orn in 1941 only 3 weeks apart from each other, Paul Simon and Arthur Garfunkel became good friends in Forest Hill elementary school in Queens, New York. What was unknown to them at the time was that this friendship would eventually lead to them becoming major contributors to Folk Rock and music holistically. Their friendship extended past elementary school as they lived 3 blocks away from each other and attended the same high school, Parsons Junior High School, where they discovered their mutual interest in music and began working on songs and practicing harmonies.
It wasn’t long for them and others to realize that this musical duo was a perfect match. Paul Simon’s melodic rhyme-making and lyrical abilities were complemented by Art Garfunkel’s vocals and ability to harmonize. Shortly after, the duo discovered the Everly Brothers, a musical group that sang in a style similar to Paul and Art’s, which drove them to releasing their own music under the stage name Tom & Jerry assigned to them by their record studio. “Hey, Schoolgirl”, their first official recording, was a relative hit reaching #49 on the Billboard chart and selling over 100,000 copies.
Despite their initial success, the group reached a dead-end music-wise as nothing they produced received a reception as positive as that of their first song and decided to go separate ways when they chose to attend different universities. During their time in the world of tertiary education, both Art and Paul took interest in the bustling Folk music scene which is apparent through some of their later work such as “He Was My Brother” and “Bleecker Street”.
Simon attempted to jumpstart his own career during this period by releasing the song “The Lone Teen Ranger” under his alias Jerry Land...
... middle of paper ...
... was speculated that the music that began their career became too mechanical and prison-like for their liking. "Making music together, once so easy, had become an abrasive, divisive process," remarked Joe Morella.
However, this wasn’t the end of Simon & Garfunkel as a musical duo as the two reunited again to perform “The Concert in Central Park” on September 19, 1981 which was attended by 50,000 crowd members in Central Park of New York. The concert was very well received and prompted them to go on a world tour in 1982 and 1983. Multiple other appearances were made by the due in many smaller events over the course of the next decade.
In 1990, Simon & Garfunkel were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and on February 23, 2003 they were awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for their game-change work in the musical industry over four and a half decades.
I’m here today to discuss, compare, and contrast the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, two of the best rock and roll bands from the 1960s. During the British Invasion, both of these bands had a lasting impression worldwide inspiring many of the current artists today. Although both bands are similar, they have many differences.
The Grateful Dead did their first show at Magoo's pizza on May 5th, 1965. During this time they were known as the Warlocks. They realized after a while that there was another band named Warlocks. After they changed their name from the Warlocks to the Grateful dead, they played in San Jose, California. The place was called Ken Kesey's Acid Tests. The first show ever recorded was by a fan at Fillmore Auditorium on January 8, 1966.
Scott, A. "Got Their Musical Mojo Working." New York Times 05 12 2008, C1. Print. .
Billy Joel was born on May 9, 1949 in Bronx, New York. He moved at the age of four to a small town on Long Island. This is where at the ripe age of four he discovered the art of music. Originally a classical music fan, Billy Joel honed his skills with classical piano training. This undoubtedly has had a major influence on his life and certainly his music. Growing up Joel was a big fan of such greats as Ray Charles, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Otis Reading. He was greatly persuaded into a career of music when he saw the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. Amusingly Joel's first band was inspired by the uncanny opportunity to meet girls. The band was called The Echoes, but this was not the best of times for Joel because his parents were involved in a messy divorce, which included serious financial shortcomings. Joel even began working professional music gigs at night to help support his mother. Joel's schoolwork suffered a little and he began missing school way too often. He was subsequently not allowed to graduate with his high school class due to the number of absences. After high school Joel immediately joined a very popular band called The Hassels for which he recorded two albums with. Within two years Joel was on to a new band which he named Attila, and featured heavy metal drummer Jon Small who he played with during his time with The Hassels. Despite the previous release of two albums Joel still needed to bring in more money so he worked many music related jobs and gigs. He even wrote a rock and roll criticism piece in a weekly column for a magazine.
Paul surrounds himself with the aesthetics of music and the rich and wealthy, as a means to escape his true reality. In Paul’s true reality, he has a lack of interest in school. His disinterest in school stems from the alienation and isolation he has in life. This disinterest in school reflects Paul’s alienation because of the unusual attention he receives there that he doesn’t get at home. In class one day he was at the chalkboard and “his English teacher had stepped to his side and attempted to guide his hand” (Cather 1).
