Blog #8 Allan Jackson

For more than 25 years Alan Jackson’s music has provided a soundtrack for American life. The song presented in class was “drive” by Alan. Drive was on Alan’s tenth studio album and I absolutely love this song. This song takes me back to when I was a young boy. I got my first truck at the age of 13 to rebuild/restore with my dad. It was a 1994 ford f150 straight 6, 5 speed on the floor. At 13 my dad used to let me drive the truck with him around the neighborhood and in my uncles pasture on his farm. Only being 13, I had no idea how to drive, let alone; drive a stick shift. But, with some help from my dad and uncle, I quickly learned.

Drive was Released in 2002 on the Arista Nashville, the album produced Jackson’s highest-debuting single on the hot country song charts. Over the course of 25 years, Alan Jackson has kept it country and along the way he’s earned the respect of his peers across all genres. Growing up, I was never to much of a fan of country music until about 9th grade. After 9th grade, country was just about all the music I would listen to. Alan Jackson was one of my favorite artists when I first became a fan, and still is to this day.

What I love most about Alan Jackson is that Alan Jackson personifies the working man’s musician, a hard-working man from humble roots who has risen to the top of his field. I love how he documents the world around him and shares those observations through country music.

Blog post #7

I am writing this post on progressive metal and the song Octavarium by Dream Theater. Dream theater is a progressive metal band that formed in 1985 in Boston Massachusetts at the Berkley college of music. They started with the name majesty. They are known for their complex music and long songs. After the first example of the song it was very very hard to count the beats, and actually impossible for me; In a way the music doesn’t make sense because there generally is no count to the song and is extremely complex. The theme of Octavarium is termed to be “the story ends where it all began”. I found it very interesting that what I thought was a guitar in the song is actually a finger board. It sounds identical to the electric guitar. The song begins with a continuum fingerboard & lap steel guitar solo played by Jordan Rudess. Towards the middle of the song it begins talking about the “awakening” with a doctor sitting by his bed and the person awakening. I don’t really understand this song but I guess that why the theory of the song is “the story ends where it all began”. I found it very interesting that during this song each “movement” of the lyrics reflect back to each song in order on the album. In my opinion its honestly genius. I think I have found a new respect for this type of music. Before this presentation I thought of this type of music to be awful and just considered all of it heavy metal with people just slamming their drums and screaming. But, in reality this music extremely impressive, genius and sounds like its almost impossible to master. “octave ends with James LaVrie yelling and rehearing the line “trapped inside this “octavarium”. Son uses the same melody as “the root of all evil’. Its truly amazing at how talented each of the musicians in this band are. I think for anyone to sit down and listen to this type of music that you would have to be very into and talented in music. For myself, this type of complex music is way over my head. During this presentation I tried to take in everything but I feel like even if he presented the same thing 5 times, I still may not understand it all. Overall, this presentation was fantastic and gave me a new view on this type of music.

Blog #6

Next week I will be presenting about 2000s Hip-Hop & Rap incorporating the artist Eminem featuring one of his top hips called “lose yourself”. A very talented and misunderstood rapper, real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers lll, He had a rough upbringing, his father left him when he was just a baby, and his mom was mentally ill with Munchausen syndrome and used to beat him constantly, as Eminem admitted to in the 1999 interview with Howard Stern.

Eminem was bullied growing up, and one time he got beaten so bad he got a concussion and had to relearn basic skills slowly to regain his full consciousness, this experience was inspired by his song “brain damage”. This is why Eminem is well respected, because all of his music has a reason, and comes from personal experience, but this is also why he is misunderstood, because people don’t realize he is only speaking his feelings from his upbringing, he admitted this multiple time in his books and interviews.

Before Eminem got a record deal he was known for his underground rap and rap battles that eventually got him noticed by Andre Romelle Young. Bbetter known by his stage name Dr.Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics. Dre was previously the co-owner of and artist of Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including 2Pac, The D.O.C. Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Knoc-turn’al, 50 Cent, The Game and Kendrick Lamar.

Although Eminem was underestimated before he was famous, it took a lot of convincing for Eminem to win respect because of his race, but most people realize hip hop is a social political movement meant for people who grew up in the ghetto to find a voice through hip hop, like Eminem, not for specific races. Eminem is always real, never faked an accent when rapping, always respected the hip hop culture and black history and culture, he is now an iconic legend that will forever be known and continues to inspire many rappers. In my personal opinion and to many others that are rap fans/ Eminem fans, I believe that Eminem is probably one of the greatest rappers to ever come out and make it. He is truly a lyrical genius with a style of rap that no one else can compare to.

