Listening Guide
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YUDKMC13_427-470hr2 18-01-2007 16:09 Page 437 THE TWENTIETH CENTURY III: POPULAR MUSIC IN THE UNITED STATES man. He and his group were responsible for some of Chuck Berry played fast songs with an irresistible the early hits of rock and roll, such as “Tutti Frutti,” beat. A list of his songs includes some of the early clas- “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up” (all 1956), and “Good sics of rock and roll: “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Rock Golly, Miss Molly” (1958). and Roll Music,” and “Johnny B. Goode.” These songs Chuck Berry was born Charles Edward Anderson and many others of his were immensely influential on Berry in 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up ’60s rockers like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. singing in the local Baptist church choir and learned John Lennon once said, “If you tried to give rock and the guitar in high school. In 1955 he went to Chicago, roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.” where Muddy Waters introduced him to the indepen- Unlike most of the other famous rock stars of the dent Chess record label, which was a pioneer in the ’50s, Berry wrote all his own music. His guitar playing early recording of rock and roll. He began to tour reg- is inventive, rhythmically interesting, clean and hard. ularly and had a string of hits between 1955 and 1959. His voice is laser-accurate, bluesy yet clear. His fancy Berry appeared in a number of films aimed at the teen moves on stage were smooth and hypnotic. His songs audience, and he seemed poised for a long and success- spoke directly to teens who were sitting in class but ful career. However, in late 1959, he was arrested while ready to party: “All day long you’ve been wantin’ to driving home from performing in Texas to Chicago; in dance” (“School Day,” 1957). the car was an underage white girl. At the time, it was Sweet Little Sixteen, she’s got the grown-up blues, against the law to “transport a minor” across state lines Tight dresses and lipstick, sportin’ high-heeled shoes. (presumably for “immoral” purposes). Berry was tried Oh, but tomorrow mornin’, she’ll have to change her and imprisoned and not released until 1964. His career trend, momentum was shattered, and it never recovered, And be Sweet Sixteen and back in class again. although he has toured and made some recordings. (“Sweet Little Sixteen,” 1958). LISTENING GUIDE Chuck Berry Date of performance: 1957 Complete CD “Johnny B. Goode” Personnel: Chuck Berry, vocals and guitar; VII, 60 Words and music by Chuck Berry Lafayette Leake, piano; Willie Dixon, bass; Fred Below, drums Duration: 2:36 “ Johnny B. Goode” is a 12-bar blues at medium-fast tempo, but the pervasive subdivision of the beat (two notes for each beat), both in the instrumental playing and in the lyrics, makes for a more hectic, driven feel. Both the guitar playing and the singing are amazingly accurate, especially for what was surely an unedited take. But the high range of the voice and the almost shouted quality of the singing provide a feeling of raw spontaneity. If one didn’t know that Chuck Berry was both singing and playing the guitar, one could almost be persuaded that two performers were taking those roles. The guitar playing is clean and clear and very prominent. Berry plays the guitar introduction and several instrumental breaks and choruses, but he also plays short, lively, responsive phrases to 437 YUDKMC13_427-470hr2 18-01-2007 16:09 Page 438 CHAPTER 13 his own singing, which adds to the excitement of the performance. The drummer plays a strong backbeat (heavy on beats 2 and 4), which is what gives the prominent pulse and tension to rock and roll. The pianist in the background cannot be clearly heard throughout, but when he lets loose in the last few choruses, you can hear him pounding away on the changes in double time or running emphatic glissandos (sliding his finger along many keys very quickly). The instrument has a truly honky-tonk sound. In “Johnny B. Goode,” the words come thick and fast. There is no repetition of the first line, and two lines of verse are set to each four-measure segment of the music. The story thus hurries along in breathless fashion. Two syllables of each word are sung to each beat, and the rushing words leave no time for air or for fills. Unlike the standard blues also, this song has a refrain. Each “narrative” chorus is followed by a refrain chorus in which the only words are “Go, Johnny, go! Go!” and a final clinching “Johnny B. Goode.” In this performance, there are nine choruses which fall into the following pattern: CD TIME LISTEN FOR (60) 0:00 1. Intro + Instrumental chorus 0:17 2. Narrative chorus 0:34 3. Refrain chorus 0:51 4. Narrative chorus 1:08 5. Refrain chorus 1:26 6. Break + Instrumental chorus 1:43 7. Break + Instrumental chorus 2:00 8. Narrative chorus 2:18 9. Refrain chorus Three of these choruses are narrative choruses, and each one is followed by the “Go” refrain. The refrain choruses establish a haunting syncopated rhythm, one that is crucial to the rhythmic profile of the whole song. I have tried to indicate this rhythm with my punctuation of the refrain: “Go, Johnny, go! Go!” The first three accents fall on the beat—on beats 1, 2, and 3 of the four-in-a- bar rhythm. But the last accent, the last “Go!”, arrives across the beat. It comes after beat 4 and before beat 1 of the next measure, giving a jump to the rhythm that is exciting and catchy. Another early influence on rock and roll was coun- at this time were Jerry Lee Lewis (“Great Balls of Fire” try music. Before the term “rock and roll” was widely and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”), Johnny Cash used, the early sound of Elvis Presley and others was (“I Walk the Line”), and Carl Perkins (“Blue Suede known as “rockabilly” (“rock” + “hillbilly”). It com- Shoes”). All these artists were white, poor, and from bined the drive of rhythm and blues with the elements the rural South. Another rockabilly star from this time of country and western, a style popular in the rural was the unlikely-looking Buddy Holly, skinny and South for its fiddle playing, guitar picking, and warm bespectacled. Buddy Holly was on the threshold of an vocal harmonies. Rockabilly stars who scored big hits important career when he died in a plane crash at the 438 YUDKMC13_427-470hr2 18-01-2007 16:10 Page 462 CHAPTER 13 Madonna. MTV helped to create the extraordinary rebirth of Michael Jackson. Jackson had a long history as a singer. He appeared in the late 1960s at the age of ten with his brothers in a group known as the Jackson 5 (later the Jacksons). Jackson’s biggest success came during the 1980s, when his solo album Thriller (1982) sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, helped by a slick video.(See Listening Guide below.) He was described as “the biggest thing since the Beat- les” and as “the hottest single phenomenon since Elvis Presley.” Other singers whose careers were buoyed up on the MTV wave include Whitney Houston and Madonna. Both singers traded heavily on visual appeal. Houston was a fashion model as well as a singer, and her videos (and later her movies) pushed her albums to instant success. Madonna I am my own experiment. (Madonna Louise Ciccone) adopted a Mari- I am my own work of art. —Madonna lyn Monroe image, and her dance training, combined with an overt sexuality, made her videos widely popular. Madonna’s “Material Girl” traded even more heavily on her body by releasing seemed to catch the spirit of the money-making simultaneously a CD entitled Erotica and a book, Sex, eighties.(See Listening Guide on p. 463.) She later displaying herself in various nude poses. LISTENING GUIDE Michael Jackson Date of recording: 1982 “Billie Jean” Words and music by Michael Jackson Michael Jackson’s album Thriller contains ten songs, nine of which reached the Top Ten as singles! Perhaps the most typical of Jackson’s style is “Billie Jean.” The music is fast and glossy, with a high, artificial, synthesized sound and a persistent disco beat. Jackson’s voice is high, slick, and breathless. Toward the end, a little variety is introduced by means of some funky guitar tracks. The “funk” sound is produced by plucking the strings on an electric bass guitar a little harder than normal so that they slap against the fretboard. 462.