'Earth Songs' - Astrology and 20th Century Music: From the Cowboys to the British Invaders

by Dr. Vangelis Petritsis

A study of how the earth element has been paramount in the development of modern musical genres, from the blues and country to soul and rock

The crosse taught all wood to resound his name,
Who bore the same.
His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.
'Easter', George Herbert (1593-1633)

Although in this poem George Herbert was probably more concerned with the relationship of divinity with matter, it is remarkable how his choice of words brings together music (resound, key) and matter (wood, strings), or music and what we see in astrology as the element of earth. After all, the Greek philosophers used the word for wood, hyle, to denote the material dimension of the universe. (1) It's therefore an interesting challenge to discover whether music has a special relationship with the element of earth. Music does have a very 'earthy' and material quality given its sonic nature and the necessity of our sense of hearing. This quality is further perceived in the fact that without instruments (material objects) that produce musical sounds through the use of physical parts of the body, such as the hands (percussion/string instruments) and mouth (wind instruments), there would be no music.

Thus, there are good, theoretical reasons to suggest that the element of earth, as represented by the signs of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, should be considered paramount in the development of music. To this end, I explore below those musical genres that are generally seen as the cornerstones of contemporary music. These genres mainly developed during the first seven decades of the 20th century and include the blues, country music, R&B, rock 'n' roll and rock music, among others. (2)

1. Taurean musical genres

Taurus is not the only musical sign and is definitely not the only artistic one – after all, dramatic Leo, harmonious Libra and imaginative Pisces are associated respectively with the theatre, music and film/photography. Nevertheless, the reason why Taurus seems particularly relevant to the development of music is its correspondence to the throat and vocal cords. The vocal cords are the most basic and natural of musical instruments – of course, without them we could not sing. Thus, all music invested with lyrics would need to have Taurus at its foundation (3); but some musical genres are more obviously related to this sign than others.

For example, skiffle (4), a genre that emerged in the UK during the 1950s, took music back to its basics (Taurus) by producing sound through the use of everyday objects, such as tubs, cups and combs. Furthermore, Lonnie Donegan, the father of skiffle (5), was himself Taurus (born on 19 April 1931) (6): he even had Mercury retrograde in the same sign which (as we shall see also in other examples) usually denotes an unusual way of thinking, and Donegan was no exception.

Two further examples of Taurean genres include western – the so-called 'cowboy' songs – and the music of the Anglo-Celtic tradition which was imported in the States via the European settlers who mostly resided around the Appalachian Mountains. The last came to be known as 'hillbilly', a pejorative synonym for country music (7). One sees how both the cowboy songs and the traditional hillbilly music are directly related to the sign of Taurus, the sign of cows (and cowboys), nature and tradition; while the representatives of the Anglo-Celtic tradition adhered to Taurean values, such as living in nature and preserving traditions, musical traditions in particular.

2. Virgoan musical genres

Two musical genres, particularly Virgoan in nature, are the blues and country music. Their popularisation began in the 1910s (8) and 1920s (9), respectively, when a Jupiter-Saturn cycle was starting in Virgo. Both genres sprang from the working classes which correspond to Virgo – the sign of service, work and humility: the blues is associated with African-American slaves and servants while country was the favourite genre of white farmers and workers.

Though these musical categories were created by different ethnic groups, and had different forms and instruments (e.g. the harmonica is characteristic of the blues whereas the violin is used in country music), they arose around the same time in the same regions of the southern United States, and had similar focus (10). The Virgoan themes of oppression and submissiveness are key: blues/country singers sang of their daily toil and pain in the face of the oppression and restrictions that they experienced as slaves/servants or farmers/workers.

It's worth noting that the dual nature of Mercury (Virgo's ruler) is manifested in the side-by-side development of these two seemingly distinct genres.

Leading figures of both genres exhibited Virgoan characteristics in their lives and – in most cases – were (Sun sign) Virgo. For instance, the following were all born under the sign of the virgin: the 'father' and 'first lady' of country, Jimmie Rodgers and Kitty Wells; and country's 'royal couple' Hank Williams and Patsy Cline.

Let us now elaborate on how the father of the blues and the leading figures of country music relate to Virgo.

