...Included The history of black America is one filled with exploitation and abuse. Time and time again we see the “cultural rape” of the black community. Whether it be style, lingo, or music white culture has been “borrowing” from black culture since the early history of the United States. It is so obvious it almost passes unnoticed. For example the handshake has largely been replaced in youth culture by a dap or a fist pound, both remnant of black culture in the 60’s. Even hello has been replaced with “yo” an interjection made popular in the black vernacular. One cultural phenomena that has been largely covered up as African-American in origin. The history of rock and roll is long and intricate drawing its roots from early American R&B, among other places. While most of the true innovators of rock music have been widely overlooked, white musicians have been profiting greatly off of the innovations made in music by black recording artists, specifically in the arena of rock and roll. It is widely accepted that rock music has its roots in the american blues. The history of the blues dates all the way back to slave plantations. This genre comes specifically from African-American folk music. Julio Finn the author of The Bluesman stated that: [White blues performers] can never be bluespeople...because the blues is not something they live but something they do- which makes all the difference in the world. What distinguishes the bluesperson from the bluesperformer is...
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...time has moved forward, Elvis Pressley remains the greatest entertainer of all-time because of his award winning talent and the good looks sensuality, charisma, good humor, humility, respect, and kindness that endeared him to millions of his fans. Life and Times Elvis Presley was born to very humble beginnings in, Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. “The Presley family was very religious and regularly attended an Assembly of God church where Elvis sang gospel music in his youth,” (Petersen, 2005). At the tender age of 10, he won second prize at a fair in a singing competition that was backed by a neighborhood radio station. At 11 he received his first guitar and taught himself to play. Throughout his high school years he performed in talent shows, which inspired his career choice in the music industry. During the summer of 1953 Elvis made his first recording at Memphis Recording Service as a gift for his mother. When the owner heard his songs, he helped Elvis start a band and record another record that sold 6,000 copies within a week. One year later Elvis released his first nationwide hit. In August 1955, Elvis hired a manager “Colonel” Tom Parker, who helped him sign with RCA records. In one year’s time sold 300,000 copies of his hit release “Heartbreak Hotel,” along with five other number one hit songs and would maintain a place at the top of the charts for the next two years until he was drafted into the Army. Over the next 20 years Elvis would be given the title...
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...There were many influential musicians in the 20th century, but we were able to narrow the list down to our top five most influential musicians. The Musicians we picked were Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Nirvana, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. We chose these musicians because they all left a lasting impact on America, not just on the music industry. All of these musicians are remembered for both their music and their impact on society. Michael Jackson was born in 1958, part of the first generation of Americans who never knew a world without TV, Jackson didn't just grow up with TV. He grew up on it. He was the first great televisual entertainer (Atlantic). You could say that because of Michael Jackson, music videos mean more today. Michael...
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...contributing to art during the era. I then give examples of musical works from each time, a liturgical piece from Guillaume de Machaut, and a rock and roll song from Pop Art icon Elvis Presley. A summary includes a compare and contrast of the styles in whole and of the specific pieces, noting the impact of rock and roll on modern day music and society. Art and Culture through the Middle Ages and Beyond The subject of art throughout history is one that is widely debated and highly subject to interpretation. One thing that isn’t debatable is that cultural influences from centuries ago are as relevant as ever, from theming box office movies to manipulating the way we see the world around us. Of course, art forms are available in a wide variety, but I find music to be perhaps the most influential. To further elaborate, I will give an explanation of two separate periods of music through history in the following essay. The Middle Ages The Middle Ages, also referred to as the Medieval period, was a time when science and technology were being pursued perhaps more than ever, yet humanism wasn’t quite in the lead. “We are inclined today to romanticize the Middle Ages as a time when things were simpler, but in reality medieval society was highly complex” (Forgeng, 1999). Unlike today’s constitutional/document driven society, Middle Age civilizations were much more driven by personal relationships, especially concerning wealthy and powerful bloodlines. As a result of the somewhat more emotionally...
