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Notes on video lecture:
American Singer-Songwriters of the 70s
Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on February 19, 2015 (go to class or lectures)
Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
Beatty, female, Rain, folk, Apple, Monkees, sincerity, trademark, acoustic, Bach, important, Beatles, Anticipation, Carolina, naval, Garfunkel, Tapestry, King, earnest, Tomorrow, cool, guitar, resonate, studied, me
•
1960s authenticity trend in rock music
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when you write a song, the lyrics should be about something                    and serious-minded
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it shouldn't just be about I want to hold your hand, and she loves you yeah, yeah, yeah
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Dylan lead the charge in that direction
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came from the          tradition
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one of the critics of Dylan was that he took the "we" out of folk music and turned it into the "    "
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           gazing, thinking about his own thoughts
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the                began to act more and more like singer-songwriters as the 60s progressed
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the importance of being               
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you have to create the impression of                    and personal expression
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you have to be understood by the listener that what you are singing is something that you really think, experienced or                  with
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nothing should get in the way between the singer and the listener
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no extended              solos
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no          sounds that come into the picture
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                 guitar and piano are the simple instruments to communicate this
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it's about the song, the sincerity, and the performance of it
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James Taylor
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starts out in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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a new artist with a direct connection back to the 1960s
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1969 album "James Taylor", with            Records
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"                 on my Mind"
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"Something in the Way She Moves"
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Warner Brothers, good success
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1970 "Fire and         "
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1971 "You've got a Friend"
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written by Carole         
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Carole King
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one of the most important song writers of the 1960s
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"Will You Still Love me                 "
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hit after hit after hit
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dry spell when the focus moved from New York to Los Angeles
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also wrote for the               
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reemerges as a singer song-writer
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with encouragement of James Taylor
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"you can sing your own songs"
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1971 album:                 
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a classic album
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number one in 1971
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"It's too Late"
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"I Feel the Earth Move"
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influential singer for you              singers
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Paul Simon
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after breaking up with                   
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roots in 60s are clear
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1972 "Kodachrome"
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used the word as a metaphor for our memories
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Kodak company insisted that it be acknowledged that Kodachrome was a                    of the Kodak company
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the BBC refused to play the song on the air because they thought they would be promoting a trademark, i.e. an advertisement
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1973 "American Tune"
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uses a          melody
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rivaled Carole King and Bob Dylan as one of the best American song writers
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Carly Simon
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1971:                         
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1973: You're So Vain
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a boyfriend who is self-absorbed
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perhaps Warren             
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perhaps Mick Jagger
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would be especially delicious because she gets him to sing background vocals
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she has denied this
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Harry Chapin
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introspective songs
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1972: Taxi
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a taxi driver's passenger turns out to be an old woman friend
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1974: Cat's in the Cradle
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bitter sweet memories
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Don McLean
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1971: Vincent
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1971: American Pie
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one of the most                songs when it first came out
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has references to history of rock
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Jim Croce
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1973: Bad Bad Leroy Brown
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1973: Time in a Bottle
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both number one singles in 1973

Spelling Corrections:

ernest ⇒ earnest
sincerety ⇒ sincerity

Ideas and Concepts:

From the master of the singer song-writer genre, via tonight's History of Rock and Roll class: "The most important characteristic of being a singer song-writer in the 1970s was being earnest. You had to create the impression of sincerity and personal expression. You had to be understood by the listener that what you were singing was something that you really thought, something that you had experienced personally, or something that you deeply resonated with. Nothing but this direct communication should get between you and the listener, no extended guitar solos, no fancy virtuosity, no cool sounds should come into the picture. The simplicity of the acoustic guitar and the human voice were the perfect instruments to communicate this meaning in a one-to-one with the listener:it was about the song, the message, and the sincerity, and nobody mastered this better than James Taylor."
Variations on a century old theme, via tonight's History of Rock and Roll class: "Paul Simon's 1971 hit "American Tune" is based on a melody line from a chorale from Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion, itself a reworking of an earlier secular song, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret," composed originally as a love song by Hans Leo Hassler, a late Renaissance German composer. Simon's song is not a love song, but a song which offers a perspective on the American experience with references to struggle, weariness, hard work, confusion, and homesickness. The bridge conveys a dream of death and of the Statue of Liberty sailing away to sea. The song ends with an assertion that you can't be forever blessed, before the lyrics return to the idea of work, tiredness, and resignation."
1970s: Hippie Aesthetic, Corporate Rock, Disco, and Punk
British Blues-Based Bands and the Roots of Heavy Metal
American Blues Rock and Southern Rock
The Era of Progressive Rock
Jazz Rock in the 70s
Theatrical Rock: KISS, Bowie, and Alice Cooper
American Singer-Songwriters of the 70s
British and Canadian Singer-Songwriters
Country Rock's Influence on 1970s Music
Black Pop in the 1970s
Sly Stone and His Influence on Black Pop, Funk, and Psychedelic Soul
Motown in the 1970s
Philadelphia Sound and Soul Train
Blaxploitation Soundtracks
The Uniqueness of James Brown
Bob Marley and the Rise of Reggae
The Backlash Against Disco
1975-1980: The Rise of the Mega-Αlbum
Continuity Bands in the 1970s
Rock and Roll in the Second Half of the 1970s
U.S. Punk 1967-1975
1974-77: Punk in the UK
American New Wave 1977-80
British New Wave 1977-80
The Hippie Aesthetic: 1966-1980
The Rise of MTV
Michael Jackson: MTV's Unexpected Boon
Madonna as Disruptive Shock Artist
Prince and Janet Jackson
Other Groups Who Benefited from MTV
1980s New Traditionalists and New Wave
1980s New Acts, Old Styles and Blue-Eyed Soul
1970s Progressive Rock Adapts to the 80s
1980's Heavy Metal
1980s Heavy Metal and L.A. Hair Bands
1980s Ambitious Heavy Metal
The Beginning of Rap
1980s: Rap Crosses Over to Mainstream
Late 1980s Hard Core Rap
Punk Goes Hardcore
Late 80s Indie Rock Underground
1990s: The Rise of Alternative Rock
1990s Indie Rock and the Question of Selling Out
1990s Metal and Alternative Extensions
Hip-Hop in the 1990s
Classic Rock of the 1990s
1990s Jam Bands and Britpop
Female Singer-Songwriters of the 1990s
The Rise of Teen Idols in the 1990s
1990s Dance Music