When people think about rock and roll, they already have an opinion on whether they like it or not, and they don’t get past the surface biases. But has anybody taken the time to look back at the rich history of rock and roll? How did rock and roll get to its standings today and what has helped make rock and roll so different? Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building are two aspects of rock and roll history that has influenced the beginning and end of this musical genre. This paper will help give you an understanding of rock and roll by giving an insight into the buildings of Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building.
When rock and roll was first introduced into the music world, music was seen as a way to make money. Instead of performing music
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for enjoyment and entertainment, they turned the making of music into a calculated math; they found that a specific format of songs, specific sounds, and the slightest hint of something new made the song profit shoot through the roof. Tin Pan Alley was the place where this new music was being created and was located in New York City on 28th street; it was also the place to go when a performer wanted a new hit song to sing. A journalist-songwriter, Monroe Rosenfeld, is credited for the naming of Tin Pan Alley when he walked down 28th street and compared the noise of multiple people making new songs to the noise pots and pans make when you bang them together; hence the name “Tin Pan Alley”. The writing of a song during the Tin Pan Alley era was a relatively simple process that, when finished, allowed the songwriters to switch lyrics and melody between songs. The songwriters used a simplistic four-part song form called AABA. This song structure includes four sections of equal length and only required the songwriters to write two different sections: An A and B section. Writing songs in this format allowed songs to be written efficiently and meant that performers would be able to learn them in a couple of minutes. The performers of these songs were generally labeled “crooners” because of the way their voices carried a sense of intimacy to the listeners. Popular crooners during this time were singers like Frank Sinatra and Nat Cole, whose songs “Love and Marriage” and “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons” are good examples of both AABA form and a crooner singing style. Tin Pan Alley came into the rock and roll scene as quickly as it left it; and that made room for the Brill Building to take its place.
The Brill Building was built in 1931, at 1619 Broadway in New York City, and didn’t initially start out as a musical building. The Brill brothers, who owned the building, initially rented their office spaces to music publishers during the Great Depression in order to stay afloat in the tough times; in turn, the music publishers then encouraged composers to use the facilities the Brill Building offered. Though the Brill Building was only rented out for the Brill brothers to make a living during the Great Depression, it ended up to be one of the hottest places associated with rock and roll music; and by the early 1960s, the Brill Building held over 150 music-related businesses. Some famous composers who worked in the Brill Building, including Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Barry Mann. Mann described the room where he and Cynthia Weil worked as “a tiny cubicle, about the size of a closet, with just a piano and a chair; no window or anything” …show more content…
(Mann). There were six aspects to this building that made it revolutionize the writing of rock and roll music: young writers, women, composers writing for white and black performers, unique “Brill Building” sound, new studio practices, and a system of “vertical integration”.
Since the Brill Building made use of young writers, women, and integrated songs for both black and white performers, it was able to revolutionize the rock and roll scene. Because the songwriters were aged 19-26, they were able to relate more than ever to the teenage consumers/fans they were writing for. Ian Inglis, the writer of “’Some Kind of Wonderful’: The Creative Legacy of the Brill Building”, stated that “the writers of the Brill Building authenticated ‘the lucid transmission of an emotion or state of mind that any kid could understand, because he or she had lived it’” (Inglis). The use of women songwriters and the integration of writing for black and white artists alike allowed rock and roll to explore new areas that hadn’t been considered or were previously ignored, which opened up a whole new section of consumers: African American females. The fourth aspect of the building, the unique “Brill Building” sound, can be argued against saying that the Brill Building didn’t have a specific sound to it, but it has been said that the complex melodies and innovative harmonic progressions was what gave the Brill Building its unique progressive sound. The fifth and sixth aspects of the Brill Building are the
two aspects that truly affected the production of rock and roll. The studio practices and the vertical integration the Brill Building had allowed songs to be written, produced, arranged, and sometimes performed all by the same person, which completely wiped out the old definitions and labels people once had about the music world. “’Something unprecedented was taking place…Old definitions were disappearing as the distinctions between songwriter, producer and performer blurred into irrelevance…and allowed these people to operate at a new and exhilarating peak of creativity’” (Inglis). Like most music, rock and roll has changed a lot since coming to the public eye. It first started out with the influence of Tin Pan Alley with it’s simplistic AABA form and “crooner” performers that turned into the Brill Building’s more complex and varied style of performers. The advancement rock and roll has made from its Tin Pan Alley era to its boundary breaking Brill Building era shows how rock and roll takes the norms of music to the next level. The history of Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building gives an interesting view into what rock and roll meant back then and how it helped influence rock and roll today.
The fall of Tin Pan Alley gave rock and roll and country music a chance to become part of the American popular music industry (pg. 113, Willoughby). This allowed Hillbilly, Bluegrass, and the Nashville sound to take center stage. This is what has allowed the artists Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw and many more to become part of the popular music industry. Not just country, but also the diminishing of Tin Pan Alley gave rise to rock and roll. This impacted our popular music in a huge way. It was rebellious and the teenagers loved it. It wasn’t just popular with people back then, but it also is still hugely popular today with all generations. Many songs from rock and roll are considered standards because so many became popular songs. Even though I wasn’t alive during this era, I love listening to the Beatles and Pink Floyd. Without the fall of Tin Pan Alley none of this would have been possible.
