Rock n roll guitarists such as the infamous Chuck Berry, who was infleunced by blues music. The most iconic guitar that Berry played was his cherry red Gibson ES-355, the guitar gave a blues/jazz sound to it.

It was Introduced in 1958, the ES-335 was the first guitar of its kind. It combined the warm, rich tone of an acoustic guitar with the power and projection of an electric, making it the perfect instrument for the new generation of musicians who were seeking to push the boundaries of what was possible with a six-string.

https://www.acousticcentre.com.au/blogs/acoustic-centre-guides/a-short-history-of-the-gibson-es-335#:~:text=The%20ES%2D335%20was%20the,to%20compete%20with%20electric%20instruments.

Chuck Berry, B.B King, Link Ray, and Elvis Presley were a few of key guitarists in the 1950s and they all had a large influence on new music and infleuncing youths. Chuck Berry used to dance with his guitar, by going up and down the stage called the 'Duck Walk' to create an unserious performance and more upbeat and dancey.

George Fullerton holding the original Fender precision

An American bassist called Monk Montgomery was one of the first people to use the Fender precision in a band. He took the instrument of a European tour with Lionel Hampton orchestra and was also the year when Montgomery recorded the instrument for the first time. He made precision a made the electric Fender bass his trademark sound.

https://monkmontgomery.com/research-blog

This video shows Montgomery performing alongside his brother and band, their style is very much jazz. Monk is using the Fender precision, one of the first times.

Bass Guitar

Most commonly used within the 1950s for jazz and blues music was the double bass; the instrument gave a rich and deep tone to the music. The double bass was invented and used in the late 15th/ 16th century, predominately for orchestral music.

Within Rock N Roll, the electric bass took over as it was easier to transport than the large double bass. The electric bass became more established in the 1950s and 60s, when musicians were experimenting with how they played; not just from a rhythmic perspective or playing around with pick-ups, but as a way to complement, and sometimes even challenge, the electric guitar.

The electric bass was invented in 1935 by a man called Paul Tutmarc, he invented the first four-stringed electric bass guitar and it was fretless. Before the 1950s the electric bass guitar struggled to gain popularity until Leo Fender and George Fullerton developed the Fender precison what was perceived as an entirely new instrument- a solid body, guitar-shaped electric bass with a fretted neck.

Piano/Keyboard

The piano was a key instrument during the 1950s, musicians such as Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Ray Charles all used the piano as the key instrument in their music. Little Richard was well known for his upbeat and unusual sounds as well as his image. He played the piano along with his electrifying stage presence, he would not sit down and play the piano classically but standing up and feeling the groove of the music while dancing.

The piano evolved throughout the 50s, as different musicians were bringing their own style into playing and not just following the typical classical jazz. Artists like Jerry Lee Lewis brought in the boogie-oogie style on the piano, the beat-heavy jump blues, boogie-woogie, up-tempo jazz, and swing music. His song' Great Balls of Fire' is a quick and upbeat song with Jerry Lee Lewis at the center with his piano

Reflection

Additionally, the song we picked for our creative cover was Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars, released in 2012. Mars is one of the most influential artists of the 21st Century with his pop, ,R&B and funk style of music he is able to reach out to many different audiences. I really like 'Locked Out of Heaven' and its iconic bassline that's really enjoyable to play. It takes on reggae and is influenced by new-wave funk. In our rendition of the classic song we turned it into a classic 1950s swing-style song, so I used the same bass line but slowed it down in order to keep in rhythm with the slow and steady drumbeat.

Mambo is a genre of Cuban music that grew in popularity in the 1930s into the 1950s It became a "dance craze" in Mexico and the United States and a form of celebration. Bruno Mars uses his ancestry roots of Puerto Rico and Hawiaiin descendants in his own music, which creates a mambo, south American feeling of celebration.

My own reflection on performing 1950s-style songs, has been a fun journey, by playing a classic 1950s song and then choosing a contemporary song and making it sound like it would in the 1950s. The first song we performed was 'Fever' by Peggy Lee released in 1958, this song is so clean and simple, it easily makes the song timeless. As a bass player, I enjoyed the simple walking bass line that was key to hit on time with the drums. The timing was important for this song to sound clean with its blues intonation and hand clicking with the rhythm of the drums. I learned by playing this song, would be that with simple chord progressions and a classic beat, the song can be timeless as this style of jazz has been influential to many artists. In the 1980s, in Sade's music for example she used classic jazz instruments to create a smooth jazz nostalgic.

