Most of us know of Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. But do we truly know who he is, the legend in the darkness? Not many are able to answer with a solid yes. Some can say he was a great country performer, being completely unaware of how his music, as well as his image, had a tremendous impact on their own lives, including the music they listen to. Johnny Cash was an influential person in American history because his “Man in Black” image helped solidify his place as a music writer and performer, he was able to rebound from the depths of drug addiction, and he pioneered many different genres of music although he was a country singer.
Johnny Cash’s main reason why he and his band wore black is quite laughable. Of all the clothing options they had, black was the only common color. It also became a well-known stage standard once the song, “Man in Black,” became extremely popular in 1971. Wearing black, to Cash, is a method of conveying a message, a sign. This message was for the weak, the downtrodden, the sick, the hopeless, the lonely, and those that just deserve more in life. Was it hope? Only Cash would know. Unfortunately, the message was stolen by the powerful clutch of Death.
Johnny Cash’s household image in the United States, and eventually, the world, was that of an outlaw, a criminal. This is a very common misconception about Cash’s life. Interestingly, he never served a prison sentence. Additionally, as well as ironically, most of Cash’s fan mail came from those in prison. His seven one-night stays in jail lasted only that, one night at a time. Rumors about Johnny actually doing time were simply rumors. Another example that works against Johnny’s image is his songwriting. The song “Folsom Prison Blues,” for example, has line...
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When a person thinks of rock music in the 50s, they usually think of Elvis Presley, “the King of rock and roll”. However, he seems to exhibit a more stereotypical American approach to music. As Americans, we like everything that entertains us to be bigger and better than before. Presley certainly delivers this idea through his outfit,
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
A notoriously known singer, Elvis Presley, sang the song Jailhouse Rock in 1957. Elvis was born on January 8th 1935 and died August 16th 1977. Naturally, he was known for his singing, acting and songwriting. Presley was also known as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” However, he did not compose Jailhouse Rock. The single, Jailhouse Rock was originally released in September of 1957 and reached # 1 on October 21st, 1957. Mike Stoller composed the song and was writing partners with Jerry Leiber. Stoller was born in Belle Harbor, Long Island. He was dedicated to writing songs mainly for genres, such as R&B and the Blues. Clearly, the music speaks of dancing and jamming to music in jail. Around this time, the song Jailhouse Rock was created to be used in an Elvis Presley movie. Elvis was to play a prisoner who becomes a star after he gets out of prison. Solely, the song was meant to better illustrate a movie Elvis was in at the time and the song also inspired the name for the film. As this song was released, America was going through the Civil war. During this month, the news reported federal troops escorting nine Black students into an all-white school.
Charlie Pride did it in 1971. Darius Rucker did it in 2009. That’s it. Two black men, spanning thirty-eight years, are the only black artists to win a Country Music Association Award. With country music rooted in bluegrass and rhythm and blues, why aren’t there more black country music stars? When considering the roots of country music, and how closely related country is to blues, bluegrass and honky tonk music, an examination of what happened to all the black musicians seems warranted, no? This paper examines the dearth of black artists in country music and the careers of one of the few black artists who has had commercial success in this genre of music.
Have you ever heard the expression money isn’t everything? Well it’s true and in Langston Hughes short story, “Why, You reckon,” Hughes reveals his theme of how people aren’t always as happy as they seem when they have lots of money.
In nineteen eighty he was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Johnny and his friends Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson formed the “Highwaymen” . He also teamed up with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison with his busy schedule of recording music. Cash was also in a few movies he was in the “Stagecoach” which starred him, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, June Carter Cash, Kris Kristofferson,and John Schneider one of the stars in “The Dukes of Hazzard”. Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, June Carter Cash, and Willie Nelson were in a movie about two of the greatest bank robbers of the old west it was called “The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James”. Cash has always been known as “ The Man in Black” because he always wore a black shirt and he had a song by the same name. In nineteen ninety two he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, In two thousand and one he got a national medal of honor.He was out selling the Beatles in nineteen sixty one, he had a television show in nineteen sixty one through nineteen seventy one called the Johnny Cash show, he did live albums at Folsom Prison and San Quentin prison all the prisoners
Louis Armstrong created a huge cultural shift that swept over America and changed music forever. It allowed for African-Americans to be a part of the music industry, and even contributed to women’s acceptance in music as well. African- Americans are now a vast majority of our musicians and artists, and are just as appreciated and idolized as white musicians. Louis Armstrong’s love for music and jazz still thrives today among his fans and fans of jazz in general. He is well-known and well-respected, and will never be forgotten in the music industry. Louis Armstrong changed music for the better, and will always be the king of jazz.
Country music singer, Reba McIntire, recorded a song called "The Greatest Man I Never Knew." In the song, she speaks of how she never really knew her father. It exemplifies the way I feel about my own father. Everyone has a person who has made a deep impact on his or her life. For me, it was my father Donald Alexander. He was a great man with a wonderful sense of humor. He was the reason I wanted to become an attorney. He said I never lost an argument. I feel tormented that I was unable to know what a great person he really was.
Unique to the United States, the Old West wields a powerful influence on the American imagination that can still be seen in numerous aspects of the nation’s culture, such as clothing lines and movies. Unfortunately, as is the case with most other periods, historic acknowledgement of African Americans’ contributions to the West is still not complete. Only recently, within the last few decades, have American scholars and the film industry earnestly begun to correct this period in regards to African Americans. In 2005, the Idaho Black History Museum (IBHM) in Boise assembled a display that incorporated the black cowboy into it.
