Rock Music in Popular Culture

1. Rock Music in Popular Culture By: Jared Tibbetts

2. History of Rock Music in Popular Culture • Many People may not realize the roots of rock and roll come from an assortment of musical genres such as Blues, Gospel and Rhythm music. • A huge factor for this was the large migration of the blacks from the south to the north in the 1940’s while this music was in it’s early stages of life. • Music associated with blacks was originally called “race” music and was later called rhythm and blues to be more politically correct. • With many men participating in World War II most big jazz bands were forced to break up, and most of those bands were predominantly white. Not only did men leaving for war cause a break in big jazz bands but a strike from artists against the music companies caused continued strife for bands at the end of the war. With the strike and the war the bands were obsolete. Single performers and small groups became the norm and hits at the time.

3. Rock music and its effect on popular culture • Rock music has influenced many different areas of pop culture mostly during the 1950’s and 1960’s. • In the 1950’s American rock music dominated many parts of the world but became extremely popular the in the pop music scene in the U.K.

4. The influence of rock music • The influence of American music was shown by the British artists transforming rock music into something of their own. • During this time especially the 1960’s artists from the U.K created their own version of rock music and then brought it to the United States. • At this time their success was referred and named the “British invasion”.

5. Up until the 1960s rock music was just a single entity, there was variety in music as a whole, though rock music was much less varied. Most rock music was very similar due to a lack of influences. It wasn't until the invasion of British rock bands in the early 1960’s that rock music truly began to branch out into other sub-genres. Until this time most British music was unavailable in the US. It wasn't until the popular demand for such bands brought not only their music over, but also the bands to tour in the US. Bands such as The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones finally began touring in the US. This flood of British musicians known as the British Invasion diminished the careers of most American musicians.

6. The popularity of the British rock n roll music scene was led by groups like the Beatles. • Not only did these artists and entertainers come to the United states to promote the style of music, but they also brought fashion like the mini skirt but they also brought the “twiggy” look. Rock music influenced clothing television and dance. • Rock music has impacted and influenced cultures all around the world, and Britain is only one of these examples

7. The Beatles arrive in New York in 1964 Image From: http://www.beatlesbible.com/

8. Major influences • The rock n roll groups to make it big in Britain were Bill Haley’s “shake rattle and roll” and “rock around the clock” which were both released in 1954. • Many other groups gained popularity and have had huge influences in British music like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley.

9. Promotion and Audience • Rock music was first released by small independent record companies and promoted by disc jockeys on the radio. • The appeal of the music to middle class white teenagers was almost immediate and caught onto the major record companies by surprise. • As the music became more popular these major record companies moved onto the style of music to capitalize it. Sometimes even fueled by cover versions of certain songs.

10. Impact on society • Rock music in an important genre of music because it has the ability not only to influence but to sustain itself through many generations of people. • Rock music also has had a huge impact on American Society by helping to set trends for pop music and influencing other genres of music such as Hip Hop and R&B.

11. Although rock music has been influenced by many different types of music as well as other things. It has allowed artists to influence others through music and has allowed artists to speak out on issues with politics and even government. • Rock music influences many cultures in different parts of the world and has grown into into many different forms from metal to classic rock music, punk, progressive and alternative.

12. Rock music was evolving and so the tastes of the people were ever changing. What ever was new was usually the most popular. Psychedelic rock can be largely attributed to the increase in drug usage beginning in the early 1960s. This music was usually listened to, created by, and performed by individuals under the influence of hallucinogens or other narcotics. While the psychedelic movement was taking place, another genre folk rock was being created. It was a combination of two individual genres of music that were combined in order to appeal to a new generation. Unlike psychedelic rock, folk rock was cleaner; it commonly contained harmonicas and acoustic instruments, which was quite uncharacteristic of most rock music at the time. Many folk rock musicians, such as Bob Dylan used their music to protest the Vietnam War. The biggest event of the 1960s by far though was Woodstock, a three day festival in which some of the world's most prominent rock and folk musicians performed, such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. The expected turnout for the festival was around 200,000 people, though in reality over half a million people showed up. Woodstock was psychedelic rock at it's greatest. The 1960s was a decade of musical exchange, ideas were constantly being traded between England and the US, which gave way for the evolving music.

13. Woodstock 1969 Imagefrom: http://woodstockwitness.com/

14. Last Thoughts • Rock music will always have a huge impact on American pop culture because it is a huge fabric of our lifestyle. It constantly influences us and starts new trends that will travel through out different social arenas in the society we live in.

15. Artist Statement Being a drummer and musician, the type of music that influences me the most is rock music. So in choosing this subject I wanted to learn the background a little bit more and to know why it influenced me as a musician and the music that I write and perform, not only because I listened to it but the history behind it all together. My main objectives of this project was to figure out the main elements as to why rock music became so successful and how it branched out into the world and it’s cultural impact as we know it today. Although rock music has only been around for about 60 years, it has changed so greatly. Environmental and technological factors are just two things, which can greatly change music and this project defiantly got me to realize that and that is the point of view about the subject that I want to present to the audience. Entire genres of music have been created in relatively small areas because of this. This is changed though since nowadays music is incredibly easy to access and will continue to progress and evolve into new things.

16. Bibliography • http://voices.yahoo.com/the-growth-american-rock-music-pop-culture-8667499.html?cat=37 • Rock Music in American Popular Culture II by: B Lee Cooper and Wayne S Haney • http://culturalpolitics.net/popular_culture/music • http://www.esto.es/rock/english/history.htm