Outsiders Music

Progressive Country, Reggae, Punk, Funk, and Rap, 1970s

These genres rose in popularity in the 1970s as a response to the conservatism of Top 40
radio, album-oriented rock, and the Nashville sound, except for reggae music, which came
from completely outside of the Am music industry.
Each of these genres followed the development of many other types of music in the history of
Am popular music, meaning they began on the fringes of the mainstream and were then
assimilated into the mainstream.

The Outlaws: Progressive Country Music

In the early 70s mainstream country music was dominated by hardcore country artists like
Merle Haggard, and by the various blends of country and pop music.

A new generation of country musicians that had embraced aspects of the 60s counterculture,
began to record music that was became known as progressive country.

It was inspired by the Bakersfield sound, the singer-songwriter genre (especially Bob Dylan),
and the country rock style of musicians like the Byrds.and Gram Parsons (once a member of
the Byrds),

Progressive country performers wrote songs that were more intellectual and liberal than their
contemporaries, and were more interested in stretching the definition of country music than
having hits.

The key artists of this movement, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall, and
Townes Van Zandt, were not polished singers by conventional standards, but had distinctive,
original songs and compelling voices.

As they developed sizable cult followings, progressive country began to make its way into
the mainstream through cover versions by more conventionally acceptable singers (a practice
we have witnessed in Am popular music time and time again).

Willie Nelson was one of the most influential artists in the progressive country genre

Already an established songwriter (he had written Crazy for Patsy Cline), he left Nashville
in 1971 and moved to Austin Texas, a University town with a thriving local live music scene.

Willie Nelson bridged the gap between country and rock without losing his honky-tonk roots,
and by organizing outdoor events closer to Woodstock than the Grand Ole Opry, turned rock
fans into progressive country fans.

He rose to national fame in the mid-1970s along with Waylon Jennings, another Nashville
rebel, as part of a group called the Outlaws,
1
The outlaw image was then embraced by Nashville (when they realized profits were to be
made) and marketed the music as outlaw country.

RCA released a compilation of their songs in 1976 called Wanted: The Outlaws, which
reached the Top 10 on Billboards Top LPs chart, eventually selling over 2 million copies.

Listening Example: Pancho and Lefty

A classic progressive country song (written by Townes Van Zandt) performed by Willie
Nelson and Merle Haggard.

Listening Example: Mamas Dont let Your Babies..

I Shot the Sheriff: The Rise of Reggae

Reggae is a mixture of Caribbean folk music and Am rhythm & blues, and the 1st style of the
rock era to originate in a 3rd world country, specifically Jamaica.

Reggae first became popular in the U.S. in 1973 after the release of the movie and soundtrack
record to The Harder They Come. (Another example of the importance of film as a medium
for promoting popular music.

During the 1970s, a handful of Jamaican musicians, particularly Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff
achieved a degree of commercial success while numerous Am and British musicians
(including Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, the Police, and Elvis Costello) were inspired by and
then profited from reggae.

Also, rap music of the 1980s was influenced by Jamaican dub, a branch of reggae in which
verbal performances are improvised over prerecorded instrumental tracks.

The interest in reggae music was the beginning of the trend towards the appreciation of world
music. The roots of reggae lie in the Jamaican equivalent of country music called mento, a
mixture of Jamaican folk songs, church hymns, sailors shanties, and Cuban influence.

It was then influenced first by swing music of the 40s, and then Am R&B of the 50s.

In the 60s it took its R&B influences and evolved into a genre called ska, and mixed with
ideas of the Rastafarian movement (a political and religious ideology).

Tempos were slowed down, heavy emphasis was put on the bass and drums, and reggae was
born.

Listening Example The Harder They Come Jimmy Cliff

2
Surpassing Jimmy Cliffs popularity is Bob Marley (with his band the Wailers), a national
hero in Jamaica, and an icon revered everywhere (even since his death in 1981) for his songs
of determination, rebellion, and faith.

