“Roots Music” The Blues

1920’s: Mississippi Delta Blues 1930’s: Urban Blues 1940’s: Jump Blues 1950’s Rhythm and Blues

Country Music

1920’s: Cowboy Songs 1930’s: Hillbilly Music 1940’s: Country Swing Country and Western

Mainstream Pop Music

1940’s Big Band Singers American Songbook

Jazz Tradition

Chart Cross-over period Rock and Roll

The Big Picture

OVERVIEW: The Foundation of Rock And Roll During the Great Migration more than 100,000 African-American laborers moved from the agricultural South to the urban North bringing with them their music and memories. Also, during the 1920’s the phonograph and the rise of commercial radio began to spread Hillbilly music and the Blues. This gave rise to an appreciating of American vernacular music, both white and black. Ultimately, the homogenizing effect of blending several regional musical styles and cultural practices gave birth to 1950’s rock and roll.

“The Great American Songbook” 1940’s Big Bands 1950’s Popular Music

The Tin Pan Alley Pop Era (1885-mid 1950’s)

New York: “Tin Pan Alley” 14th St. and 2nd Ave.

The music was distributed through sheet music

Professional songwriters

dominated the period; George Gershwin,

and Irving Berlin

Composers wrote for pop music, Broadway, and film

Eventually Tin Pan Alley

tradition was replaced by the Rock and Roll tradition

Tin Pan Alley - New York (1885-though 1940’s)

Sheet Music

The music was distributed through sheet music

Professional songwriters

dominated the period; George Gershwin,

and Irving Berlin

Composers wrote for pop music, Broadway, and film

Eventually Tin Pan Alley

tradition was replaced by the Rock and Roll tradition

Tin Pan Alley - New York (1885-though 1940’s)

“Puttin’ On The Ritz” (Irving Berlin, 1929) Ella Fitzgerald – Swing style (1958) If you're blue And you don't know where to go to Why don't you go where fashion sits Puttin' on the Ritz Different types who wear a daycoat Pants with stripes and cutaway coat Perfect fits Puttin' on the Ritz

Irving Berlin (1888 –1989) Died age 101

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper Super-duper Come, let's mix where Rockefellers Walk with sticks or “umberellas” In their mitts Puttin' on the Ritz He also wrote “White Christmas” and “God Bless America”. Trivia: Irving Berlin did not read or write music and only played piano in one key (F sharp)

• Written by a professional (often non-performing) song-writers

• Sophisticated arrangement

• Syncopated rhythm (accents on unexpected, weak beats)

• Clever, well-crafted lyrics

• Striving for upper-class sensibilities

• Striving for mainstream respectability

• Primary audience: Adults

“Roots Music” (Vernacular Music)

1. Regional popular and folk music

2. Played by amateur musicians

3. Not formally taught

4. Spread through an oral tradition

5. Ignored by mainstream audiences

6. No national promotion by music establishment

“Roots Music” Ignored by mainstream

audiences

Untrained performers “rendition based”

Country Music

The Blues Early Rock an Roll

“Tin Pan Alley” Tradition Music marketed through sheet

music and “song pluggers”

Professional songwriters “repertoire based”

Endorsed and promoted by the

music establishment

1955 1965 1975

Rock and Roll Tin Pan Alley

Major Publications:

Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads (1910)

Songs of the Cattle Trail

and Cow Camp (1919)

American Ballads and Folk Songs (1934)

Negro Songs as Sung by Lead Belly (1936)

Our Singing County (1941)

Folk Song U.S.A. (1947) John Lomax (1867-1948)

The Lomax car outfitted with primitive audio recording equipment

<Inside view

Voice Recorder

Alan Lomax (1915–2002) son of John Lomax continued in his father’s footsteps

Discovered by John and Alan Lomax

He becomes a popular entertainer playing

“old-fashioned” blues

Lead Belly's Last Sessions (1948) contained songs that

became the springboard to the 1960’s folk revival:

The House of the Rising Sun The Midnight Special

Rock Island Line Goodnight, Irene

Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter (1888–1949)

