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How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music Hardcover – June 1, 2009
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As its blasphemous title suggests, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll rejects the conventional pieties of mainstream jazz and rock history. Rather than concentrating on those traditionally favored styles, the book traces the evolution of popular music through developing tastes, trends and technologies--including the role of records, radio, jukeboxes and television --to give a fuller, more balanced account of the broad variety of music that captivated listeners over the course of the twentieth century. Wald revisits original sources--recordings, period articles, memoirs, and interviews--to highlight how music was actually heard and experienced over the years. And in a refreshing departure from more typical histories, he focuses on the world of working musicians and ordinary listeners rather than stars and specialists. He looks for example at the evolution of jazz as dance music, and rock 'n' roll through the eyes of the screaming, twisting teenage girls who made up the bulk of its early audience. Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and the Beatles are all here, but Wald also discusses less familiar names like Paul Whiteman, Guy Lombardo, Mitch Miller, Jo Stafford, Frankie Avalon, and the Shirelles, who in some cases were far more popular than those bright stars we all know today, and who more accurately represent the mainstream of their times.
Written with verve and style, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll shakes up our staid notions of music history and helps us hear American popular music with new ears.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateJune 1, 2009
- Dimensions9.3 x 1.3 x 6.1 inches
- ISBN-100195341546
- ISBN-13978-0195341546
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- Publisher : Oxford University Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2009)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0195341546
- ISBN-13 : 978-0195341546
- Item Weight : 1.42 pounds
- Dimensions : 9.3 x 1.3 x 6.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,064,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,144 in Popular Music (Books)
- #2,567 in Music History & Criticism (Books)
- #3,386 in Rock Music (Books)
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For information about Elijah Wald, his books, his recordings, his other writings, and so forth and so on, visit http://www.elijahwald.com
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The argument in this case is that around 1965, music became more segregated, with black performers continuing the traditional interest in dance music, while white performers became more interested in art music designed for listening, not movement. His claim is that this was to the detriment of both strands of music.
Wald's approach is somewhat unique. The usual approach is to construct a critical narrative. From a position of hindsight, various figures deemed important and/or influential are highlighted to provide some sense of progress. Wald views himself as a historian, rather than a critic. Using sales charts and radio playlists he constructs a vision of what people were actually listening to, rather than what they *should* have been listening to.
The advantage of this approach is that it provides a more accurate reflection of what the times were actually like. Yes, apparently Doris Day & Perry Como really were that popular!
And that leads to the downside of Wald's approach. There are long passages devoted to performers such as Paul Whiteman who is of little to no interest to contemporary listeners. While Wald's writing never falters, the fact that these performers are quite simply of lesser importance to modern ears makes these portions of the book drag.
The discussion of the 1950s was of particular interest to me in light of the current state of the music industry. The split between albums and singles, both among audiences and performers, seems to mirror the emerging state of the recording industry. Perhaps in a few years we'll again find ourselves in that same situation.
For readers interested in a very well-written account of the interplay between economics and culture in the history of 20th-century American, this will become the crucial book to read. It sent me back to listen to a lot of music that I had heard of but never heard, and it helped me to understand music I had been listening to much better. I'm sure I'll be rereading the entire book within a few years.
But in the end, if one judges by the title, it is supposed to be a book about the Beatles, or at least a book focusing on the Beatles' effect on rock and roll music. So, after being "hooked" in the introduction by the author's childhood experiences with Beatles' recordings, the reader is disappointed to read over 200 pages of small-typeface text which, despite the exquisite level of detail mentioned above, say virutally nothing about the Beatles. Discussion of the Fab Four is limited largely to the final chapter and an afterword, and these pages have a decidedly unexpected, anti-climactic effect on the reader. I read the final two chapters multiple times to see if perhaps I was missing some nuance, some tidbit of information which would make the trip seem worthwhile, and I continually came up empty. Granted, the extensive detail in most of the book is required to fully explore and "set up" the reader for a consideration of the Beatles, but when it comes time finally sit down and eat the big meal, the reader/diner is in many respects left hungry, wanting for more. It's like listening patiently to a long joke, and never hearing the punch line.