Overall performing in the style of the 1950s jazz was definitely something I enjoyed as I really like the jazz-like feeling to songs. The 1950s wouldn't be the decade that would initially choose to play, but having a funky bassline makes it sound tight and more interesting to listen to in my personal view.

Springsteen recalled in an interview, how he saw Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 when Springsteen was only a child. He said that seeing Elvis inspired him to make music.

Influential 1950s musicians

Influential musicians of the 1950s that helped to move the music industry forward, Elvis Presley was definitely one of the main artists of the decade that changed music performance. He brought blues, country, and pop music and made a different sound while calling out racial and social problems that were happening in the 1950s. Elvis changed the manner in which the black minority was treated in the U.S. through his music, and this initiated the fight against racial discrimination leading to the civil rights movement.

Bob Dylan wrote music about social problems and was inspired by Elvis after hearing 'Hound Dog' for the first time as a child on the radio, which would be a vital moment that would introduce him to the world of rock n roll .

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/elvis-presley-death-bob-dylan/

Future artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, etc have been infleuenced to target issues in society through music. Such as Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The USA' people thought it was about being a proud American but it's an anti war song and was about how America failed Vietnam veterans.

Comteporary artists have been inspired by Fitzgerald would include Adele. Adele is a world-renowned singer, who grew up with little music around her and came across Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald vinyls in a junk shop.

Another influential artist from the 1950s was Ella Fitzgerald who inspired further female jazz singers into the 21st Century.Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman.

Another artist who is inspired by Fitzgerald is Lana Del Rey. Her soft voice and instrumentation is inspired by jazz leaders and even covered Fritgerald's 'Summertime'.

Compared to Elvis Presley, both musicians spoke out about racial discrimination. Fitzgerald was a civil rights activist, who used her talent to break racial barriers across the nation. She was awarded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Equal Justice Award and the American Black Achievement Award. Presley was a part of the movement after being surrounded by the black community as a child which introduced him to music.

Both of their styles are very different, as Presley is more rock n roll and Fritgerald is blues and jazz

Song Comparison

Instrumentalisation

Lee was determined to project a cool yet earthy mood using only bass, percussion, finger snaps, and her languorous voice. The finger snaps, sparse arrangement, and satirical storytelling echoed the voice of the Beat Generation. Lee understood this new era and her place in it, and wanted to tap into the burgeoning rock’n’roll audience. She used Beat slang in lyrics such as “Julie, baby, you’re my flame” and “Daddy-o, don’t you dare,” as she swings in a perfect R&B tone over a West Coast “cool school”-inspired arrangement.

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/fever-peggy-lee/

'Fever' by Peggy Lee and 'Don't Be Cruel' by Elvis Presley

'Fever' by Peggy Lee is a timeless standard jazz song that was released in 1958. The concept of this song is about a boy who is so desperately in love with a girl, he is stuck between wanting her affection and wanting to leave her. Jazz was a popular genre of music in the 50s, as other artists were upcoming in the jazz industry such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. A clear comparison between Peggy Lee's Fever and Elvis Presley's style of music would be the difference in genres. Jazz started in the 1920s, Jazz music is a broad style of music characterized by complex harmony, syncopated rhythms, and a heavy emphasis on improvisation. Comapared to the refreshing style of rock n roll that Elvis created, but still respecting its roots with blues music. The performer kicked off a musical revolution by modernizing traditional genres such as blues, country, and bluegrass for contemporary and young audiences. Therefore a similarity would be how each artist has modernised music and created new material for the music industry that has inspired future musicians.

Both 'Don't be Cruel' by Elvis and 'Fever' by Peggy Lee were written and produced Otis Blackwell, who came up with the majority of Elvis's hits. 'Don't Be Cruel was one of Elvis's biggest hits as it reached number 1 in the UK in 1956. The basslines of each song are key, in 'Fever the instruments are limited, and clearly the bass is a leading instrument throughout, incorporating the techniques of the walking bass by Max Bennett who was the bassist on the track and further worked with Lee. Within 'Don't Be Cruel', is very much rock n roll as the tempo is quick and fiery. Like Fever, the walking bassline is present and creates an upbeat dancing rhythm.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse