Quote:
Originally Posted by PBzeer
After answering the song thread with the oldie, Last Kiss, I got to thinking about how the music of each generation plays a part. Which then had me wondering, does the music reflect the people, or the people the music? Kind of a Chicken or the Egg thing, I know, but it seemed like a nice, harmless topic that wouldn't lead to scathing responses 
Any old way, thought I'd throw the question out there, and see what people have to say. |
PB, I'm afraid it's going to be an "if but maybe err um " answer.
If you look at the development of rock'n'roll the genre had its roots in a mixture of blues (ergo jazz) and country. Reality is that when it comes to music the most popular forms inevitably seem to be dance related so blues mixed with country gave a very danceable beat without the melancholy of the blues or the lost wives and dead dogs of country, Leader of the Pack notwithstanding.
Going back you only need to look at the likes of Elvis, Roy Orbison, Conway Twitty and Bill Haley e.g all of them steeped in country and gospel, while the likes of John Hammond, Bo Diddley, Roy Brown,Louis Jordon and T-Bone Walker came from blues backgrounds.
Of course it's never as cut and dried as all that.
So the music existed in listenable form but the wants of the mainstream public resulted in the danceable forms becoming preeminent.
Commercialism ultimately wins out be that for the good or bad.
Whether that is music having an effect on youth culture or the reverse I have no idea.
There is of course only one real truism re modern music and it as valid today as it was in the seventies.....
Disco Sux.
Does that even vaguely answer your question ? BTW, its long been thought that in all probability it was the Rooster who came first.
