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Chapter 8
Sirens, Soul Singers, and Sellouts (1967-1975)
Outline
I. Soft rock
a. James Taylor
b. Carly Simon
c. Carole King
i. Best-seller, Tapestry
II. Country rock
a. The Eagles
b. Linda Ronstadt
i. Female rocker of the seventies
III. Easy listening
IV. A Soul Revival
a. Stax Records
b. Wattstax festival
c. TV’s Soul Train
d. Atlantic Records
e. Aretha Franklin
f. James Brown
g. Philadelphia Soul
V. Glam rock
a. Androgyny
b. American glam bands
i. Kiss
ii. Alice Cooper
c. British glam bands
i. Slade
ii. The Sweet
iii. David Bowie
iv. Elton John
v. Gary Glitter
d. The Velvet Underground
i. Influence on glam, garage, and punk
ii. Lou Reed
iii. John Cale
iv. Noise and chaos
v. Taboo underground themes
vi. Andy Warhol
e. David Bowie
i. Glam rock excess
ii. Ziggy Stardust
iii. SPOTLIGHT: Rock as Performance Art
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f. Marc Bolan
g. Mott the Hopple
i. Glam for shock value
h. Queen
i. Operatic sound, heavy metal treatment
i. Iggy Pop
i. Godfather of punk
ii. Industrial noise
j. Elton John
i. Musical training
ii. Theatrical extravagance
VI. Heavy Metal
a. Musical elements
i. Power chords
ii. Distortion
iii. Aggressive, screaming vocals
b. Led Zeppelin
i. Blues scales
ii. Middle Eastern elements
c. Black Sabbath
i. Satanic themes as entertainment
d. Deep Purple
i. Showcase for virtuosity
VII. Progressive Rock
a. Musical elements
i. Prominent electronic keyboards
ii. Complex metrical shifts
iii. Fantastical themes
iv. Elements of jazz, classical, and world music
b. Bands
i. Pink Floyd
ii. Yes
iii. Genesis
iv. Emerson, Lake and Palmer
v. Progressive rock in the mainstream
c. Art rock
i. Mike Oldfield
ii. Sound collages
VIII. Stadium Rock
a. American bands
i. Styx
ii. Foreigner
iii. Journey
iv. Kansas
v. Boston
b. The effect of MTV on stadium rock
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c. A New Realism
i. Bruce Springsteen
IX. Advances in technology
a. Multi-track recording
b. Overdubbing
c. Electronic composers
i. Brian Eno
Suggested Activities and Discussion Topics
1. Carly Simon’s “Anticipation.” Listen and observe how closely the meaning on the
lyrics fits the music. (“Keeping me way – ay – ay – ay – ay–ting and”) This song was
licensed for a TV ketchup commercial. Her “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard it
Should Be” examines youth culture attitudes toward the institution of marriage. SEE:
Suggested Listening.
2. James Brown’s extraordinary treatment of rhythm. Brown devised a rhythm with an
accent falling on the first beat of a measure. Typically, a rock and roll song will have a
back beat—accents that occur on the 2nd and 4th beats of a measure of 4—a la Chuck
Berry. Brown’s rhythm however, provided a propulsive accent only on the 1st beat,
leaving the rest of the measure available for syncopated rhythmic invention. With all
instruments playing percussively, rhythm came to the fore as never before. SEE:
Suggested Listening.
3. Lou Reed. Consider how “Heroin” and “Take a Walk on the Wide Side,” while
unsuitable for mainstream 1970s radio, provided a romanticized glimpse of the squalor of
urban street life. Songs don’t have to be about love. SEE: Suggested Listening.
4. Overdubbing. Modern students are not accustomed to the mechanics of a tape deck.
Use the analogy of a multi-lane highway, with all traffic going the same way. One car
drives down the road, establishing his track. He then returns to the starting point and is
joined by a second car in the adjoining lane. And so forth.
Recording with magnetic tape heads on tape was very limited by mechanical
considerations, not the least of which was that the more times a length of tape was
dragged passed a recording or erase head, the more likely it was to experience sonic
deterioration or a broken tape. Boston leader Tom Scholz used this technique in his home
studio. SEE: Suggested Listening, “More Than a Feeling.”
