The Demise of Rock and the Promise of Soul

1. The Demise ofRock and thePromise of Soul chapter 3

2. Splitting up the Market • Brill Building • Teen pop music • Both a place and a stylistic label • Aldon Music • Brill Building approach • Artist was not at the center of the process • Return to the way business had been done pre-rock

3. The Brill Building: Rock ’n’ Roll’s Tin Pan Alley • Located at 1619 Broadway in New York City, which once housed Tin Pan Alley publishers • During the 1960s, home to a new wave of pop-rock songwriting teams • Rock ’n’ roll’s vertical Tin Pan Alley • Singer-songwriters and songwriting teams: • Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill • Carole King and Gerry Goffin • Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield

4. Splitting up the Market • Teen Idols • Cast as potential boyfriends • Frankie Avalon • Bobby Rydell • Bobby Darin • Neil Sedaka

5. The Rise of the Producer • What is a producer? • A&R, matching artists and repertoire • Hiring musicians • Had crucial decision-making authority • Development of ambitious attitudes toward pop • Musical sophistication • Trademark “sound” • Record is more than a recorded live performance

6. The Rise of the Producer • Leiber and Stoller • Music for Elvis • “Hound Dog” • “Jailhouse Rock” • “Don’t” • Early 50s rhythm and blues • Spark Records • Atlantic Records • Maintained independence

7. The Rise of the Producer • Leiber and Stoller • Coasters • Playlets • “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” • “Little Egypt”

8. The Rise of the Producer • Girl Groups • Songwriting teams • Sedaka/Greenfield • King/Goffin • Weil/Mann • Berry/Greenwich • Mostly black female groups • Solo female singers • Controlled by industry • Producers and songwriters had creative control over music

9. The Rise of the Producer • Phil Spector • Worked under Leiber and Stoller • Ambitious producer • Girl-group pop • Signature “wall of sound” • “Da Doo Ron Ron,” Crystals • “Then He Kissed Me,” Crystals • “Be My Baby,” Ronettes • “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’,” Righteous Brothers

10. Phil Spector: Producer as Artist • Phil Spector (b. 1940) • “The first tycoon of teen” • During the 1960s, he established the role of the record producer as creative artist. • At age seventeen, he had a Number One record as a member of the vocal group the Teddy Bears, whose hit song “To Know Him Is to Love Him” he composed and produced.

11. Phil Spector: Producer as Artist • In 1960, Spector became an assistant to Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller; he co-produced “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King (1961). • By the early 1960s, Spector had established himself as a songwriting producer. • At age twenty-one, he was in charge of his own independent label, Philles Records. • He supervised every aspect of his records’ sound.

12. “The Wall of Sound” • The characteristic Philles sound was remarkably dense yet clear. It became known as the “wall of sound.” • Multiple instruments doubling each part of the arrangement • Huge amount of echo, known as reverberation or “reverb” • Carefully controlled balance so that the vocals were pushed clearly to the front • The thick texture and presence of strings on these records led them to be called “teenage symphonies.”

13. Listening: “Be My Baby” • Composed by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry • Performed by the Ronettes • Number Two, 1963 • This was one of the biggest hits among the many produced by Spector. It is an excellent illustration of Spector’s “wall of sound.” • Full orchestral string section • Pianos • Full array of rhythm instruments • Background chorus • Simple but effective verse-chorus form • Drum pattern opens the song, is an effective hook

14. Phil Spector: Producer as Artist • Recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles with a group of studio musicians known as “the “wrecking crew” • Preferred the sound of female vocal groups and spearheaded the rise in popularity of the “girl group” phenomenon of the early 1960s • Retired from steady writing and production work in 1966 • By age twenty-five, his star was on the wane, and he became a troubled recluse.

15. Berry Gordy Jr. and Motown • Berry Gordy (b. 1929) • Expert songwriter and producer who created blues- and gospel-based pop music designed to appeal to the widest possible listening public.

16. Motown Records • Named after the “Motor town” or “Motor city” of Detroit, the automobile production capital of the America • Founded in 1960 by Berry Gordy • Became the first black-owned and -controlled indie record company to rise to “major label” status • Gordy started the company in a converted house on West Grand Blvd. A sign hung over the doorway read “HITSVILLE, U.S.A.”

17. Gordy’s Image for Motown • Soul music based on the doo-wop vocal group tradition • Slick, cosmopolitan sound—“appealing to the ear” • Carefully constructed musical arrangements overseen by Gordy • In-house songwriting and production teams for a sense of consistency • The house band, called the Funk Brothers, was used to back up and inspire the vocalists. • Bass player James Jamerson • Drummer Benny Benjamin • Keyboardist Earl Van Dyke

18. Splitting up the Market • Folk music • College-age listeners • Music that seemed more real that commercial pop • Populist characters • Untutored quality of folksingers • Break with the norms of middle-class life • Almost anyone could play it • Brief fascination with Caribbean music • Importance of album sales

19. Listening: “My Girl” • Composed and produced by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White • Performed by the Temptations (Number One, 1965) • Moderate-tempo love ballad in verse-chorus form • A cumulative layering of sounds gives the song a feeling of steadily increasing passion and intensity: • Repeated solo bass motive establishes beat • Lead guitar enters with a memorable melodic figure • Drums and lead voice enter, followed by subtle background vocals • Brass enter at the first chorus • Orchestral strings are added to the accompaniment • The second verse brings new brass fanfares in response to the lead vocalist’s calls. • There is an instrumental interlude dominated by strings before the third verse. • A dramatic upward key change takes place right before the concluding verse and chorus.

20. Listening: “You Can’t Hurry Love” • Composed by Holland-Dozier-Holland; produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier • Performed by the Supremes (Number One, 1966) • Cleverly written, innovatively structured Motown pop song • The formal structure of the song reflects the meaning. “You Can’t Hurry Love” is about the importance of waiting.

21. Listening: “You Can’t Hurry Love” • The opening A section is very short, half the length of the next B and C sections. • It is unclear whether the A section functions as an introduction or a short verse. • The basic chord progressions of the A and B sections are virtually identical. • The C section introduces a striking chord and melody change. • The B and C sections alternate—an unorthodox verse-chorus form • The words of the chorus are not exactly the same. • The A section (played twice through) returns unexpectedly with a vengeance. • There is an ambiguous section based on chords from the A and B sections • Finally, the voice enters with the B section and fades to an ending.

22. Motown • During Motown’s heyday in the mid-1960s, Gordy’s music empire included eight record labels, a management service, and a publishing company. • From 1964 to 1967, Motown had fourteen Number One pop singles, twenty Number One R&B singles, forty-six additional Top 15 pop singles, and seventy-five additional Top 15 R&B singles. In 1966, seventy-five percent of Motown's releases made the charts.