Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Final Project

For our final project we will review concepts we have learned this semester then you will write a 1-2 page paper explaining the formation of rock and hip hop.

Discussion Questions:

1) a-What circumstances led to the creation of blues music?

During that time share cropping/slavery/discrimination was happening towards black people and they wrote songs from their experiences.

For example: Sharecropping was a bad deal because they didn't get much money. Might not have been able to afford a home. It was very hard work. They only had tools that were from the land owner.

Racism, poverty, weather, flooding, boll weevils (bo weevil)
Segregation--Means separation between races, black were hung for anything white people wanted

Jim Crow laws-- Racism was legal: In parks, busses, restaurants, cemetaries, schools, restrooms, water fountains, movie theaters, businesses, pretty much every where, neighborhoods

b-Who were the influential musicians of this era?
Muddy Waters
Rosetta Tharpe
BB King

Robert Johnson

2) a-What was the British invasion and what led to it?

British kids were listening to the blues, which was different from what they were listening to, the parents were listening to slower/boring music, Pete Townsend said it was watery, African American people wrote the music and white teens were listening to it.

Musicians were playing the blues to the teens of that g,g,generation
They were also copying fashion from America


Then some of the bands came to America and started playing for white teens. The adults didn't like the music because they thought the music was making the teens crazy, parents thought their children were becoming rebelious after listening to the music

b-Who were the influential musicians of this era?

The Beatles, The Who, Hermans Hermits, The Monkeys, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin

3) What was Bo Didley's contribution to hip hop?

He, like, inspired it. He was playing stuff (chords) over and over again which led to the idea of looping.

The lyrics were repeated and talked about himself. He said his name a lot and tried to give himself a brand which is very popular today. For example.... 

4) a-Where and when did hip hop start?

The Bronx, New York. During the 1970's

b- What were the circumstances that led to its development? (for example the subject matter or the instrumentation?)

Many Puerto Ricans were migrating to NY
They were very poor, the neighborhoods looked like trashy junk yards, people peeing in the alley, cars got reposessed, couldn't pay the bills, drug addicts were in the back alleys and drug dealers

So it wasn't a very nice place to live--

The used two turn tables because they didn't have any actual instruments
They scratched, they looped the beats "the break"
This led to "break dancing"
They were listening to it in parks, from peoples apartments, on the street and block parties



You will be graded on:
a) Neatness/Length 330%
b) Relevance (Did you answer the question and stay on topic) 33%
c) Quality of writing (complete sentences/paragraphs, spelling, grammar, etc...) 33%
d) Extra credit given for artwork submitted with writing!!!

Feel free to add other elements to the discussion which you feel are relevant.

Monday, May 16, 2016

The Begginnings of Hip Hop

Show ABC News clip of the  South Bronx in the late 1970s. Discuss as a class:
  • What do you notice about this neighborhood? What do you think has taken place there?
  • What means do you think people living in this environment would have to express themselves artistically?
  • This video clip was left without any sound.  If you were to compose music to accompany this footage, what would that music sound like? What feelings or emotions might you try to convey through your music?

Procedure:

1.  Explain to students that the place shown in the clip is an area of New York City known as the Bronx, a place considered to be the birthplace of Hip Hop. Distribute Handout 1: Map of New York City. Ask students:
  • New York City is broken up into five sections, called “boroughs.” What are each of these five boroughs named?
  • What famous landmarks do you notice on this map? In which borough are most of these landmarks located?
  • Where is the Bronx in relation to Manhattan, where many of the famous landmarks are found?
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2.  Guide students to the point on the map marked “1520 Sedgwick Avenue” and display image of the building. Explain that this is the address of an apartment building in the Bronx where some of the earliest Hip Hop performances occurred, including several house parties emceed by DJ Kool Herc, a resident of the building.  
Ask students:
  • Are there any roads or highways demarcated on the map? [Students should find the Cross Bronx Expressway.]
Display photo of the Cross Bronx Expressway. Explain that the expressway was constructed between 1948 and 1972, and was one of the first highways to be built directly through a crowded urban environment. While technologically innovative, its construction deeply affected the communties through which it passed by dividing neighborhoods, lowering property values, and hastening the rate of urban decay in many sections of the Bronx.
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3.  Direct students back to the map. Ask students:
  • What is the proximity between 1520 Sedgwick Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway, and how might that affect life at that address? [Students should see that the expressway is right up next to the apartment building.]
4.  Distribute Handout 2: Bronx Demographics 1960-2000. Ask the students to answer the following questions about the socioeconomic conditions in the Bronx based on the information in the two charts:
  • The population of which racial/ethnic group increased the most in the Bronx between 1960 and 2000? Which population decreased the most?
  • What happened to the poverty rate of the total population of the Bronx between 1970 and 2000? What percentage of the total population was in poverty in 1980?
  • What overall conclusions can you draw from these charts about the socioeconomic conditions in the Bronx while Hip Hop was developing there in the 1970s?
5.  Show video clip from an interview with Hip Hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash. Explain that this news story was produced in 2000, but examines events that occurred in the late 1970s. Discuss as a class:
  • Where was early Hip Hop performed? Who was in the audience?
  • What equipment did Grandmaster Flash use to build a new musical sound? How did he utilize this equipment in an innovative way?
  • What are “the breaks” to which Grandmaster Flash is referring? What is “scratching”? What about the way Hip Hop DJs played this music made it original?
  • How does Grandmaster Flash describe the role of the Master of Ceremonies, or MC at a Hip Hop performance?
6.  Divide class into small groups of 3–4 students. Distribute Handout 3: New York City Timeline 1960s-1970s, and Handout 4: "The Message" Lyric Excerpts; to each group.
7.  Show video excerpt of the song " The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, recorded in 1982. Inform students that they will work in their groups to analyze the way the song reflects the social conditions of New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. Students should underline specific lines in the song and connect them to specific events from the timeline. 
[Note to teacher: The video and song lyrics of “The Message” contain some explicit language. The teacher is advised to assess whether or not these materials are appropriate for their students. Also note that the video clip ends before the third verse, but students should be able to complete the assignment using the lyrics on the handout.]
8.  Discuss in groups:
  • Why do you think this song was titled “The Message”? What is its message?
  • What are the images in the song that reflect life in the city in the 1970s?  (e.g. broken glass, vermin, etc.)
9.  Poll sample answers from different groups. 
10.  Reconvene the class and discuss:
  • Why do you think Hip Hop became so popular with the people in urban communities such as the Bronx?
  • How did “The Message” reflect the social and economic conditions of the Bronx in the 1970s? Think about both the equipment that was needed to produce it and the themes reflected in its lyrics.
[Teacher can emphasize the idea that early Hip Hop required few resources: a turntable or two, speakers, existing records, and a DJ with a lot of imagination; students can compare this to the instruments, equipment, and resources needed to form a rock band.]

Summary Activity:

Ask students to select one or more events from the timeline not already evoked in the song and write an additional verse for “The Message” to reflect those events and their moment.

Writing Prompt:

Students will select an event from the New York City timeline and conduct further research into it, producing an argumentative essay to demonstrate an historical understanding of that event and how it affected New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. Students should include a clear thesis statement declaring the importance of that event in comparison with other events on the timeline, followed by research-based evidence to support the thesis. Be sure to also explain why the event was important enough to warrant a lyrical mention by Grandmaster Flash in “The Message.”

Extension:

Show video of Grandmaster Flash on ABC's Nightline in 2012. Discuss as a class:
  • What specific musical sources does Grandmaster Flash point to as influences? What did he find inspiring about these musicians and records?

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Latin Influence in Pop Music





Warm Up:
Examine lyrics from the musical West Side Story. As a class, read the brief introduction to the musical, then play an audio clip from the song "America" performed by the original Broadway cast in 1957. 

Discuss as a class:
  1)    What examples do the characters offer of differences between life in rural Puerto Rico and life in urban New York?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

  2)    How do the lyrics convey a sense of ambiguity, a complicated feeling of being excited about living in America yet also missing life in Puerto Rico?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
​    
Guided Practice:
           
In addition to Broadway musicals, the Latin influence also appeared in other styles of American music from the 1950s and early 60s, including Rhythm and Blues and Pop. Listen to an audio clip of Latin influences in Pop music featuring “Spanish Harlem” by Ben E. King (1960), “Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters (1964), and “Come a Little Bit Closer” by Jay and the Americans (1964).