Many Leadbelly songs were “covered” by British acts of the 1960’s

The Influence of the Blues The blues were derived from field hollers and work songs. Many of the songs were work songs designed to synchronize manual labor such as swinging an axe or pounding railroad spikes. Other songs helped relieve the monotony and pass the time during repetitive tasks. The songs were kept alive and vital by rote memorization and an oral tradition. Boogie Woogie Piano Playing Boogie Woogie piano playing imitates a chug-a-lug train rhythm and was often played on honky-tonk trains transporting laborers throughout the Midwest. The style of makes use of “walking bass” Mississippi Delta Blues (1900-1930) Also known “country blues” the primary practitioners were male African-American itinerant laborers. The lyrics often expressed basic human conditions such as poverty, homelessness, unfaithful love, penitentiary life, and alienation. The vocal style features a fierce singing style similar to that of field hollers. Typical instruments included slide guitar, and harmonica. The rhythm was often fluctuating and uneven. Among the most influential of the Delta Bluesmen were Son House (1902-1988) and Robert Johnson (1911-1938)

The Mississippi Delta

Mississippi Delta Blues Style (1900-1930)

sometimes called Country Blues or simply Delta Blues

Tupelo

The Mississippi Delta “The Land Where

Blues Began”

The old bluesmen tell their story

Tupelo

New Orleans

Mississippi Delta Blues or Country Blues (1900-1930)

•Primate blues style

•Instruments limited to voice and acoustic guitar, and sometimes harmonica

•Fluid, fluctuating rhythm based on the lyrics

•Non-dance music that tells a story about hardships,

loneliness, or sex

Tupelo

New Orleans

Robert Johnson (1911–1938) allegedly sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads. He embodies the spirit of the rocker; a man and his guitar telling his story to the world.

Sweet Home Chicago Robert Johnson (1936, San Antonio, Texas) Musical Style: Mississippi Delta Blues (Country Blues) 12-bar blues shuffle Oh, baby don't you want to go (Oh=blues moan) Oh, baby don't you want to go Back to the land of California, to my sweet home Chicago Oh, baby don't you want to go Oh, baby don't you want to go Back to the land of California, to my sweet home Chicago

Now, one and one is two, Two and two is four I'm heavy loaded baby, I'm booked, I gotta go Cryin' baby, Honey, don't you want to go Back to the land of California, To my sweet home Chicago

Now two and two is four, Four and two is six You gon' keep on monkeyin’ ‘round here, Friend-boy You goin’ get your business all in a trick I’m cryin' baby, Honey, don't you want to go Back to the land of California, To my sweet home Chicago

Now two and two is four, Four and two is six You gon' keep on monkeyin’ ‘round here, Friend-boy You goin’ get your business all in a trick I’m cryin' baby, Honey, don't you want to go Back to the land of California, To my sweet home Chicago

“The Big Bang of Country Music” Bristol Recording Sessions, 1927

Bristol, Tennessee

The Bristol Recording Sessions were held in 1927 by Victor Talking Machine Company (RCA). The sessions are often described as “The big bang of country music”

Ralph Peer (1892–1960) Talent scout, recording engineer and record producer in the 1920s and 1930s. The influence of the Carter Family can be heard in the film O Brother Where Art Thou

Jimmie Rogers The Carter Family

Hank Williams, Sr., (1923–1953) blended Country and Western with the Blues

Upright Bass

Fiddle Archtop Guitar

Urban Blues Types (1930-1950) As transplanted Southern musicians adapted the Mississippi blues style, unique urban or “city blues” styles emerged. Several major urban hubs such as Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans had their versions of urban blues. Chicago Blues (1930-60) Primarily bar-room drinking music, the vocal styling of Chicago blues is often gruff and raspy sounding. Vocals are usually solo; rarely using back-up vocal harmony. The lyrics struggle with issues such as liquor, sex, and unemployment. After World War II electric guitar and amplified harmonica become common. There is strong rhythmic emphasis on the "back-beat" Much of the music was recorded at independent record companies such as Chess studios in Chicago.

Chicago Blues (1930-1960)

Bar room drinking music Rough, raspy, and crude vocals

Frequent instruments include:

Electric guitar Amplified harmonica

Piano Drums

Muddy Waters (1915 –1983) Born McKinley Morganfield

One of the most important Chicago Blues masters.