2.1 W. C. Handy: 'father of the blues'

W. C. Handy was a highly influential songwriter (with a strong Virgo emphasis in his chart) who made the blues one of the "dominant national forces in American music" [Wikipedia]. He was born on 16 November 1873 (11) with Jupiter in Virgo in mutual reception to Mercury in Sagittarius, an earthy grand trine involving Mars/Saturn/Pluto that's part of a kite formation with the Sun as focal point. The grand trine further illustrates the major role earth plays in the development of music. Thus, it was very easy for him (grand trine) to shine (Sun) by taking the lead (Mars-Saturn conjunction) in deeply (Pluto) influencing (Jupiter) the development of music (element of earth) with his words, lyrics and writings (Mercury).

Moreover, Handy's Virgo motif is highlighted by his great interest in substantiating the legend of John Henry (12), an African-American folk hero who himself bore major Virgo characteristics. Henry was the subject of many blues songs, and Handy would have heard them all as a growing boy in Alabama. Henry lived in the second half of the 19th century, toiling in the construction of railroad tunnels as a steel-driving man. His task was (literally) to move and alter the earth (Virgo = mutable earth): he had to hammer a steel drill into rock, making holes in which to place explosives. He is said to have died in a race against a steam-powered hammer. Such was his prowess and skill that he won the race only to die of exhaustion a few moments later. So, Henry exemplified many Virgoan virtues, such as diligence, industriousness and assiduousness; he became a subject of study in Handy's Blues: An Anthology (13) and he was considered the 'honorary father of the blues', even though he was not a musician himself.

2.2 Jimmie Rodgers: 'father of country music'

Jimmie Rodgers appeared during the 1920s and is regarded as the 'father of country music' (14). Like John Henry, he worked on the railroads, a job that corresponds to the Virgo ruler. It's certainly no exaggeration to say that the 'mercurial' railroads are the shared birthplace of the blues and country music. The railroads construction and maintenance work of Henry and Rodgers is more Virgo than Gemini in nature. Rodgers was born with Sun in Virgo (8 September 1897) (15) and had Jupiter in that sign (as Handy) bestowing him with rich inventiveness and ingenuity.

A great example of his innovative ideas is the introduction of chorus into songs, which gave rise to the verse-chorus-verse song structure. Until then, songs were just story narratives with no repeated lines. So, Rodgers' use of repetition was considered by many as prosaic (Virgo) and lacking inspiration (Jupiter). But far from being dull and uninspired, chorus has since become a staple feature of songs of all genres, up to the present day. Another example of Rodgers' ingenuity was his use of the elaborate technique (Virgo) of yodelling which started with the recording of Blue Yodel No.1.

Rodgers' Mercury was retrograde (in Libra), like Donegan's, tending to generate unusual ideas on Libran themes of harmony and measure in art.

Virgo is also associated with intense preoccupation with body and wellbeing, often because of lack of health. Rodgers suffered for many years from tuberculosis. He even sang about it in T. B. Blues. This was the cause of his untimely death at the age of 35.

2.3 Hank Williams and Patsy Cline: The 'royal couple' of country music (16)

Williams was born on 17 September 1923 (17) and Cline on 8 September 1932 (18) [see charts]. Both had their nodal axis across Virgo-Pisces, with his North Node in Virgo, and her South Node in Virgo. He had Venus and Mars in Virgo; she had Jupiter/Neptune in Virgo: Virgo Jupiter is a common thread between Handy, Rodgers and Cline.

She was born on the exact same day as Rodgers, and the numerological analysis of her date of birth is identical to that of Hank Williams' date of birth: the sum of digits of number 17 (the day he was born) equals 8 (the day Patsy Cline and Jimmie Rodgers were born) while the sum of digits of numbers 1923 (the year Hank Williams was born) and 1932 (the year Patsy Cline was born) equals 6. Numerologically, Cline's 'fate' was inextricably bound to the destinies of Rodgers and Williams.

2.3.1 Virgoan preoccupation with health

Like Rodgers, both Williams and Cline had serious health issues. Williams was born with spina bifida occulta, a disorder of the spinal column, which resulted in mobility impairment and lifelong pain. This disorder became an inspiration for his music but it also cost him his life at the age of only 29: he died of heart failure caused by the alcohol and drugs used to relieve his unbearable and continuous back pain.