Listening Example I Shot the Sheriff

Psycho Killer: 1970s Punk and New Wave

Punk rock was a back to basics rebellion, against the perceived pretension of corporate
rock music, and the feeling that rock music had lost its edge and potential for innovative.

The golden age of Punk rock lasted from about 1975-1978, but the music and the sensibility
associated with it continue to exert a strong influence on alternative rock musicians.

New wave music, which developed alongside punk rock, described more pop-influenced
bands.

Punk was defined as much by its raw untrained sound as by its attitude against authority
and the middle class.

It represented a turn towards the authentic, risk-taking spirit of early rock n roll and was a
response to the conservatism of the music industry.

Punk music was a striped down version of rock - high energy and simple. The opposite of
progressive rock bands that were popular - Emerson, lake, and Palmer, Yes, Genesis, etc.

Punk rock developed in NYC during the mid-70s. Three groups, none commercially
successful, are frequently described as ancestors of 1970s punk music:

1. The Velvet Underground- a New York group promoted by Andy Warhol with guitarist
Lou Reed (who had worked as a Brill Building pop songwriter) and experimental
violist John Cale. Their music was deliberately anti-commercial with lyrical themes of
drug addiction, violence, and social alienation.

2. The Stooges-formed in Ann Arbor, MI in 1967 were the working-class, motorcycle

riding, leather-jacketed ancestors of punk. Lead singer Iggy Pop was known for his
outrageous performances, which included throwing himself into the crowd, cutting
himself with beer bottles, and rubbing his body with raw meat. Their 1st album released
in 1969 created a small, but devoted, national audience.

3. The New York Dolls- formed in 1971, they exerted a major influence on the musical
and visual style of the punk rock movement and helped create the underground rock
music scene in NYC. Although their career was short-lived, they established features
of punk antifashion dressed in fishnet stockings, bright red lipstick, cellophane tutus,
and ostrich feathers.
3
Garage-band energy, the artsy nihilism of the Velvet Underground, raw energy, and abandon
converged in the mid-70s. The center of this scene was a downtown club called CBGBs

Many influential artists and groups performed at CBGBs during the mid-70s such as Patti
Smith (New York-based poet whose album Horses reached #47 in 1976), Television,
Blondie, and the Ramones (who staged a British Invasion in reverse influencing every
important British punk band including the Sex Pistols, the Damned, and the Clash)

Although the Ramones projected a street image, they were a bunch of middle class kids who
formed the ultimate garage band. Their songs had catchy, pop-inspired melodies, were played
at extremely fast tempos, and lasted no more than 2 1/2 minutes.
Listening Example Blitzkreig Bop
Listening Example I Wanna Be Sedated

Talking Heads, formed in 1974, by Rhode Island School of Design students David Bryne,
Tina Weymouth, and Chris Franz, represented the exploratory side of 1970s alternative rock.

They 1st appeared at CBGBs in 1975 and attracted a somewhat different audience of college
students, artists, and music critics. The bands style was influenced by the minimalist
movement, which stresses the use of combinations of a limited number of elements.

Their songs were based on riffs, interlocking rhythms, simple structures, and strong pop
hooks. David Bryne projected the image of an awkward, cerebral, nerdy college student.

Their 1976 album, Talking Heads 77, was critically acclaimed and made the Top 100
Billboard album charts.
Listening Example: Psycho Killer

Tear The Roof Off The Sucker: Funk Music

Funk music represented another back to basics reaction. Most album-oriented rock of the
70s was aimed at a predominantly white male audience and was designed for listening not for
dancing.

In urban black communities dance remained a backbone of social life. Funk music and its
offspring, disco, brought the focus of dancing back into the mainstream.

The word funky probably derived from a central African word, funki, meaning healthy sweat.
It was a term already used by New Orleans jazz musicians to describe a quality of earthiness
and authenticity expressed in music.

