History of Rhythm and Blues
Rhythm and blues was considered purely black music. Although I am non portion of the American civilization, I consider my cultural heritage to be slightly related to this civilization. The black civilization is a phenomenal topic stand foring the life manner, imaginativeness and achievements of people. One of the most outstanding and alone characteristic that makes this civilization one of a sort is the music it has produced. Music has a common feature that is alone to all civilizations throughout the universe. However, the music’s signifier, or manner, every civilization in history includes music as an of import portion of mundane life. The four most popular classs of Black music are Blues, Jazz, Gospel, and Rhythm and Blues. Blues is an African American music that transverses a broad scope of emotions and musical manners which is expressed in vocals that verse unfairness or express yearning for a better life and lost loves, occupations, and money. Jazz is music that consists of musical instruments such as saxophones, flutes, and clarinets. Gospel music refers to African American Protestant vocal music that celebrates Christine Doctrine in affectional. Rhythm and Blues is a combination of the singing beat of wind and other “race” music with the lyrical content, sonic gestures, and with the format of the blues. Today I want to concentrate on Rhythm and Blues and the influence it has made on the black civilization, and discourse the three major signifiers that made Rhythm and Blues distinguishable, and how it has alteration from jazzy/blues to hip hop/rap.
Rhythm and Blues music or R & A ; B has a assortment of different types of music. It is produced and supported chiefly by inkinesss around the universe. Get downing in the early 1940s, beat and blues music embraced genres as leap blues, nine blues, black stone, and axial rotation, doo dago, psyche, Motown, funk, disco, and blame. It was foremost coined in 1949 by Jerry Wexler, who became outstanding with Atlantic Records. Wexler used the term beat and blues as a equivalent word for black stone and axial rotation in the early and mid 1950s. R & A ; B provided the individual greatest influence on popular music worldwide for much of the 2nd half of the 20Thursdaycentury. The influence was traced in signifiers of stone music, state and western, gospel music, and wind every bit good as in a assortment of non western signifier of music known as worldbeat.
Harmonizing to Joseph Machlis and Kristine Forney in their book The Enjoyment of Music, Rhythm and blues is known for its preponderantly vocal genre, having a solo vocalist accompanied by a little group including piano, guitar, acoustic bass, membranophones, and tenor saxophone. Its harmoniousnesss and construction are drawn from 12 saloon blues and 30 two saloon dad song signifier. As the name implies, the manner is characterized by a strong, driving round, normally in a quadruplicate metre. As the influence of assorted manners of Rhythm and Blues, black urban values have permeated a broad assortment of other civilizations, most noteworthy of modern-day Euro American young person. ( 599 )
Harmonizing Christopher Handyside’s book Soul and R & A ; B. Handyside states that Rhythm and Blues ( R & A ; B ) was a name given to a fast paced manner of music that was influenced by blues, Gospel, and wind. Handyside states that R & A ; B besides owed its manner to “jump blues.” Jump blues was popular in the 1930s and 1940s, and was normally played by a big set that featured membranophones, saxophone, and cornet, stand up bass, guitar, and other horns every bit good as a vocalist. By the late fortiess, leap blues had developed into R & A ; B which took the signifier of shorter, catchier vocals. Whereas leap blues frequently extended the vocals with improvisation, R & A ; B tended to utilize smaller sets that featured membranophones, piano, guitar, and bass to bring forth the same energy and exhilaration as a larger set. One of the most important features shared by both leap blues and R & A ; B was the importance of a strong vocal vocalist. Handyside besides states in the late fortiess than author for the music magazineBillboard,Jerry Wexler, coined up the name “rhythm and blues” when he was redacting the charts at the trade diaryBillboardand found that the record companies publishing black popular music considered the chart names to be take downing. The magazine changed the chart ‘s name in its June 17, 1949, issue, holding used the term beat and blues in intelligence articles for the old two old ages. Although the records that appeared onBillboard‘s beat and blues chart thenceforth were in a assortment of different manners, the term was used to embrace a figure of modern-day signifiers that emerged at that clip. ( 4-5 )
Handyside states the beginnings of beat and blues originated from the sociological, industrial, and technological alterations that took topographic point in the Unites States merely prior to and during World War II. Among theses alterations was a widespread displacement in American demographics. Popular music and new manners were created to run into the altering gustatory sensations of the demographic group, which lead to the development of polished sounds of R & A ; B. These sociological alterations of the World War II period were accompanied by two important technological developments, the innovation of the electric guitar in the late thirtiess and the freshly comparatively low-cost find of the German invented tape recording equipment. With these two innovations it simplified the recording procedure. Enterprising persons were able to get down independent record companies, since the major record companies in the United States had small involvement in R & A ; B music. Newly formed independent companies began such as Atlantic, Chess, Specialty, and Modern were important for the production and distribution of R & A ; B recordings.