In Cline's case, her health preoccupations increased dramatically following a car accident that resulted in facial disfigurement and in a series of cosmetic plastic surgeries. In addition, Cline was often a victim of physical abuse by Charlie Dick, her overly jealous husband – an unfortunate example of how Virgo's predisposition to humility may 'deteriorate' into submissiveness and lack of assertiveness. As with Rodgers and Williams, Cline died very young at the age of 30, although her untimely passing was in tragic circumstances: she died in a plane crash along with other artists of country music.

2.3.2 Mercury retrograde once more!

In addition to what I have already written about Mercury retrograde and its tendency to generate innovation, Hank Williams further developed Rodgers' yodelling technique by turning it into honky-tonk. Moreover, he managed to give country music a much more distinct sound from that of 'bluegrass', a genre that links to Virgo and is often mistaken for country. He did this by removing the banjo of country and adding drums, bass and steel guitar in his arrangements. Note that the ability to separate, distinguish and categorise is essentially Virgoan.

2.3.3 Bluegrass

Bluegrass was born side-by-side with country and the blues. Its official beginning is set in 1932 in Kentucky when a new Jupiter-Neptune cycle was starting in Virgo. We owe its name to Bill Monroe19, considered the father of bluegrass. Perhaps he was inspired by the famous wheat fields of Kentucky with the blue-flowered Poa grass prominent at sunset. Wheat, the staple of life, is part of the symbolism of Virgo – after all, this sign is often depicted as holding sheaves of wheat.

Unsurprisingly, Monroe was himself Virgo (13 September 1911) (20) and had a stellium in that sign comprising Mercury, Sun and Venus. Also note that Monroe's Mercury is retrograde while his Virgo stellium is part of a grand trine in earth (Moon, Saturn and Uranus).

2.4 Kitty Wells: The 'first lady of country music' (21)

Wells joins the line of Sun-in-Virgo musicians, born on 30 August 1919 (22). She also has Venus and Saturn in the same sign. Her father (Sun) worked on the railroads, in the maintenance (Virgo) department, like Rodgers. One sees here the Virgoan pattern in Wells' life: she worked in a shirt factory until marriage and became a mother and housewife. Subject to the fate of women of her time (Venus in Virgo), Wells found it very hard to become a recognised singer.

The opportunity to shine arose in 1952 when she recorded the song, It Was Not God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels. This came as a response to another country song called Wild Side of Life that was recorded by Hank Thompson (23), another Sun-in-Virgo country singer, born on 3 September 1925 (24) and also with his Mercury retrograde, just like Rodgers, Williams and Monroe! In line with the retrograde's idiosyncratic way with words and music, Thompson sang of his pain caused by the unfaithful women in his life, calling them "Honky-Tonk Angels". In turn, by making good use of her Mercury in Leo, Wells heroically and courageously defended women's honour by putting the blame for female unfaithfulness on men themselves.

3. Capricornian musical genres

During the 1950s country music and the blues grew more 'mature' and Capricornian in nature. Archetypically, Capricorn is associated (among other things) with discipline, organisation and step-by-step progress: these are all processes that require some sense of regularity or rhythm. In line with this need for rhythm, country music turned into rockabilly while the blues lost the harmonica and idiosyncratic chord progressions and turned into rhythm 'n' blues, also known as R&B (25).

3.1 The blues turn into R&B

It was a person with a strong Capricorn chart emphasis who in 1949 identified herself with the evolution of the blues into rhythm 'n' blues: that person was Ruth Brown, the queen of R&B, born on 12 January 1928 (26). She was known as 'Miss Rhythm' – a nickname befitting a woman born with Sun and Mercury in Capricorn. In what could be an example of nominative determinism, note, too, how her first name resembles 'rhythm' and how the initials of her name are R and B: in more ways than one this woman was to be associated with the new and much more rhythmic version of the blues. Finally, it is no coincidence that the transition from blues to R&B took place in 1949, the year when Saturn was in Virgo and Jupiter in Capricorn. This resulted in the refinement (Saturn) of the blues (Virgo) through the popularisation (Jupiter) of rhythm (Capricorn).

3.2 Country music turns into rockabilly

As the blues turned into R&B, country evolved into rockabilly by losing the banjo and the violin and by adopting the bass instead, hence the predominance of the bass line which, along with the addition of the electric guitar and the piano, better serves the Capricornian need for rhythm. The rockabilly innovation was introduced by Carl Perkins (27), born on 9 April 1932 (28). Although his chart has no planets in Capricorn, his dignified Aries Mars is part of a same-sign stellium that includes Sun, Mercury and Uranus [and is sextile dignified Saturn]. Also, Perkins is a Mercury-retrograde, like other stars mentioned in this essay, accounting for his originality and unusual ideas, supplemented by the pioneering streak of Aries and the highly creative, ground-breaking and explosive combination of Sun-Uranus in the same sign.

