Pop Music pre-1950s continued

MUS 1240Fall 2014

Race Records and Hillbilly Music

• Race Records: Performed and marketed to African-Americans

• Hillbilly Music: Performed and marketed to Southern whites

• 1920’s-1940’s• Similarities: folk elements, blend rural with

popular culture, came from record companies trying to find a new style to sell records, urban migration, disseminated by new media

Race Records• Record companies began selling in 1920’s• Drawn from Southern African-American styles• Mamie Smith – “Queen of the Blues”• Race Music included: Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Jug/Washboard bands,

Sermons, Stories, Comedy, etc.• Okeh Records – first to send out mobile units to record in the

American South• First African-American owned recording labels

– Black Swan• To be a “Race Man” during the Harlem Renaissance taking place

during the 1920s-40s meant to be active in social causes such as the fight for equal rights and recognizing achievement in the African-American community.

Bessie Smith (1894-1937)

• Most important and influential female blues singer from the early 20th century

• Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee• “Empress of the Blues”

W. C. Handy

W.C. Handy (1873-1958)

• “Father of the Blues”• Most influential of the classic blues composers• Cornet player• Co-founded first African-American owned

publishing house• His music was influenced by Tin Pan Alley as

much as African-American folk traditions• Most famous song – “St. Louis Blues”

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)

• “Satchmo”• Greatly influential in jazz as a trumpeter in the 20’s and 30’s

(and beyond), but also as a singer• King Oliver (early 20’s), Fletcher Henderson (late 20’s); by the

1930’s Armstrong most well-known African-American musician in the world

• Known for scatting, as well as instrumental simplicity• Knocked the Beatles off the #1 spot in 1964, becoming

oldest person to score a #1 hit (“Hello, Dolly!”)• Broke into the top 40 in 1988 with “What a Wonderful

World”, 17 years after he died!

12-bar Blues

• Bar – rhythmic unit of music; consists of one accented beat followed by one or more unaccented beats. Also known as a measure.

• Beat – equal units of musical time (tapping foot or finger)

• 12 Bar Blues – 12 bars of usually 4 beats each.• Typically has a standard progression of chords, with

some variation possible• AAB lyrics – generally, first line repeated– http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/hasm_a1311/

Robert Johnson

Charley Patton

Blind Lemon Jefferson

Country Blues or “Mississippi Delta” Blues

Country Blues

• Also known as “Mississippi Delta” Blues• Grew from large population of slaves in the area from

Memphis, TN to Vicksburg, MS (200 mile stretch of Mississippi River)

• After Civil War, many of these former slaves were still tied to the land; some worked the railways and riverboats…they would pass along their music along the way.

• Originally an oral tradition; passed along from generation to generation (totally different from TPA)

• Form not as rigid; sometimes 12-bar blues, sometimes 8 or 16…

Delta Blues - Listening

• “Tom Rushen Blues” – Charley Patton– Hidden Messages in song

• “That Black Snake Moan” – Blind Lemon Jefferson– Different approach to blues (single note style, interchangeable lyrics)– Sexual Lyrics – WAY different than TPA songs. Of course, very

controversial.• “Cross Road Blues” – Robert Johnson

– Only left 29 recorded songs behind– Most influential on future guitarists, especially British guitarists of

the 1960s (ex.: Eric Clapton, Keith Richards)– Used the guitar more like a rock guitarist would today, also used the

“bottleneck” or slide guitar technique

Cross Road Blues

• I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees,I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees,Asked the Lord above, “Have mercy, save poor Bob, if you please.”

Mmm, standin’ at the crossroad, I tried to flag a ride.Mmm, standin’ at the crossroad, I tried to flag a ride.Didn’t nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by.

What is “Hillbilly” Music?