  3)    What are the chart positions of these songs, which are included in the video?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  4)    What do the chart positions signify about the popularity of these songs during the early 1960s?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  5)    Which elements of these songs seem Latin in nature? Consider the percussion, the rhythm, the lyrics, and the vocal delivery.
 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The rise of Latin music in popular culture mirrored a boom in Latino immigration to the U.S. between the 1940s and 1960s. Watch a montage of short clips from Democracy at Work in Rural Puerto Rico, a film produced in 1940 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Pay close attention to how the film portrays the economy of Puerto Rico and the quality of life on the island.

  6)    What industry is the Puerto Rican economy based upon? How does the film portray the nature of this type of work? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  7)    If you were living in Puerto Rico under these conditions, what are some reasons you might choose to immigrate to the United States? 
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Display the following graph showing U.S. immigration statistics and dispersion of Puerto Ricans in the United States.

  8)    How does the Puerto Rican population living in the U.S. change between 1920 and 1950?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  9)    When does the greatest population change take place?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  10) What does this graph tell us about the dispersion of Puerto Ricans in the U.S.?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  11) During 1950, what percentage of the total Puerto Rican population living in the U.S. live specifically in New York City?
 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Check out the following three photos depicting life in New York City during the 1940s and 50s: 

Mechanical training offered at a Brooklyn factory (1942),

policeman practicing Spanish phrases (1958)

and New apartment buildings under construction in Spanish Harlem, where a large concentration of the Latin Americans resided (1947).    

Imagine you’ve just moved from Puerto Rico to New York City.

  12) How do you imagine your life in the U.S. differs from your life in Puerto Rico? Consider your living situation, language barriers, employment opportunities, neighborhood, access to education, etc. Cite any details you can infer from the photographs, when applicable.
 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Check out Handout2: Tito Puente and El Barrio. Read the introduction and interview excerpt aloud to the class.

  13) What did growing up in Spanish Harlem, or El Barrio ("the neighborhood") provide for Tito Puente in terms of his music education?
 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Watch a clip of Tito Puente performing "Maria Cervantes" in the 1950s, in which he is playing a vibraphone, a percussion instrument.



  14)  In your opinion, what are some elements of this performance that Tito Puente may have learned while playing music “in the street,” rather than learning formally in university? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  15) This performance aired on television during the 1950s. Do you think this performance was solely for a Latin-American audience, or might this music have appealed to a wider audience? Explain your reasoning.
 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Read the following quote aloud from Charlie Thomas, an African-American New York native who sang in the R&B group, the Drifters:

"Brought up in Harlem, you’d be around a lot of Puerto Ricans, so the Latin feel is part of your life...weekends and all night long, that’s all you’d hear: the sound of Puerto Rican drums going through your head.”

  16)  If you were a musician or music fan living in New York City during the 1940s and 50s, how might you be influenced by the “Latin feel” that was then prevalent in the city?
 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Check out the following two images, an album cover from Desi Arnaz’s 1947 recording “Babalu” and a 1956 magazine cover featuring I Love Lucy stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. In addition to being a popular Latin musician during the 1940s and 50s, Arnaz’s character on television, Ricky Ricardo, was also a Cuban-American bandleader.


  
I Love Lucy ran from 1951 to 1957 and was the most-watched show on American television for four of its six seasons.

  17) How might the popularity of I Love Lucy have affected mainstream America’s familiarity with Latin American music during the 1950s?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  18) In your opinion, by conveying a marriage between an American woman and a Cuban man, how might I Love Lucy have advanced the idea of integration and cultural mixing in 1950s America?
 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Closure: S. write about one of the two:

Prompt #1: What examples of cultural mixing did you take note of during your “trip” around midtown Manhattan? How did Latin-American music and dance seemingly influence popular art and culture in 1950s New York City?


Prompt #2: Which rhythms, genres, artists, or instruments were prevalent in your own musical upbringing? Was there a particular style of music you heard often at home or in your neighborhood? Does this exposure influence your choice of music today, and if so, how?

Thursday, April 28, 2016

The British Invasion Continues: The Who



Warm Up:
Show two versions of the Who performing “My Generation”: first, a live performance from 1965, and second, the final moments of their 1967 Monterey Pop Festival appearance.

List five words that come to mind as you watch the second video.


Guided Practice:
1) Compare the performances and discuss how the Monterey Pop example adds power to the song because the Who reinforce the song's message with a particular performance style.