3.3 Rockabilly and R&B fused together

The rockabilly innovation didn't stop there. Perkins' most famous rockabilly song, Blue Suede Shoes, recorded in 1956, was covered shortly afterwards by a man with a stellium in Capricorn who quite literally exalted the song and moved it on another step, rhythmically. That was Elvis Presley and that step was rock 'n' roll, the fusion of country music (or rockabilly) and R&B (29). The year (1956) is marked, of course, by Jupiter in Virgo (expansion of the horizons of country and the blues) followed by Pluto in Virgo (regeneration of country and the blues).

Elvis Presley (30) became the 'king of rock 'n' roll', and in rhythmically fusing country and R&B, he was joined by three musicians with their own share of Capricorn in life: Bill Haley, born on 6 July 1925 (31), with Moon and Jupiter in Capricorn; Jerry Lee Lewis, born on 29 September 1935 (32), with Capricorn rising; and Buddy Holly, born on 7 September 1936 (33), with Capricorn rising, and North Node in the same sign.

Two of Buddy Holly's songs, namely That'll be the day and Not fade away, became signature songs, each of which was covered, respectively, in 1958 by the Beatles – still known as The Quarrymen at the time – and in 1964 by The Rolling Stones (34). These were among the first major hits of the two British bands that helped evolve rock 'n' roll simply into rock, the ultimate expression of the Capricornian need for beat and rhythm.

As an aside, let us not forget, after all, that the sign of Capricorn is symbolised by the goat which is famous for conquering the top of rock-y and craggy mountains!

3.4 Rock music and the British Invasion

It wasn't long before both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones conquered the American charts and caused a youth frenzy comparable with Elvis Presley's. As Life magazine put it in early 1964:

In [1776] England lost her American colonies. Last week the Beatles took them back. (35)

The official day on which the 'invasion' occurred was 9 February 1964 at 8:00 pm in New York when The Beatles, the undisputed leaders of this music and fashion incursion, made their first appearance on TV's The Ed Sullivan Show (36). On that day, the Moon was conjunct its South Node in Capricorn while Mercury, the chart ruler (Virgo rising), transited Capricorn, too.

That night, the Moon was in a tight trine to the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in progress in Virgo in the mid-60s. The conjunction ushered in a new era where Virgoan themes would be radically transformed forever, as outlined under country and the blues: these genres had already evolved into something new thanks to previous transits of Saturn and Jupiter through Virgo in 1949 and in 1956. Indeed, the blues had officially turned into R&B, and country music into rockabilly; whereas their 'offspring' fused together to create rock 'n' roll on Pluto's ingress in Virgo. When Uranus met Pluto in the same sign, the world witnessed the radical transformation of rock 'n' roll into rock. Technological advances (Uranus), such as the improvement of guitar amplifiers, allowed the transformation (Pluto) to manifest as rock.

So, on the night of the British invasion, the radical transformation (Uranus-Pluto) of the blues and country music (Virgo) was easily combined (trine) with people's basic need for recharging through beat and rhythm (Moon conjunct South Node in Capricorn) so that they could grow and explore new territory (Moon ruling the North Node), hence the appearance and future prevalence of rock music.

It is perhaps no coincidence that the astrological charts of John Lennon (37) and Paul McCartney (38), the two leading members of The Beatles, have MC on the 7th degree of Capricorn – Paul McCartney's is so by antiscia. This means that their MC is only two to three degrees away from the Moon's position (9° Capricorn) on the night of the British invasion, and from the IC and Sun's position (9°-10° Capricorn) in the chart of their native UK (39).

In other words, on that night, Lennon and McCartney became famous (MC) for making the UK shine (UK Sun) as the homeland (Moon/IC) of beat and rhythm (Capricorn), that is, rock music. [See Lennon/McCartney/UK synastry chart for 9 Feb. 1964.]