• Commercially produced music associated with the rural white South and Southwest

• Reflects the values and traditions of the performers– Rural, mostly poor, Southern whites– Regional music with an international following

Musical Elements

• Clear, honest vocal style• Southern dialect or accent• Nasal vocal timbre; no vibrato• Most other elements come from other sources:– European folk music, parlor songs, jazz, and blues

• The balance between traditional and outside elements defines the fundamental tension in country music TO THIS DAY.– Tradition vs. Change, old vs. new country

Hillbilly Records/Importance of Radio

• 1st successful record – made in 1923 by North Georgia musician named Fiddlin’ John Carson and produced by Okeh Records

• Radio VERY important in the growth of hillbilly music– Made music accessible to a much larger audience– Radio stations owned by whites/no black DJ’s until 1930’s– Use of radio for country music started in Atlanta (WSB) in 1922,

followed by Fort Worth, TX (WBAP)• Grand Ole Opry

– Nashville, TN – home and center of country music– Radio show broadcast from Nashville on WSM

The Carter Family

The Carter Family• Discovered in 1927 – had a profound effect on generations of country

musicians• More conservative values of country music; shows were simple and

straightforward• Were not professional musicians when they started career.• A.P. “Doc” Carter (1891-1960)

– Collected the songs; sang bass• Sara Carter (1899-1979)

– Sang most lead vocals, played autoharp and guitar• Maybelle Carter (1909-1978)

– Sang harmony, played guitar (developed a very influential guitar style by playing melody on bass strings while strumming top strings on offbeats)

• Popular songs – “Wabash Cannonball”, “Can the Circle Be Unbroken”, “Wildwood Flower”, “Keep on the Sunny Side”

The Swing Era (1935-45)

• Jazz inspired; comes from black dance bands in New York, Chicago, Kansas City in the 1920’s

• Where does “swing” come from?– 1935 – use of word “Swing” begins

• Hundreds of dance bands led by celebrity bandleaders– Toured in buses, playing all over the country

• Dancing – Lindy Hop

Race in the Swing Era

• Another example of white America integrating aspects of African-American culture, while not completely integrating the African-Americans themselves.– Only a few dance bands were integrated– Black bands did not have as many hit records; had a

harder time getting their songs in jukebokes• Harlem– Black and Tan cabarets/theaters

• Cotton Club, The Savoy, Apollo Theater

Features of Big Band/Swing Music

• Call and Response• Rhythmic organization or “feel” – more continuous and

flowing than with 1920’s jazz– “Walking” bass – All four beats– “Four on the Floor” – bass drum– “Ride” cymbal - – Guitar chords on all four beats

• Listening: Fletcher Henderson Orchestra - “Wrappin’ It Up”– How many musicians? How is this different than early jazz?

Benny Goodman (1909-1986)

• The “King of Swing”• Born in Chicago• Clarinetist• Had his own band; became very popular and

began the Swing Era in effect in 1935.– His band had been persuaded by his record

company to try some of the jazz-influenced sounds being performed by black bands at the time; became a sensation!

Big Band Blues: Count Basie

• William “Count” Basie (1904-1984)– Born in New Jersey– Made name for himself in Kansas City

• Kansas City– Musicians learned their skills at all-night jam sessions– Boogie-Woogie piano style; reliance on riffs

• Listening – “One o’Clock Jump”– 10 choruses of 12-bar blues– Emphasis on Jazz Improvisation– Riffs & Call/Response techniques– Boogie-Woogie intro; later, Basie’s “two-fingered” piano style

(simplicity)

Duke Ellington (1899-1974)• One of the most important American musicians of the 20th century• Born in Washington, D.C.; as a kid he hung out in bars and pool halls

where ragtime pianists played• 1927-1931 played at the Cotton Club in Harlem; Black and Tan

cabaret– “exotic” music otherwise known as “jungle music”

• Because of this experience, he developed a very distinctive style that gained him much respect among fellow musicians as a composer, but did not translate as well to commercial success

• Listening: “Ko-Ko” (1937)– Still a 12-bar blues– Lower, growling sounds– Not as happy-sounding as other swing music

