Week 5

In the first module of this class there was a video presentation of pop music, I clearly remember “a popular song is three minutes or less.” I have to say up until 50’s/60’s the three-minute rule was not necessarily true with many songs well over three minutes. The Beatles definitely keep to this rule with most of their songs around two and a half minutes. They are short and sweet, which seems to be what the people wanted especially after the death of J.F. Kennedy.

The Beatles, paved the way for some changes in the music industry. For one, they started writing their own music, up until this point, most popular artists did not write their own music, there were writers that wrote music and the artist would select songs or have songs selected for them. “Please Please Me,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Yesterday,” and “Eleanor Rigby” are all written by John Lennon and Paul McCarthy and all by “Eleanor Rigby” have a similar formula to the song, which seemed to work well for the Beatles. I personally enjoy the simple yet complex lyrics that were used by the Beatle, they had complex songs but at the same time simple catchy choruses that made it very easy to remember.

It is amazing how influential the Beatles were, I never put too much thought into it. I found a live studio session of “Good Vibration” with the Beach Boys, and you could see the influence of the mop-hair style of the Beatles carrying over into the Beach Boys. When I picture the beach boys I see clean cute well put together Californian beach boys, I don’t think of the mop-hair of the Beatles.  It is absolutely what all went into writing “Good Vibrations,” it is such a well put together song and one of my favorites from the Beach Boys.

The 1960’s had a wealth of great music and by listening to it you can hear how the world was changing.  The early 60’s seem to be so happy and upbeat with the songs like “The Twist,” “Be My Baby,” and “My Girl,” that are still written by writers of the time specifically for the artists. By the end of the 60’s you can hear the change in the music as the dynamics of the country are changing. Aretha Franklin brings a change in how the female voice traditionally has sounded with her big booming voice and with a song like “Respect,” she commands attention and will become the voice of both racial and female rights. Another sound that is starting to pop up in the later 60’s is that of urban folk music and Bob Dylan. Dylan was able to touch upon current issues with a down to earth sound. You can hear this sound in “Like A Rolling Stone” as he sings about going out into the world and the struggles of adulthood. Overall, the 60’s had a wide variety of music and helped tell the story of the times.