  1. In the Monterey Pop Festival performance, what happens at the end of the song? What do the performers do?
  2. Why do you think the performers are doing this? Are they making some kind of statement? If so, what is it?
  3. How old do the performers appear to be? Does their age have anything to do with the way they are acting? (Note: Members of the Who were between the ages of 20 and 23 during this performance.)
  4. How does the audience seem to react? How do you imagine parents of people in the audience would have reacted?
  5. Do the performers' actions remind you of any other performers you have seen? (Note: Different from the Beatles, the Who based their band identity not just on songs and recordings; they wanted their live act to be something entirely new. In effect, to fully understand the band you had to understand what they did in performance.)

Distribute Handout 1: The Who, “My Generation.” Inform students that they will work together to analyze “My Generation,” the song the Who performs in these videos, and one of the songs most closely associated with the band.

Have students work together to complete the activities on the handout, as described below. If they have access to their own computers, they will view the biography of the Who from this site and view the interview clip with Pete Townsend, the writer of "My Generation."

Students will complete Part 1 of the handout, which asks them to define basic terms used in the lesson and discuss the following questions:


  1. What is a “generation”?
  2. Do you think of yourself as a member of a particular generation? If so, what title would you give that generation and how would you define it? If not, why do you think being part of a generation is not important to you?
  3. Who do you consider to be in your generation? Who is not in your generation? How do you feel about people who are not part of your generation?


Students will read this site's biography of the Who and discuss the following questions:

http://teachrock.org/resources/people/who/

  1. When and where were the Who formed?
  2. What type of music was the band best known for?
  3. According to the biography, was what you just saw in the video typical for the Who?


View the short clip of “My Generation” drawn from a 1965 U.S. television appearance.

http://teachrock.org/resources/video/embed/the-who-my-generation-1965/

Follow along with the lyrics, underlining key words and phrases and taking additional notes as you listen. Discuss the following questions in groups:

  1. Whom is the singer speaking to? (Who is “you”?) What is his message to them?
  2. Who is the singer speaking for? (Who is “we”?) What is his message on their behalf?
  3. When the singer says, “I hope I die before I get old,” what do you think he means?
  4. Do you think he means this literally? Or might there be a figurative meaning?
  5. Does “old” represent a physical age, a state of mind, or perhaps something else?
  6. Why do you think this particular lyric has become widely known?
  7. Do you think it was in any way irresponsible of the Who to sing this song to young people?
  8. How does the music reflect the lyrics? What instruments do you hear?
  9. What is the overall mood and tone of the music?
  10. How does the band use music to emphasize the message of the lyrics?
  11. Why do you think the singer stutters on certain words? What message might he be trying to convey?
  12. Who do you think was the intended audience for this song?
  13. Remember that the video you saw at the beginning of the lesson came at the end of a performance of this song.
  14. Do the actions in the video reflect the message of the song? If so, in what way?
  15. Based on what you know about what was happening in the mid- to late-1960s, why do you think this song resonated with so many young people?
  16. Read the background information on the song on Part IV of the handout and discuss the following in groups:
  17. According to Townsend, did “old” mean physical age?
  18. According to these interviews, was the song from his perspective about age or about acceptance?


Watch the interview clip with Townsend, considering what he says about young people, fashion, and teenagers "all becoming one."

http://teachrock.org/resources/video/embed/pete-townshend-post-war-england/


  1. Does Townsend’s explanation of the song change your understanding of it? Why or why not?
  2. Why do you think the concept of youth is so important to him?
  3. How might one’s feelings about the song change as one gets older?
  4. Can the song still have meaning for those who are not teenagers or in their early 20s?


Working in pairs, compose new, updated lyrics for “My Generation,” reflecting your views about your generation in today’s America.

Each pair will present its lyrics to the class, and discuss the following:


  1. In what ways do your lyrics focus on key events, ideas, complaints, or concerns related to your generation? Be specific, and quote your work.
  2. What is the intended audience for your version of the song?
  3. What message are you sending to those audiences? Again, be specific and quote your work.



Assessment:

Write a short paragraph summarizing how the Who’s “My Generation” give voice to the attitudes and concerns of young people in the mid-1960s?