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...The impact of Elvis Presley on music University of New York Tirana Krist Babani Course: Composition II Instructor: Emily Hill Date: June 4, 2014 There are many factors and events that influence and change the history of a country, be that a war or a revolution. Despite the many areas changed throughout the decades, in America the art was radically changed through the impact a great man did to the pop culture through his music. His name was Elvis Presley. He reached an immediate success and many other well- known artists noticed it. Apart having an excellent voice, with his looks he stole many young women hearts. He created the music from his soul, even being raised with sacrifices and having a difficult past, these things did not stop him from being “The King” of Rock and Roll. Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. He was grown up as an only child because his twin Jessie Garon was stillborn. In 1948 he and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he graduated from high school in 1953. As a child he was shy and his nickname was Little Elvis. By the age of ten he showed his talent by singing Old Shep in a talent contest. Even though later girls would do anything just to touch him, he was rejected by them at this age. By the age of 12 he had the chance to sing live to a local radio but he was too scared to do it, so he gave up. His mom bought him a guitar by the age of 11 obviously noticing the talent of her son, so by the age...
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...Time Capsule from the 1960s Christel Monk SS310-24 Exploring the 1960s - An Interdisciplinary Approach July 15, 2013 Introduction The 1960s was a decade full of both positive and negative events. It coincided with the first land on the moon, which was a great achievement. It also coincided with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. This paper describes five items that have been found in a time capsule that dates back from the 1960s. It explains the reasons for which each of these items is especially important in defining the 1960s. Some of these items are events, while other items are objects being representative for that period of time. The paper is written from the perspective of an archeologist who, in 2325, discovered the time capsule containing information that dates back to the 1960s. The Time Capsule According to Goodwin and Bradley (2011), the sixties were the age of youth, as 70 million children from the post-war baby boom grew to become young adults and teenagers. This decade was characterized by a different and very revolutionary way of thinking as the population has moved away from the conservative type of reasoning. As Goodwin and Bradley (2011) point out, the population of the United States was about 178 million, while 3.8 million people were unemployed. The national debt was $286.3, while the average salary was $4,743. A teacher's salary back in those days was near $5,200 while the minimum wage...
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...fancy guitar soloing of speed metal like Judas Priest. Rock-n-Roll has never just been music. Heavy metal, Rhythm & Blues, Art Rock, New Wave, and the rest may be primary styles or genres but as sub-categories of rock, or rockin’ roll they do not cumulatively add up to the whole. Rock n’ Roll is a movement, a lifestyle, in many ways a belief system and all that Rock n Roll is today it owes to history: two years, no more than three when the fabric of American popular culture was torn apart and rewoven, and a new era explosively began. Rock n Roll started with slavery. To understand we must understand what slavery was and where it left the sons and daughters of African who knew nothing of European rods of American culture. Every society has its indigenous music, which serves as entertainment, story teller, and accompaniment to Ritual and Ceremony. It is not nearly sufficient to identify black musical heritage from slave work songs through Rag Time, Blues, Jazz, Gospel,...
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...the world. In order to answer this question, we will see in a first step the different areas of it and the major role played by globalization. Then, in a second step, the consequences of this domination. First, the term globalization can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. Obviously, we can say that the world is unified into the American society through its widespread culture. Indeed globalization implies all the communication systems such as television, radios, magazines, newspapers, advertisement…etc. These communication systems are essentials in order to diffuse the American culture. Moreover, as it is mentioned in the statement, by American culture, we understand Hollywood, popular music and literature. Hollywood is the place where the most broadcasted and the most famous movies are produced like, for example, Gone with the Wind or Titanic. Then, American artists, poor before to get rich and famous, have introduced new kinds of music like R&B, Hip Hop, or Rock’n’roll which are nowadays the most listened genres. Let us take the examples of two best cd sellers: Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson who represent the influence of popular music all over the world. Concerning literature, we can find in every bookshop or supermarkets, an impressive number of American books translated in the country’s language such as...