The book is supposed to demonstrate that the Beatles popularized a style of music originally developed by black artists, making it more appealing to a broad based, white audience, but also further developing and transforming rock and roll into a deeper, more artistic form; a "music-as-art" style. This latter point, the author contends, was celebrated by critics as something good, while similar trends in the past (viz., the work of Paul Whiteman and his orchestra in ragtime and jazz in the first half of the 20th century) were typically viewed negatively by historians. It is at this point where I still am somewhat confused; Wald contends that the Beatles' transformation of rock music into a more elevated art form lead to the stagnation of the genre, as well as the separation of rock from styles of music developed by primarily black artists (rhythm and blues, soul, etc.). As a result, Wald contends, rock music today is far less evolved and developed, relative to Beatles' music, than is modern black music (rap, hip hop) to black music of the late 1960s.
I find no compelling evidence, from my listening experience, to accept this view. Rock music has evolved considerably since the Beatles, with discrete movements such as Heavy Metal, Punk, Grunge, Progresive, etc., and while I am not saying that any of these forms are necessarily good or positive developments in the history of rock, I'm not sure they are any different in kind or in scope from the transformation of black music from 60s R&B to modern hip hop. As for the issue of rock being separated and segregated from black artists, I supposed this is true today, to a degree, where rock music, or at least what I see as rock, is today a largely white genre. Still, the causal connection of this to the Beatles' work is not completely evident to me upon reading of the book.
In illustrating the difference between "art music" and music focused on entertainment, the author contends that rock and roll, post-Beatles, became more of a listening genre than a dance genre, and that dance music became more exclusively associated with black artists. While this seems plausible, I am not sure to what degree the evidence suggests that the Beatles and their music per se initiated or caused this trend. The same trend occurred in jazz, which in the ragtime and big band eras was largely a dance music form, while bebop and later forms essentially removed jazz from the dance music scene altogether. If this transformation occurred in jazz without any specific artist being singled out as responsible for the trend, why would we look to the Beatles or any other band as the cause of the same trend in rock music? Perhaps the changes in dancing and its association with music are caused by other societal trends - the development of improved listening technology, the advent of other forms of communication which obviated the need for social dancing, etc. - and the music of the artists of the day was simply following suit.
As a book covering the Beatles in general - and I think from the title, it's reasonable for a prospective buyer to expect this book to be about the Beatles - the book is remarkably disappointing. While we learn many new and interesting things about popular musicians throughout history, the discussion of the Beatles overall is brief, quite "summarized" in comparison to the level of detail eleswhere in the book, and devoid of new or surprising insights. Short schrift is given to the development of the Beatles' style, the transformation of their music throughout their catalog of albums, the differences in the writing styles of Lennon, McCartney, etc.
If you enjoy learning details, reading about history, and love all types of music, I think you will enjoy this book, even if it doesn't have the focus that the title suggests. It is extremely well-written and chock full of facts you won't read elsewhere. But if you are looking for another great book on the Beatles, or to learn something new and different about them, you will be disappointed.
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Oxford University Press; 1版 (2009/6/1) ASIN: B0032TJO80 のレビュー。
19世紀末から1970年代までのアメリカ・ポピュラー音楽全般について書かれた本。つまり、ほんとうに売れていた、聞かれていた、普通の人が楽しんでいた歌やダンスはどんなものだったかを調べた歴史本である。一部の熱狂的ファンやディレッタントや批評家がほめるものではなく、一般大衆の好みを探った本である。(ロックンロールの時代は全体の1割ほど)
著者は1959年か60年ごろの生まれである(著者紹介文にも生年の記載なし)。つまり、本書が扱う音楽の大部分は、レコードや当時の記録からさぐっっていったもので、著者自身が体験したものではない。本書の執筆動機は、「なぜ、こんなワン・パターンのバンドが売れたのだろう? なぜ、今忘れ去られているミュージシャンが当時ああれほど人気があったのだろう?」という疑問からはじまっている。
そうした著者の疑問とともに、読者は20世紀のさまざまな音楽の変遷を見ていくことになる。結果として、忘れ去られたものを再発見する場合もある。あるいは、才能ある改革者が受け入れられず、イミテーターが成功するいやなエピソードもある。クラシック音楽の手法を取り入れれば、批評家も一般大衆にも受けるという、不都合な事実もある。
通底する流れとしては、一般大衆はリズムの改革よりも踊りやすいダイス音楽を好み、批評家がほめるのはスノビッシュな中産階級向けが多い。そしていつの時代も飯を食うために日夜ライブ演奏をするミュージシャンが主流であるということ。
レコード、ラジオ、ヒットチャートなど技術やメディアの発達もわかりやすく解説されている。
