Bebop, Hipsters, and the Beats

In this week’s readings, Campbell makes a reference to the counterculture of the late 1940s/early 1950s Bebop scene and how it would influence revolution and counterculture in the 1960s rock scene.

Counterculture is exactly what it sounds like – it is a culture (including values, ideas, and behaviours) that runs against the mainstream. The world of Bebop gave us the original hipsters (and the term itself); a “hipster” (just read until the “unlock” line – you will get the gist) in the 1940s was a white person who followed black jazz culture of the time (bebop), and tended to use language such as “square”, “cats”, and “dig”; the concept of “coolness” as we know it became popular in this scene. Dizzy Gillespie, in particular, influenced the cool style of the hipsters with his berets, thick, dark-rimmed glasses, and goatee.

But the hipsters were not just about fashion sense and slang. In Bebop they found liberation – music that was fast, exciting, and far removed from the sweet swing music their parents may have enjoyed. The hipsters worshipped Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. Drug use – particularly heroin and Benzedrine – was romanticized as fuel for creativity. In this petri dish, the Beat Generation was born.

The Beat Generation was a term for the literary movement that came out of the hipster scene, and included writers Jack Kerouac (On the Road), Allen Ginsberg (“Howl”), and William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch), among others. “Beat” referred to a state of being tired and broke, but also to “beatific” and “beatitude” – words for bliss.

These writers, particularly Kerouac, crafted their prose – “bop prosody” – after the sound of bebop. Bebop’s free improvisation, rapid tempos, sharp accents, asymmetrical lines, and liberated rhythms became prose and poetry featuring stream of consciousness, sparse punctuation, blurted out words, lines that fit the length of breath, and a more syncopated rhythm. In other words, the poetry sounded like bebop. On the West Coast, poetry and jazz were melded into one performance piece, where poets would perform over a background of free-jazz accompaniment.

The bebop scene and the Beat Generation were intricately linked (though the literary movement was more influenced by bebop than vice versa), and are a very good example of how different art forms can influence each other. Unfortunately, the hard living lifestyle of the bebop scene would work its way into the rock scene of the 1960s (see: deaths by drug overdose), but so too would the sense of revolution, liberation from old forms, and experimentation. The writing of the Beat Generation, in some ways, had an even bigger influence on popular music to come. As you will learn in Module 7 (particularly in the film Shakespeares in the Alley), Ginsburg himself felt that the torch of the Beat Generation had been taken up by a young folk singer named Bob Dylan, whose deeply meaningful, stream of consciousness lyrics would change the way people listened to, and understood, popular music from his time onward.

The video below features a reading by Jack Kerouac followed by bebop played by some of the greats of the era.

Challenge Questions for blogging

If you have chosen to blog for your assignments, you may choose ONE of the following blog questions to blog on this week, for a total of 10% of your overall assignment grade. Note that there are blogging questions available for each module, and you need to complete up to two for the first deadline and up to two for the second deadline. Please see the Assignment Details and Blogging assignment pages for more information.

1. Bridges: Watch “Bridges” Chapters 1-7 from the PBS documentary Latin Music USA. Using the documentary, as well as your textbook and external research for back-up (properly cited), please answer these questions in your blog post:

1. Which two artists were most responsible for the introduction of Cuban rhythms to big band music circa 1940? Which is interviewed in the film?
2. What is the name of the area in New York that was home to the influential Afro-Cuban sounds of the mid-20^th century? What was the primary original nationality of these Latinos?
3. Which composer and conga player rose to fame when iconic bop musician Dizzy Gillespie became a champion of Afro-Cuban sounds? Which piece of his is discussed in depth in the film?
4. Who were the Mambonicks, and what club was their homebase? What was the one rule of this club? Socially (or culturally), what was most notable about this club?
5. Name one example of the mainstreaming of Latin music, as explained in the film.
6. Which factors (one political, one musical) brought the first boom of Latin music in America to an abrupt halt? Name three early rock and roll songs with Latin rhythms (and the bands who produced them) mentioned in the film.
7. Find a video of one of the songs covered in the film (but NOT covered in our textbook) and embed it in your blog. Create a brief listening cue for the song as a way of introducing it to your classmates.
8. Having read Unit 8 and watched this film, do you feel our textbook has done a good job of covering early Latin music in America (there is no correct answer, just informed opinion)? Why or why not?

#M5Q1

2. The Great American Songbook: In a well-researched and properly-cited blog post, explain: What is the Great American Songbook? What era(s) of songs are included in it? Who or what decides which songs are part of this collection? How does it relate to your readings this week? Choose one song that is generally accepted as a part of this collection and:

• Tell us about the song – who wrote it? When was it written? How does it meet the general criteria of being a part of the Great American Songbook?
• Using terminology you have learned in the course, briefly describe the general form, style, and lyrical content of the song.
• Find two different performances of the song. At least one performance should be from the 1950s or 1960s (the era of our readings this week). Embed videos of these two versions (the other version can be earlier, later, or from the same era – it doesn’t matter).
• Compare the two versions of the song. How are they similar? How do they differ? What unique characteristics does each performer bring to their performance? Is one version more famous than the other? Why?
• Speculate on why songs were not added to this collection after the 1960s. This may become more apparent as we move into the next modules, but give an educated guess (ie. opinion, not researched).
• Finally: do you see a continued relevance for this style of music? Or does it seem outdated and irrelevant? Explain your thoughts.

#M5Q2

3. Paul Anka: Canadian crooner Paul Anka rose to fame in the late 1950s, and to date is still one of the most successful singers to come out of Canada (yes, really). In a well-researched, properly-cited post, briefly summarize his career, then:

• Choose a pre-1961 track by Anka (let’s not all choose Diana, please!) and embed it in your post. Use this as the basis for the next point.
• Drawing on your readings, particularly the ‘Popular Song Interpretation’ section of your textbook, explain how Anka’s track draws on the influence of singers like Nat Cole and Frank Sinatra. Use terminology from the course to draw these similarities – look closely at both musical and lyrical characteristics, as well as any similarities in performance style.
• What major factor differs Anka from other crooners of the era (hint: it’s the other thing he is famous for, musically)?
• Explain Anka’s significance to the history of popular music, particularly as it relates to Canada.
• Finally, choose one surprising fact from your research on Paul Anka to share with your classmates (and explain why you chose that fact).

#M5Q3

 

4. Live Concert Review:

Attend a live concert and write a review detailing your experience. You may only complete one concert review for the whole course. If there are multiple groups on the bill, choose only one. The concert must take place during the course and reflect the knowledge you’ve gained from the course materials. It should be the same length as your other blog posts but must describe the following features:

1. Performer: biographies, band history, current place in popular music. Assume the reader is unfamiliar with the group.
2. Sound: specifics of the music – harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, lyrics (if applicable) etc. Focus on one or more songs and construct a thorough description.
3. Venue and Audience: describe not only the practical details of the environment, but how the music might inform us of the social realities of the audience and vice versa.
4. Reflection: how meaningful was this concert to you? Was it meaningful to a broader group of people? What contributed to this feeling, or what was lacking? Use your knowledge of the history of popular music to support these feelings.
5. Organization, Spelling, References: cite what research you use, utilizing a recognized citation method (Chicago is preferred).
6. Proof of Attendance: take pictures of the event for your blog post and/or a selfie.

#M5Q4

Continue to Module 5: Music