Glenn Miller (1904-1944)• Trombonist/bandleader• Most popular dance band in the world from 1939-1942; many of

his songs are still popular with swing dancers• His sound was peppier, more upbeat…he appealed to the everyday

American just as much as the city-dwellers in NYC and Chicago• Joined Army Air Corps in 1942

– Led a band in the military; very popular among American servicemen– Killed during WWII when his plane went down over the English Channel

• Listening: “In the Mood”– Based on short riff in the saxes; famous trumpet solo; “trick” ending

The Post-War Era, 1946–1954

• The entertainment industry grew rapidly after the war.

• By 1947, record companies achieved retail sales of over $214 million. The previous peak for record sales occurred in 1921.

• Independent record labels became an important force in the entertainment industry.– Chess Records– Atlantic Records

Targeting Young People

• Record companies began to target young people for the first time.

• People under 21 made up one-third of the total record-buying population of the United States.

• Many hit records of the 1940s and 1950s were romantic songs performed by crooners with an orchestral backup.

• Larger record companies (Columbia, Decca, and RCA) were focusing their attention on mainstream pop.

Popular Music and Technology in the Postwar Era

• Magnetic Tape– Better sound quality than previous methods of recording– Recordings could be edited and overdubbed.

• “Battle of the Speeds”– In 1948, Columbia Records introduced twelve-inch, 33 1/3 rpm,

long-playing discs (LPs).– In 1949, RCA Victor introduced seven-inch, 45 rpm discs—the

format for hit singles.• Radio

– Increased influence of disc jockeys (DJs) on popular music– The first commercial FM broadcast took place in 1939.

• TV– 1939 – RCA introduces TV at the World’s Fair– By mid 1950s, primary means of launching new artists.

Rise of the Big Singers

• By 1946, the focus of popular attention had shifted away from celebrity instrumentalists and bandleaders toward a new generation of vocalists.

• Many of the top vocalists started their careers during the swing era.

• Became known as “Crooners”

Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) • Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, into a working-class Italian

family • Between 1937 and 1939, worked as a singing waiter for the

Rustic Cabin, a nightclub in New Jersey • Later worked for Harry James and Tommy Dorsey• Sinatra was heavily promoted on radio, at the movies, and

in the press, and his popularity soared.– “Bobby Soxers”

• His singing style combined the crooning style of Bing Crosby with the bel canto technique of Italian opera.

• He was influenced by female jazz and cabaret singers such as Billie Holiday and Mabel Mercer.

Nat “King” Cole (1917–65)• The most successful black recording artist of the postwar period• In both musical and commercial terms, the greatest postwar

crooner• Born Nathaniel Coles in Montgomery, Alabama• His family moved to the South Side of Chicago when he was

four years old.• His father was the pastor of a Baptist church.• A brilliant piano improviser• One of the first African American musicians to cross over

regularly to the predominantly white pop charts. • Cole’s biggest commercial successes were sentimental ballads

accompanied by elaborate orchestral arrangements

Southern Music in the Postwar Era

Southern Music in the Postwar Era

• “Race music” and “hillbilly music” underwent a series of name changes.

• In 1949, Billboard began using the terms “rhythm & blues” and “country and western.”

• Some changes in the music industry (creation of BMI to challenge ASCAP) led to more airplay for Country/Western as well as R&B. – Also, the recording bans of 1942/43 made radio networks look

elsewhere for music, instead of the swing bands.• Small record companies (“indies”) began popping up everywhere

to cater to the needs of these musicians• Hillbilly and Race music therefore began to really make their

impact on the music industry

Southern Music in the Postwar Era

• During the late 1930s and the 1940s, millions of people had migrated from the rural South in search of employment in defense-related industries.

• This migrant population greatly expanded the target audience for southern-derived music.

Radio

• Radio played a crucial role in the popularization of this music.

• During the war, a number of white disc jockeys began to mix in black popular music with pop records.

