Origins of Rock and Roll in GB §
Before Rock §
- George Formby - 1904-1961
- Came out of the British music hall/variety tradition
- The equivalent of Vaudeville but British
- Starred in 21 films between 1934-1946
- Entertained over 3 million troops in WWII
- Earned more than the top 3 Hollywood stars combined by end of 1930s
- “When I’m Cleaning Windows” was initially banned by BBC in 1936
- Sold 100,00 and had royal approval
- Gracie Fields - 1898-1979
- Similarly crossed over from music hall to movies
- Blended comedy, music, and acting
- Big star in 1930s, and actually had some success in Hollywood
- One of the few early British artists to make it to America
- Vera Lynn - 1917-2020
- Sang with one of the biggest dance hall bands of the 1930s
- Immensely popular during WWII
- “Sweetheart” of the British Armed Forces
- “We’ll Meet Again” song and movie hugely popular in wartime and after
- Yes, the one from Castle that’s the one except it was made to be for the soldiers leaving their wives etc.
- Kind of like the Celine Dion of her time
- Jack Hylton Orchestra
- Brass Bands
- British equivalent of the American marching band tradition
- Often affiliated with local communities and industries
- Leisure and community
- Staples of local life, especially in the north of England
Early British Rock & Roll, 1955-60 §
- The initial reaction to American Rock & Roll was to copy it, although with a small bit of British flare of sensibility
- The first wave of British Rock is…bad
- First Wave
- Effort to copy and reproduce American rock
- Led by record industry’s efforts to capitalize on success US imports
- Lacks the authenticity and excitement of the real thing
- Early efforts see music hall band emulating rock & roll
- Other manufactured efforts more of a pastiche
- Tony Crombie & His Rockets “Sham Rock” (1956)
- Cliff Richard & The Shadows
- The “Fake” British Elvis Presley
- Tries to copy Buddy Holly and The Crickets
- No good
- Cliff became a solo artist of his own merit, but less Rock-y than other artists
- Billy Fury and Marty Wilde
Skiffle §
- Garage bands, DIY aesthetic
- Some kids getting together and making music with what they had
- Maybe a guitar, other actual instruments, or maybe a washboard or a DIY bass
- Revival of an earlier American tradition of “jug bands”
- DIY music
- Blend of folk, jazz, country, and blues
- Often homemade and improvised instruments
- Washtubs, washboards, kazoos, tea chests, mops etc
- Rudimentary sounds, simple chords and rhythm
- Leads to a DIY musical revolution, grass-roots, democratic and participatory
- Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Van Morrison, Roger Daltry
- All these people got their start or learned from the Skiffle tradition
- Skiffle isn’t commercially successful, but a lot of the people doing it became musically talented by starting here
- Lonnie Donegan - 1931-2002
- One of the few Skiffle artists who had success commercially
- Most of his songs are American blues songs or country songs
- Kind of Rock n Roll but not quite, kind of homemade but bit more professional
- Skiffle is where the British Rock n Roll kids started
Merseybeat §
- Comes from Liverpool local dance club scene
- Inspired by US Rock & Roll (Elvis Presley, Little Richard, all the first wave people. Buddy Holly too)
- More authentic and professional than copycats or skiffle
- Outburst of grassroots music
- Standard rock group format of lead, bass, rhythm , drums, and vocals
- Designed for pubs and clubs
- Gerry & The Pacemakers
- One of the biggest names in merseybeat
- One of the most successful beat bands
- First band to reach #1 in UK with first three songs, all in 1963
- Rivaled the Beatles in early 1960s
- Managed by Brian Epstein and produced by George Martin (same people s Beatles)
- Forever associated with Liverpool Football Club through songs “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Ferry Across the Mersey”
- They’re writing their own stuff, different from everything before but inspired by it
- The Searchers, The Hollies, Freddie & The Dreamers, Herman’s Hermits
- All started in the Merseybeat scene
The Beatles §
Origins §
- Were originally a Skiffle group
- Played first gig at a Church fair thing (Church Fete)
- The Quarrymen (late 1957)
- Started playing American songs together
- Changed name to Johnny & The Moondogs
- Honed their craft by playing other peoples songs (mainly American)
- Changed to The Silver Beetles around 1959/60
- By 1960 they become “The Beatles”
Hamburg §
- Basically Hamburg is the Las Vegas of Germany, especially for British soldiers
- The Beatles played 6/7 hour nights
- They learned how to entertain large numbers of people
- Started to develop their own songs as well
- Brian Epstein (1934-1967) eventually started managing them
- Helped establish them as a real force of Rock
- Eventually they kicked out their founding drummer Best and brought in Ringo Starr
- By 1962-63 the final group of The Beatles was complete
Breakthrough §
- In 1962 they go big and become a national band in Britain with the release of “Love Me Do”
- “Please Please Me” in January 11, 1963
- This is one Beatlemania really kicks off in the UK
- They started writing their own songs which made a huge difference
America §
- Around January 1964 people in America start to take notice of them
- Capitol Records puts out their first album for The Beatles under a subsidiary label
- American establishment writers aren’t quite sure what to make of The Beatles
- In 1964 The Beatles blow up in the US
- They were just natural funny guys
- The BIG BIG break was February 9, 1964 performing on the Ed Sullivan Show. The biggest show on late night TV at the time
- 73 Million Americans
- 60% of TVs tuned in
- Two sets, 5 total songs
- January-March 1963: 60% of all music sold is Beatles
- The British Invasion has begun
- Before 1964, only 2 UK acts had ever reached #1 in US
- In 1963, only 1 UK act had been in to p10
- In 1964, 32 UK singles reached top 10
- UK acts at #1 for 52 weeks in 1964-1965
- From 1964-1970 the UK acts account for 28% of #1’s
The Rolling Stones §
Origins §
- The ROlling Stones were much more embedded in the blues and the chicago blues
- Their maanger Andrew Oldham started to turn them into the “anti-Beatles”
- Beatles are the good boys, Rolling Stones are the bad boys