Teaching American Music to Undergraduates

[Face of the Bass]

I'm hoping the Organissimo community can help me. Next Fall I am teaching an undergraduate course on American history post-1865. It's a general survey course, and I'll have a lot of freshmen and sophomores in my class. This is somewhat outside of my field--my Master's is in American history, but my doctorate work is African history. When I teach African history, I always make sure to incorporate African music as a way of elucidating larger historical themes, and I'd like to do the same for American history.

The idea that I have would be to focus on the Blues of the early to mid-twentieth century, using the texts of songs as a way to understand American cultural themes about race, class, sex, labor, mobility, etc. I thought I might assign a book like Robert Palmer's Deep Blues to give a broader and readable contextualization of Blues music, but I'd also like to try to put together a project on the Blues, using actual recordings and maybe song lyrics.

Do you guys think that sounds like a workable plan? What texts or perhaps what song compilations might be useful? Any feedback is most welcome.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

This may not be helpful but...

One thing I always noticed about American music of all kinds (well, not Gospel) is that there are SO many songs about American places. In Britain there are a few songs about British places. There are probably more British songs about foreign places than about British places.

Why do Americans write so many songs about American towns, states, rivers, bridges etc? What's driving a guy to write 'Route 66'? I don't think these songs are written from a patriotic view (well, 'Grand Coulee dam' might have been) but perhaps a romantic view.

I dunno, but I'd be interested.

MG

[jeffcrom]

That sounds good, if you choose your songs/lyrics carefully. Before you're inundated with recommendations, I'd like to suggest including Skip James' "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues" - musically and lyrically a harrowing picture of the poverty of the Great Depression. You'll need to know one arcane Mississippi phrase also used by Robert Johnson: "dry long so" refers to being in extreme poverty, specifically to not having enough food to make it through the winter.

The Blues Line is a mostly accurate collection of lyrics compiled by Eric Sackheim which might be helpful.

[JSngry]

What's driving a guy to write 'Route 66'?

Driving is what's driving him.

Seriously.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

What's driving a guy to write 'Route 66'?

Driving is what's driving him.

Seriously.

Yes, I know. I didn't think I'd need to put a smiley in there...

MG

[Neal Pomea]

American music is all kinds of things, including ethnic American music. This is why I find the very concept "Great American Songbook" to be prejudicial as I understand it to be used.

My website has been used to supplement college courses on American and ethnic folk music. It focuses on Cajun music. Some Creole.

http://npmusic.org/artists.html

Edited April 23, 2013 by Neal Pomea

[Chuck Nessa]

[AllenLowe]

Face - my blues chonicle, 1890-1959, will be out this Fall, as a finish to my original blues history (which only had 9 CDs come out and was never completely issued); I really deal with it mostly on a musical basis, but I cover everything from Will Marion Cook to Jaki Byard, with lotsa country in between; even a Charles Ives piece and Copeland. I'd be happy to send you the text if you like; everything is mastered on CDRS, as well.

[Neal Pomea]

Excellent resource, Allen! Chuck!

Edited April 23, 2013 by Neal Pomea

[cih]

'Roosevelt's blues' by guido van rijn is a book with lots of explicit references from blues recordings to the works projects and so on.. Kind of follows the depression through blues lyrics

[paul secor]

This may not be helpful but...

One thing I always noticed about American music of all kinds (well, not Gospel) is that there are SO many songs about American places. In Britain there are a few songs about British places. There are probably more British songs about foreign places than about British places.

Why do Americans write so many songs about American towns, states, rivers, bridges etc? What's driving a guy to write 'Route 66'? I don't think these songs are written from a patriotic view (well, 'Grand Coulee dam' might have been) but perhaps a romantic view.

I dunno, but I'd be interested.

MG

America is a big place. Used to be bigger in the days before interstates, jet planes, etc. Also, America used to be much less homogenized before the media made us all one. In the 20's. 30's, 40's, going from one part of the U.S, to another might have seemed like visiting a foreign country.

[cih]

Of course with blues songs and travel it's often about wanting to be somewhere else - even, occasionally, wanting to be back down south

Edited April 23, 2013 by cih

[Face of the Bass]

Thinking about this more, what I might be able to do is to maybe pick at minimum ten songs that could be interpreted by students in short essay papers. There are going to be 50 kids in the class so if you have at least 10 songs that would be five students per song, and perhaps they could choose then which one to write about. I'd need the songs that I picked to have clear historical or social themes that could frame a paper. It would also probably help to pick songs from one region, as that would make the accompanying lectures more coherent. If I opened it up to anything then we would be having to cover everything from the Delta to the Appalachians and so forth. It might get unwieldy at that point. On the other hand maybe you could just identify a body of songs that deal with the Depression, and orient the papers around that.

Allen I'm going to send you a message in a moment.