• In 1949, WDIA in Memphis, Tennessee, became the first radio station dedicated to playing music for a black audience.

Rhythm & Blues• Described music performed almost exclusively by black artists for sale to

African American audiences• Three basic strands of R&B developed:

– Transformation of country blues into urban blues– More carefully arranged styles of R&B– Increasing use of vocal styles rooted in gospel singing

• A loose cluster of styles rooted in southern folk traditions:– Swing-influenced “jump bands” – Tin Pan Alley–style love songs performed by crooners– Various styles of urban blues– Gospel-influenced vocal harmony groups

• By 1949, Billboard was using Rhythm and Blues as the chart name, encompassing all black secular popular music. This name still is used today.

Jump Blues

• The first commercially successful category of R&B

• During the war, the leaders of some big bands were forced to downsize.

• Specialized in hard-swinging, boogie-woogie–based party music, spiced with humorous lyrics and wild stage performances

Louis Jordan

Louis Jordan (1908–75)• Led the most famous jump band, The Tympany Five

(usually 7 musicians)• Arkansas-born saxophone player and singer• Began making recordings for Decca Records in 1939• The first jump band musician to appeal to a mass

audience– Focused everything on pleasing the audience and

embracing a commercial attitude to his business• Flamboyant style and humorous lyrics • His ensemble setup—two trumpets, two saxophones,

bass, piano, and drums—became the standard for R&B.

Listening: “Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie” (1946)

• Louis Jordan’s biggest hit• Released in 1946 by Decca Records• Topped the R&B charts for an amazing eighteen

weeks, reached Number Seven on Billboard’s pop hit list, and sold over two million copies

• Exemplifies key elements of the jump blues style of R&B

• The title of the song draws a parallel between the motion of a train and the rocking rhythm of boogie-woogie music.

Listening: “Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie” (1946)

• Form– Series of verses in twelve-bar blues form, alternated

with an eight-bar chorus– Combines elements of African American music and

Tin Pan Alley song• Opens with a twelve-bar instrumental introduction

– A trumpet and two saxophones imitate the sound of a train whistle.• The rhythm section establishes a medium-tempo boogie-woogie

rhythm—a “shuffle”• Twelve-bar (blues) verse and eight-bar chorus, both sung by Jordan• Twelve-bar boogie-woogie piano solo • Twenty-bar saxophone solo instead of a piano solo

Chicago Electric Blues

• Urban blues tradition of the postwar era• Derived more directly from the Mississippi Delta tradition of

Charley Patton and Robert Johnson

• Chicago was the terminus of the Illinois Central railroad line, which ran up through the Midwest from the Mississippi Delta.

• The rural blues tradition had almost completely died out as a commercial phenomenon by World War II.

• The old Delta blues emerged in a reinvigorated, electronically amplified form. Blues musicians took advantage of new electric guitar and amplifier technology

Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) (1915-1983)

Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) (1915–83)

• “Discovered” in the Mississippi Delta by Allan Lomax in 1941

• Moved to Chicago in 1943• Played both acoustic and electric slide guitar• The single greatest influence on the British blues boom in

the 1960s– British performers such as Eric Clapton (Cream), Keith Richards

(Rolling Stones), Jimmy Page (Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin), John Mayall, etc., idolized Muddy Waters and adopted many of his techniques into their own performances.

Listening: “Hootchie Cootchie Man”

• Muddy Waters, 1953• Features Muddy’s lineup in the early 1950s:– Two electric guitars– Bass, drums– Amplified harmonica

• Combines blues form with verse-chorus structure• Typical Chicago electric/urban blues• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FJCsOV7C

A (Clapton)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkYWfPNRp5A (Chuck Berry)

Vocal Harmony Groups

• Although this tradition is today sometimes called “doo-wop,” the earliest performers did not use this term.– During the postwar era, variants of the African

American vocal harmony tradition, both sacred and secular, moved into the R&B market.