タイトルがミスリードだと書いたが、読み終わってみると、このタイトルでよかったと納得した。
本書は1960年代のポップやロックやR&Bが好きなひとが一番読みやすいように書かれている。ザ・ビートルズやボブ・ディラン、あるいはスタックスやチェスのサウンドがすきな人、ジェイムズ・ブラウンでもビーチ・ボーイズでもなんでもいいが、あのころのものが好きな人の目を開くように、耳を開くように書かれている。ヒップホップ誕生前で本書の記述は終わるので、ちょっと残念であるし、ヒップホップ以後のサウンドで育った人たちには不満かもしれない。(それでも、シルヴィア・ロビンスンにはちょこっと触れている)
前書きに書かれているが、著者のビートルズ体験は6歳の誕生日プレゼントから始まる。つまり、ばりばりのリアルタイムのファンなのである。しかし、1966年ごろからは、もうビートルズに興味を失ったそうだ。それでも、『サージェント・ペパーズ』は家族そろって聞いたといから、いい環境に育ったんですねえ。
索引33ページ
Natural Law, Science, and the Social Construction of Reality
Of course the Beatles did not destroy Rock 'N' Roll, but they did transform it. To get to the hows and whys of that transformation, Wald takes us on a complex journey through the history of American pop music of the last century. In so doing he maintains a number of themes, which is what the book is really about.
First, he argues with many examples, of how critics and historians of pop music do not accurately reflect the actual popular tastes of the people. So histories and critical discussions of pop music all too often are done from a limited perspective and do not really reflect the actual history of the development of the music and the tastes of the people who danced to and listened to pop music.
Second, he shows how, because of the first theme, the interrelationships between the races and between the different generations have been badly misrepresented.
Third, following up on the second theme, is that all major innovations in pop music had one foot in the future and one foot in the past. Thus no matter how revolutionary a change may have appeared, it was able to take hold because it still reflected its roots.
And fourth, when we get to the Beatles, some of the changes they brought about, did bring about a break with the past, which is where the title comes from.
In the 1920s and 30s and into the 40s pop music was jazz oriented. But pop music was first and foremost dance music. People went out to dance. Prohibition destroyed the small dance spots and only the big places with big bands were able to survive. So we had Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington, and we also had Paul Whiteman. Yes, Henderson and Ellington were the real jazz bands, but people went to see and hear them primarily to dance. Ellington constantly said how much he was influenced by Whiteman's arrangements and his use of large works.
So, given that Whiteman was the real popular band leader, from that standpoint he deserved the crown.
The theme of the relationship between black and white is a major part of the book. Wald constantly shows how influences in music went both ways and audiences went both ways. Segregation may have been the order of the day, but white styles influenced black bands as much as black styles influenced white bands. And white people would dance to black bands, and black people would dance to white bands.
Yes, most of the in innovations in American pop music came from Afro-Americans and were watered down by white bands, but, on the other hand, it was the popularity of the white bands that got people to listen to the black bands.
In other words, in the music field, things were not as simple as many of the critics and historians would have us believe. As Wald constantly says, the views of critics and historians do not reflect the actual tastes and practices of the people.
So without going on too long, to get to the significance of the title.
Another theme of the book has to do with the notion of 'genre'. Musical genres usually have little to do with the music but all to do with who buys the music. And when white kids were going to black neighborhoods to buy R & B records, the notion of genre started to collapse.
But the British invasion, even though it claimed to have roots in Afro-American music, transformed that music in such a way that the new Rock was divorced from those Afro-American roots. Rock as an art form, as an album centered music---and the Beatles were leaders of this trend--changed rock from a dance music to an art music, from a dance music to a listening music. And while there is nothing wrong with art music, there is something wrong with changing a dance music into an art music. And as a result new genres were created, further separating black from white.
The irony here is that as rock became the music of the civil rights movement, the styles of the music led to more segregation in musical styles.
And that is how the Beatles destroyed Rock 'N' Roll.
The book is full of fascinating information and, because of that, a bit difficult to read in one shot, it will make a great reference book which will be referred to for a long time. This is especially true for me as I teach various courses in the history of music.
Highly recommended to anyone interested in the development of pop music over the last century.
music and culture in the 20th century