3.4.1 British invasion revisited

In the last six years we've lived under the Uranus-Pluto influence – in waxing square aspect this time – and this could be interpreted as a time for urgently reviewing, re-examining or re-establishing musical forms, genres and events that characterised the mid-60s when the current Uranus-Pluto cycle began. This begs the question as to whether a new 'British invasion', comparable to that of The Beatles', has already taken place.

Arguably, the answer is 'yes', and Adele has led the invasion this time. In 2011 she became the first artist since The Beatles to have two top five singles and two top five albums in the UK charts at the same time (40). And in 2012 she became the first artist since The Beatles to post three songs in the US Billboard Hot 100's top 10, and two albums in the Billboard 200's top five in the same week (41). The culmination of 'Adele's invasion' in the United States came in 2013 when she won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the James Bond theme Skyfall (42). This was the first ever James Bond song to win an Oscar (and the first Oscar for a Bond film in forty-seven years) and it is interesting to note that the title is a neologism composed of two words directly linked to Uranus (sky) and Pluto (fall).

Significantly, the Bond film franchise became a big hit thanks to Dr. No in 1962 (43), the year when the Uranus-Pluto conjunction started to be in orb.
During those three years (2011-2013), Pluto moved back and forth around the 9th degree of Capricorn where the Moon and its South Node were positioned on the night of the first 'British invasion', a cosmic indicator of the renewal and regeneration of UK music.

Adele, born an earthy Taurus on 5 May 1988 (44), fits the bill for picking up where The Beatles left off – and there's more: she was born with a 10th-house Moon sitting on the exact same degree (23° Sagittarius) as Paul McCartney's MC (and John Lennon's MC by antiscia) and with a Saturn-Uranus-Neptune stellium in Capricorn conjoining the UK's Sun and the Moon on the night of the British invasion.

In particular, Adele's Neptune is in a tight conjunction with the UK's Sun and sits atop an 'ambivalence triangle' of which the basis is an opposition between her Sun-Jupiter conjunction in Taurus and her Pluto in Scorpio. This suggests that Adele is her generation's perfect candidate for helping the UK to enjoy a rare stratospheric level of world admiration (UK Sun conjoined by her 10th-11th-house Saturn-Uranus-Neptune stellium) thanks to her internal tension for creating something beautifully rich out of her generation's deepest passions (Sun-Jupiter in Taurus opposing Pluto in Scorpio).

Conclusion

By now I hope to have shown how the element of earth seems to be paramount for the development of music in the 20th century. Handy's and Monroe's grand trines in earth attest to this notion while the earth emphasis in the charts of many of the musicians mentioned here lends further support to this notion (45). [NB: Endnote 45 has important detail on the research for this essay]. I also hope to have shown how different musical genres in the last century correspond to a different earth sign.

To recap: I consider skiffle in the UK, and cowboy songs and the Anglo-Celtic tradition also known as hillbilly in the United States, to capture the essence of Taurus. Next, the blues, bluegrass and country music captures the essence of Virgo; and, finally, R&B, rockabilly and their rock 'n' roll fusion to capture the essence of Capricorn, the ultimate expression of which is rock music.

The line chart depicts how the development of music in the 20th century relates to the three earth signs across time.

In this chart, one notices how UK music is not particularly Virgoan in nature but rather migrates from a Taurean genre (skiffle) to a Capricornian one (rock); as opposed to the US musical production which was particularly rich in Virgoan genres.

This variation could reflect differences in the astrological charts of the two countries. Indeed, in the UK chart, Mars in Taurus is trine Sun in Capricorn, and there are no planets in Virgo; whereas in the US chart (46), Neptune is in Virgo conjunct the MC and trine Pluto in Capricorn. Therefore, it was easy (trine) for the UK to start with skiffle, a Taurean genre (Mars in Taurus), and shine by producing rock, a Capricornian genre (Sun in Capricorn). On the other hand, it makes sense that the US would become famous for its bountiful production of Virgoan genres (Neptune in Virgo on the MC) that easily (trine) transformed into Capricornian genres (Pluto in Capricorn).

In the course of this astrological study of music, two very important findings have emerged. First, it appears that most of the leading figures of musical genres produced in the 20th century were born with Mercury in retrograde (as one can see in the table below). Although this sounds surprising, Mercury retrograde does (as I've indicated already) denote originality and innovative ways of thinking. Of course, this retrograde is not the only indication of pioneering ingenuity. Nevertheless, it makes sense that this particular indication should be so pronounced in the charts of inventive musicians – a great many were American and Mercury is retrograde in the US chart.