What’s your favorite song? Sweater Weather? Counting Stars? How about Royals? Although it has always had a place in humanity's cultures and hearts, music wasn’t always as bold, flashy, and prominent as it is in this day and age; it took time to gradually evolve into what we consider to be “popular”, and many believe that one street in New York City was the start of such a great American evolution. Tin Pan Alley, one street among hundreds, and a piece of tragically overlooked American History; dating back to the late 1880's to past World War II, Tin Pan Alley played a critical role in peoples lives and attitudes throughout the early part of the 20th century.
The book depicts the story of culture conflicts of the music, which arose from the introduction of the foot-tapping, hip-swaying music now known as rock n' roll (Graarrq). The outcome of rock n’ roll coincided with tremendous uproar in the movement to grant civil rights to African American. Trapped in the racial politics of the 1950s, rock n’ roll was credited with and criticized for promoting integration and economic opportunity for blacks while bringing to “mainstream” cloture black styles and values (Altschuler). Black values were looked over and kind of not important to whites. Whites were very much so well treated then blacks were, however no one spoke out until the outcome of rock n’ roll.
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
Music’s role on society has changed drastically through the course of its history as it has become ever so increasingly expansive. Many of the previous musical movements were only for the wealthy as entertainment
Rock ‘n’ roll and 20th Century Culture According to Philip Ennis, rock ‘n’ roll emerged from the convergence of social transformations which resulted from World War II (Ryan 927). Despite its pop culture origins, rock music is arguably one of the strongest cultural factors to develop in this century. Artists such as Lennon, McCartney and Dylan defined the emotions of a generation and, in the last decade, it as even been acknowledged by members of the establishment which it hoped to change as a major influence in the country. In order to understand how rock went from a sign of rebellion to a cultural icon, it is necessary to understand where it came from.
Also known as the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, the American people felt that they deserved to have some fun in order to forget the emotional toll and social scars left from the war. The Jazz Age was appropriately named due to the illegal activities and good times, which included music, parties, and flapper girls. Jazz was a new style of music that originated out of the New Orleans area, where one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time – Louis Armstrong – began his career. The energy of jazz was a very new and almost uncomfortable style for the very traditional, rigid family of the 1920s. Young people in particular seemed to enjoy this new music the most, as it made them feel carefree. The energy of jazz was symbolic of the era’s trans...
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911.”. This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issues, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz. As the 1930’s began, the effects of the Great Depression still ravaged the United States, which in turn caused a dramatic change in the music industry.
Black people were disenfranchised and to make it in the industry, they turned to music.
Rock 'n' roll came from a type of music called rhythm and blues (R&B), which consisted of doo-wop and gospel music. It was popular mostly in the south during the 40’s but it soon grew to urban cities. It was Les Paul’s invention of the electric guitar in 1952 that added a new sound and made rhythm and blues into the rock 'n' roll we all know and love today. Most of the artists from R&B were African American, and in their song they would reference sexual matters. So together it gave a bad connotation towards the music and their race, therefore both were never fully accepted in the north. The term “rock” was slang mostly used by African Americans meaning a form of music that was easily danced to. Meanwhile “roll” was usually a euphemism for sex, such as “a roll in the hay”. It was Alan Freed who first popularized the term “rock and roll” for this gen...
Rock n - roll In the 1950s rock-n-roll established its own mark in history. It spread throughout the decade in a thrilling, substantial, and even livid manner to those Americans trying to get rid of all sorts of conflicts and challenges that occurred during this time period. As exciting as this music was, the novel “All Shook Up” portrays how rock-n-roll brought many changes to the American culture and later to the sixties. It expresses many concerns such as race relations, moral decay, and communism, but in ways that are partially true.
In conclusion this report has helped us understand the significance of Music in America. Also, the impact it has on music we listen too. Music is very much like a big chain reaction. Rock ‘N’ Roll, much like music today, stood out and was in a way rebellious. Parents now hate Rap and we love it. People in the 70’s loved Rock ‘N’ Roll and parents hated it. This shows that maybe no matter how much older people deny it, the time gap and generation gap is not too far apart. Without Rock ‘N’ Roll the World would without a doubt be changed. Any guess to that of which way would be a good one.
History is often written as if there is a defining moment where everything changes. It is most often the case however, that a series of events and stresses are the culprits of such change. As is the case of the decline of jazz’s popularity. Sure some may point to The Beatles landing in JFK airport and others may say Elvis’s television appearance. But in reality, there were many evolvements both technological and cultural that lead to what some may call the “great decline” in music history. The television itself had a huge impact on our both our culture and technology, and still stands today as one of the larger influences of our society. Considering the era, one can’t talk about jazz without mentioning the civil rights movement. Likewise, jazz itself cannot be mentioned without talking about drugs and their influential impact on it’s musicians such as Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and John Coltrane. At it’s peak Jazz music could be heard in nearly every hall of every major city in America. Big bands were everywhere, musicians were endless, and the nations appetite see...
Music nurtured the African American tradition and their struggle towards equality in the same century.... ... middle of paper ... ... Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds Pub. Carter, D. (2009).
It was also kind of difficult for me to explain rock & roll specifically, because it contains many of the elements of the different genres from some of the earlier music we studied. I just know that rock & roll wouldn’t have become what it is today, if it were not for our musicians in the past which has allowed us to learn and grow from them.