IN THE NAME OF POP (the Sixties)

Standard:British accent

Language level: Lower-intermediate

Speaker: Justin Ratcliff

Source: she-sins.blogspot.com

Source: www.speakup.com.br

IN THE NAME OF POP (the Sixties)

      Pop groups choose names to be memorable or stylish. These names become so familiar that we no longer notice their meaning. When you hear Genesis, do you think of the Bible? Do you think of water in the desert when you see Oasis?

      The names of great bands often have hidden meanings. Here we take a look at these origins, to understanding the music and fashions of recent decades.

INSECTS

      “Many people ask what are Beatles? Why Beatles? Ugh, Beatles, how did the name arrive? So we will tell you. It came in a vision – a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them ‘From this day on you are Beatles with an ‘A’.” That is what John Lennon wrote in the Liverpool music magazine Mersey Beat in 1961 (this was before the Beatles were famous).he had tried various names: the Quarry Men, Johnny and the Moondogs, the Silver Beetles, the Silver Beats. His final choice plays on words, suggesting insects, like Buddy Holly and the Crickets, but also “The Mersey Beat” (The rock’n’roll scene of  Liverpool’s River Mersey and “the Beat Generation.”

      Insects would not come back into fashion until the 1980s, with Adam and the Ants. But the Beatles certainly influenced two groups’ name. The Byrds and the Monkees. Playing with spelling has been common ever since. Def Leppard, Megadeth, Black Crowes, Phish.

LIKE A ROLLING STONE…

      In the early 1960s, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards started playing with guitarist Brian Jones. They took their name from a blues song by Muddy Waters, “Rolling Stone” (Later, in 1967, it would also be used as the name a new rock magazine). The phrase comes from a proverb: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” It’s a classic rock’n’roll sentiment: always keep moving, never settle down.

      Other band names capture that rock sensibility. The Animals sound wild. The Kinks sound idiosyncratic and sexy. “There’s nothing Kinky about us, “said singer Ray Davies. “Kinky is such a fashionable word: we knew people would remember it.”

SURF MUSIC

California band The Pendletones took their name from the Stylish Pendleton shirts. Imagine their surprise when they opened their first single. “Surfin,” to discover that the producer had renamed them the Beach Boys!

      Another classic band began as The Detours, then became The High Numbers, it is said that, while they were trying to think of a new name, guitarist Pete Townshend (who is now dear) kept saying “The Who?” They became The Who and the hits soon followed.

THE SUMMER OF LOVE

The late ‘60s’ brought psychedelic music, with the influence of sex and drugs. The Doors took their name from Aldous Huxley’s 1954 book on drugs. The Doors of Perception. Lou Reed’s group, The Velvet Underground, were inspired by a book on sadomasochism.

      Influenced by The Beatles’ psychedelic album, Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, many chose names reflecting their experimental music: the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. Captain Beef heart and his Magic Band. Pink Floyd’s name comes from blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council: their original name, the Architectural Abdabs, was much more bizarre.

THE SEARCH FOR SIMPLICITY

      New bands reacted against this complexity. Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker considered themselves the best blues musicians, so they called themselves Cream. Other simple names include Yes, Free, Rush, Wings, Squeeze and Kiss. Freddie Mercury chose the name Queen for its ambiguous royal and transvestite connotations. Peter Gabriel nearly called his band Gabriel’s Angels, but decided Genesis sounded fresh and new. Van Morrison changed the Gamblers name to them.

      

Ray Charles, 1930-2004: He Created a Sound That Had a Huge Influence on Popular Music part II

Source: Voice of America Special English   

Source: www.manythings.org/voa/people 

This is Faith Lapidus. And this is Doug Johnson with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

Last week, we began the story of a blind musician who had a huge influence on American popular music.  He was famous for his recordings of jazz, rock-and-roll, blues and country music.  His name was Ray Charles Robinson.  But the world knew him better as Ray Charles.

(MUSIC:  "Let''s Go Get Stoned")

The name of that song is "Let's Go Get Stoned."  It is an example of Ray Charles' own kind of music—his own sound.  He worked hard for several years to create that sound.  No one ever tried it before.  He mixed black church music, blues and rock-and-roll.  The sound was extremely successful.  In the nineteen fifties, his records began to sell millions of copies.

At the same time, Ray Charles recorded jazz music.  Those records sold well, too.  Critics said they were new and exciting.  Listen to his jazz song, "Sweet Sixteen Bars."

(MUSIC)

Ray Charles became famous because he could play blues, rock and jazz.  He also liked other kinds of music.  He told record company officials that he wanted to record an album of country-and-western music.

The president of the record company told him it would be a mistake.  He said Ray's fans would not buy the album.  Charles disagreed.  He said he believed he would gain many new fans to replace the few he might lose.  He produced the album and it was an immediate success.

The album was called "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music."  Many of the songs were major hits.  One of the most popular was "I Can't Stop Loving You."  It is a country-and-western song with Ray Charles' sound of blues and black church music.

(MUSIC)

Ray Charles lived in a world of sound.  For six months each year he traveled with his orchestra, performing in theaters.  For the other six months, he worked in his recording studio in Los Angles, California.  He did much of the recording work to produce his own albums.

Ray Charles would often say that sound and music were his life's blood.  In fact, he said many times that he would not trade his musical ability for the ability to see again.

You begin to understand what sound meant to Ray Charles when you learn that he helped create and support the Robinson Foundation for Hearing Disorders.  This organization helps people deal with the loss of their hearing.

You might think Ray Charles would have given his time and money to help the blind.  He did not.  He once said: "Being blind is my handicap.  But ears are my opportunity."  He said losing his hearing would have ended his life.

Ray Charles lived a long life that included his share of problems.  There was a time when he used illegal drugs.  He was married and divorced several times.  Yet the Ray Charles sound, and his success, continued.

He received twelve Grammy Awards from the recording industry.  He was one of the first musicians to be elected to the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame. Several universities honored him.  So did the French and American governments.  His home state of Georgia made his recording of "Georgia on My Mind" the official state song.

Several years ago, Ray Charles was asked to sing at a political convention.  He performed the song "America the Beautiful."  Many people thought his recording was the best ever made.

(MUSIC)

Ray Charles always said he owed most of his success to his mother.  He said when he was a boy, she taught him a valuable lesson.  She told him: "You can do anything you want to do.  You cannot use your eyes.  But you can work hard and use your brain."

Ray Charles died June tenth, two thousand four at the age of seventy-three.  Music experts say he did more than anyone in the twentieth century to change American popular music.

More than one hundred years ago, Alice Cary wrote a poem that could have been written for Ray Charles.  She wrote:

My soul is full of whispered song, --

My blindness is my sight;

The shadows that I feared so long

Are full of life and light.

(MUSIC:  "Seven Spanish Angels")

This program was written by Paul Thompson.  It was produced by Lawan Davis.    This is Doug Johnson. And this is Faith Lapidus.  Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program in VOA Special English.