Feel Good Music

Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard both made feel good music. I would like to say though, that Little Richard clearly had the more powerful voice of the two as can be seen by the difference in the following two videos. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFq5O2kabQo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4NquCaWIQI

However, rather than focusing on what makes one better than the other, let's determine why both of these two esteemed artists were so popular and still deserve attention. They both pioneered a form of loud, up-beat piano in combination with a form of oral serenading that was both ridiculous and ridiculously vivifying. I beg to make the case, that Bruno Mars, in his song "Treasure", drew some inspiration from Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire". The "mine oh mine" at 1:40 sounds familiar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPvuNsRccVw

Furthermore, the Bruno Mars band setup looks a lot like the live performance from Little Richard. Hopefully, the uplifting musical spirit of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis will prevail!

Rocking and Rolling

In class, we talked about why the gain of access to cars after World War II was such a significant social change. While everybody else was mostly sitting in class waiting to hear the answer, I began thinking that we all knew what it was. As a 16 year-old teenager, what one desires most is independence. Yes, as any satellite nation, as any colony knows (can you say 1776), independence is glorious, liberating and scary. With the independence gained by teenagers during this booming time of change (the 1950s), a new culture was born of rebellious (not so new), musically divergent teenagers. With the ability to drive off and have intimate relations without the fear of parental discovery, with the ability to distance oneself from the protective bubble that is one's home, rock and roll was able to spawn roots. I find it to be true that with the commencement of rock and roll, the addition of the electric guitar and the increasingly faster exchange of ideas, culture, the dawn of contemporary music began.

Let's Get Introspective

As I've grown up, I've found beauty in almost every form of music, ranging from jazz to classical, hip-hop to pop, rock to solely someone tapping their pencil on a desk in a rhythmic manner. I have a distaste for Justin Bieber but have to admit that the musical part of his songs (excluding his voice) can be catchy as well. The only other music I tend to object to is the Middle Eastern prayer music my dad plays at 9 in the evening, some dub step, emo and heavy metal. Since I play the piano, I've also been drawn towards songs that can be played on the piano... which is almost everything.