Genres
Blues Rock
Blues rock started with rock musicians in the United Kingdom and the United States performing American blues songs, typically at faster tempos and with a more aggressive sound common to rock. In the UK, the genre was popularized by bands like the Rolling Stones and the Animals, who managed to get blues songs into the pop charts. Early experimenters in the US include Lonnie Mack, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Canned Heat. It originated in the early 60s, in the United Kingdom and United States, and gets its stylistic features from electric blues, rock and roll and British blues. It has since developed into lots of other types of rock, also including punk blues.
The core blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, bass guitar and drums, and often include a harmonica. There’s also one guitar playing
the rhythm (chords, riffs) and the other plays the melodic elements. Although James Bay’s Let it Go doesn’t have use all these instruments, it does have an acoustic guitar playing both chords and the melodic elements, along with a drum kit playing quietly in the background and a keyboard playing chords.
In 1963, American Lonnie Mack debuted a fast-paced electric blues guitar style, which later came to be identified with blues rock. Blues rock was not named as such, or widely recognized as a distinct movement within rock, until several years later, with the formation of British bands such as Free,
Savoy Brown and the earliest forms of Fleetwood Mac. The genre was defined when John Mayall (in Fleetwood Mac) released the album ‘Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton’ in 1966, which included Eric Clapton on guitar. Blues rock was a sort of R&B played by British bands.
Blues wasn't as popular in the US as it was in the UK at first, mainly due to the racist culture at the time. After it gained popularity in the UK, it then started to grow in America.
Popular Artists:
John Myall
Known for:
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John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
Fleetwood Mac
Known for:
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Dreams (1977) from their album Rumours
Eric Clapton
Known for:
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The Yardbirds
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John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
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Cream and Blind Faith
Soul
Soul music originated in the United States during the 1950s and early 60s, and combines elements from R&B, gospel music and jazz. It is said to have gained popularity from the migration of blacks across America. It dominated the U.S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many songs made it into the pop charts in the U.S., Britain and other countries. Towards the end of the 60s, it started to form into various sub-genres such as funk, motown, blue/brown eyed soul and smooth soul, and regional derivatives.
Examples of artists that increased the popularity of soul music include The Jackson 5 and Marvin Gaye. The Jackson 5 began releasing songs in the late 1960s, and in 1970, they became the first recording act whose first four singles reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot
100. ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There") They released five albums between 1976 and 1981, including the Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980) and the singles, "Enjoy Yourself", "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and "Can You Feel It."
Marvin Gaye released his first album "What's Going On" in 1971 which managed to reach #6 in the US charts. Marvin Gaye was the first recognised and well-loved soul singer, bringing soul the recognition that it deserves today.
More recent popular artists include Sam Smith, James Bay and Adele. I have analysed a music video by all three of these artists, which can be found in my 'Music Video Analysis' tab, under research.
Marvin Gaye
Known for:
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Let's get it on
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Sexual healing
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Ain't no mountain high enough
Jackson 5
Known for:
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ABC
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Zip-a-dee-doo-dah
Sam Smith
Known for:
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Latch
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La la la
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Money On My Mind
Pop
Pop is said to be a shortening of popular music, and so the terms are used interchangeably. It originated in the 50s and 60s, from rock and roll, but also having parts of other styles, such as country, urban (developed though characteristics of R&B and soul) and dance. James Bay’s song Let it Go fits into this genre because it has the basic format of verse-chorus.
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Some generic conventions of pop music videos are:
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Typically heavily performance based, showing the artist a lot of the time
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There is a teenaged target audience
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They are usually upbeat, happy and show people having fun, dancing, etc…
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The songs are often about love, or being young and partying
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They are about 2-3 minutes long
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Females are often sexualised, with lots of make-up and big hair
Let it Go doesn’t conform to most of these, instead it is more ‘indie.’ It’s downbeat, sombre, relaxing and calm, telling an emotional story. However, he has a lot of screen time in his videos, (My analysis
can be found under my 'music video analysis tab') and is focused on heavily, although his performance and acting out narrative varies between song.
The Beatles
Known for:
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Strawberry Fields Forever
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Hey Jude
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All You Need is Love
Madonna
Known for:
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Like A Virgin
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Vogue
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Crazy for You
Taylor Swift
Known for:
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Love Story
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I knew you were trouble
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Shake it off