What is Rock and Roll?
I was driving with one of my friends today, and I happened to mentioned that the music we were listening to did a really good job of representing what I felt was true Rock and Roll. The band was Buckcherry and the album was Time Bomb (the specific song is irrelevant here). So my friend looks at me square in the eye (yes, still driving here) and tells me that she thinks that I am wrong.
"Wrong?" I say, "How could I be wrong? These guys have that rock and roll sound. Not to mention the songs are all about livin' life fast with no regrets and enjoying every minute of it. How is that not Rock and Roll?"
"It just isn't" she replied. Allow me to interject here to mention that I am someone who feels they are quite musically adept. A long standing music career, a position as a music educator, and having the kinds of friends that I do (that I am sure are reading this), affords me as much as an opinion, if not more, than your everyday Joe. Needless to say, I could not resist plodding further into the depths of my friends thoughts.
"So what DO you consider Rock and Roll?" I asked her.
"Elvis."
That was it. No "Elvis and." Just...Elvis. My first thought was one of agreement. Sure Elvis was Rock and Roll. Hell, the man is only the trademark symbol of it nowadays. But, Elvis is obviously dead, and while his music continues to long on after his death, I couldn't help but ask myself if the Rock and Roll that my friend was thinking of died with the man, his music a melodic and self-serving reference to the true Rock and Roll that once was.
I posed this question to my companion and was met with a response as pessimistic about the world of music as her original. I asked my friend to explain and the conversation that ensued could be a whole other page of its own but the basic gist of it was about breaking boundaries and rules and the ever increasing desensitization of American culture. I say American culture here because there is a big difference between bands that become popular overseas and bands that become popular in America.
To be continued...
"Wrong?" I say, "How could I be wrong? These guys have that rock and roll sound. Not to mention the songs are all about livin' life fast with no regrets and enjoying every minute of it. How is that not Rock and Roll?"
"It just isn't" she replied. Allow me to interject here to mention that I am someone who feels they are quite musically adept. A long standing music career, a position as a music educator, and having the kinds of friends that I do (that I am sure are reading this), affords me as much as an opinion, if not more, than your everyday Joe. Needless to say, I could not resist plodding further into the depths of my friends thoughts.
"So what DO you consider Rock and Roll?" I asked her.
"Elvis."
That was it. No "Elvis and." Just...Elvis. My first thought was one of agreement. Sure Elvis was Rock and Roll. Hell, the man is only the trademark symbol of it nowadays. But, Elvis is obviously dead, and while his music continues to long on after his death, I couldn't help but ask myself if the Rock and Roll that my friend was thinking of died with the man, his music a melodic and self-serving reference to the true Rock and Roll that once was.
I posed this question to my companion and was met with a response as pessimistic about the world of music as her original. I asked my friend to explain and the conversation that ensued could be a whole other page of its own but the basic gist of it was about breaking boundaries and rules and the ever increasing desensitization of American culture. I say American culture here because there is a big difference between bands that become popular overseas and bands that become popular in America.
To be continued...