Harmonizing to online informations signifier Encarta, another of import industrial alteration was the rise of telecasting in the United States in the late fortiess. For fright that telecasting would do wireless Stationss obsolete, many proprietors sold their wireless Stationss. The new wireless station proprietors turned to urbanised black Americans. These emergent black oriented wireless Stationss allowed the new independent record companies to aerate the sounds of Rhythm and Blues to a black urban audience. Although the sounds of black urban music were being performed throughout the United States, the recordings of R & A ; B began on two seashores. Large set wind musician Louis Jordon formed a little ensemble in 1938, which he finally named the Tympany Five. Jordon recorded chiefly in the up tempo round utilizing the horn goaded manner of the leap blues. The leap blues manner he originated quickly dispersed among black instrumentalists, with typical regional discrepancies emerging in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Memphis, Tennessee. Jordon influenced every R & A ; B creative person in the 1940s, 1950s, and early sixtiess. There were two other manners of R & A ; B that were popular in the late fortiess and early 1950s. It was the instrumental strain on leap blues and having a coarse, blaring tenor saxophone sound. ( Encarta )
In the early1950s the strains of Rhythm and Blues began to be directed towards adolescents alternatively of grownups. The vocal group manner of the 1940s had given manner to the 1950s doo dago. As Handyside states Rhythm and Blues vocal groups or doo wop groups, were going more and more popular. It was called Doo dago because of the bunk syllables the singers would frequently utilize. It featured close harmoniousness vocalizing at slower pacing. Artists such as the Five Keys, the Coasters and the Drifters, sang vocals with lyric subjects that voiced concerns of American adolescents. ( 13 )
Motown psyche music in the 1960s saw three of import manners of R & A ; B ; the Chicago psyche, which was influenced by gospel music vocals, the Motown sound, which combined songwriting with a straightforward vocal, and southern psyche, which was the most gospel influence manner of R & A ; B. Chicago psyche was epitomized by the work of vocalist and songster Curtis Mayfield with the group the Impressions. Mayfield wrote vocals of religion and inspiration which featured several different lead vocalists merchandising vocal lines in the call and response manner.
In 1959 the Motown record company was founded by former pugilist turned musician Berry Gordy Jr. Gordy was so successful at developing a recognizable sound for Motown that the company name rapidly began to be a appellation for a genre of music. The music he produced had its roots in Gospel, wind, and beat and blues, but with the Mo-town Sound. Its success was besides due in portion to the songwriting attempts of Lamont Dozier and brothers Eddie and Brian Holland. Motown represented the sound of American young person through most of the sixtiess and for an independent record company, achieved unprecedented success. The Motown creative person of the sixtiess included Diana Ross with vocal group the Supremes, the one and merely, singer and songwriter Smokey Robinson with the group the Miracles, and the Temptations. The bulk of Motown creative person were vocal groups that updated the doo wop manner of the fiftiess with a heavy, even round.
Southern psyche was originated by James Brown and Ray Charles. On many of the early psyche records, Charles would take a traditional spiritual vocal and transform it into a secular encomium to love. Handyside states Rhythm and Blue’s foremost true ace and all about musical pioneer was Ray Charles. It is non frequently that one can indicate to a individual vocal and claim that it invented a new genre, but this was the instance with Charles. In 1954 Charles hit song “I Got a Woman” was the popular impression of “soul” music. He took the Gospel vocal “I Got Religion” and changed the wordss from a vocal about God to a vocal about a adult female. The music’s resiling feel was straight out of church and had a strong sense of syncope. By adding a gospel spirit to the music, Charles had reconnected R & A ; B with the religious roots and beat of African Americans. ( 11 )
Handyside states James Brown was a modern-day of Ray Charles. Browns inventions in psyche music, manner, and unrecorded public presentation had earned him the moniker “The Godfather of Soul.” Brown had a raspy, soulful voice that he combined with his fancy dance moves. By the mid 1960s he was taking psyche in a whole new way. He laid the land work for what would be called funk music. Southern psyche had remained a important presence in popular music throughout the seventiess. ( 19 )
In the late sixtiess at the tallness of psyche music’s popularity, there were important alterations and cultural positions began to be articulated by many black Americans. By the terminal of the 1970s, the soul/R & A ; B sound had been eclipsed by the music it had influenced, disco and funk. With the aid of James Brown, funk music began to emerge in the late sixtiess and early 1970s. Funk was a looser signifier of psyche music. It was based around the channel of the bass guitar, funk vocals would stretch out good past the usual three to four proceedingss of a psyche vocal. Harmonizing to Handyside, funk’s entreaty was limited, and in the late sixtiess, stone creative person improvised and broke the regulations they were besides stretching their vocals out into drawn-out “jams.” Funk de-emphasized tune and harmoniousness, conveying beat, it frequently had loud horn subdivisions, abrasive guitar beat that extended into wild guitar solos, and was short on lyrical content. Funk instrumentalists tended to prefer one line expressions. This manner was adopted by a figure of creative persons. Musicians synthesized the funk manner with elements from white stone music. ( 33 )
Disco rivaled funk’s popularity in the early 1970s and surpassed it by the center of the decennary. Hanydside states, like funk, disco was a dance oriented manner. It was born out of funk, assorted with the slipperiness Philly Soul. It was named non for any peculiar feature of its music, but after the topographic points where it was originally played, the discotheques. ( 38 ) By the mid 1970s funk’s channels had been smoothed over to assist make disco. In contrast to flinch, disco was dominated by agreements having strings and synthesists to hike the of import beats. Disco was viewed by many as a significant dainty to sway music. It gave rise to a smattering of extremely original ensembles, as Earth, Wind & A ; Fire and the Fatback Band. Although the fad for disco finally waned, it was an of import beginning of beat and sounds in hip hop, techno and house music. ( 39 )
Harmonizing to online informations from Encarta, in the late eightiess and 1990s disco gave manner to other genres like hip hop and blame music. By the early 1990s, hip hop had become a major force in music. Hip hop began when DJs such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Africa Bambaataa would blend beats or “breaks” of funk and disco records so that people could dance to the round continuously. In 1991 Mary J. Blige teamed up with manufacturer Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and added the hip hop attitude to R & A ; B. Blige was one of the first creative persons to intermix urban, modern-day R & A ; B singing with hip hop beats, rimes, and attitude.
