For the rock and roll portion of the project we are being introduced to various musicians during earlier time periods. We were required to listen to quite a few songs each day and now I am writing my response to three of these songs the impacted me. I have actually previously heard many of these songs, but there were also many that I didn't know of before this project.
Song number one: Joni Mitchell "Big Yellow Taxi" (1970)
I really enjoyed this song by Joni Mitchell. I had previously heard the Counting Crows version of this song and enjoyed that one, but this one I enjoyed a lot more. It had a different feel than the remade version and was a lot more folk-y. Her voice is sweet and entertaining to listen to. Also another thing that I noticed was that the lyrics had a definite message, that fits the time period it's from. I also liked how the song is in definite sections. There are quieter sections, really upbeat sections and parts where it seems she is just having fun. I liked the overall feel of this song and definitely recommend it. I only wish that I would have thought of this song when completing my documentary, because it does talk about pesticides.
Song number two: Herman's Hermits "Henry VII" (1965)
My other favorite song was "Henry VII". I really liked how the song was just fun and whimsical. I enjoyed listening to it and thought it sounded like something from like a show (either tv or musical). Although I liked this song a lot I find it interesting that they became popular, because I just can't see many people saying "Oh play 'Henry VII' again". I think this is because I live in current day and people were very different in the 60's because it was such a different time period. I think the main reason I was struck by this song is because it was so catchy and whimsical, also it's very different from most songs I have heard before.
When finding the picture of Herman's Hermits I thought that they looked extremely young, especially considering that they were part of the "British Invasion". This means that they had to be popular in Europe than in America. Despite their age I think that they are very good and I enjoyed their music a lot.
Song number three: The Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows"(1966)
Although I really like The Beatles, and listen to a lot of their music, I did not like this song. It seems like people would enjoy it if they were on drugs, which because it was the 60's many people were. I liked the sound of them singing and the base music of the song but I did not enjoy the other sounds that were layered on top. I know that the Beatles used technology and experimented with that, but I did not like it in the particular instance. I of course realize that this is psychedelic rock and that is the reason it sounds like it does, but I enjoyed the other songs from this genre except for this one. Overall I enjoy the Beatles but did not like this song.
Overall I liked this assignment and enjoyed listening to the music. I think it helped to show me all of the different types of music from that time period and helped to show me new music I had never heard before.
