Change and The Future of Rock'n'Roll

After more than 90 posts on political subjects, I'm taking a break. Beginning with this post and for the next several months, The Left Bank Cafe is shifting focus to other topics – cultural, scientific, philosophical, and whatever else seems interesting.

The website face has been changed. That's a photo of the Mediterranean from Salis beach between Antibes and Cap d'Antibes in the header. It replaces the Hawaiian sunset of former times. I've provided a few “Essential Links” where you can keep up with progressive political commentary and can do some fact-checking when the rumor mills start spinning and the liars start lying.  I'll add to these links from time-to-time.  Besides these “essential links”, The Left Bank Cafe will occasionally provide links to noteworthy posts on current events.

Please join in the conversation. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome – even if it's just a Facebook-ish “Like” or a Siskel-and-Ebert-ish “Two Thumbs Down”. Also, if you want to suggest a topic or start a discussion, just put it in a comment.

The Future of Rock'n'Roll

"I've seen the future of Rock'n'Roll and it's name is Bruce Springsteen." Thirty eight years ago, in May 1974, rock writer Jon Landau wrote these prophetic and now famous words after he saw the twenty-five year old Springsteen perform at Harvard Square Theater in Cambrdige, Massachusetts. The future indeed. For some perspective, thirty-eight years is about two-thirds of the length of time that rock musicians have entertained the planet. “The Boss” is still going strong. His seventeenth studio album, Wrecking Ball, was released in March. He still sells out the largest arenas in days or hours. And it's not just old classic rock fans like me that show up.  Springsteen's fans cover a wide spectrum of ages. 

Rock has been a dominant genre in pop music since the mid-50's. It has evolved over the years but the best has had an edginess, an optimism and a power to it. It has continually presented a rebellious challenge to the status quo, a counter-culture if you will. It's been there all my life and I've been there for all of its.

Rock's staying power has been exceptional for popular music.  Teenagers today can still relate to a music genre that started more than 40 years before they were born.  Think about it - that's like saying I could relate as a contemporary to the popular music of the nineteen-aughts. 

So the question for the moment is: if Springsteen was the future of rock'n'roll in 1974, who is the future of rock in 2012? The aging standard bearers can't keep touring forever. Is there anyone out there who can take their place? Will rock evolve to keep attracting new generations without losing its core musical values and forgetting its roots? Or is rock going to go the way of the 1920's New Orleans jazz music playing in small, museum-like venues like Preservation Hall?

As for Springsteen's Wrecking Ball, it is a powerful concept album with the songs performed in a wide range of styles and in major and minor keys. It is not an easy album. Per the Rolling Stone review: “Wrecking Ball is the most despairing, confrontational, and musically turbulent album Bruce Springsteen has ever made. He is angry and accusing in these songs.... The America here is a scorched earth: razed by profiteers, and suffering a shameful erosion in truly democratic values and national charity.”

Okay it's angry and not easy but, boy, does it ever rock when it has to. Musically turbulent it certainly is – from the driving, Celtic rhythms of “Death to My Hometown” and “American Land” to the haunting soul/gospel/rap strains in “Rocky Ground” to the twangy Western guitar in “We Are Alive” to the reproachful rocker “We Take Care of Our Own” to the title track where the first chords and Bruce's raspy voice make you wonder if you've somehow wandered into a Bob Dylan album.

If you haven't already heard the album, there are numerous YouTube videos/audios of the song tracks that will give you a feel for the album. Here's one to get you started: Death to My Hometown.

First Rock'n'Roll Song

If you're a believer that Columbus discovered America since it was his voyages that threw open the New World, then you'd probably vote for one of two songs recorded in 1954 - Bill Haley's “Rock Around the Clock” (which eventually took the top spot on the Billboard charts in July 1955) or the then-unknown Elvis Presley's version of Alfred Crudup's “That's All Right (Mama)”.

On the other hand, if you're a believer that the Vikings deserve the honors for discovering the New World since they landed several hundred years earlier, then you might have a different view. Before rock'n'roll burst onto the national music scene in the mid-fifties, there were numerous songs that might lay claim to the title of the first rock'n'roll song. These early songs were usually recorded and performed by black musicians. Probably the leading contender in this camp is the Alfred Crudup's original1946 recording of “That's All Right, Mama.”  The mental floss website nicely presents the case for five such early recordings.

Well, here's hoping for another 50 or so years (at least) before the last rock'n'roll song is recorded.

Random Stuff

Greatest thing since sliced bread...sliced bread was invented in 1928.  "White Bread", Aaron Bobrow-Strain, reviewed in The Altantic Monthly, July/August 2012.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." - Joni Mitchell, "Big Yellow Taxi"

The latest count is 1713 square miles of American parking lot. "Rethinking a Lot", Eran Ben-Joseph, reviewed in The Altantic Monthly, July/August 2012.  Note: this is 100 square miles more than the combined areas of Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.

Besides the Vikings, another contender for setting foot in America before Columbus is the Chinese.  This controversial theory was resparked by Gavin Menzies' 2002 book "1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered America."  You can read more in the New York Times June 25, 2005 article linked here.