The Dominoes

• The vocal harmony group most responsible for moving away from the pop-oriented sound of the Mills Brothers– Created a harder-edged sound more closely linked to black

gospel music

• Led by vocal coach Billy Ward• In 1950, Ward started rehearsing with a number of

his most promising students and a seventeen-year-old tenor singer named Clyde McPhatter (1932–72).

Listening - “Sixty Minute Man”

• The Dominoes’ first big hit• Recorded in New York City and released by the

independent label Federal Records in 1951• A large part of the song’s popularity was due

to its lyrics, which catalogue the singer’s lovemaking technique in some detail

Listening - “Have Mercy Baby”

• The Dominoes pushed vocal-group R&B firmly in the direction of a harder-edged, explicitly emotional sound.

• Recorded in Cincinnati, Ohio, and released by Federal Records in 1952

• It was the first record to combine– the twelve-bar blues form,– the driving beat of dance-oriented R&B, and– the intensely emotional flavor of black gospel singing.

Ruth Brown (1928-2006)

• Biggest female R&B star of the 1950s• “Miss Rhythm” • Born in Virginia• Her musical training all came from the church• Began her professional career at the age of sixteen• In 1949, signed with the new independent label

Atlantic Records– “The House that Ruth Brown built”– Fused blues, jazz, and pop styles into a slicker, more

cosmopolitan style.

Listening: “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean”

• Performed by Ruth Brown, released in 1953• Held the Number One position on the R&B

charts for five weeks in 1953 and reached Number Twenty-three on the pop charts

Listening: “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean”

• The form is another example of the blending of blues and Tin Pan Alley–derived forms. – The twelve-bar form here is expanded by adding four extra

bars in the middle of the song. (“Bridge”-like)

• Brown’s vocal style:– Warm, somewhat husky tone – Strong rhythmic feeling– Little upward squeals at the ends of words such as

“mama,” “man,” and “understand” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnmbJruEkKw

Big Mama Thornton (1926–84)

• Born in Montgomery, Alabama• The daughter of a Baptist minister• Began her career as a professional singer, drummer,

harmonica player, and comic on the black vaudeville circuit and later settled in Houston, where she sang in black nightclubs

• In the early 1950s, arrived in Los Angeles and began working with Johnny Otis, a Greek-American drummer

Listening: “Hound Dog”• One of the top-selling R&B records of 1953– Covered by Elvis Presley several years later

• Number One for seven weeks• Thornton’s deep, raspy, commanding voice

projects a stark image of female power rarely, if ever, expressed in popular music of the 1950s.

• The bluntness of the lyrics is reinforced by the musical accompaniment.

• The tempo is relaxed, and the performance is energetic but loose.

• The basic form of the song is twelve-bar blues.

Listening: “Hound Dog”

• Thornton’s deep, raspy, commanding voice projects a stark image of female power rarely, if ever, expressed in popular music of the 1950s.

• The bluntness of the lyrics is reinforced by the musical accompaniment.

• The tempo is relaxed, and the performance is energetic but loose.

• The basic form of the song is twelve-bar blues.• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZRaK0j8DMs&f

eature=related

Ray Charles (born Ray Charles Robinson, 1930–2004)

• Born in Albany, Georgia• Blind from age six • Origins in jazz in Seattle – Influenced by Nat King Cole

• He signed with Atlantic Records and scored several R&B hits in 1954.

Ray Charles (1930-2004)

Charles’s recordings stood out from other R&B hits– Played the piano with unmatched brilliance– Used high quality studio musicians– Perfectionist

Ray Charles

• Successful on R&B charts during the 1950s, no major crossover success until 1959

• “What’d I Say” (Number Six pop, Number One R&B, 1959)

• “Georgia on My Mind” – First Number One pop hit– A version of an old Tin Pan

Alley standard – Number Three on the R&B

charts• Charles recorded an

album of soul interpretations of country songs in 1962, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (#1 hit US) – bent racial barriers in 1960’s America

The “Genius of Soul”• Fine songwriter: R&B classics like “I’ve Got a

Woman” and “Hallelujah I Love Her So.” • Skilled arranger• Exceptionally fine keyboard player, fluent in jazz and

pop• Outstanding vocalist; distinctive timbre– Widely acknowledged as the first important soul artist.– His work had an incalculable influence on James Brown,

Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Sly Stone, and others.

