ongoing

 Having been in the rock writing business more than a few years, I can state this: A whole lotta musicians are relatively ignorant about what came before them. Sorta like baseball players and the game’s history. It’s all about now. And to a large extent it should be. All we’ve got is today, maybe tomorrow. (The Kinks’ Ray Davies: “Yesterday’s gone and that’s fact/Now there’s no more looking back.”) But we didn’t get to wherever we are in 2012 by accident and I know one of the deep pleasures for me, as a fan and later critic, was delving into what I’d missed first time around due to a) not being born or b) being too darn young to get it. I’ve got to think others think this way too and now Berklee College of Music is encouraging that among its students with an online course, “Rock History,” a 12-week course shaped and taught by my former Globe colleague Steve Morse. First term, debut year begins Monday April 2. (You don’t have to be a Berklee student to take it; if you are you pay $1400 for course credit, and if you’re not $1200 for non-course credit. Morse says, “They’re marketing it to boomers too, to relive their youth.”)
    Morse, a former high school teacher before his Globe days, has spent a year and a half putting this together. Morse read or re-read rock history books, drew from his own experiences on the frontlines and backstage (talking with Bob Marley about music and weed), secured some exclusive videos from the likes of Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Hugo Burnham (Gang of Four), Joe Perry (Aerosmith), George Clinton (P-Funk) and others. There’s text, video, and, most importantly, interactive discussions, where students share stuff with their teacher but crucially each other. For this course, Berklee partnered with Wolfgang’s Vault, the myriad archives from the late promoter Bill Graham. Old blues from Howlin’ Wolf, rare Van Morrison music, posters and pictures. There’s an early rock DJ segment where you can click on a radio and it’ll bring up different early DJs, like Alan Freed.  For the musical and technical end, Morse was aided immensely by musician John Scotti. Class size limited to 20. “The idea,” says Morse, “is to foster a sense of rapport and intimacy.”
      The 12 subjects include things like “The Dawn of Rock and Roll,” “Racial Integration, Followed by a Backlash,”  “Payola and Moving Beyond,” “The Day the Music Died,” “The Rebellion of Punk,” “Lennon Shock, New Wave and MTV Superstars,” “The Rise of Americana,” “Reggae and Southern Rock.” It’ll wrap on an into-the-future note.
    “I’m curious to see how this is going to come together,” Morse says. “To see this mosaic come to life. With rock history going back to jump blues. It’s a big connect the dots course -  social history, business history, political history, technological innovations, continuity and rock as a culture.”

More info at: www.Berkleemusic.com/rockhistory