So I started off this week trying to go for the assigned listening examples, and I could not find "Please Please Me" at all! Not on the Itunes tracks that were downloaded, nor on the Spotify playlist. I resorted to YouTube, and was able to find it there, but was already aggravated by that point. The song was interesting, and I could see the interesting rhyming scheme and wordplay going on, but it did not sound like anything special, which is possibly why it did not attain popularity at first, until they became mega stars. My technical issues did not improve with "A Hard Day's Night." This put me in a better mood, for I know this song very well. I've always loved the connection that I and really anyone could get from the lyrics, and the melody is just fantastic! Both the beginning and the end a very interesting with the hook of the guitar strumming at the beginning and the fade out at the end, something that has not really been heard in the listening excerpts up to this point in the class.
The technical issues continue, but so does musical quality of the excerpts with "Yesterday," a song that everybody should know. The more I listen to these pieces the more I readily hear the Tin Pan Alley forms coming across, but that insert such depth of lyrical content and subtlety of other musical elements like chordal accompaniment, and lingering moments on both words and notes. It's quite stunning when digging into it. It gets even more obvious in "Eleanor Rigby." The are many unsettling jumps where the form seems to skip a few beats and the use of orchestral instruments like cello to provide such an uptempo and forceful bounce without the use of any percussion or guitar, instruments we expect from rock, is both enticing and disturbing, despite my familiarity with the song.
Moving on to The Beach Boys and "Good Vibrations" show the parallel musical evolution this group was taking at the same time as The Beatles. Listening to this I am struck by the constant shift of employment of new hooks. This is necessary because as stated in the analysis the form is a little ambiguous, so it gives the feel of many different songs rolled into one and a sort of response or foreshadowing (I honestly do not know which) of the counterculture movement in America with many of its musical themes and melodies.
"Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan is not a song or artist I am very familiar with, though of course I've heard the name, I'm not so naive to as never heard of him, but not to the extent of many other artists within these chapters. My first reaction was it sounded like my mom's type of music, for this folk rock style is just her genre. I found the keyboard tone very unique, and also completely appropriate to the overall "feel" that is trying to be presented. His voice is also strikingly powerful, as if it is commanding respect by the truth within the inflection of phrasing that is presented.
I then moved onto the elective listening, starting with "You Can't Hurry Love." I choose this because of the readings, which helped shed light on how much of a controlled process the musical production of this group and other Motown artists were in terms of professionalism, quality, and deliberate appeal. I wanted to listen to this song, even though I already knew it, to let this new information help dictate my appreciation for the song, and I can see how this polished refinement of both lyrical content and form could become so popular.
Then I went to another artist that I do not consider myself familiar with, Eric Clapton and "Crossroads." I was immediately surprised that I was not more familiar with the guy, as the the underlining guitar riffs seem like so much other early rock that I am found of. I love music like this that is obviously meant to put the skill of the performers to the forefront!
I then went to listen to "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" by James Brown, and did not realize I knew this song. I know James Brown, but song titles do not always stick with me, and on this one I've always listened to the band and flavor of singing rather than the lyrics. I found it a little vindicating that the analysis in the text did not take a lot of time discussing the lyrics either! I could not agree more that this is an experience of rhythmical patterns and the groove of minimization that implore the listener to just fit themselves in the groove and enjoy it, rather than try to connect too deeply with the meaning and content. That would almost get in the way in the song.
I decided to finish by listening to "Be My Baby" which put everything I had read over the week about Phil Spector into perspective. I did know his songs! And I also barely recognize the names of the groups associated with him, but I sure know his songs. Very full walls of sound are present here and a different kind of clean polished sound than Motown. Without hearing it I would not have been able to fully conceptualize this difference, but I get it now. I could describe it, but it did not really reach the core until I heard it.
I'm loving where the progression of this course is taking us through popular music history in America. Such cool stuff but now I am getting more well rounded through the elements and listening being presented in terms of my understanding, which will hopefully transfer over into future teaching.
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