One the beloved myths in music is the one about how Rock 'n' roll allegedly died when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper died in an Iowa plane crash. Elvis was in the Army, Little Richard had given up rock for Jesus Christ, and Jerry Lee had married his teenage cousin. During these years, “real” rock 'n' rollers were replaced by poppy artists which watered down Rock 'n' roll. Many first-generation rockers produced some of their best work in the early '60s -- the Everly Brothers, the Drifters, Ray Charles. Additionally, this period produced music that eventually landed each of the following acts in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: the Beach Boys, Booker T. & the MG's, Dion & the Belmonts, the Four Seasons, Brenda Lee, Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, Del Shannon, the Shirelles, and Phil Spector.
Berry Gordy launched the Motown label in 1959, the dawn of the Dark Ages, The label also had seen the successful starts to the careers of four more Hall of Famers: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Martha & the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. How was this a “Dark Age”? Motown had even earned the nickname, "Hitsville U.S.A." A lot of Motown’s misses are better than the era’s “hits.” …show more content…
In the day, it was rhythm-centric played by both white and black people for just about everyone. (This is the stereotype, this is not always true***)
This distinction helps explain why the Elvis, Motown and Beatles eras include so many more popular records than today; people were listening often to the same things. Rock music is so much more serious today, being more focused on the lyrics. I think this has led to a bigger segregation between white and black audiences in a tradition that was once (somewhat)
Berry Gordy launched the Motown label in 1959, the dawn of the Dark Ages, The label also had seen the successful starts to the careers of four more Hall of Famers: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Martha & the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. How was this a “Dark Age”? Motown had even earned the nickname, "Hitsville U.S.A." A lot of Motown’s misses are better than the era’s “hits.” …show more content…
In the day, it was rhythm-centric played by both white and black people for just about everyone. (This is the stereotype, this is not always true***)
This distinction helps explain why the Elvis, Motown and Beatles eras include so many more popular records than today; people were listening often to the same things. Rock music is so much more serious today, being more focused on the lyrics. I think this has led to a bigger segregation between white and black audiences in a tradition that was once (somewhat)