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Lesson 5 Questions

Lesson 5 - San Francisco, the Dead, the Doors, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix

Reading Assignment and Lesson Objectives

Students are encouraged to repeat the listening examples (located in the Listening Links for Lesson 5) as necessary.  It would be counterproductive to listen to this great music only once.

Chapter 9 - The Who

Chapter 14  -  The San Francisco Sound

Chapter 15 - Guitar Kings

1. Read Friedlander's chapter about the San Francisco Bands and the "San Francisco Sound".  What kind of social environment was there in San Francisco, California during the 1960's?  List and describe some of the significant musical and cultural departures from mainstream pop/rock music that were actively present in the music of the San Francisco Bands.

2. What role did the use of psychoactive drugs play in the socio/musical culture of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960's?

3. Listen and describe each of the following recordings of rock bands from San Francisco:

a) Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick vcls

b) Combination of the Two - Big Brother & the Holding Company

c) The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil - Jefferson Airplane

d) The Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion) - The Grateful Dead

e) It's No Secret - Jefferson Airplane, Marty Balin vcls

f) White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick vcls

4. Listen to and describe each of the following three recordings of music by Janis Joplin.  Describe her vocal style and list her musical influences:

a) Summertime - Janis/Big Brother & the Holding Company  

b) Piece Of My Heart 

c) Ball and Chain (excerpt)

5. Traditional Scottish, Irish, and German folk musics transculturate via immigration and a new way of life in the southern Appalachian mountains of the United States. This cultural synthesis evolves into a post 1945 form of music known as Bluegrass. The standard instruments in Bluegrass music are the five-string banjo, fiddle (violin), mandolin, guitar, and string bass.

Listen to and describe the following Bluegrass recording by the "founder" of the style-Bill Monroe.   What characteristics make this music attractive to listen to?  Listen for the function or role each instrument and voice part has in this unique music.

"Why Did You Wander?" - Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys - This recording from 1946 features: Lester Flatt - lead vocal & guitar Bill Monroe - tenor (high) vocal & mandolin Earl Scruggs - banjo Chubby Wise - fiddle Howard Watts - bass

6. As you listen to the following selections by The Grateful Dead, listen for what Nathan Rubin refers to as "the joyful Weavers-influenced bluegrass, blues and gospel mixture played by the Dead."  Describe and list your musical observations to each of the following four songs by The Grateful Dead:

a) St. Stephen

b) Sugar Magnolia

c) Truckin' (excerpt)

d) One More Saturday Night

7. What does the term "Deadheads" refer to?

8. Another strong contributor to the diverse musical array in San Francisco is the wonderful music of the great Mexican-born guitarist Carlos Santana. His music is truly among the finest contributions to this most varied art form of rock music.  Listen to and describe the following two selections by Carlos and his band known as Santana.

a) Shades Of Time

b) Savor (highlight) Make sure to read the detailed description of Carlos Santana's guitar playing and his music from Friedlander. Also see Note below for insight from this writer.

Note: Listen for the latin percussion instruments-Timbales, Congas, Cow Bell, etc., coupled with the standard drum set. This combination gives the music a busy texture where several different rhythmic patterns are being played at the same time-polyrhythms. The great latin percussionists Mike Carrabello and Jose Chepito Areas are teamed with the solid Dave Brown on Bass, and the amazing Michael Shrieve on drum set. Above this is the penetrating sound of Gregg Rolie on the Hammond B-3 Organ, and the latin-jazz inspired, very lyrical, blues touched guitar work of Carlos Santana. The result is a most infectious latin-rock sound--one of the true listening pleasures in life.

9.  What is different about Santana as compared to other bands from this era?

10. Listen to what Nathan Rubin describes as "a racially and sexually-integrated band (in which a white played drums and a girl played trumpet) commingled James Brown's funk and gospel exhilaration with Haight-Ashbury counterculture to produce a music which might as well be called acid soul" - Sly and the Family Stone. List any of the following characteristics (and others you may discover) as you listen to each of the two selections by Sly and the Family Stone. Characteristics Call and response patterns? Wah-wah pedal guitar? Blues harmonica? Soul inspired trumpet playing? Funky rhythmic feel? Driving, declamatory vocal style?

a) Dance To The Music

b) I Want To Take You Higher

Jim Morrison's artistry includes a strong talent for writing poetry. He even signed his name occasionally as Arthur Rimbaud, a 19th century French symbolist poet who wrote A Season in Hell, and was known for his belief that the poet needs to poison every sense (through excess, drugs, and alcohol) in order to see what lies hidden beyond the boundaries posed by them. According to Nathan Rubin, "to accomplish the same end without drugs, avant-garde composer John Cage simply eliminated the normal focuses of perception. By sitting in front of a piano, he allowed his audience to hear the sounds normally obscured by music"-his composition is called 4'33". In contrast to other bands, the music of The Doors provided listeners with a darker view of the 1960's.