Closure: Share paragraphs from above.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The British Invasion: Beatle-Mania

In 1964, the Beatles achieved an unprecedented level of success both in their home country of Britain and in the United States.  They amassed crowds of adoring fans that followed them wherever they went, a phenomenon often referred to as “Beatlemania.”


 By April 4, 1964, the group held the first five spots on the Billboard Hot 100 list of popular songs, with "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist and Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me" crowding the top of the charts.  No other act in history has achieved such a feat.   

Watch this trailer for A Hard Day's Night.  This comedy film depicts a fictionalized day in the life of the Beatles.  Although the film was released in 1964, you will be watching the trailer from the 2000 re-release.  Discuss as a class:
1) a) How do crowds and audiences react to the Beatles?
b) How are the adults depicted in the film?  Are they portrayed differently than the Beatles?
c) In what ways do you think the Beatles portrayed an image that a younger generation could identify with?

    2)  Examine this picture of  the Beatles circa 1961 and the Beatles in 1964.  These are also available in Handout 1: Images of The Beatles.  Explain that prior to the filming of A Hard Day’s Night, the Beatles went through a long period of refining their image, working alongside their manager Brian Epstein to achieve their approachable aesthetic.  Students work in small groups to answer the following questions:

     a) How would you describe the clothes and mood in the first picture from 1961?

    b) How would you describe the clothes and mood in the second picture from 1964?


    c)What kind of image do you think the band is trying to present in each of the pictures?
    d) How does the photograph from 1964 portray a higher sense of friendliness?


    Discuss answers.

    3) Examine the image of the Daily Mirror - February 8, 1964.  The image is also available in Handout 1: Images of The Beatles.  Explain to the students that this is the cover story from the Daily Mirror, a British-based publication, the day after the Beatles’ arrival in America.  As a class, discuss the following:


     a) What key information can you discern from the text and images in this source?

    b) Do you think the arrival of the Beatles in America was worthy of headline news? Why or why not?


    c) How might this type of media coverage help build a larger fan base for the Beatles?



    4)  Examine Handout 2: Beatlemania Timeline.  Underline any historical events that take place in America and they should place a star (*) next to any event that is related to the Beatles’ career.


     a) Are there any events on the timeline that you recognize?  If so, what?


    b) The Beatles arrived in America in February 1964.  What was the most recent event that had transpired in the U.S.? 




    c) What do you think was the general feeling in America at the time when the Beatles arrived?


    4. Play video of the Beatles performing “She Loves You” on February 11, 1964.  This is from the Beatles’ first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum.  Two days prior, they had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and 73 million people (or 45% of American households with televisions) tuned in to watch.  After viewing, discuss the following in groups:
    • What do you notice about the Beatles' performance?  How do they interact with each other on stage?
    • How does this live footage compare with the trailer for A Hard Day’s Night?
    • Describe some of the reactions in the audience. 
    Discuss.

    5. Distribute Handout 3: Brian Epstein and the Beatles.  The students will watch a video interview conducted with Brian Epstein as Beatlemania reached its peak.  Explain to the students that a rising tide of youth culture and the obsession with the Beatles was not welcomed by all.  Students should indicate on their handouts the perspectives of both the interviewer and Epstein.  Discuss in your groups the following:       

    • Is Beatlemania evidence of mass hysteria?  What does Brian Epstein think about the word “hysteria”?  What does the interviewer think?
    • How does the interviewer see Epstein’s role as the band’s manager? To what does the interviewer attribute the band’s popularity?
    • How would you define the “commercial machine”?

    2. In their seats, have the students complete the handout.  They must choose one factor which they believe is the most important reason for the rise of Beatlemania in America.  While they are completing the handout, the teacher will label four corners of the classroom, or four areas, with the following words: Talent, Personality, Media Coverage, and Historical Context.
    3. After they have completed the handout, ask the students to get up and move to their chosen corner of the room.  Have the students in their groups discuss their reasoning for their choice.  They must come up with one reason, as a group, to share with the class.

    Lets read Handout 5: Building the Beatle Image, published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1964.  Discuss the following in small groups then as a class:

        1) What are the five elements Packard describes as necessary for creating Beatlemania?    2) What elements might you add to Packard’s list?  What elements do you disagree with, if any?

    Individual writing assignment:


    Write one-two paragraphs explaining the following:


    Have you ever been “obsessed” with an artist, an athlete, or an actor?  Why do you think people create strong attachments to celebrities?

