Syllabus for Women in Rock: From the 1950s to the 1980s Instructor: Richie Unterberger,
[email protected] OLLI Berkeley Week One: Women in Rock: The Early Years and The Girl Groups In the 1950s, rhythm and blues singers like Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker have some of the first rock’n’roll hits; Wanda Jackson and the Collins Kids are top rockabilly acts; and Brenda Lee becomes the first woman rock superstar. As New York’s Brill Building becomes established as the top place for rock publishers, women like Carole King, Cynthia Weil, and Ellie Greenwich become some of pop-rock’s most successful songwriters. Girl groups like the Shirelles, the Crystals, the Ronettes, the Chiffons, and the Cookies have numerous hits in the early 1960s, forming one of the major trends in rock of the period. In the early 1960s, some of the most R&B-oriented girl groups become some of the first soul stars, especially for Motown Records, with the Marvelettes, Martha & the Vandellas, the Supremes, and Mary Wells. Week Two: Women in Soul and British Rock Women soul singers emerge throughout the country, some of them more pop-oriented (Maxine Brown, Dionne Warwick), some of them earthier (Carla Thomas, Irma Thomas, Etta James). Aretha Franklin is anointed the Queen of Soul after moving to Atlantic Records and adopting a tougher, more spiritual sound. Other women soul singers with a forceful style emerge and increase in popularity, like Gladys Knight, Nina Simone, and the Staple Singers. Although all-male guitar bands dominate the British Invasion, a good number of women singers also make an impact both in their native UK and in the US.