Music Notes

Even with the definite roots in Black culture, most of the main performers however were white. Take Elvis Presley for example, the songs he sang were the normal blues rock style, but he was white. He was still part of the culture, he was thought as black. It was a common saying among the musicians at the time was that “If you were white and played blues you were black once.” These Black roots and White musicians led to this music being called a black and white hybrid. This fact was what turned away most adults from this

It ended up with mix-colored concerts instead of segregated ones by reigning in a White fan base.

The Blues also became a hit in the 1920s after Mamie Smith recorded “Crazy Blues” and it grew into a huge part of the Jazz Industry. African Americans were given credit for the creation of the Blues industry of music as well. Bessie Smith was known as the “most famous of the 1920s Blues singers.”

Once it gained more and more popularity, labels began to realize that this could be a profitable market. Given the profitability, they knew they had to go mainstream yet this was a time where there was racism and where African American artists would not be viewed the same as there white counterpart. This was not the case with all the people but many during this time. Teenagers were only concerned with the music and whether they liked it whereas there was great opposition that white kids were listening to music sung by African

The “Great Migration” was from 1910-1930 and almost 750,000 African Americans moved into Northern cities; 175,000 moved to Harlem, which made it the largest black community in the country. This era was known for racial consciousness, racial integration, dramatic arts and painting. In addition, it was known for the explosion of music especially jazz and the blues. This outburst of confidence, expression, creativity and talent sparked the African American drive and created a “rebirth” of African American culture. A few of the famous influences were Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Duke Ellington Johnson and Louis Armstrong.

Motown helped break down some racial barriers during this era. America during this era was one of gross racial stereotypes. Motown forced America to confront its own feelings about race, community, intolerance, justice and reality. Motown coincided with the emergence of the civil rights movement and both were inextricably linked. Motown was a type of prelude for Dr. Martin Luther King; it helped set the stage for the major changes that were underway. Motown broke many of the traditional stereotypes of African Americans. This music was the backbone for conversation, particularly the young, and initiated an intense re-examination of some prevalent stereotypes. It was long overdue don’t you think? My grandmother told me that when she was growing up during the sixties she can remember her mother yelling at her to “turn off that nigger trash!”, but my grandmother could’ve cared less, she had friends who were African American and there was nothing wrongful with listening to the music, but things were different in New York, not much different but forgiving enough to let children form their own opinions on the music and the artists behind it.

Many other African-Americans started to cross-over to the white market. They wanted to appeal to the white audience. Many black Rock ‘N’ Rolls went for a sweeter sound, better looks, and soothing lyrics. They would dress up in tuxedos and sing ballads. As it breaks down barriers it was opening doors for African-American artist and

Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, had to so called ¨craft an image for his acts.¨ He had young stars go to a music school, to finish up and add on a few new techniques. He would also make them appear such that, in no way could even offend one person. Gordy tried to play it smart and to make the artists album covers in a way that it would be a secret in revealing the artist's race. Gordy found out that some black artist were still having trouble going from the R&B chart to the Hot 100. Many artists were having trouble trying to go along with what Gordy had in mind. But artist wanted to be themselves, express their feelings with how they wanna sing or perform. And hiding who they really were was hard from them to do when you have to keep their race in

Rock ‘n’ roll presented us with the emergence of a cultural phenomenon, which the book lays out for us. Altschuler sees rock as a “metaphor for integration, as the focal point for anxiety that cultural life in the U.S. had become “sexualized”, a catalyst

In 1951, Alan Freed, a European American disc jockey for a Cleveland radio station, first coined the term rock’n roll. Fifty years later, if you were to poll the general public on which race would dominate that genre of music, the response would be overwhelmingly whites. But rock’n roll is not a white mans music. African American’s were and still are an essential cornerstone of the genre known as rock’n roll. But rock’n roll simply would not exist if it weren't for African Americans. Their presence is felt in almost every genre of music known to the United States. Early twentieth century black musicians helped shape, influence and create my favorite genre of music today.

In the 1960's, America was ready for a change. Black rhythm and blues known as Motown became popular. Bob

separation. Rock and roll music was formerly made up of only whites, but gradually African-Americans moved into that genre of music. This is a good thing for racial equality, except for when you look at the other types of dominant music today, rap and rhythm and blues. There is almost no white singers in these entire styles of music. On MTV, there has been only two white rap singers in the history of the channel, and one of them, Enimem,

The emergence of Rock and Roll was one of the most pivotal moments of our nation’s history. The impact that this genre of music made is still evident in our culture. However, before this genre was able to gain momentum, it faced many cultural conflicts. The book, All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America by Glenn C. Altschuler analyzes the impact that rock and roll music has made on American culture. It explores how the Rock and Roll culture was able to roughly integrate and later conflict with preceding cultural values. This is especially apparent in chapters regarding race and sexuality. Overall, Rock and Roll was extremely controversial amongst parents and educators. This new music genre was condemned by the previous generation as

Questioning the correlation of commercial success and true artistry began in the light of mainstream music. Mainstream music has been given a negative connotation due to the supposed lack of originality of the artists. Repetitive chord progressions and meaningless lyrics compose the majority of “mainstream music,” making each song sound like the next . Despite these patterns in music, artists still ventured outside of what was societally normal and created music that was unheard of. Despite the potential risks in being an individual in the music industry, several groups achieved high success and maintain the popularity in the present. Creativity and commercial success can definitely exist alongside one another, and this paper will prove that through the music of the Beatles, the performance styles of David Bowie, and the grunge movement in Seattle which was fueled by Nirvana.

The term “rhythm and blues” was coined in 1947 by a white man named Jerry Wexler who was a reporter, editor, and writer for Billboard Magazine. The record