Blog #5

This week we began talking about metal in the 1980s. The metal in the 1980s carried forward legacy of the 70s rock. The metal is guitar driven and venturous with a transgressive aspect. The first song we listened to and discussed was “I wanna rock”. The music video was something different and out of the ordinary. As mentioned in class it has a flamboyant look/feel to it. The make-up and hair in the music video is very out of the ordinary for a male to wear/look like. When I first heard this song, I did not think the band would look how they did. The visuals definitely add to the song and make it over the top. Here I go again- is a song about the singer running away from a relationship. But in the video, it does not seem like he is running away. Tawney Kitten was the model in the video and was dating the lead singer at the time. At the end of the video Tawney Kitten gets hauled away by the “sex police”. The metaphor of the song is mostly about being under the power of female sexuality. Moving on we began talking about Madonna who remade the image of women pop stars. She not only changes women’s view for sex objects, but also subjects in control of image. Madonna used sec to critique attitudes and boundaries. Madonna controlled her image very differently and much better than other previous pop stars could do. One of the songs we began talking about was “like a prayer”. Like a prayer was sexualized in various ways. The lyrics in a way kind of talks about sex in a sense. But the video make it seem like a type of religion, but what is odd is that its frowned upon to mix sex, with religion. The racial aspect is very odd as well. Madonna is speaking to an African American priest and the choir is also all black. I’m honestly not really sure what to think about all of this other than its very odd to me. Next, was “open your heart” which was another very odd music video. Madonna is talking about opening your heart in a love sense, but the scene in the video is a peep show with all different types of males of all ages. From young kids, to young gay adults in uniform, to an older guy that looks like he’s in his 70s. Another odd aspect is that at the end of the video Madonna kisses the young boy and runs off with him. Two interpretations of this could be a inappropriate relationship or another way to view this would be to having a good relationship with your child. I think this video is meant to be notioned that mothers could be both sexy but also have the proper loving relationship between mother and child.

 

Blog #4

Emerging in 1954–55, rock music was initially referred to as “rock ‘n’ roll.” After 1964 it was simply called “rock music.” The change in terminology indicates both a continuity with and a break from the earlier period; rock music was no longer just for dancing. After 1964 the music was influenced by British groups such as The Beatles. Moreover, I believe that it is a very creative and a positive attribute that most popular bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys began experimenting with their sound. If bands and artist did not do this all music would sound the same. To a sense, some pop now-a-days ALL sounds the same. Most of it is not even talent. Its just someone producing a beat with some “artist” singing lyrics with 80% auto tune mixed in. Moving back into 60s era I also believe music would not be the same today if it wasn’t for some popular bands like The Beetles, The Beach Boys and Jimmy Hendrix. They literally changed the face of music especially how they changed certain sounds, made new beats/sounds that were never heard before etc. It was truly revolutionary. The popularity and worldwide scope of rock music resulted in a powerful impact on society. Rock and roll influenced daily life, fashion, attitudes and language in a way few other social developments have equaled. Rock ‘n’ roll was for and about adolescents. Its lyrics articulated teenage problems: school, cars, summer vacation, parents, and, most important, young love. The primary instruments of early rock ‘n’ roll were guitar, bass, piano, drums, and saxophone. All aspects of the music—its heavy beat, loudness, self-absorbed lyrics, and raving delivery. Today’s day in age- it seems to me that “rock” is much less popular than it once was. Teens and young adults are more attracted to the Dubstep, House-music, Techno, Hip-hop, and Rave music. Most concerts now are even labeled and marketed as “raves”. The louder the delivery, bass, heavy beat, and flashing lights the more attracting it is to the young crowd. As mentioned in class; in the 60’s many people experimented with LSD and hallucinogenic drugs at concerts like the Dead-and having a feeling of freedom and being “one” with oneself. Todays concerts are similar but just slight alterations. Many young teens and adults get attracted to a drug called “Molly” and enjoy going to raves to “rage out” with bright flashing lights- the artist with the loudest bass, that hits the hardest, and has the most flashing lights attracts the most people.

Blog #3

This week we moved into a new era; The Sixties-Folk Revival, Motown & Soul, British Invasion, and more. We began with The Urban Folk Revival. Folk music is music that was generally made at home, on the artist’s home porch or in a basement. It was generally not made to be popular but occasionally it certain songs would change and would become a hit. In comparison, popular music almost never changed into folk music. In the 60’s the folk music became “popular music” and that’s why they call It the “fold revival”. Recording really revolutionized folk music because we could listen to songs, record them, then transmit them into your own version.

John and Alan Lomax were famous for collecting folksongs and traveled around “collecting” these songs. The Lomax’s would often visit prisons because the prisoners would be doing hard labor. While doing hard labor in these prisons they would sing. So, that attracted the Lomax brothers to try and find their next star singer; and they did. He goes by the name of Leadbelly. The Lomaxs’ actually got Huddie Leadbelly out of prison and started him on a recording career that lead him to be a minor star. Leadbelly is known for the song “Goodnight Irene” that can be considered folk. Moving forward, we began studying Woody Guthrie and the song “Do Re Mi”. The meaning of Do Re Mi is a way of singing, singing scale or money of that matter.

