1. Setting the Stage
Some
Background...
Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.
(NEIL YOUNG - Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black))
When the more musically inclined of our grandchildren look back on the
early part of the 21st century, they will see them the as last days of
the Rock n' Roll era. That doesn't mean that Rock and Roll will die
away - just that its dominance over other musical forms was fading.
There was a Jazz Age. It passed. But many people still listen to Jazz.
Data, from the end of 2012, suggests that only 12 per cent of the songs
that reached the top 100 were rock. In contrast, in 1993, in the
midst of the grunge era, people’s music tastes were made up of roughly
35 per cent rock.
Go back, way back to 1969, and although there was still a lot of pop on
the Top 100 – even the pop seemed to have rock pretensions.
I try to explain to younger musicians why I have no attachment to the
most popular music today – pop-country. It’s not just some sort of
musical snobbishness (but it is some of that). It’s that when I was an
impressionable teenager and young adult, there was no other option. The
whole concept of the Teen Dance was built on Rock n’ Roll. There was no
other music.
But since 2000, the genre has been in steady decline.
Fading but not forgotten.
We boomers still love to crank up our Stones, Zeppelin & Tom
Petty. The Foo Fighters & Pearl Jam fans are well into middle
age, and the younger generation may well follow Monster Truck, The
Trews and Dirty Honey. Rock is not dead, but it is hardly dominant.
An Aside
They Don't Write 'em Like That Anymore.
In an interview, Gene Simmons asked, "Who will write the next "Dark
Side of the Moon"? He was referring to the changes in the music
business that alter the rewards, motivation, and even the ability of
contemporary musicians to write and record complex innovative pieces of
the kind that the days of album oriented rock took for granted.
http://www.aux.tv/2014/01/rock-n-roll-is-dead/
As the dominant force in contemporary music shifts from Rock to Pop we
see a corresponding shift in the way songs are written. In the early
"Rock" era most songs were written in the "Brill Building" format, by a
songwriter or a team of songwriters.
It was indeed a "Hit Factory" world. How many did Carole King alone
contribute? Leiber and Stroller? For how many songs did L.A. session
pros, The Wrecking Crew provide the basic tracks?
And they were great songs. But it took bands, collaborations of
musician who, individually strove to push the boundaries of their
craft, to lead the genre to the next level.
I contend that the way Elvis interpreted That's All Right Mama and
Heartbreak Hotel was sheer genius - an indispensable contribution to
Rock. But I also contend that putting him in a room with just the right
musicians, especially a guitar player, led to that marriage of vocal
rendition and instrumental backing that evolved in to Rock 'n Roll.
My brother, Tim, contends that Elvis invented Rock 'n and Roll, but
that he didn't know what to do with it. I wonder what would have
happened if he'd stayed in that room with Scotty and the boys a few
more years.
Didn't happen. Welcome to the machine. The promoters moved in and tried
to bottle the lightning and sell it by the pound. The voltage faded and
we had to wait patiently until the Beatles and Stones dug down to the
real source and picked up where the King left off.
That led directly to a new era in songwriting - where Bands wrote
songs. Even though one or two might dominate the process, good
musicians in good bands were no longer content to walk into the studio
and follow instructions. Maybe part of that was that they weren't,
actually "trained musicians". They couldn't read charts if they wanted
to! But mostly it was the atmosphere of teamwork and the desire to be
heard, to contribute in the process rather than just punch a clock.
It wasn’t that bands, notably the Beatles, invented band-written
material. Buddy Holly certainly did. Setting aside what might
have happened if he had lived, the ‘machine” had already taken hold of
him, replaced the Crickets with a studio controlled band, directing his
in other ways. One hopes he would have rebelled at some point, but
we’ll never know.
It no accident the the name “The Beatles” is a nod to “The Crickets”.
By happy circumstance, George Martin accepted the “group” format (with
the exception of wanting a better drummer). Either he was a genius or
the Beatles were determined … probably both.
Dark Side of the Moon couldn't have come from the Brill Building, even
if Waters and Gilmore had been on staff. A few of the songs might have
surfaced, but can you imagine what Roger Waters would have produced
without Gilmore to rein him in and stretch him out. Can you imagine the
interconnected way in which Breathe and Time are recorded coming out of
a hit factory?
Songs were now being written, not as stand-alone units, but as
vehicles, as collaborations, as part of a larger entity, with a larger
purpose.
Without this interplay there is no way something like Sgt. Pepper could
happen.
There is also no way that many of our favourite songs would exist in
the form we know them. There are many interlocking reasons.
The rise of the album as the main format, meant that radio play was not
the only consideration in songwriting. The rise of the Band as the
vehicle for writing and recording music meant more creativity and
individuality, less conventionality, went in to everything from bass
lines and drum fills to song structure and instrumental flourishes.
Pete Townsend wrote virtually every memorable Who song, but a Pete
Townsend album is not a Who album, and as much as I love Pete, it’s the
Who I keep on my playlist.
A songwriter, sitting in a room with a piano or a guitar, is focused on
the song. This method has produced countless good songs. But it can
only do so much.
Just a few minutes ago I happened to hear "The Boys of Summer" by Don
Henley. A talented guy and a good songwriter, he has produced some good
solo albums. But not only does his work with the Eagles outshine his
solo efforts (we can all come up with dozens of similar examples), but
even this outstanding effort is a collaboration. I can't imagine that
song without Mike Campbell's contribution. The sound of the guitar
chords that back the chorus is so vital to the sound of that chorus,
and so perfect a complement to the intense feel of the vocal, that I
can't imagine the song any other way. Listen to the Ataris version and
I rest my case.
Another unique element of Rock 'n Roll comes from this collaboration
and the emphasis on musicianship and partnership.
Can you imagine the guitar intro to Sweet Child of Mine being written
buy a traditional singer-songwriter team? How about the intro to White
Room, Roundabout, or Day Tripper? Just recently I watched Joe
Walsh explain to a journalist how a practice riff he developed to warm
up before shows got turned into Life in the Fast Lane when Glen Frey
happened to hear it.
The Band format, uncharted studio time, and freedom from formula
allowed for serendipity to play its part.
The collaborative, band-based approach to songwriting introduced us to
longer more involved songs, to changes in tempo and mood within songs,
to seemingly off-the-wall interludes and explorations. It changed what
we could expect out if a song.
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