The Postwar Era:Country and Western Music

MUS 195

Nashville

• By the late 1940s, Nashville had developed into a center of the recording industry just like New York and L.A.

• WSM radio – Nashville– “Grand Old Opry” radio show

Bluegrass• Bluegrass music is a style rooted in the venerable southern

string band tradition. • Bill Monroe (1911–97)

– The pioneer of bluegrass music – Born in Kentucky– Started playing music at a young age– Influenced by his uncle (a country fiddler) and by a black musician

and railroad worker– In 1935, formed a duet with his brother, Charlie • In 1938, started his own group, the Blue Grass Boys, and the

following year joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry

Listening: “It’s Mighty Dark to Travel”

• Performed by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys• Recorded in Nashville in 1947• Classic example of bluegrass:– A blend of Anglo-American string band music– Traditional singing of the Appalachian Mountains

• Similar to groups like the Carter Family – singing in harmony

– Influences from African-American music, especially the blues• Some songs are 12-bar blues form, some melodies have blues

inflections (“blue” notes)

• Virtuosic playing

Listening: “It’s Mighty Dark to Travel”

• Acoustic stringed instrumentation: fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass

• Bill Monroe’s “chop-chord” mandolin style creates percussive sound occurring in alternation with the bass.

• Earl Scruggs’s highly syncopated, three-finger technique on the banjo interlocks with the rhythm of the other instruments.

• The string bass provides steady support, playing on the first and third beats of each measure.

Doc Watson – (1923-2012)

• From Deep Gap, NC• Legendary skill as a “flatpicker” – guitar style using a

pick or a combination of pick/fingers• Blind from an eye infection prior to his first birthday• Performed extensively with his son Merle until his

death in 1985 from a tractor accident• Multiple Grammy awards as well as a Lifetime

Achievement Grammy

Bluegrass - in more recent times

• O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) – film which featured a bluegrass soundtrack – won Grammy for best album of the year in 2000.

• Bluegrass-influenced pop bands and artists such as Alison Krauss, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Nickel Creek, or Punch Brothers have been very successful, recording and touring the U.S. (especially in the college circuit).– Alison Krauss released a very successful album with Robert

Plant (singer – Led Zeppelin) in 2007, winning 5 Grammy awards. Krauss has won 27 Grammy awards total, making her the most honored singer as well as female performer.

Hank Williams (1923–53)

• Symbol of the honky-tonk style• Most significant figure to emerge in country music

during the immediate post–World War II period• Born into poverty, began singing at an extremely

young age • At sixteen, the “Singing Kid” had his own local radio

show. • His vocal style blended elements of blues gospel and

traditional country singing.

Listening: “Hey, Good Lookin’” • Written and performed by Hank Williams• Recorded in 1951• “Hey, Good Lookin’” was a minor crossover hit– Number Twenty-Nine pop, but Number One on the

country chart for eight weeks in 1951• Danceable character and pop-friendly thirty-two-bar

AABA form borrowed from Tin Pan Alley models• Teen-friendly lyrics that address cars, dancing, and

young romance; terms like “hot-rod Ford,” “soda pop,” “go steady,” and “date book” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95aP0OWx4jY

Hank Williams (1923–53)

• The hard-living, hard-loving rambling life that Hank Williams led had its price: – Divorced by 1952– Fired by the Grand Ole Opry for failing to appear– Dependent on alcohol and painkillers

• Died on New Year’s Day 1953 after suffering a heart attack in the back of his car on the way to a performance