Selena Medley

• Selena Medley, Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea,
• Instrumentation: Vocals (maybe 4 or 5?), vihuela, trumpets, moroccos, violins, flute, guitarrones (traditional mariachi band instruments).
• Texture: I would say that this medley has a fairly thick texture. There seem to be numerous people playing each instrument, which makes the sound richer and feel thicker, and certainly makes the piece feel fuller. Furthermore, the fact that there are numerous singers also adds to the texture, because while one singer is singing a solo, the others can sing back-up.
• Range: The range is not particularly wide in this piece, and remains pretty moderate throughout.
• Tempo: Even though this is a medley, a type of song where the tempo often fluctuates, the tempo remains constant throughout. This can especially be observed by the vihuelas and guitarrones.
• Meter: I would say that the piece is in a 4 beat meter.
• Volume: The volume too remains fairly constant throughout. Each tribute in the medley has a climax, where the singer and instruments often raise the volume, but besides this, the volume remains moderate to loud the whole time. This is in keeping with the feel of a mariachi band. Mariachi bands are traditionally lively and fun, and help to maintain these feelings for their audience by playing loudly.
• Selena Quintanilla-Perez: Better known as simply "Selena," this singer was dubbed "the next Gloria Estefan" in the 90s. She was a very talented young singer from Texas who won numerous awards and was extremely popular in Spanish speaking countries, as well as in the US. She released her first record at the age of twelve. Selena's singing career began within her family, where she sang in the family band. Her family was very involved in her career and even though her father pulled her out of school before she reached high school, Selena still received a high school diploma from continuing her education on the road. Selena was murdered at age 23 by the president of her fan club.
• It is not a wonder that this mariachi band would feel that Selena was deserving of a medley. She accomplished more than a lifetime's worth of work in her short 23 years, creating some of the most popular Tejano songs. Not only did she perform in Spanish, but also in English. Furthermore, she completed her own education and went around texas, advocating the importance of education to young children. Selena was a positive influence on her fans, and an extremely talented singer who left an everlasting mark on Tejano music.

Cucurrucucu Paloma

• Cucurrucucu Paloma, Lola Beltran, 1932-1996
• Instrumentation: Vocals, acoustic guitar, harp or electric guitar(? I can't figure out one of the instruments that is playing what I think are triplets at around minute 2:00) guitar, violins, trumpets, bass. It sounds like a mariachi band.
• Texture: There seems to be pretty much one line of music, which primarily features the vocals, although there are some sections where the instruments are featured, especially the trumpets, while Lola is not singing. I would not describe this song as rich. Lola's voice is certainly full and loud, but it does not feel rich, and while there is a full accompaniment, it primarily is there to support Lola, and does not enrich the sound so much as fill it out.
• Range: The range does not actually vary greatly. Lola remains in a mid to high range the whole time. The instruments certainly vary their range throughout the piece, but it is not extremely noticeable, because the primary sound is certainly the vocals.
• Tempo: The tempo is moderate to fast. Although Lola is holding long notes for a lot of the piece, if you listen to the instruments, which are keeping the beat in the background, you can hear a faster beat.
• Meter: I think it is in a 4 beat meter, and remains in such the entire way through.
• Volume: Lola remains at a pretty high volume throughout the entire song, which really puts the emphasis on her voice as opposed to the instrumentation.
• Lyrics: She is singing of a dove (or swallow, depending on how it's translated) who died of his passionate suffering for his love. I like that the chorus of this song is onomatopoeia, especially this specific bird call because it sounds very lovely in spanish, where the Rs are rolled. The dramatic story is certainly dramatized by Lola's dramatic sining of the song- she draws out the last note of each phrase, and sings at a very high volume throughout.

We Shall Overcome

• We Shall Overcome, Joan Baez, 1960s
• Instrumentation: acoustic guitar, and vocals. Baez is backed by the soft singing/humming of the audience.
• Texture: This song feels full, but I would not describe it as rich. Joan's voice is lighter (especially after listening to Odetta) and the acoustic guitar is played lightly as well. The guitar definitely supports the vocals, but the two lines are not identical.
• Range: The majority of the song is sung at a medium range, but Joan occasionally crescendos very quickly to a very high note, which she sings falsetto.
• Tempo: The tempo remains constant, and is fairly moderate.
• Meter: I think it is a four beat meter, which remains constant throughout and is kept up more distinctly by the guitar.
• Volume: The volume remains fairly high throughout. This is appropriate as she is performing for a large audience, and it is a song about protest and overcoming, which is more effective if sung out, loudly. The higher notes are always sung more loudly.
• Lyrics: She is singing about overcoming violence and finding peace. I've heard this song in a US history class before, in the civil rights unit of the course. We learned that Baez led the audience in singing this song at a march on Washington. This explains her introduction where she shares the anecdote about David and the resistance and asks the audience to join in with her. This type of folk song reminds me of Joni Mitchell's Woodstock in that it has a political agenda and advocates for change. There are some songs that you can listen to and just get lost in the song and disregard the lyrics, and this is not one of them. The song has a clear message, which is emphasized by Joan's clear voice and accurate annunciation of every word.

