Throughout its history, the sounds that have come to define R&B have derived from a range of musical characteristics, instrumentation, and ensembles, ranging in size from tight piano trios to large groups with full rhythm and horn sections. Performed with a core of acoustic instruments in the 1940s, R&B was plugged in and electric from the late 1950s forward.
Rhythmically, R&B now encompasses a wide breadth from blues shuffles with a back beat to boogie woogie, modified rumba rhythms, and syncopated variations of eight beat rhythm patterns that are the hallmark of rock ’n’ roll, and more. Even slow R&B ballads feature a palpable rhythmic pulse, while up tempo songs might include polyrhythmic arrangements to create rhythmic density. At its core R&B is dance music that compels the listener to respond. It is the creative melding and mixing of antecedent song forms including blues, gospel, swing, and other harmonic structures with new innovations that keep the evolving sounds of R&B contemporary.
While R&B music was not explicitly political from the late 1940s through the 1950s, its appeal across racial divides served as an emotion and psychological bond that linked American youth of all races and ethnic backgrounds. By the late 1950s, social and cultural changes were occurring that set the stage for the coalescence of civil rights activism and ethnic consciousness in the decade to come.
Source: Tell It Like It Is: A History of Rhythm and Blues by Mark Puryear
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Straight Into Darkness
Rhythmically, R&B now encompasses a wide breadth from blues shuffles with a back beat to boogie woogie, modified rumba rhythms, and syncopated variations of eight beat rhythm patterns that are the hallmark of rock ’n’ roll, and more. Even slow R&B ballads feature a palpable rhythmic pulse, while up tempo songs might include polyrhythmic arrangements to create rhythmic density. At its core R&B is dance music that compels the listener to respond. It is the creative melding and mixing of antecedent song forms including blues, gospel, swing, and other harmonic structures with new innovations that keep the evolving sounds of R&B contemporary.
While R&B music was not explicitly political from the late 1940s through the 1950s, its appeal across racial divides served as an emotion and psychological bond that linked American youth of all races and ethnic backgrounds. By the late 1950s, social and cultural changes were occurring that set the stage for the coalescence of civil rights activism and ethnic consciousness in the decade to come.
Source: Tell It Like It Is: A History of Rhythm and Blues by Mark Puryear
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Straight Into Darkness
- Produced by: Jimmy Iovine, Tom Petty
- Released in: 1990
- Genre: Rock, Classic Rock
"Formed in 1976, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers originally comprised of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair."
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