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Chapter 8 – Suggested Listening
Artist
Song/iTunes Preview
Representative Style
James Taylor
“You’ve Got a Friend”
Carole King cover that
launched his career
“Sweet Baby James”
Early Taylor-penned song
“How Sweet It Is”
One of many hits on covers
Carly Simon
“Anticipation”
Compositional elements to
tie title and lyrics together
“You’re So Vain”
The much talked about hit
dealing with relationships
“That’s the Way I Always
Heard It Should Be”
Considers the sad
inevitability of marriage
Carole King
“Sweet Seasons”
Wildly successful artist
outing by a veteran writer
of hit songs
“It’s Too Late”
Linda Ronstadt
“When Will I Be Loved”
Everly Brothers cover; she
belts out the song
“Blue Bayou”
Roy Orbison cover; shows
the softer side of her range
The Eagles
“Take it Easy”
Using the Beatles
producer/engineer, their
songs showcased good
songwriting and vocal and
instrumental excellence
“Hotel California”
“Best of My Love”
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Aretha Franklin
“I Never Loved a Man (The
Way I Loved You)”
First hit from her new
alliance with Atlantic
Records
“Respect”
Scorching remake/retake of
the Otis Redding song
James Brown
“Papa’s Got a Brand New
Bag”
Transforms gospel and soul
into a new genre—funk
“I Got You (I Feel Good)”
Invents a new rhythm;
accent on the One (1st beat)
The Spinners
“I’ll Be Around”
Examples of ‘Philly soul;’
Gamble and Huff, Thom
Bell orchestral touches
“Could it Be I’m Falling in
Love”
Kiss
“Rock and Roll All Night”
Circus-like glam rock
Alice Cooper
“School’s Out”
Neo-vaudeville for teens
David Bowie
“Space Oddity”
Ordinary man confronts the
new space technology
“Fame”
Bowie’s 1st #1 hit
“Let’s Dance”
Comeback hit; heavy
rotation on MTV
Elton John
“Your Song”
Beautiful pop ballad
“Take Me to the Pilot”
Gospel-influenced
“Candle in the Wind”
“When in doubt, write a
hymn,” he said. (from a
David Frost interview)
Velvet Underground (Lou
Reed)
“Heroin”
Pop poetry on dark themes
from the underbelly of New
York street life
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“Take a Walk On the Wild
Side”
Queen
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
Operatic vocal arrangement
using multiple overdubbing
Iggy Pop
“Lust for Life”
Influential forerunner of
punk; inspired by Lou Reed
and a Jim Morrison
performed he attended
(Greg Prato, Allmusic.com)
“Real Wild Child”
Black Sabbath
“Black Sabbath”
First band to explore horror
elements in rock music
“Paranoid”
Led Zeppelin
“Black Dog”
Riff-based song, with riffs
built into the song
“Stairway to Heaven”
Their most popular song;
eclecticism in a single song
“Kashmir”
Distinctive middle eastern
elements; riffs are built-in
Deep Purple
“Smoke on the Water”
Guitarist Richie Blackmore
performance on a huge hit
Yes
“Roundabout”
Prog rock; show-offish
instrumental highlights
Genesis
“I Know What I Like (In
Your Wardrobe)”
Art rock Selling England by
the Pound
“Dancing With the
Moonlight Knight”
1st track on Selling England
by the Pound; a cappella
vocal by Peter Gabriel
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
“Lucky Man”
One of the earliest uses of
the Moog synthesizer in pop
“Fanfare for the Common
Man”
Played on Keith Emerson’s
‘flying piano’ in concerts
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Styx
“Babe”
Pop rock smash hit
Foreigner
“Cold as Ice”
Pop rock smash hit
Kansas
“Dust in the Wind”
Pop rock; perfect for cross-
genre radio
“Carry On My Wayward
Son”
Boston
“More than a Feeling”
Defined by pop/hard rock
lead guitarist, Tom Scholz
Brian Eno
“By This River”
Unhappy, languid early
song from the father of
ambient music