CAT 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Carole King, Aretha Franklin
Roy Race, and the Folk Revival
● Roy: Folk music as historically defining “the other”
â—‹ Rural americans and hillbilly music
â—‹ African americans and the blues
â—‹ International folk
â—Ź A rejection of mainstream politics, capitalist economics, and pop music
● “Sharing” folk music as an act of appropriation
Soul Music in the 1960s
● African-American music developments following “Rhythm and Blues” and “Rock and
Roll” of the 1950s
â—Ź Gospel-influenced signing combined with jazz-influenced arrangements
â—Ź Parallels (but not explicitly tied to) the 1960s Civil Rights movements
● A different “message” than R&B
○ What is “soul” and how is it expressed?
Motown
â—Ź Founded by Barry Gordy in Detroit, MI (the Motor City)
â—Ź Difficulty selling demos of pop music songs, begins to produce and distribute songs as
an independent company
● Studio: “Hitsville USA”
â—Ź Singers and musicians reconfigured into different groups
â—‹ The Temptations, The 4 Top
● Initial hits with “Shop Around,” “Wait, Mr. Postman,” “Do You Love Me”
A plan to “cross-over”
â—Ź The 1950s R&B artists portrayed as lascivious,wild, and out of control
â—‹ A homology of racial attitude
● Motown trains artists through “appropriate” choreography and finishing school
â—Ź Song lyrics avoid any mention of civil unrest or preptet
Ideal Crossover Artists
â—Ź Marvin Gaye
○ “Heard it through the grapevine”
â—Ź Diana Ross and the Supremes
○ “Baby baby where did our love go?”
Performance as Rhetoric
● How do Motown artists’ performances reflect the message of “cross-over” appeal?
â—Ź How does performance function as rhetoric in other styles/genres of music?
â—Ź Are the performance styles a product of social values and system (homology)
● Or do the performance styles as action and narrative establish new values (Frith’s
position)
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Document Summary
Roy: folk music as historically defining the other . A rejection of mainstream politics, capitalist economics, and pop music. Sharing folk music as an act of appropriation. African-american music developments following rhythm and blues and rock and. Parallels (but not explicitly tied to) the 1960s civil rights movements. Founded by barry gordy in detroit, mi (the motor city) Difficulty selling demos of pop music songs, begins to produce and distribute songs as an independent company. Singers and musicians reconfigured into different groups. Initial hits with shop around, wait, mr. postman, do you love me . The 1950s r&b artists portrayed as lascivious,wild, and out of control. Motown trains artists through appropriate choreography and finishing school. Song lyrics avoid any mention of civil unrest or preptet. Are the performance styles a product of social values and system (homology) Or do the performance styles as action and narrative establish new values (frith"s position) Sam cooke a change is gonna come .