Machlis and Forney provinces that after a piece people began to rime or “rap” over these beats. The first blame recording was “Rapper’s Delight, ” by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979. The technological developments of the early 1980s, including the usage of synthesists and other electronic devices, paved the manner for blame, a extremely rhythmic manner of musical spiel that had been popular with New York audiences in the 1970s and subsequently developed wider entreaty. Run DMC was mostly responsible for the commercialisation of blame, their coaction with Aerosmith on the screen recording of the 1977 hit vocalWalk This Mannerintroduced the manner to white audiences. A twelvemonth subsequently, witting blame found its outstanding voice in the group Public Enemy. Public Enemy produced several extremely influential blame albums. Rap in its diversified signifiers has continued as one of the most popular types of African American music. ( 606-607 )
In the late 1980s rap’s controversial subgenres, gangsta blame raised with the introduction albumStraight Outta Compton.( Encarta ) Machlis and Forney provinces gangsta blame of the 1990s has farther disseminated the manner through in writing descriptions of interior metropolis worlds. The violent hiting deceases of Tupac Shakur in 1996 and Notorious B.I.G in 1997, has highlighted the force associated with this musical manner. ( 607 )
Rhythm and blues did more than merely act upon other music. It allowed African Americans to sing about their ain experiences in their ain manner and in their ain words. Today it is still here in dance parties on Saturday night’s and in churches on Sunday forenoon. Rhythm and Blues and psyche continue to boom now even more so than stone ‘n’ axial rotation, which dominated the mainstream for so many old ages. From the authoritative psyche vocalizing of creative persons such as D’Angelo and Maxwell, to Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, to the eclectic experiment of Andre’ of the hip hop group Outkast. These instrumentalists carry on the tradition of earlier pioneers such as Ray Charles, Prince, and Michael Jackson. R & A ; B has by far taken over in the 21stcentury. Although Rhythm and Blue was considered purely black music, it is loved today by people of all races.
One thing we all know is that music of all sorts is the look of emotion. From folk vocals, to spiritual chants ; the scope and diverseness of music is about inexplicable. It has been said that the best manner to larn about the people, and its civilization, is to detect and listen to their music. Music is all powerful because it stimulates, manipulates and dissipates our tempers through the emotions. Music, in our civilization, maps in many ways ; it can do work more gratifying, make a fraternity among work forces, promote a spirit of worship, and be an look of emotion. Music can do difficult work seem easier, or instead, do it tolerable. If you don’t believe me following clip you drive past a house that is undergoing building or anyplace people are making difficult manual labor, halt and listen for music. Quite frequently there is a wireless blasting.
Rhythm and blues music in the 21stcentury has been used to promote a spirit of worship and to pass on with God. Many churches today begin their services with some signifier of worship music, whether it’s all through vocal or merely playing of the Organ. In some signifier it’s designed to pitch people’s heads to hear a word from God. My Church in specific has one hr of worship before the service begins.
Although beat and blues is non a favourite listen to music by many, we can all hold that its manner is the most powerful on Earth depending on your age. It can do you fall in love, strike down an enemy, or cry for lost friends. Its manner is besides a beginning of rapprochement, excitement, and hope that ne’er fails” I thank God for blessing many instrumentalists with the gift of music, If it hadn’t been for one specific vocal I might be married to my hubby today. Without music in mundane life, the universe would be an highly hostile and possibly even an ugly topographic point to be. Music has become the most powerful freedom given by God.
Plants Cited
- Handyside, Chris. A History of Soul and R & A ; B. A history of American music. Oxford: Heinemann Library, 2006.
- Machlis, Joseph, Kristine Forney, The Enjoyment of Music: An Introduction to Perceptive Listening. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000.
- Rhythm and blues. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 17 May 2008. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.britannica.com/eb/article-9063492.
- Rhythm-and-Blues Music, Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008 hypertext transfer protocol: //encarta.msn.com 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation.