No Blue Plaques ‘In the Land of Grey and Pink’: The Canterbury Sound, Heritage and the Alternative Relationships of Popular Music and Place
Subcultures, Bodies and Spaces: Essays on Alternativity and Marginalization
ISBN: 978-1-78756-512-8, eISBN: 978-1-78756-511-1
Publication date: 15 October 2018
Abstract
The term Canterbury Sound emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s to refer to a signature style within psychedelic and progressive rock developed by bands such as Caravan and Soft Machine as well as key artists including Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers. This chapter explores Canterbury as a metaphor and reality, a symbolic space of music inspiration which has produced its distinctive ‘sound’.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, particularly observations and interviews with music artists and cultural intermediates (Bourdieu, 1993), we suggest that the notion of the Canterbury Sound – with its affinity for experimentation, distinctive chord progressions and jazz allusions in a rock music format – is perceived as a continuing artistic and aesthetic influence. We interpret the genealogy of the Canterbury Sound alternativity through discussions focused on the position of the ‘Sound’ within contemporary heritage discourses, the metaphorical and geographical implications of place in relation to popular music, and cultural longevity of the phenomenon.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the editors of this collection – Dr Samantha Holland and Professor Karl Spracklen – for supporting our contribution to the book. Special thanks to Birmingham City University and Canterbury Christ Church University for encouraging us to invest our research time into developing our Canterbury Sound study and chapter. We would also like to express our gratitude here to everyone who took part in our ethnographic fieldwork.
As co-ordinators of the event, Canterbury Sound: Place, Music and Myth, which took place in October 2017 and also emerged from our research, we would like to thank the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Canterbury Christ Church University as well as Canterbury Festival for funding our initiative and providing guidance. This event is partially reflected in this chapter and has provided material for further work and publications linked to the Canterbury Sound. The Canterbury Sound day-event combined a series of performances from contemporary artists linked with the phenomenon; talks and interactive sessions with cultural researchers, artists and intermediaries; and an archival and art exhibition.
Citation
Draganova, A. and Blackman, S. (2018), "No Blue Plaques ‘In the Land of Grey and Pink’: The Canterbury Sound, Heritage and the Alternative Relationships of Popular Music and Place", Holland, S. and Spracklen, K. (Ed.) Subcultures, Bodies and Spaces: Essays on Alternativity and Marginalization (Emerald Studies in Alternativity and Marginalization), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 219-237. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-511-120181014
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Samantha Holland and Karl Spracklen