Glory, Glory

• Glory, Glory, Odetta, 1956
• Instrumentation: a cappella, no instruments.
• Texture: Although there is only one voice with absolutely no other sound, this song has a seemingly rich texture. Odetta's voice has a rich and powerful feel to it and it seems to resonate even though the acoustics do not echo. There is definitely only one line of music at all times.
• Range: The vocals remain at a fairly low range throughout, but at the end of each verse, Odetta ascends up the scale.
• Tempo: The tempo remains constant throughout, and is very slow.
• Meter: There is a definite meter and slow pulse to this song, which remains constant throughout. I am guessing that it is a four beat meter.
• Volume: The volume follows the range in this piece: when she sings lower, she is softer, and she crescendos as she sings higher. The higher volume parts seem to coincide with "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah" which puts emphasis on these words of hope in a song that gives off a baleful feel.
• Lyrics: The song repeats the chorus "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah" and speaks of laying down a burden. It immediately makes me think of the call and response songs often sung by slaves to keep their spirits up and pass the time as they worked. While Odetta emphasizes the words Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, the song has a sadder tone to it, because it seems she will not find glory until she puts her burden down, and it is not clear that she has the choice of when to put this burden down.

Woodstock

• Woodstock, Joni Mitchell, 1969
• Instrumentation: Electric guitar, vocals. The song opens with a 45 second solo intro by the guitar, which goes from simpler notes to thicker chords. Then the vocals begin in a very crisp, clear manner. At times the vocalist is backed by more vocals which do not sing but rather back up with "do-do-dos." These vocal backups, when they briefly sing, remind me of the music in the movie "Brother where art thou."
• Texture: The texture varies in this song. At times it seems bare, such as the very beginning of the guitar's intro, and at times when Joni is singing too. However, when the guitar plays more chords rather than notes, and Joni is backed by more vocalists, the piece grows richer. While it is rich at times, the song overall feels very empty, and there are a number of silent pauses throughout. While the voice and the guitar go together, there seem to be two distinct lines of music most of the time.
• Range: The range in this piece also varies pretty widely. Joni hits some high notes, especially at the most passionate parts of the song, when she is saying that "we have got to get ourselves back to the garden." The song also reaches fairly high when Jodi sounds like a yodeler.
• Tempo: The tempo remains fairly slow throughout, although it does speed up at times. The tempo would never be categorized as fast, though.
• Meter: There is no very clear rhythmic beat to me, but I would guess that the song is in a 4 beat meter.
• Volume: The volume varies a lot, which really helps to emphasize the journey that the vocalist is describing. When Joni is describing the journey to Woodstock, she sings more quietly, and when she sings of the feelings associated with Woodstock, she sings more loudly which also makes her sound more passionate.
• Lyrics: She is singing about the Woodstock concert. The lyrics accurately describe the historic event Woodstock and the cultural movement that it represented. Woodstock is remembered as a mecca for hippies of the sixties, who questioned authority: "I dreamed I saw the bombers riding shotgun in the sky and they were turning into butterflies above our nation. We are stardust... we are caught in the devil's bargain."

Please Mr. Postman

• Please Mr. Postman, The Marvelettes, 1961
• Instrumentation: Percussion, piano, bass, vocals (lead and backup), clapping. The instruments do not vary much- they pretty much repeat the same patterns over and over. They function as a support for the vocals.
• Texture: I would describe the texture as full, but not rich. There are not many different instruments present here, so the sound is not rich, but it is never thin. The percussion, strings, and piano pretty much play the same rhythm over and over, and blend in with the vocal line.
• Range: There is not much variation in range here at all. The voices stay in the same range the entire song, and the instruments seem to play the same notes/ chords the entire time.
• Tempo: The music is of a medium pace, and is undoubtedly steady.
• Meter: 4 beat meter(?) with a very defined pulse. The percussion keeps a very steady beat throughout the song, and there is no variation at all.
• Volume: The song maintains a medium volume throughout.
• Lyrics: In the song, the girls sing about waiting around for a letter from their men. They say that they haven't heard from their boyfriends in a long time and won't be happy until they do: their happiness depends on their man. Although the sixties were a time when women were still establishing their independence and place in society, the Motown genre was a sort of step in the wrong direction. Label owners like Berry Gordy controlled their girl groups and gave them practically no benefits at all. Thus, the lyrics in this song are very appropriate to the genre to which they belong.
• Other: The song has a medium tempo, volume, and range. This mediocrity, or lack of exaggeratedness also reflects the powerless position women often held within Motown.

Preliminary Research Proposal

Benjaminson, Peter. The story of Motown. New York : Grove Press : distributed by Random House, 1979. HON ML429.G67 B4.

This book outlines the history of motown music and how it came to be. It also talks about how it developed and profiles the individuals who helped to create this movement, such as Berry Gordy. It is important to know the history of Motown in general to undestand how Carole King fit into it.

Carole King- I Feel the Earth Move. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoHuxpa4h48.

This song demonstrates Carole performing live, and presents one of her top hits.

