I love the relationship that anyone has with music ... because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. ... It's the best part of us probably.
Nick HornbyRead
Our songs did not transcend being R&B hits. They were R&B hits that white kids were attracted to. And if people bought it, it became rock & roll. That's marketing. Why couldn't it still be R&B? The bass pattern didn't change. The song didn't change. It was still 'Yakety Yak' and 'Searchin'.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote discusses the commercialization and categorization of music, particularly how R&B can be marketed as rock and roll.
Jerry Leiber's quote reflects on the intersection of race, marketing, and music genres. He points out that R&B songs, particularly those that gained popularity among white audiences, were often rebranded as rock and roll despite retaining their original form. This highlights the complexities of cultural appropriation and the role of marketing in defining musical genres, emphasizing that the essence of the music did not change even as its label did.
Themes
MusicR&BRockMarketingCulture
In practice
Example use cases
In a panel discussion about the evolution of music genres.
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