It's All About the Music
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Art Matters: The Art of Knowledge/The Knowledge of Art
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.
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