History of Rock and Roll

One of the courses in my rotation at UWT is a history of rock and roll course. In the past, I've stuck pretty close to Garofalo's textbook (especially for the early stuff, which I'm least comfortable with). Part of me also likes a "textbook" course because once in a while, it makes my teaching load a bit easier. I toy with the idea of giving them all kinds of cultural studies articles to read, sociology, music analysis/criticism/journalism, etc., but then I think "Do I want to do all that work?" (NB: I do all that work for my rap class and music and crisis. Since I'm adjuncting, I have to find breathing room where I can.)

My wife and I visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on a recent trip to Cleveland, and as we were watching the year-by-year inductees, I thought, "My students should just pay for airfare to Cleveland and admission to this museum instead of shelling out for my course." But then I hit upon an idea for how to reshape my class in a rather efficient way.

I thought it would be interesting to get the students to research the inductees and put together their own history of rock. Inductees also include "Early Influences," "Nonperformers," "Lifetime Achievement," and "Sidemen" awards. I found this book which is more than I could have ever hoped for. It lists chronologically each class of inductees, and has photos and--most interesting/importantly--excerpts from the induction speeches.

Consider the following from the first class, John Fogerty speaking on Buddy Holly:

I just want to tell you what Buddy Holly meant to me. I was twelve years old, and I was working at a beach resort, and that voice and guitar came up over the PA. I went out and bought "That'll Be the Day," started learning the words. A few months later, I bought the album, and that album set a course in musical history. There was a group pictured on the cover, and it was the first time you saw a group in rock & roll. I thought, "I'm gonna have a group." Over in Liverpool, the same thing was going on with four other guys. They named their group the Beatles because Buddy Holly's group was called the Crickets. In 1963, these four guys chose to hen their great song "I want to Hold Your Hand" with the little syncopation Buddy Holly used in the chorus after the solo. About twenty years later, a kid was writing a song about how it feels to be back [Fogerty's "Centerfield"], and he ended his song with the same riff--came from the same place. (15)

Think of all of the great topics for exploration that little paragraph offers:

• Was it really the first album with a group on the cover?
• What are Buddy Holly's influences on the Beatles?
• What are Buddy Holly's influences on John Fogerty?
• Can we analyze "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and compare it to "That'll Be the Day" and/or "Centerfield?"
• Did John Fogerty start a group? Who were they?

Students can research these questions and use them to make connections with other artists. We could move chronologically or by inductee "class."

The down side is that in order to be considered for induction, the artist's first album must have been released at least 25 years prior to the year of consideration. I thought a good final project would then be to ask them to "forecast" future inductees (including producers, sidemen, etc.) and write the speech they would offer at the induction ceremony.