11. List what you hear (lyric content and delivery style, use/application of specific instruments, specific genres of music recognized or influencing their music etc.) in each of these songs by The Doors:

a) Alabama Song

b) Hello, I Love You

c) Light My Fire

d) Love Me Two Times

Love Me Two Times - The Doors (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

12. Name the members of The Who and the instruments that the three instrumentalists played.  Who was the primary vocalist in the band?

13. As you listen to the following selections by The Who, list the characteristics you hear in the music (especially any that are discussed in Friedlander). What relationship is there between In C by Terry Riley, and their own Baba O'Riley ?:

a) I Can't Explain 

b) My Generation

c) In C by Terry Riley

d) Baba O'Riley

e) Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere

14. Name the famous rock periodical magazine that was founded in San Francisco by Ralph J. Gleason and Jann Wenner in November 1967.

The Monterey Pop Festival (1967) was an amazing concert featuring a diverse lineup of talent.

15. Musically describe and respond to three (3) of the following performances from the D.A. Pennebaker film called "Monterey Pop" released in 1968:

1. Scott McKenzie - "San Francisco, Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 2.The Mamas & The Papas—"California Dreamin'" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 3.Canned Heat—"Rollin' and Tumblin'" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 4.Simon & Garfunkel—"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 5.Hugh Masekela—"Bajabula Bonke (The Healing Song)" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 6.Jefferson Airplane—"High Flyin' Bird" and "Today" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 7.Big Brother & The Holding Company—"Ball 'n' Chain" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 8.Eric Burdon & The Animals—"Paint It, Black" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 9.The Who—"My Generation" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 10.Country Joe & The Fish—"Section 43" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 11.Otis Redding—"Shake" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

12.The Jimi Hendrix Experience—"Hey Joe" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

13.The Jimi Hendrix Experience--"Rock Me Baby" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

14.Ravi Shankar—"Raga Bhimpalasi" (actually "Dhun (Dadra and Fast Teental") (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 Songs featured in the film, in order of appearance:

 1.Scott McKenzie—"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"*

 2.The Mamas & The Papas—"Creeque Alley"* and "California Dreamin'"

 3.Canned Heat—"Rollin' and Tumblin'"

 4.Simon & Garfunkel—"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"

 5.Hugh Masekela—"Bajabula Bonke (The Healing Song)"

 6.Jefferson Airplane—"High Flyin' Bird" and "Today"

 7.Big Brother & The Holding Company—"Ball 'n' Chain"

 8.Eric Burdon & The Animals—"Paint It, Black"

 9.The Who—"My Generation"

 10.Country Joe & The Fish—"Section 43"

 11.Otis Redding—"Shake" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long"

 12.The Jimi Hendrix Experience—"Wild Thing"

 13.The Mamas & The Papas—"Got a Feelin'"

 14.Ravi Shankar—"Raga Bhimpalasi" (actually "Dhun (Dadra and Fast Teental")

At times Jimi Hendrix just toys with blues riffs and pentatonic scales, which by themselves are not earth-shattering. This is countered with sounds that are both diverse and unusual-like the opening of one of his compositions with speech distorted by tape speed, which he called "a sounding painting of heaven". However, there is something about Jimi's approach to those blues riffs and pentatonic scales (the secret is in his varied timbre) which elevates his music to another realm of expression. There are many recorded examples of Jimi's music displaying his ingenuity and extraordinary talent. The following three will give you a taste of his gift. As you listen, list any characteristics or unique aspects present in these recordings. Please include information from Friedlander's extensive entry on Hendrix. The various timbres (colors of sound) Jimi produces from his guitar transform the instrument, allowing it to become just about anything from wails and groans to machinery and industrial noise.

16. Listen, describe, and respond to each of the following recordings/videos of Jimi Hendrix:

Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - from Electric Ladyland (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

All Along The Watchtower - from Electric Ladyland (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

The Star-Spangled Banner - from Woodstock (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Foxy Lady - The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live at Miami Pop 1968 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Woodstock (1969) was perhaps the most extraordinary Rock Music festival in the entire history of the genre.  You owe it to yourself to view the entire concert film someday - especially in a real movie theater with a high quality sound system.  The bands and the individual musicians who showed up to perform are some of the most famous in history! 

17. Click on each of the links below to view, listen, and describe what you are hearing in each of the unique performances below from Woodstock (1969).

Richie Havens singing "Freedom" at Woodstock (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

The Who performing at Woodstock (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Joe Cocker singing "With A Little Help From My Friends" at Woodstock (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Santana performing "Soul Sacrifice" at Woodstock--the energy here is amazing! (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.