By the early 70s, the term funk was being used as a label for a genre of popular music
characterized by strong dance-oriented rhythms, catchy melodies, call-and-response
exchanges between voices and instruments, and heavy reliance on repeated, interlocking
patterns.
4
Most funk bands copied the instrumentation of James Browns hits of the late 60s, rhythm
section (guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums) and a horn section (which essentially functioned
as part of the rhythm section and occasional jazz-influenced solos).

The core of funk music centered on the creation of strong rhythmic momentum and tight
interaction between all the rhythmic elements (known as the groove).

Although funk music was initially targeted towards an urban black audience, many funk
groups such as Kool and the Gang, the Ohio Players, and Chic, had #1 pop hits in the 70s.

James Brown (the prime inspiration for funk music) continued to have hits in the early 70s
but his popularity gradually declined in part from the competition of the new groups who
were updating his sound.

Another important influence on 1970s funk music was the group Sly and the Family Stone,
an interracial band whose recordings bridged the gap between rock and soul music.

Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart) formed the band in the late 60s and gradually developed a style
that reflected his own diverse musical taste, a blend of jazz, soul music, SF psychedelic rock,
and lyrics with social concerns expressed in folk rock.

The groups popularity was boosted by a powerful performance at the Woodstock festival in
1969. Between 1968 and 1971, Sly and the Family Stone recorded a series of albums and
singles that reached the top of the pop and soul charts (some reaching #1 on both charts,
Everyday People, Thank You, Everybody is a Star, and their last crossover hit Family
Affair in 1971.

Listening Example: Family Affair

The sound of the band was anchored by the featured electric bass of Larry Graham,
considered to be one of the most important (and imitated) funk bass players.

By 1973 the charts were filled with funk music that had crossed over to pop audiences such
as Kool and the Gangs Jungle Boogie (1973), the Ohio Players Fire(1974), Play That
Funky Music (1976) by the white band Wild Cherry, and many others.

Listening Example: Play That Funky Music

George Clinton (a name synonymous with the word funk) was the mastermind behind 2
important bands, Parliament and Funkadelic in the 70s.
He recorded the more outrageous material under the Funkadelic name and the more polished
material as Parliament (same band-12 musicians, big for the time)

5
Clinton recruited 3 of the musicians from James Browns band (significantly Bootsy Collins,
another influential funk bass player)

The sound of the band is fuller than Sly Stones or James Browns band.
The music was a mixture of polyrhythms, psychedelic guitar solos, jazz-influenced horn
arrangements, and R&B vocal harmonies.

The band had a spectacular stage show which featured wild costumes and elaborate sets.
The lyrics to the songs were a blend of social criticism, wacky humor, and psychedelic
imagery.

Clinton is another black artist who was frequently sampled for funk-inspired rap (e.g. Dr.
Dre) in the 1990s.
He has been discovered by a new generation of listeners and still continues to perform.

Listening Example: Give Up the Funk

Droppin Science: Hip-Hop Culture and Rap Music

Rap has produced more public debate than any other genre of popular music.
Rap has been characterized as:
1. A link in the chain of cultural and musical connections between Africa and the
Americas.
Rap is based on African musical and verbal traditions such as an emphasis on rhythmic
momentum and creativity, complex tone colors and dense textures, improvisational skill
(in music and words) and an innovative approach to music technologies
2. The authentic voice of an oppressed urban underclass.
Much rap music is a response to oppression and racism, system of communication among
black communities, and a source of insight into the values, perceptions, and conditions of
people living in Americas struggling urban cities.
Negative: A form that exploits long-standing stereotypes of black people

Raps audience has become multiracial, multicultural, and transnational.

In its transformation from a local phenomenon to a multimillion-dollar industry, it has also
grown more complex and multifaceted.

