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Listening Log 1

Hank Williams recorded "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" in 1949, featuring acoustic guitar, steel guitar, and Williams' soft vocals. The song has a slow tempo throughout and expresses the deep emotions of country music. Chuck Berry recorded "Maybellene" for Chess Records in 1955. The song uses cars as a metaphor for a relationship and features a fast-paced melody driven by drums and electric guitar. It introduced rock and roll while also drawing from country music styles.

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55 views3 pages

Listening Log 1

Hank Williams recorded "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" in 1949, featuring acoustic guitar, steel guitar, and Williams' soft vocals. The song has a slow tempo throughout and expresses the deep emotions of country music. Chuck Berry recorded "Maybellene" for Chess Records in 1955. The song uses cars as a metaphor for a relationship and features a fast-paced melody driven by drums and electric guitar. It introduced rock and roll while also drawing from country music styles.

Uploaded by

sarah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 1

Hank Williams recorded “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” at the E.T Herzog Recording
Studios in 1949. This song was released as a B-side with the song “My Buckets Got A Hole In
It”.

As the song starts, the acoustic guitar is the first instrument to come in. It carries the
melody throughout the song. His voice slowly comes in and follows the pace of the acoustic
guitar. Halfway through the song there is an instrumental verse where the steel guitar has a solo
to carry the melody until Hank’s voice re appears. The melody in this song is very slow and soft.

In “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” there is harmony with Hank’s vocals which are
supported with the electric guitar playing in the background. There is also bass and a fiddle that
help support the melody. Hank’s voice and the fiddle switch harmonies throughout the song.

The timbre is made up of Hank William’s drawn out voice, the steel guitar, acoustic
guitar, and bass. These all give off a soft and dark timbre to my ears.

The slow tempo of the song is driven by the slower rhythm of the steel and acoustic
guitar consistently throughout the song. Hank’s voice is very soft and gloomy to help set the
mood of the song.

“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” is in simple verse form. This is a shortened version of
the 12-bar blues. All the verses in the song have the same tempo but use different lyrics. There is
an instrumental verse in between verse 2 and 3 that doesn’t change the tempo either.

The song by Hank William’s has a homophonic texture. This means that Hank’s voice
stands out from the other instruments being played. The texture is wobbly and uneven because of
the sadness heard in Hank’s voice. The instruments match this texture by having similar patterns
as Hank’s voice throughout the song.

Country and western music was becoming increasingly popular during this time. This
song fits well into the era because Hank Williams stood for this style. This song really expresses
how country music is supposed to have a lot of heart and deep emotions lingering in the song. He
became a huge country figure and will be known forever for his one singular style.

Chapter 2

Chuck Berry and his trio recorded “Maybellene” for Chess Records in 1955. It was
released as a single since it was one of Berry’s first songs to become a major hit. This song
discusses a girl who is cheating on the guy she is seeing, but the song uses cars to explain this by
referring Maybellene to a Cadillac.

In “Maybellene” the song starts steady and the drums enter to carry the melody. Then
Chuck Berry’s voice follows along with the guitar to keep up with the fast-paced beat. About
halfway through the song Berry’s voice cuts off and a guitar solo comes in with fast paced riffs
to help carry the melody of the song. This instrumental verse is played at a very fast pace for
about 30 seconds. When Berry re-enters in the song his voice is even faster. The melody is fast
and upbeat but stays in the same range for most of the song.

In “Maybellene” the guitar is used to harmonize the song. It follows the beat that the
drums provide starting at the beginning of the song. The guitar helps assist the melody of the
vocals and the drums.

The timbre is made up of the electric guitar and Chuck Berry’s voice. The electric guitar
causes a heavier and humming sound to my ears whereas his vocals are projected loudly but have
a smooth tone to them.

The rhythm in “Maybellene” uses backbeat because it changes from two beats to four
beats. The chorus is two beats causing a faster tempo in the vocal patterns. The drums and guitar
never change rhythm. They constantly stay at a fast pace throughout the song.

“Maybellene” is in simple verse-chorus form, but the chorus is structured in 12 bar blues.
This is because verse-chorus form is obtained from the structure of 12 bar blues. The song starts
with the chorus and then leads into the first verse. All the verses have different lyrics but keep
the same tempo.

“Maybellene” has a heavy texture. The electric guitar sounds very prominent because of
the repetition of the thick chords. Chuck Berry provides a heavy texture also by projecting his
vocals loudly at the beginning of each verse.

This song fits well into the era because not only was it introducing rock and roll, it was
also giving off a country style to the audience. Many country listeners thought Chuck Berry
wasn’t black because of the way this song was sung. This caused a lot of anger from people, but
it also showed how the two styles are so similar. He was also one of the first musicians to write
his own lyrics which was a big deal during the 50’s.

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