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...Movement itself. The progressive thought of the 1950s nurtured new ideas and cultures including the Civil Rights Movement and the fast spread of rock and roll. One such cultural revival occurred after the end of World War II during a time of change, prosperity and restoration. The “Puritan dicta” outlined by Baldwin represents the American ideology before the Second World War. As the first settlers of this nation, the Puritans set the mold for many common American ideologies. In the Puritan view white represented good and black represented evil, including Africans and their culture. After the war, Baldwin states that the former puritanical views of whites will be challenged. Musicians such as Elvis Presley were the first to issue this challenge to white society. Early rockers like Elvis would pave the way for social commentary in music that would add much fire to the Civil Rights Movement. To fully understand the explosion of popularity of Black music in the years following World War II, one must understand the social conditions in which Blacks and Whites lived in the South. An article entitled “Not Just the Same Old Show on my Radio” delves into the very issues behind racism. The article names three aspects necessary for social segregation to exist a stigmatism of the oppressed group; signs of “labeled interaction” between groups, and a hierarchy of discrimination. (Kloosterman, Quispel...
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...Elizabeth Ramos ENGL 1301 Teresa Trevathan Dec. 12, 2014 Television’s Best Moments Television has provided many moments where audiences held their breaths, cheered out loud, got up and danced, or sat there and cried. From the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show to the question of “Who shot J.R.?” on Dallas, we have been riveted to the set, watching avidly and discussing what we had seen with others. One series, M*A*S*H, provided one of TV’s best moments with its final episode, titled “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.” Though this particular episode featured many great moments, the best one would be when Hawkeye Pierce was talking to Dr. Sidney Freedman in a mental hospital. The doctor was trying to discover why Pierce had a mental breakdown, while Pierce was having difficulty in remembering what had happened. Pierce finally recalls that the bus he and others were riding had to pull over to the side of the road to hide from an enemy patrol. Hawkeye yells at a woman to keep her chicken from squawking, fearful that the enemy would find them, only to be stunned when the woman smothers her chicken while trying to keep it quiet. The audience is just as horrified as Hawkeye when he realizes the woman didn’t smother a chicken; she smothered her infant child. This finale episode aired in 1983, and it remained the most watched episode in the history of television until 2010. When looking at modern day programming, the AMC original show Breaking Bad has provided moments on...
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...Sam Cooke In a class titled History of Rock ‘n Roll, one would think that the course would cover almost every major artist who participated in or influenced the rise of the genre. However, due to time constraints and personal preferences, every artist cannot be given the credit they deserve in the proper way—at least not all in one semester! That is okay, though. In this paper I plan on introducing an artist whose career and influence on the creation of the rock n’ roll era both was tremendous in his own right. Sam Cooke was a revolutionary artist who in some instances set the precedent for many artists and movements that followed. His music, singing, and performance helped solidify Cooke as one of the all-time greats. As a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame charter member, the need for his presence on the syllabus and in this class is irrefutable. Born in Chicago, Illinois, on January 22, 1931, to the Reverend and Mrs. Charles Cook, Sr., Sam Cooke was one of eight Cook children. This son of a Baptist preacher and sibling to four brothers and three sisters was born into a lifestyle conducive to a musical career. The large family and church background provided for the perfect set-up for a gospel family group. That’s just what they did—together forming “The Singing Children”. (Wolff). Cooke’s musical talents and interests continued to thrive in the ensuing years as he moved from one musical group to another, working to make a name for himself and for the African-American...