The Origins of Hip-Hop, 1975-1979

Rap initially emerged during the 1970s as one part of a cultural complex called hip-hop.
Hip-hop culture (formed by Af-Am and Caribbean-Am youth in NYC) included distinctive
visual art (graffiti), dance (the solo style break-dancing and couples dance the freak), music,
dress, and speech.

6
It was originally centered in certain neighborhoods in the Bronx, the most economically
devastated area of NYC.
Federal funding for public institutions, such as community centers, and social services were
severely cut in the mid-1970s.
In response, informal social groups called crews, or posses, gathered in local parks,
block parties, and nightclubs each associated with a particular neighborhood or block.

Hip-hop culture began as an expression of local identities and even todays multiplatinum rap
recordings still contain inside references to particular neighborhoods.

Hip-hop music was profoundly shaped by the techniques of disco DJs.

The 1st celebrities of hip-hop music Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaata,
were all DJs who began their careers in the mid-70s.

The disco DJs technique of mixing between 2 turntables to create smooth transitions was
first adapted to the hip-hop aesthetic by Kool Herc (born in Jamaica).
Herc noticed the audience responded most during the breaks on funk and salsa records (brief
sections where the melody was stripped away to feature the rhythm section).
Herc began isolating the breaks of certain popular records and mixing them into the middle
of other dance records. These rhythmic collages became known as breakbeat music.

Another innovation was the transformation of the turntable from a medium for playing back
recorded sound into a playable musical instrument.
Sometime in the mid-70s, Herc began to put 2 copies of the same record on his turntables,
backspin one disc (turn it backwards or counterclockwise with his hand) while the other
continued to play.
This allowed him to repeat a break over and over by switching back and forth between the 2
discs.

This technique was refined by Grandmaster Flash, who adopted the mixing technique of
disco DJs - using headphones to synchronize the tempos of recordings for smooth transitions
and a way to more precisely pinpoint the beginning of a break.

Scratching was debuted in 1978 by Theodore, a former protg of Grandmaster Flash, who
discovered that the technique of turning a disc counterclockwise produced scratchy,
percussive sound effects, which could be punched in to the dance groove.

Kool Herc was also one of the 1st DJs to recite rhyming phrases over the breakbeats.
The raps were based on a tradition of verbal performance called toasting, a form of poetic
storytelling with roots in the trickster tales of West Africa (a sly character whose main goal is
to defy authority and upset the normal order of things).
The trickster became a common figure in the storytelling traditions of black slaves.

7
After the Civil War the trickster was replaced by more aggressive male figures, the subjects
of long, semi-improvised poetic stories called toasts.

Although the toasting tradition had disappeared from black communities by the 1970s, it took
root in prisons, where black inmates found the narrative form suited their life experiences and
present conditions.

One of the main sources for the rhymes composed by early hip-hop DJs in the Bronx was the
album Hustlers Convention (1973) by a group of militant ex-convicts known as the Last
Poets.
The record described an underworld of gamblers, pimps, and hustlers, and the musical
accompaniment was played by an all-star lineup of funk, soul, and jazz musicians.

Kool Herc and other DJs were inspired to compose their own rhymes as well as recruiting
MCs (master of ceremonies) to serve as verbal performers.
MCs soon became more important celebrities than the DJs.

Listening Example: Rappers Delight

In 1979, the single Rappers Delight, recorded by the Sugar Hill gang introduced hip-hop
to millions of people, and established the term rapper as an equivalent for MC.
It was the first rap record to place on the pop charts.
It also established Sugar Hill Records as the predominant force in rap music during the
1980s.

The recording recycled the rhythm section track from Chics Good Times, and featured 3
rappers reciting a rapid-fire succession of rhymes.

A series of other rap hits quickly followed with the majority featuring predictable, party-
oriented raps.
The Message, released in 1982 by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five established a
new and influential trend in rap; social realism and street credibility, an element still vitally
important today to rap musicians and audiences.
The message is a grim and vivid portrait of life in the south Bronx.

Listening Example: The Message