Chapters 11  & 12 Listening Journal #6

                This week’s Listening Journal focuses on Chapters 11 and 12 in the book American Popular Music. The Chapters focused on Rock Music, Disco, as well as reggae, punk rock and rap.  During the course of my readings, I also listened to several different songs that were written around the same period. I learned about several musicians from these eras such as Elton John, Bob Denver, Bob Marley, as well as Willie Nelson.

                One of the first recordings I listened to was “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John. This song was first recorded in 1972. This recording was one of Elton John’s earliest hits of his long career. The song contained the basic sounds and feelings of American Rock N’ Roll but it also incorporated John’s own personal touch as well. The lyrics of the song talk about nostalgia. One such example is the lyric “I remember when rock was young, me and Suzy had so much fun”. Musically, the song starts with a synthesizer/organ solo and contains an upbeat feel and straight tempo. The chorus contains an organ sound from John that sounds like a kazoo. The musical form of this popular song was AABA which is the standard form for popular/pop songs.

                “Stairway to Heaven” was first recorded by Led Zeppelin in 1972. This song is considered by many to be the greatest rock song of all-time. The lyrics of the song talk about mythological beings. The lyrics give a sense to the listener of a sense of mood of mystery and enchantment. The lyrics are sung in the standard 4 and 8 bar phrases. The song starts out with a guitar solo and features many tempo and key changes throughout. This song is almost 8 minutes long which doubles the standard 3 and a half minute song played on the radio. Stairway to Heaven does not follow the usual musical form of a popular song. I remember in High School Jazz Band that “Stairway to Heaven” was one of our favorite songs to play!

                                During the course of my readings and other listening, I learned that many of the popular songs from other genres as well. I listened to the music of Trombonist Willie Colon. “Pedro Navaja” was recorded by Colon in 1977. The song begins with an instrumental introduction which gives us a sense of some kind of place and time. The instruments seem to enter into the song one after another. Some instruments that I heard on the recording were Trombone, Congas, Bass and Piano.