Musicians born with Mercury retrograde	Roles they played in Music
Lonnie Donegan	Father of skiffle
Jimmie Rodgers	Father of country
Bill Monroe	Father of bluegrass
Hank Williams	King of country
Hank Thompson	Country singer thanks to whom the career of Kitty Wells, first lady of country, was launched
Carl Perkins	Father of rockabilly
Paul McCartney	Leading member of the Beatles, the band that led the British invasion in 1964

Rock music is directly related to the radical transformation of the blues and country music, as reflected in the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo. It follows that the major stages in the current Uranus-Pluto cycle – principally, the opposition and the two squares – are bound to review, re-examine and, perhaps, repeat in a higher octave of development the musical events that took place in the Sixties (47). The renewed British invasion led by Adele during the waxing square of the cycle attests to this.

One might dare to predict yet another British invasion during the years of the Uranus-Pluto opposition in the late 2040s across the Virgo-Pisces axis.
That said, one realises that there could have been no real radical transformation of the blues and country music without the incorporation of Piscean themes, such as spirituality and idealisation of love. The emergence of soul music (48) during the late 1950s and early 1960s lends support to this idea. More specifically, soul delivers an impassioned, improvisational delivery from the heart, mixing R&B with gospel, a genre originating from religious expression. This Virgo-Pisces interchange is more than obvious in the charts of the three people that had the greatest impact in soul music. Ray Charles, often called the 'father of soul' (49), had Sun, Mercury (retrograde once more!) and Neptune in Virgo (50) while James Brown, the 'godfather of soul' (51), had a Mars-Neptune-Jupiter stellium in Virgo opposing his North Node in Pisces (52). Finally, Aretha Franklin, the 'queen of soul' (53), had a Mercury-Neptune mutual reception and a very tight opposition between her Mercury in Pisces and her North Node in Virgo (54).

To conclude, the development of music in the 20th century is not an exclusively 'earthy' concern. Admittedly, if we were to picture this development in the form of astrological aspect patterns, we would see a grand trine in earth, but one that converts into a kite with Pisces at its focal point, charging it with enough energy, feeling and 'soul' to make it fly. In other words, the Piscean end of the kite is bound to lead music to its highest achievements.

This is consistent with the Virgo conjunction and Virgo-Pisces opposition of the current Uranus-Pluto cycle. Given this, it makes sense that Adele, the leader of the Uranus-Pluto-waxing-square British invasion, is not a rock artist but more a part of the soul and blue-eyed soul scene, given her North Node in Pisces. To put it in her words:

''With soul music… there's nothing that's pretentious or planned. It's just so gutsy.'' (55)

