A lousy thread title I know, but I wanted to snag your interest. (?)
Share with us your idea of what RNR is. Pick one-third of a minute; a snippet of song, movie, or video clip.
Mine? Obviously, the band is a foregone conclusion. But…the 20 seconds…I’ll have to work on that.
The first 20 seconds of this clip is pretty good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_C78zw5i8U
Just what I had in mind. That’s awesome!
The Clash is (are) awesome, but this is how I’d define RnR.
The very first thing that came to mind for me was this
**Rhiannon8404 **suggests this clip (specifically, the 30 seconds from 0:14 to 0:44)
The Masters Speak:
Hey there, all you middle men
Throw away your fancy clothes
And while you’re out there sittin’ on a fence
So get off your ass and come down here
'Cause rock ‘n’ roll ain’t no riddle man
To me it makes good, good sense
Good call.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (scream for 20 seconds)
Rob Halford riding a Harley Davidson onstage.
Angus Young doing his Curly Shuffle/seizure on the floor while playing “Let There Be Rock”.
Gina Gershon belting out a tune in “Prey For Rock And Roll”, sweat running down her body and spit flying out of her mouth.
As Louis Armstrong apocryphally said about jazz: if you have to ask, you’ll never know.
The first 20 seconds of this rocks about as well as one could really ever hope for.
Elvis Presley singing “Jailhouse Rock” in his leather suit and swiveling his hips while a thousand girls scream in the audience.
His upturned lip launched a thousand orgasms.
“My music made your knees freeze, your liver quiver, your bladder splatter, and your big toe shoot right up in your boot!”
So far I like the Stones and Zepplin examples. I think those two bands are the perfect mix of both what rock started out as (blues) and what it would become (the equipment, the technique, even the image of a “rock star”).
Elvis/Little Richard/et al weren’t far enough along, and the Clash was too far ahead.
Does that make sense?
My vote goes here, from :11 to :31.
Beat beat beat beat / beat beat beat beat / beat beat beat beat / beat beat beat beat…
Instrumental lead-in / verse 1 / chorus / verse 2 / chorus / verse 3 / chorus / instrumental break - guitar solo - verse 1 (repeated) / chorus - refrain of chorus into fadeout (or alternately, big-blowout finish).
All in just three minutes.
Played LOUDLY.
I couldn’t begin to think of 30 seconds of music that epitomizes “rock & roll”, but I can give you mydefinition of it in that time.
There is a lot of “rock” out there, but not much of it is “rock & roll”. To me, R&R has two major influences; rhythm/blues and energy/rebellion. To understand what this sounds like, listen to the songs done by the masters of each. Naturally, great R&R comes from the USA, so the perfect examples do too.
For the best representative of rhythm/blues style, listen to the work of Creedence Clearwater Revival. For the best of high energy/rebellion style, listen to The Ramones.
On October 2, two greats rolled out their new albums, one got most of the hype, but the other is the true legend, IMHO. If you like rock, pick up the new Bruce Springsteen album. If you like R&R, pick up the new John Fogerty album.
Muddy Waters defined it best.
“The blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll.”
A-Whomp-bomp-a-loo-bop, a whomp-bam boom!
Tutty Fruity, oh, ruuudy…
“It’s got a good beat and I can dance to it.”