"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Inductees." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum | RockHall.com. Web. 05 Oct. 2011. .
Most things have their beginnings in something small: a word, a breath, or idea; but not music. Music begins with a single vibration. It explodes and carries on, morphing worlds of unrelated personas. It lives rampantly in the mouths of millions of unruly and free-spirited teenagers, like a fever. The rock 'n roll trend that defiantly rose against the conformist ideology of the mid-twentieth century left remnants that commenced the start of a progressing society: a culture that redefined the rules of society and pushed social and moral limits while addressing social concerns.
They were the first group to heavily tour the United States and sporadically tour the rest of the world. This occurred because there was a lack of interest in them Britain. Their success was due to their manager Peter Grant. Peter was able to keep the group moving from place to place and kept the people interested in them. Peter thought that they would work every other year so they would stay in demand. While they were working on their first movie featuring them. This movie was of the group playing their music, which was called, “The Song Remains Playing.”
The Woodstock Music Festival was a music event in Bethel, New York that changed the way people live. During August of 1969, many large crowds of American music lovers all came together to listen to the music of their favorite musicians for this huge music event. Woodstock swept the nation with not only talented musicians, but also many new thoughts and opinions on the world. This popular concert event introduced the ideas of peace, unity, kindness, and togetherness. The Woodstock Festival made a major impact on the United States. It helped people overcome prejudices, informed people about the danger of drugs, led to safer and better prepared concerts, and started a chain of music events all around the world. On August 15 through 18 of 1969
Paul in “Paul’s Case” wanted to get away from the reality and the hostile environment he faced. He was sick of Pittsburgh and the middle-class, Cordelia Street, which he lived on. Although his mother past away, his home life was as normal as could be. This is something Paul hated, normality. At school he would tell other students false stories to try to make his life seem more interesting than theirs. This ultimately caused none of the other students like him, even the teachers lash out at him. Paul was suspended from school, but he didn’t mind. He found an interest in music and in art, although he knew his father would not approve. Paul’s father wanted him to be a business man, have a normal family and have an ordinary life. Although, having a normal, ordinary life was not what Paul had in mind for his future. He dreamt of much more which caused him to believe he would never get his father’s approval.
One of the most significant events of Jerry Garcia's childhood occurred when he was four and brother Clifford, "Tiff," was eight. "We'd been given a chore to do...he'd hold the wood and I'd chop it...he was [messing] around and I was just constantly chopping." Jerry lost about half of his right ring finger. This was the first of many losses Jerry experienced that would affect his life and musical style.
It is no question that the Beatles were, and still could be, the most iconic rock band of all time. The “Fab Four” included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The legendary rock group formed in Liverpool, England in nineteen-sixty. Their music, hairstyle, fashion, and lifestyle were mimicked world-wide, resulting in a phenomenon known as Beatlemania. Their popularity brought them to write a total of four hundred and nine songs before the band split in nineteen-seventy. I’d say that’s a pretty impressive number for only ten years performing together.
At the young age of thirteen, he experienced several tragedies that would affect his life forever and would greatly impact his music later in life. Within a year, his father, his uncle, and his minister all died. He lost every important male influence in his life. After graduating from high school in High Point, he moved to Philadelphia in 1943, where he lived in a small one-room apartment and worked as a laborer in a s...
Before Ronnie and Kix worked together, things didn’t work out as solo recording artists. Tim DuBois, a Nashville-based music executive for Arista record company, told them they should try composing together (Fabian). He liked both of their music separately but thought they could be great as a duo. They hit it off together right away during their first single, “Brand New Man”, which soon became a number one hit. They wanted something Western like a George Strait band, but also something that rocked. They sure got that in almost every song they wrote.
Number Three: “Daughters” Was His First Number One Single. Despite Room for Squares being his best-selling album, it wasn’t until his second album, Heavier Things, that he would have his biggest hit. “Daughters” reached number one on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart, even though he didn’t really want to release it as a single to begin with. He ended up re-tooling the song with his blues/jazz band, the John Mayer Trio, in