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...Generations: Baby Boomers Gen X & Gen Y Baby Boomer Information THE UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU CONSIDERS A BABY BOOMER AS A PERSON BORN BETWEEN 1946-1964 (WIKIPEDIA, DEFINITION, 2009) Description of Baby Boomers “Shockwave” “By the sheer force of its “Pig in the Python” “Baby boomers had a placid childhood in the 1950’s which helped inspire them to start their revolution” numbers, the boomers were a demographic bulge which remodeled society as it passed through it” Special Characteristics of Baby Boomers Boomers are associated with privilege because many grew up in a time of affluence Baby Boomer Baby boomer is a general term mainly used to describe those babies born during Post World War II Baby Boomer Identities Grew up in a time of social change A strong pull between a culturally strong older generation and a newer conservative generation Spiritual Beliefs 42% of all baby boomers walked away from formal religion 1/3 of all baby boomers never strayed from their religious beliefs ¼ of all baby boomers are starting to return to church, however their liberal views on abortion and homosexuality cause disagreements Boomers Coming of Age Around the World Britain Obsessed over Beatle mania Italy Wearing Mod Clothes and Buying the World a Coke India Focusing on new philosophical discoveries Canada United States Organizing Driving to support for Woodstock Pierre and organizing Trudeau, 15th against...
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...Integrating Culture and Diversity in Decision Making: The CEO and Organizational Culture Profile Strayer University Leadership and Organizational Behavior Business 520 Provide a brief (one [1] paragraph) description of the organization you chose to research. Examine the culture of the selected organization. Explain how you determined that the selected organization showed the signs of the culture that you have identified. Determine the factors that caused the organization to embody this particular culture. Determine what type of leader would be best suited for this organization. Support your position. Imagine that there is a decline in the demand of product(s) or services supplied by the selected organization. Determine what the change in culture would need to be in response to this situation. The company that I chose to research was Zappos. Zappos started off as an online shoe company founded by Nick Swinmurn in 1999, as a result of his inability to find a pair of Air walk shoes. Since its founding Zappos has become the largest online shoe store in the world. In 2007 they branched out to selling apparel as well. In 2008 the company reached 1 billion in annual sales, and in 2009 debuted at #23 on the Forbes list of Top 100 best places to work. (www.forbes.com). In July of 2009 Amazon.com purchased Zappos. The main concerns of the CEOs of Zappos were to maintain the same level of customer service that had grown their customer base to where ti was. Zappos wishes for...
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...first in England and then again, independently, in New York. During the early 1950s, several London artists transformed the artifacts and mass media imagery of American popular culture into critical, satirical art works. They were responding to a flood of American postwar export of consumer goods, movies, magazines, comics and advertising. However, Pop Art became popular movement in United States. After the Second World War came the birth of the consumer society. The American way of life, with its emphasis on growth, quantity, consumption and fun, dominated western values. However, underneath many of the same old dark forces raged on: war - Berlin, Korea, Vietnam; racial unrest; the political intolerance of the early 1950s. Among the young, new values awoke, and protest movements sprang up. Pop art mostly opposed abstractionism, represented by Jackson Pollock. It was said that Pollock’s work terminated all connections with visible reality. Young artists blamed him for making art a mean of amusement for higher ranks of society. The biggest influence on Pop Art had Dada movement: Dada is the groundwork to abstract art and sound poetry, a starting point for performance art, a prelude to postmodernism, an influence on pop art, a celebration of anti-art to be later embraced for anarcho-political uses in the 1960s and the movement that lay the foundation for...
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...The Mafia/Mob Influenced American Society as we Know it Today. Since I was a kid I had an interest in the mafia. This interest may have stemmed from watching the Godfather movies with my father growing up. As we all know, this way of life is a violent lifestyle not conducive to a long and prosperous life but television and movies glorified it to an extent. Through countless hours of reading and research I got more of an understanding of how they came about and why but what I really wanted to know it what kind of influence did they have on the American society? Thesis Prohibition of the 1920s introduced the maturation of the American mafia. The religious left and established political groups influenced and created the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution which made it illegal to produce, sell, transport, and import alcohol. If prohibition influenced the creation of the Mafia what did the Mafia influence and how did it affect American Society? Preview of Main Points I was able to find several areas where the Mafia was able to influence American society as we know it today but; I will only touch on three of them. The music we listen to today was greatly affected by the popularity of jazz being performed in the underground night clubs which were owned and operated by the Mafia. Las Vegas, or “Sin City”, wouldn’t be the city it is today without the funding and early management provided by the Mafia. Finally, crime scene investigation or forensic analysis...
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