ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 12-POST WWII- THE BRITS and THE U.S.

Studying the members of BRITISH ROCK music I constantly read stories whereby as children the likes of ERIC CLAPTON, members of  THE WHO,THE BEATLES, etc were confronted with the harsh reality of growing up either during or immediately after WORLD WAR II.Great Britain survived the war, victorious but bankrupt. The Empire would never be the same as WWII and its aftermath transformed Great Britain into something completely different and something very new. London especially, for it was bombed out during the onslaught of the German BLITZKRIEG (Lightning War). September 7,1940 was DAY ONE, the first night of 57 consecutive nights of bombings over the city of London. Three hundred (300) German bombers dropped 337 tons of explosives on the first night and as the fires spread throughout the city 448 civilians were killed.  Terror was the weapon of choice employed by the Germans.

The British government imposed mandatory blackouts, therefore all television broadcasts were banned during the evening.Radio once again was in the forefront as the cheap alternative for entertainment. It was during this time that many more British radio listeners became familiar with American music.

We ,The Brits and The Yanks have a common language, had a common cause being allies during the war. Post War England had exposure to our soldiers and sailors and LIVERPOOL a port city found many US Navy men along with the American records they carried.

POST WAR:

On British radio Traditional Jazz (Trad jazz )with its influences coming from boogie-woogie and the blues was very popular as was SKIFFLE ,especially Lonnie Donegan who rehashed American Folk tunes and was an inspiration to so many British youths, “Hey,I can do that”.

BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (1955) and ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK (1955) two movies that showed teen rebellion set a post war generation off on a different path than their parents took to adulthood. During the late 50’s and early 60’s the radio was playing “new music” ,#1 hits mostly describing teenage desires.  ELVIS, LIL RICHARD, BUDDY HOLLY, etc were heard on the radio and seen on many teen oriented tv shows especially OH BOY! . This show in particular promoted rock n roll. JACK GOOD its producer would later will be part of (American TV) ABC’s SHINDIG.

Homegrown BRIT HITS: August 1958: CLIFF RICHARD and THE SHADOWS with an original written by guitarist IAN SAMWELL, inspired by CHUCK BERRY,  “Move It”  is #2 on the UK charts.

1960: JOHNNY KIDD and THE PIRATES “Shakin’ All Over” is #1 in UK , this being a self penned tune by (Frederick Heath) JOHNNY KIDD and today it is a RnR standard.

1960: The British Blues scene develops with ALEXIS KORNER and CYRIL DAVIES, those artists influenced by MUDDY WATERS, HOWLIN’ WOLF, and ROBERT JOHNSON. And 1960’s  we find the arrival of Beat Music.

This new RnR  as seen in the movies and television, as heard on the radio, influenced the teens in lifestyle choices, fashion, attitudes, cars, motorcycles,and a distinct language of their own.

But what was so cool about the US to the Brit kids?

In America late 1940’s we had RnB, Blues, Jump Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Western Swing, Country (and Western). Bands had members rocking out on piano, sax, electric guitar, and an electric bass. Southern urban centers  like Memphis, Nashville, Etc. became hot beds for music. Northern migration trends brought musicians from the south to the cities of Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, each city within close proximity of the other. However, radio was mainly narrow, that is, race music was played on traditional black stations. Later, there was a hybrid of styles.

See you next time….Chapter13: A CHANGE IS GONNA COME (1965) Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: CHAPTER 4- The Heart of American Music

 

Looking for “THE HEART OF AMERICAN MUSIC” one needs to look no further than the infectious sounds of Rhythm and Blues music. New musical styles develop as a reaction to what previously transpired musically so in the case of R&B we can hear the traces of New Orleans jazz, gospel, spirituals, jump blues and more.

Originally called RACE MUSIC Jerry Wexler ( check him out) coined the more appropriate term R&B as a marketing tool for BILLBOARD magazine which could then track R&B sales without offending people (politically correct before their time).

At first, R&B was considered “low brow” when compared to “high brow” jazz. In the phrase R&B the rhythm part refers to the backbeat (on the 2 and 4) and the blues part is from the lyrics which usually depicted life as being “blue” or sad.

With its forefather the blues this new rhythm and blues music inspired so many British teenagers who as musicians attempting to emulate their  American musical heroes revamped this American music and made it their “own” sound which strangely became popular to American teens. The fact was these Brits just rehashed America’s original music.

In a nutshell rhythm and blues music is the heart of American music. If one truly scratches the surface of rhythm and blues music you can hear jazz, old gospel, and spiritual music. When mixed together with a little kick it becomes rock n roll.

The backbone of good ole RnR music is The BACK BEAT, hitting the snare on the 2 and the 4 sometimes slightly late in a 4/4. As Chuck sang:

Rock`n`roll music just, let me hear some of that rock ‘n’ roll music

Any old way you choose it

It’s got a back beat, you can’t lose it…

So what is THE BACK BEAT,  just look to the drums, aka  the “skins”. At one time drum heads were animal skins. Search any time period, in any location, and one will find artifacts of what can be construed as drums, usually made of stretched animal skins. These “drums” were played in ceremonies, both solemn and celebratory, and as a way to communicate (Talking Drums). Bronze cymbals can also be found in ancient greek tombs and later in Turkey where The Turks perfected the process.

Before rock drumming, before jazz, no drum “kits” existed. In the late 1800s, separate percussionists in military and concert bands were assigned to one specific drum or cymbals. As these ensembles typically played in parades, there was plenty of space for a large percussion section to roam about. Indoor concerts, on the other hand, had obvious physical constraints and therefore percussionists often had to do double duty, a drum or two. The drummers performing with The Second Line processions in New Orleans, after the parade would head to the local spot for a drink and to play some tunes.The drummer (one) would have a snare and a bass drum. The bass drum which was “kicked” sometimes had a cymbal attached to its top. A clever solution to this issue, that is to get the drummers feet in on the action occurred in 1909. William F. Ludwig, Sr helped drummers when he pioneered a foot pedal for the bass drum. One drummer could then play multiple parts simultaneously—kind of a big deal at the time. THE CONTRAPTION as the drums were now known was shortened to THE TRAP KIT.

Back to THE CORE of RnR, THE BACK BEAT is the progression of 2&4 accents in Western (American) popular music. It probably starts with Swing Jazz and Big Bands where the drummers emphasized these beats and played 2 & 4 with the High Hat. Next, this style moved over to the snare drum in very early Rock n’ Roll and Blues. Once it was on the snare drum, virtually all styles of American popular music using drums feature snare on 2 & 4. Calling this a “Rock” beat is probably just a historical nod to the early rock n’ roll songs.

So what is this Rock and Roll or better yet HOW DID IT GET IT’S NAME?

Rock and roll, the phrase itself is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. A simple euphemism that appeared in song titles since at least 1914 (Trixie Smith’s “My Man ROCKS Me With One Steady ROLL”)

Disc jockey Alan Freed is widely credited with coining the term “rock and roll” to describe the uptempo black R&B records he played as early as 1951 on Cleveland radio station WJW.

This Rock and Roll music grabs from musical styles such as gospel, jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues, along with country music. Determining the first actual rock & roll record is a truly impossible task. But you can’t go too far off when citing Jackie Brenston’s 1951 Chess waxing of “Rocket 88”, which has all the prerequisite elements firmly in place: practically indecipherable lyrics about cars, booze, and women, booming tenor sax, and a churning, beat-heavy rhythmic bottom.

See you next time….ROCK’S IN MY HEAD Chapter 5: DRUNKS, THIEVES and SCOUNDRELS.  Comments? Jazzbus@gmail.com