Carole King Interview: Singer Songwriter Extraordinaire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZjSIu55sBs

A video of an interview of C. King helps us to better understand her personally and professionally.

Carole King- It’s Too Late. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPeVbEg1DHE.

This song also demonstrates Carole performing live, and presents another one of her top hits.

Early, Gerald Lyn. One nation under a groove : Motown and American culture. Hopewell: Ecco Press, 1995. HON ML3477 .E2 1995.

Music is itself a part of what defines a culture. As new genres pop up within music, such as motown, they are influenced by the present culture. This book will help to explain how culture influences new music genres, which will help us to understand how Carole King’s lyrics, for example, were influenced by the culture of the time.

Havranek, Carrie. Women icons of popular music : the rebels, rockers, and renegades. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2009. HON ML82 .H39 2009.

This book provides an in-depth look at twenty four different women (including carole King) who are legendary in the music industry. Not only does it provide piographical informations, but it also provides a larger context -social, musical, political, and personal- for their success and legacy (Amazon).

Mariah Carey- If it’s Over (live). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEkBcU7YZvg

This is a performance put on by Mariah, of one of the songs that she co-wrote with Carole King.

Perone, James E. The words and music of Carole King. Westport: Praeger, 2006. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.

This book focuses on the point in King’s career when she released her album Tapestry. It was largely seen as a feminist statement as King was not only singing all the songs on her album, but was in control of the production of the whole thing.

Rohlfing, Mary E. “Don't say nothin' bad about my baby: A re-evaluation of women's roles in the Brill Building era of early rock 'n' roll.” Critical studies in mass communication, 13(2) 93-114. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.

This article examines how women songwriters such as Carole King broke into the Brill Building era of rock ‘n’ roll, and paved the way for female musicians to come.

Smith, Suzanne E. Dancing in the street : Motown and the cultural politics of Detroit. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999. HON ML3792 .S65 1999.

Motown, a music genre that Carole King wrote numerous songs for, was started in Detroit. It was certainly influenced by the politics of the city at the time, and this influence stuck with the genre as it spread across the country. This book will help identify how/if politics shaped Carole King’s career as a songwriter.

Szatmary, David P. Rockin' in time: a social history of rock-and-roll. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010. HON ML3534 .S94 2010.

Just as it is productive to investigate how motown was influenced by the culture of the time and the American society, so it is useful to look at the genre of Rock ‘n’ roll (which Carole King also wrote songs for) and how it was influenced by society.

Tawa, Nicholas E. American composers and their public: a critical look. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1995. HON ML3795 .T25 1995.

This book takes a look at the influence that the public plays on composers and songwriters in America. This will be helpful in examining Carole King’s lyrics and career decisions and making sense of them.

Warwick, Jacqueline C. Girl groups, girl culture : popular music and identity in the 1960s. New York: Routledge, 2007. HON ML3534 .W35 2007.

In this book, Warwick examines the role that Carole King played in the music industry as a singer, songwriter, and composer. She is also compared to Ellie Greenwich, who also composed, and wrote songs in the sixties, and also found great success.

Weller, Sheila. Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon- the journey of a generation. New York: Atria Books, 2008. HON ML 400 .W35 2008.

This book provides a detailed biography of these three women. It explains how they broke the traditional mold of women in the mid twentieth century.

Windeler, Robert. The sound of autobiography: Singer-songwriters, Carole King. Originally published, 'Carole King: 'You can get to know me through my music'' Stereo review (May 1973): 76-77. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.

This article explores what C. King meant when she said, “you can get to know me through my songs.”

Zollo, Paul. Songwriters on songwriting. New York : Da Capo Press, 2003. HON ML3477 .Z64 2003.

This book is a collection of interviews, previously published in Song Talk magazine, of songwriters. They are asked about songwriting as a profession as well as their peer songwriters.

For my term research paper, I will focus on Carole King. Carole King is a legendary singer, songwriter, and pianist. She was inducted into both the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the beginning of her career King only wrote songs for other performers. She wrote hits such as “Will You Love me Tomorrow” performed by the Shirelles, “Chains” which was recorded by the Beatles, “The Locomotion” recorded by Kylie Minogue and Tina Turner, “I’m into Something Good” recorded by Herman’s Hermits, “You Make me Feel (Like a natural Woman)” by Aretha Franklin, and “If It’s Over” by Mariah Carey.

Eventually, King struck out on her own as a singer and performer. She found great success with her album “Tapestry” which sold about twenty two million copies worldwide. She has performed with many superstars such as Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, and Shania Twain.

Although she had only been known as “C. King” to many before she began performing on her own, it was as a songwriter that Carole began to pave the way for women in the music industry. She was putting in the final stomps on the idea of the “piano girl.” She was further proving that women certainly had a place in this business or aspect of culture. Alongside Ellie Greenwich, she helped women to break out of the male-dominated Brill Building sound of rock and roll.

In my term paper I plan to further investigate how King helped to pave the way for women in the music industry. I plan to examine more closely the difference between her career as simply a songwriter and her career as a performer. I also plan to investigate what had an impact on King’s lyrics, and what made her decide that she wanted to begin performing as well as songwriting.