The Rolling Stones derived their name from Muddy Waters’

song “Rolling Stone”

(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (written by Willie Dixon, 1954) Performed by Muddy Waters Style: Chicago Blues (a subset of Urban blues)

Muddy Waters - vocals, guitar Little Walter – harmonica Otis Spann – piano Jimmy Rogers – guitar (NOT the country and western star) Willie Dixon – bass Fred Below - drums

(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man The gypsy woman told my mother Before I was born “You got a boy child's comin’ He gonna be a son of a gun”

“He gonna make pretty womens Jump and shout Then the world wanna know What this all about”

But you know I’m him Everybody knows I’m him [blues holler] Well you know I’m the hoochie coochie man Everybody knows I’m him

Mojo Bag

“I got a mojo too”

John the Conqueroo “John the Conqueror Root”

An herb Aphrodisiac of questionable effectiveness

“I got John the Conqueroo I gotta mess with you”

I’m gonna make you girls Lead me by my hand Then the world will know The hoochie coochie man But you know I'm him Everybody knows I'm him Oh you know I’m the hoochie coochie man Everybody knows I’m him

On the seventh hour On the seventh day On the seventh month The seven doctors say “He was born for good luck And that you'll see” I got seven hundred dollars Don't you mess with me But you know I’m him Everybody knows I’m him Well you know I’m the hoochie coochie man Everybody knows I’m him

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12

12 Bar Blues Format – Call It Stormy Monday

Statement Instrumental Fill

(Same) Statement Instrumental Fill

Conclusion Instrumental Fill

[1st 12-Bar chorus] [2nd 12-bar chorus] [Instrumental chorus] [3rd 12-bar chorus]

[Optional Intro:]

Phrase 1

Phrase 2

Phrase 3

A Short History of Rock and Roll Pre-Rock Base: New Orleans Jump Blues (Mid-1940’s) Jump bands were small combos playing in the swing band style with much scaled-down instrumentation. Instruments often used were one or more “hot” horn players and a rhythm section (piano, guitar, bass and drums). This style leads directly to the rhythm and blues dance tradition. The Rise of the Teenager: The baby boomers (b. 1945-1964) with their increased allowances and greater leisure time led to a substantial teenage sub-class bored with the status quo. There was no separate teen music or teen marketing. Juvenile delinquency became popularized by the press and Hollywood movies such as James Dean's portrayal in Rebel Without A Cause.

Three Categories Of Popular Music After World War II There were three separate music markets; White Pop Charts (extension of the American Songbook and Big Band Singers), Hillbilly (Country and Western) musc and Rhythm and Blues. The popularity of country-western cross-overs into the pop market in the early 1950’s, rhythm and blues and hillbilly music styles began to cross-pollinate in the predominately conservative middle-class music market of the early to mid ‘50’s. 1. The White Pop Chart (1943-’50’s) This was the mainstream of American popular music. The music of this period reflected white adult attitudes and the apparent affluence of the growing middle class. The music was clean-cut, polished production numbers driven by the music industry. Songs were often deliberately naive in romance and sex. In an effort to insulate themselves from the effects of World War II adults preferred pop songs with high

Three Categories Of Popular Music After World War II, cont. 2. Country Swing (1930’s Through Early ‘50’s) Country Swing was a Southern adaptation of the big band swing style using swing “riffs” and traditional country-western instruments such as lap steel-string guitar, fiddle, and sometimes horns. Some of the younger bands such Bill Haley and the Comets dropped their country image altogether and began concentrating on white adaptations of rhythm and blues material. Country Swing led to rockabilly. 3. Rhythm And Blues (1949-Early '60's) Rhythm and blues was commercialized, "good-time" dance music that filled juke boxes in black ghettos in the late 1940's and 1950's. Suggestive lyrics usually about love or sex are very common. Many songs contain sexual double-entendres and were often banned from broadcast for being too suggestive.

Early Rock and Roll Styles Rockabilly (1956-1960) Rockabilly was a cross-blend of commercialized blues and hillbilly tradition. During its height, performers came from several styles i.e.; Rick Nelson (pop); Johnny Cash (country); Elvis Presley (rock). The style make heavy use of twanging guitars, nasal singing and slap-bass. Heavy drumming, still associated primarily with black music, was kept to a minimum. Doo-Wop (Early ‘50’s) Doo-wop was one of the first successful styles of rock and roll. The style stared in the late 1940's with black vocal harmony groups performing on the street corners of New York black ghettos. Doo-Wop was often sung “a cappella” (without instrumental accompaniment). The vocal arrangement follows a standard format: A strident lead singer, back-up singers vocalizing nonsense syllables such as "doo-wop” and a prominent bass singer.