Woodie Guthrie’s best known song is “This Land Is Your Land”. I was very familiar with this song, but only the first two verses which sounds very patriotic. But then as the song continues, the song becomes very questioning and sounds like a political action song that no one can stop Woodie from walking the freedom highway. This song is mainly referring to the politics of America and the height of the cold war.

Blog Post 2

Welcome to my second blog post! Starting with Tuesday 2/14/2017

This week we began talking about the beginnings of rock and R&B and their cultural influences. R&B started out in the black community until white artist discovered it and they began to produce it. Rocket 88 by Jackie Benston and Delta Cats which is one of the most well know “Beginning of rock” songs. The saxophone, guitar, piano, drums and usual instruments are all that I noticed during this song. The beat could be described as a swing/shuffle beat. The piano has a “Boogie Woogie” style of sound. In many ways, it doesn’t sound much different than Louis Jordan’s music. Rocket 88 is symbolizing the Oldsmobile rocket 88 and the freedom of being 16 owning a vehicle attracting a much younger, immature crowd. Moving forward, Rocking & roll was the next subject. Rockin’ & Rolling is a slag term for sex. This was a term popularized for new music by Alan “Moondog” Freed. Rock & roll consists of R&B, especially jump blues, urban blues, and country. The next artist that was introduced to us was Chuck Berry. Chuck is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter and is one of the pioneers of Rock and Roll music. Chuck is also well known for his famous dance move “The Duck Walk”. One thing that I notice between all these performers, is that the audience is middle-high class white crowd, as compared to the performers that are black. Allan freed tries to break this barrier and introduce black folk into rock. Following rock n roll, the Doo-Wop was introduced. The Doo-Wop is a male or female quartet singing, related to gospel quartets, barbershop, and swing singing. Elvis is the prime example for the face of rock n roll. Elvis Presley was a white American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the “The King of Rock n Roll” or simply “the King”. Presley was born in Mississippi then moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He began his music career around the age of 18 when he recorded a song with Sam Phillips. Sam Phillips recorded R&B, and was looking for a white singer who could sing R&B. Elvis got launched by singing these tunes that sounded like black R&B tunes, but Elvis was white! Many people during that time thought Elvis was black when he first started singing, just by the sound of his voice. He got introduced on the radio by the radio host asking Elvis what High-School he went to. Referencing and symbolizing to the radio listeners, Elvis is white.

Blog Post #1

Welcome to my Music History 333 Blog Post of what we have covered thus far!

Over the past two weeks we have started covering basics and history of songs in the early 1900s. Signing up for this class I had no idea what to expect. Having just about zero experience with music besides my daily dose of Spotify, I had no idea what to expect. I thoroughly enjoy this class way more then I had expected! The first week we covered some of the basics of sound such as tempo, rhythm, melodies, meters, beat, syncopation, texture, versus and chorus’. Being completely foreign to these meanings, I felt as though Dr. Baumer did a great job adjusting and aiding us to these meaning. For example, having us  clap along to the beat and rhythm of minstrel, country, and blues song of top artists during that time period.

Towards the end of the first week and beginning of the second we started to talk about was Minstrelsy. This was a word/topic I have never heard of before. Minstrelsy is  a popular stage entertainment featuring songs, dances, and comic dialogue in highly conventionalized patterns, usually performed by white actors in blackface. It developed in the US in the early and mid 19th century. One of the famous Minstrelsy actors we were learned about was a man by the name of Thomas Dartmouth Rice. Rice imitated the dancing of a black man, but his character was Jim Crow. Jim Crow represented the former practice of segregating black people in the US.

Moving forward to the 3rd week, we started covering early R&B between 1945-1955. What I found very interesting is that R&B was used in reference as “Race” records or “Race & Black”, a term invented by Ralph Peer. The first artist we covered goes by the name of Louis Jordan who was famous for the song Choo-Choo Ch-boogie, and Caldonia. Louis Jordan was a pioneering American musician, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as “The King Of Jukebox” he was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the later years of the swing era. Mr. Jordan regularly topped the R&B charts and was one of the first black recording artists to achieve significant crossover in popularity with the mainstream “white” American audience.

Following Louis Jordan, we started to cover Urban Blues. The first artist we started studying goes by the name of Muddy Waters. He made a name for himself by playing one of the first electric guitars. Electric guitars became a huge hit because with basic acoustic and a large crowd, the acoustic was simply just not loud enough. Following Louis Jordan we covered T-Bone Walker-the originator of the electric blues sound. He was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was an influential pioneer and innovator of the jump blues and electric blues sound and became popular from one of his top hits called “Hoochie Coochie Man”

As mentioned previously, all the information we have covered in class is so fascinating to me and I look forward to learning more as we progress through the 1940s-1950 to more modern time.

 

 

Hello world!

Welcome to your brand new blog at Indiana University of Pennsylvania Sites.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.

For assistance, visit our comprehensive support site, check out our Edublogs User Guide guide or stop by The Edublogs Forums to chat with other edubloggers.

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.