Hank Williams was arguably the most influential country music star of all time. Though his life of fame was short-lived, his legend continues to live among millions of fans. Hank was the first legendary country music singer, and he was an innovator of his time. Hank helped country music spread from the rural south to other parts of the nation. Hank was launched to fame with many songs such as “Your Cheatin Heart,” “Jambalaya,” and “Cold, Cold Heart.” The legacy of Hank Williams continues to influence country music fans worldwide.
Through Elvis Presley, rock ‘n’ roll changed the face of American music, and influenced a whole generation’s political philosophy. Composer Leonard Berstein once said, “He introduced the beat to everything and changed everything-music, language, clothes; it’s a whole new social revolution-the 60s come from it” (Wattenberg 6B). To his credit, Elvis embraced rhythm and blues not as a from to be imitated, but as a form to honored and interprete... ...
Elvis Presley was a well-known man and loved by many people. Based on http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/04/11/elvis-presley-teens-consumer-culture/Elvis Just like Muddy Waters, Presley timing was perfect as well. He came into and era (1950s) where the devastations of the great depression and world wars were over. People were now starting to have some freedom and enjoy the thing they loved which was listening to music and living life to the fullest. The social change that the 50s brought reflected music significantly, and Elvis Presley arose.. Kids were now starting to rebel against their parents and they had a lot of extra money to spend on records because of prosperity. During the Wars, money was limited and kids and adults had to work extra hard and save for survival purposes, but once the war-ended money could be used for pleasure reasons rather than just for survival. In addition, in the 50s our country had it’s own war, and I’m not talking about the World Wars, but yet human inequality. The civil rights movement was one of the biggest social changes in history and was a time where a lot of great artist prevailed and made songs on the issue. Elvis Presley showed just how social changes could influence or reflect the history of rock “n” roll. Presley started a culture, his hairstyle, the way he dressed all became part of the youth around the country. As I said our country was fighting its own war with segregation, Elvis music help bring people together. His music not on appealed white crowds, but black crowds listened to him as well. He brought people together through music, and proved to the world that he could be successful. He was one of the artist that mastered crossover, bringing every color to liking his music. Based on Larson fourth edition pg 38, it says that his record sales boomed, and then rock “n”
“Sonny’s Blues” revolves around the narrator as he learns who his drug-hooked, piano-playing baby brother, Sonny, really is. The author, James Baldwin, paints views on racism, misery and art and suffering in this story. His written canvas portrays a dark and continual scene pertaining to each topic. As the story unfolds, similarities in each generation can be observed. The two African American brothers share a life similar to that of their father and his brother. The father’s brother had a thirst for music, and they both travelled the treacherous road of night clubs, drinking and partying before his brother was hit and killed by a car full of white boys. Plagued, the father carried this pain of the loss of his brother and bitterness towards the whites to his grave. “Till the day he died he weren’t sure but that every white man he saw was the man that killed his brother.”(346) Watching the same problems transcend onto the narrator’s baby brother, Sonny, the reader feels his despair when he tries to relate the same scenarios his father had, to his brother. “All that hatred down there”, he said “all that hatred and misery and love. It’s a wonder it doesn’t blow the avenue apart.”(355) He’s trying to relate to his brother that even though some try to cover their misery with doing what others deem as “right,” others just cover it with a different mask. “But nobody just takes it.” Sonny cried, “That’s what I’m telling you! Everybody tries not to. You’re just hung up on the way some people try—it’s not your way!”(355) The narrator had dealt with his own miseries of knowing his father’s plight, his Brother Sonny’s imprisonment and the loss of his own child. Sonny tried to give an understanding of what music was for him throughout thei...
Today most young people think that if a person is rich and famous, they can get away with anything. They see rappers get charged with felonies and then they see that the charges get dropped. They’ve heard of celebrities running over children while drunk and get away with it without doing any time. However, not all rappers have run-ins with the law, but the ones that do are very well known. Tupac Shakur (RIP), for example, had many run-ins with the law. He was arrested for aggravated assault, and charged with shooting two off duty police officers in Atlanta in 1993, but the charges were later dropped (bomp). He was also accused of beating a limousine driver in Los Angeles and found guilty of threatening a fellow rapper with a baseball bat in Michigan (bomp).
On a trip to Ghana as Ambassador Satchmo, he recognized the struggles the people still faced with slave trading and colonial subjugation and was reminded of the American South’s “vigilante violence against black people.” (Eschen 62). The sympathy that he felt for their struggles inspired him to play “Black and Blue” and the “sense of shared struggle was reciprocated” (Eschen 63). Through “Black and Blue” Armstrong remembered the struggles that the blacks were suffering in the United States just like the people of Ghana. This was a turning point in his life and ultimately led him to work harder at helping his fellow black brethren to obtain their rightful civil privileges. This conversion was illustrated when he cancelled a trip for a Soviet tour in order to help the African American kids in Little Rock. Armstrong accused President Eisenhower of being “‘two-faced” on civil rights and allowing ‘Faubus to run the government.’ ‘It’s getting so bad a colored man hasn’t got any country’” (Eschen 63). In response, Eisenhower sent federal troops to assist with integration. However, the actions of the musician at other times bought forward harsh feelings like “What have you done for your people, except hurt them?” (Meckna 37) He was criticized for wearing leopard skins in a film and using minstrel humor which made him appear as playing into the degrading stereotypes of the time. In a