    Monday, April 18, 2016

    American Blues Influences English Rock

    ESSENTIAL QUESTION
    OVERVIEW
    In what ways did American Blues affect English musicians in the early 1960s?
    "[Before the Beatles] The pop music in this country was very watery and weak, not worth talking about. Things like Cliff Richard."
    -- Pete Townsend of the Who on British popular music in the early 1960s
    This lesson looks at the Blues scene in England that prefigured the British Invasion. Though young people there were able to hear Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Little Richard, and other artists associated with early American Rock and Roll, the music they could call their own, British popular music, sometimes left them dissatisfied. As Pete Townsend describes in the epigraph above, he was among those who found the home offerings "watery and weak."
    But if one thing marked the U.K. at that time, it was a respect for American music. Yes, for Rock and Roll -- but also for the Blues tradition. Artists who had never left the States came over to England, France, and Germany and found themselves welcomed and celebrated. American Bluesmen like Big Bill Broonzy found they could have careers in Europe when in the States they had little going on. Starting in 1962, the European interest in American Blues was fed by the American Folk Blues Festival, an annual touring festival that brought Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and many more to European audiences intermittently over the next few decades. In the audience for those first shows were future members of the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and other major acts of the 1960s and 1970s.
    Central to this lesson is a comparison of Cliff Richard and the Shadows, as an example of early 1960s British popular music, with the Blues that a young person in the U.K. might have seen at an American Folk Blues Festival. Students will get a chance to consider what the Blues might have meant to musicians like Cyril Davies, Alexis Korner, and Long John Baldry, all key figures in the British Blues explosion.
    Today we will be watching two clips and taking notes about what you see, withholding your immediate response until both clips have been shown and you are able to do a focused comparison. 

    1) Watch Cliff Richard and the Shadows performance of "The Young Ones" from 1962. 

    2) Next watch the clip of Big Mama Thornton, with Buddy Guy, performing "Hound Dog."

    Write a comparison of the two performances, either in columns or in sentence form. Questions to address:
    How do the artists sound different?
    How do they look different?
    Which performance has more energy?
    If you were a young person growing up in England, which performance might be more exciting and why?
    Share answers to group.

    Now watch the first minute or so of the interview with the Who's Pete Townsend, from which the epigraph above is taken. Answer the following questions:

    How does Townsend describe the British popular music of the early 1960s, before the Beatles hit?

    What is his characterization of Cliff Richard?

    What does Townsend say about the music and culture of the States as an alternative to what he and others felt was "watery and weak" in English music? 

    Next, read "Long John Meets John Lee Hooker," the Rock's Back pages article from 1964 in which American Bluesman John Lee Hooker meets young British Bluesman Long John Baldry. 

    Lets break into groups of three to answer the following questions about the article:

    1) How would you describe the relationship between the two musicians?

    2) How old was Long John Baldry when he started listening to American Blues?

    3) What seems to be Baldry's relationship to American Blues music?

    4) What would you say are the differences between the two men?

    5) How did Baldry come to know so much about John Lee Hooker?

    6) Why do you think Hooker matters so much to Baldry?

    Share their answers with the class.

    Many American Blues performers came to England during the 1950s and 1960s and that Long John Baldry and others got to see many of them in concert.

    One series of traveling performances, called the American Folk Blues Festival, would visit France, Germany, and England for many years, starting in 1962. Members of the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin attended some of these shows, as did Long John Baldry. What follows is a clip from one of those shows:

    Watch Muddy Waters performing "Got My Mojo Working" as a part of the American Folk Blues Festival.

    What do you think Long John Baldry might have liked about the performance, based on the article you read.
    After discussing the answers,  watch Baldry perform the same song with Cyril Davies. 

    Discuss the following questions:

    1) What do Davies and Baldry borrow from Muddy Waters' version of "Got My Mojo Working"?

    2) What is different in Baldry and Davies' version of the song?

    3) How does the Davies/Baldry performance differ from what you saw of Cliff Richard earlier?

    4) How would you say their version of "Got My Mojo Working" is a reaction to the kind of Pop played by Cliff Richard?

    Formative Assessment: S. write a short paragraph summarizing how they what they think the American Blues brought to young people in England?


    Closure: S. share paragraphs from above.