Endnotes:
1 Godwin, J. Heaven and Earth: Mysticism in Music from Antiquity to the Avant-Garde, Inner Tradition/Bear, 1987.
2 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
3 This means that this article focuses on genres with songs (lyrics), which excludes e.g. orchestral music. Jazz is also excluded, given its often instrumental nature (though we acknowledge the rich history of great jazz songs). That said, one would probably consider jazz as Virgoan in nature. As a matter of fact, Buddy Bolden, known as the 'father of jazz', had great chart emphasis in the sign of Virgo, what with his Sun, Moon and South Node in that sign. His chart can be found at: http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Buddy_Bolden.
4 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
5 Ibid.
6 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Lonnie_Donegan.
7 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
8 Davis, F., The history of the blues: The roots, the music, the people, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003.
9 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
10 BBC: GCSE Bitesize: Origins of the Blues at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/popular_music/blues1.shtml.
11 Handy, W. C., The father of the blues, Macmillan, NY, 1941.
12 Satterfield, J. E., John Henry - Man Or Myth, West Virginia Archives & History at http://www.wvculture.org/history/africanamericans/henryjohn03.html.
13 Handy, W. C., Blues: An Anthology, Albert & Charles Boni, NY, 1926.
14 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
15 http://countrymusichalloffame.org/artists/artist-detail/jimmie-rodgers.
16 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
17 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Hank_Williams.
18 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Patsy_Cline.
19 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
20 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Bill_Monroe.
21 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
22 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Kitty_Wells.
23 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
24 http://countrymusichalloffame.org/artists/artist-detail/hank-thompson.
25 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
26 Bernstein, A., Ruth Brown, 78: R&B Singer Championed Musicians' Rights, Washington Post, November 18, 2006 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701411.html.
27 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
28 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Carl_Perkins.
29 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
30 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Elvis_Presley.
31 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Bill_Haley.
32 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Jerry_Lee_Lewis.
33 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Buddy_Holly.
34 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
35 Puterbaugh, P., The British Invasion: From the Beatles to the Stones, The Sixties Belonged to Britain, July 14, 1988 at http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-british-invasion-from-the-beatles-to-the-stones-the-sixties-belonged-to-britain-19880714.
36 The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964 at http://www.edsullivan.com/the-beatles-on-the-ed-sullivan-show-on-february-9-1964/.
37 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/John_Lennon.
38 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Paul_McCartney.
39 http://www.astro.com/nat/natuk2_e.htm.
40 Michaels, S., Adele matches the Beatles in latest chart success, February 22, 2011 at https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/22/adele-matches-beatles-chart-success.
41 Trust, G., Adele-ulation: Makes History With Hot 100, Billboard 200 Moves, February 23, 2012 at http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/504461/adele-ulation-makes-history-with-hot-100-billboard-200-moves.
42 https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2013.
43 The James Bond Films at http://www.imdb.com/list/ls006405458/.
44 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Adele_(singer).
45 Statistical analyses, via Jigsaw v2.2, yield further support for the integral role that the element of earth has played in the development of music in the 20th century. When asking Jigsaw to calculate how all the chart points (Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Mean Node, Ascendant and Midheaven) are distributed across the four elements in the charts of the 18 musicians reported here (most of whom are considered to be leading figures in their musical genre, that is, a sort of 'father', 'king' or 'queen' of some musical genre), one finds a preponderance of earth which is marginally significant: Chi-square (3) = 5.9, p = 0.10. Moreover, on closer inspection of the data, one can see that the results are not random but are particularly driven by those planets that, according to astrological theory, would be mostly related to creativity and artistic expression in professional musicians: Sun (the very source of creativity), Venus (arts and artistic expression), Saturn (indicator of one's profession) and Neptune (imagination, Venus' higher octave). If one conducts the exact same analysis on these four planets alone, the preponderance of earth becomes highly significant: Chi-square (3) = 20.9, p < .001. Therefore, it appears that in our sample it is much more likely for the chart of a musician to have more planets in the element of earth than in other elements and this is particularly so for the Sun, Venus, Saturn and Neptune.
46 http://www.astro.com/nat/natus2_e.htm.
47 For a larger view of the sixties and their relationship to the Uranus-Pluto cycle see Tarnas, R. Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a new world view, Penguin Group, NY, 2007.
48 Garavelas, N., Country music: The stories, Synthesis Media System, Athens, 2002.
49 Williams, R., Ray Charles, father of soul music dies at 73, June 11, 2004 at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/11/arts.artsnews.
50 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Ray_Charles.
51 Doran, J., James Brown – 10 of the best, October 28, 2015 at https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/oct/28/james-brown-10-of-the-best.
52 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/James_Brown.
53 http://www.allmusic.com/album/queen-of-soul-the-atlantic-recordings-mw0000615432.
54 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Aretha_Franklin.
55 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/adele600357.html?src=t_soul_music.

First published by: The Astrological Journal, Jul/Aug 2017

Author:
Born in Athens in 1982, Dr. Vangelis Petritsis has a first-class degree in Psychology, a Masters in Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, and a PhD in Social Psychology. Part of his doctoral research has been published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin under the title 'Why Men (and Women) Do and Don't Rebel? Effects of System Justification on Willingness to Protest'. He has been an FAS Certificate Holder since 2014 and was awarded the 4th prize for his essay titled 'Pluto in Capricorn: Is the System Collapsing?' in the 2013 AA Young Astrologers Essay Contest (published in The Astrological Journal). Currently, he practises psychological and astrological counselling in Athens.

Image sources:
Charts provided by the author
Perkins plaque: By Thomas R Machnitzki (thomas@machnitzki.com) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Beatles: By United Press International, photographer unknown [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Adele 2011: By Adele - Seattle, WA - 8.12.2011.jpg: Niko D [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
All other images: CC0 Creative Commons or Public Domain via pixabay.com and/or Wikimedia Commons

© Vangelis Petritsis - 2017/18

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