[cih]

the big migrations to the city might make a good overall theme, tied to the changing work patterns - and within that the songs can lead into other themes, eg Cow Cow Davenport's 'Jim Crow Blues' is obviously to do with 'race' but talks about moving up North ("I'm sweet Chicago bound").. and something like 'Cotton Seed Blues' by Roosevelt Sykes is about the poor harvest (and implies a need to make a change)... whilst Peetie Wheatstraw's 'Chicago Mill' is about having a good job in Chicago and attracting women through it. Then Lonnie Johnson's 'Chicago Blues' is about a sort of culture shock of being new in the city (also Josh White's 'Friendless City').. etc. I have to second Jeffcrom's suggestion of Hard Time Killing Floor (for the 'lack' of work) - also maybe Walter Davis' 'Red Cross Blues'.. and then Joe Pullum's 'CWA Blues' for the Works Projects ("CWA, look what you done for me, you brought by good girl back, and lifted depression from me..") - though I guess these are all of a certain type, and perhaps you are seeking more variety!

edit - not to mention 'illegitimate' work - eg Jim Jackson's 'Bootlegging Blues' (so prohibition gets covered) and Alice Moore - 'Broadway Street Woman' (prostitution)..

Edited April 23, 2013 by cih

[Big Beat Steve]

Face - my blues chonicle, 1890-1959, will be out this Fall, as a finish to my original blues history (which only had 9 CDs come out and was never completely issued)

So the definite word is that there never will be Vols. 2 to 4 of "Really The Blues?" ? Pity ...

[John L]

This sounds like a great idea! The Robert Palmer book is a good one to use. Given your focus on lyrics, you should be aware that there are a couple of mistakes in it. Palmer cites the lyrics of Willie Brown's Future Blues and James Cotton's Cotton Crop Blues as embodying particularly strong Mississippi Delta themes. But those lyrics were actually borrowed from other songs from other areas. Cotton Crop Blues is another title for Roosevelt Sykes' Cotton Seed Blues that Cih cites above. The lyrics of Willie Brown's Future Blues come from an old Ma Rainey song: Lost Minute Blues.

A few early blues artists who sang very interesting lyrics from the social point of view: Ed Bell (Barefoot Bill), Furry Lewis, Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson.

Of course, some the most defiant blues lyrics went unrecorded in the pre WWII period. Various euphenisms were also used for "boss man" and the like.

Edited April 24, 2013 by John L

[AllenLowe]

as for the actual musical vols of the blues set - I am working on it. What I really need is a European source, if anybody knows of one.

[cih]

eh - another seemingly random recommend - something on Joe Louis, whose huge impact was reflected in song.. lyrics example below from Lil Johnson, though there are others:

"Each time Joe Louis won a fight in those depression years, even before he became champion, thousands of black Americans on relief or W.P.A., and poor, would throng out into the streets all across the land to march and cheer and yell and cry because of Joe's one-man triumphs. No one else in the United States has ever had such an effect on Negro emotions – or on mine. I marched and cheered and yelled and cried, too." - Langston Hughes

'Winner Joe':

Joe Louis was born in Alabama
And raised up in Detroit
But he always had that killing blow
Every since he was a boy
So, lay it, Joe!
You got the best blow!
When Joe Louis fought in Chicago
Some bet that he would lose
But when the papers brought the news
He gave that kind the blues
So, lay it, Joe!
You got the best blow!
Levinsky made a few passes
And then he fell to the floor
Then the referee hollered, "Hold it, Joe
For he won't be back no more!"
So, lay it, Joe!
You got the best blow!
(spoken:
Yeah, man, I'm bettin' on Joe!
Got any money?
I'll bet you!)
You all heard about Primo Carnera
They thought he was so good
But Joe started chopping on his head
Like a farmer chopping wood!
So, chop it, Joe!
You got the best blow!
Then Joe walked up to the man mountain
And kindly shook his hand
Then Joe backed up a step or two
And knocked him in the promised land
So, knock it, Joe!
You got the best blow!
Then Joe Louis went to New York
Just to fight that champion Baer
And before the first round ended up
Joe left him layin' there!
So, lay it, Joe!
You got the best blow!
But the Baer, he took it easy
He didn't argue long
He went on back to California
And bought him a cattle farm
He said, "Take it, Joe
You got the best blow!"

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Yeah, Joe Louis even got into one of Rev J M Gates' sermons.

MG

[AllenLowe]

there's actually a Memphis Minnie piece about him, with great, almost-stride piano by Black Bob.

[cih]

& there were Trinidadian calypsos about him (I suppose these were also sold in the US)

[cih]

Re. Rev Gates - you could probably cover a lot of ground with just his sermons! - there's that one about a black farmer in Mississippi who telephoned Roosevelt about his mule being taken away from him, or his farm being closed (or something).. and Roosevelt answered the phone himself and arranged an extension on the mortgage for him (maybe this is a well know story over there?) - "he's a friend to EVERYBODY, both white and black... special privilege to NONE!" and another about the evil of chain stores, and that you should use your local merchants.

[Chuck Nessa]

The cd I mentioned in post 6 covers Depression Era material from Eddie Cantor to Wilmoth Houdini with a bunch of blues/folk/country in the mix. This disc is worth other board members consideration.

[paul secor]

As usual, Chuck speaks the truth from his experience.

[cih]

The cd I mentioned in post 6 covers Depression Era material from Eddie Cantor to Wilmoth Houdini with a bunch of blues/folk/country in the mix. This disc is worth other board members consideration.

Right - and it even has the Gates track about the black farmer & the president! And Joe Pullum's CWA which is worth the price alone (imo)