The late 19th century marked a great deal of change in the United States as well as the rest of the world. World war one had begun and reeked great havoc on the entire world. Nikola Tesla and the fathers of communications had made major scientific breakthroughs in the communications field and modern radio programming was right around the corner. Slavery had been abolished for over thirty years but segregation was still an enormous factor amongst the African-American people in the U.S. One of the most segregated states in the entire country, Mississippi, was on the brink of one of the most influential forms of modern music that the world had ever seen or heard: the blues. What the blues did for music is reflective in almost every piece of modern music heard throughout the world today. From rock and roll to country music, all the way to hip hop, the blues is deep down inside shining like a beautiful light that makes that music glow forever. Weather a person is happy or sad, compassionate or indifferent; the blues will always be there to light the way. Right at the turn of the century a man by the name of W.C. Handy was about to stumble upon a sound that would change the world of music forever. The year was 1903. The summer sun was beating down ferociously and a man named William Christopher Handy, who happened to be catching a train heading north, found himself in a town called Tutwiler Mississippi which lies smack-dab in the middle of the Mississippi delta between Clarksdale Mississippi and Greenwood Mississippi. Handy, a former bandleader of “a black orchestra that mostly plays dance music and popular standards of the day, is a learned musician who understands theory and the conventions of good, respectable music’’ sudden... ... middle of paper ... ... America the civil rights movement had begun and a new type of blues called soul music was introduced. Traditional country blues was making its way into college towns and it was only a matter of time before electric blues would follow. As the fifties came to a close, the most musically influential time period in the history of popular music, the sixties, would come roaring in with bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Jimmie Hendrix all of which were heavily influenced by the blues. After the 1960’s through the seventies and the eighties the blues and its wonderful history would help to shape almost every form of modern music. In 2002 the United States Congress passed a resolution making 2003 “the year of the blues.” Without the development of the great pioneers of the blues genre music would be in a totally different place, as we know it today.
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
Blues has played an extreme role in todays’ music. The music genre of blues, helps us express ourselves in which you can feel it from the ubiquitous in the jazz to the blues scale and the specific chord progressions. To start off, the blues is musically originated by African Americans in the deep South of the United States. Growing up in a southern household, I was used to listening to a variety music, but blues was always most listened to. Every time I listen to blues, the lyrics often deal with personal adversity, and it goes far beyond pity.
All of humanity suffers at one point or another during the course of their lives. It is in this suffering, this inevitable pain, that one truly experiences life. While suffering unites humankind, it is how we choose to cope with this pain that defines us as individuals. The question becomes do we let suffering consume us, or do we let it define our lives? Through James Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues”, the manner by which one confronts the light and darkness of suffering determines whether one is consumed by it, or embraces it in order to “survive.” Viewing a collection of these motifs, James Baldwin’s unique perspective on suffering as a crucial component of human development becomes apparent. It is through his compassionate portrayal of life’s inescapable hardships that one finds the ability to connect with humankind’s general pool of hardship. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” makes use of the motifs of darkness and light to illuminate the universal human condition of suffering and its coping mechanisms.
As time progressed, music had to continue to evolve to keep up with the ever-changing styles. Blues slowly began to morph into Rock and Roll to engage people of a new era. While many changes occurred in creating Rock and Roll, it continued to carry undertones of the Blues. This can be heard while comparing Son House’s, “Walking Blues” and Elvis Presley’s, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” These two songs show many similarities, while also having their own identities.
Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood.
Blues music emerged as an African American music genre derived from spiritual and work songs at the end of the 19th century and became increasingly popular across cultures in America. The Blues is the parent to modern day genre’s like jazz, rhythm and blue and even rock and roll, it uses a call-and-response pattern. While Blues songs frequently expressed individual emotions and problems, such as lost love, they were also used to express despair at social injustice. Even though Blues singing was started by men, it became increasing popular among women, creating one of the first feminist movements. Ma Rainey, a pioneer in women’s
Before the war started, a wealthy white man by the name of John Hammond worked to integrate black and white music.1 Since his childhood, he enjoyed the music of numerous black artists, and he wanted to share his love with the rest of America. He used much of his inherited fortune to make this possible. He went against the general opinion of society and his parents, who despised black people. Hammond refused to ignore black artists’ musical abilities because of their color, “I did not revolt against the system, I simply refused to be a part of it.”2 He used his money to organize the most eclectic group of musicians ever assembled, for an integrated audience of his time. Hammond’s efforts made an indelible impact on the music industry. The musicians Hammond introduced in...
Blues helped with the formation of jazz which in return helped with the formation of popular music. Blues jazz songs and blues singing, aided as a standard and inspiration for songwriters and singers. Popular musicians hence, copied the three dimensions of the blues; (1) the physical performance of classical blues singers, (2) its feeling style and (3) its form. The “blues” style was fostered in early-twentieth- century popular music and was least influenced by European music. The vocals of the blues influenced both equally the melodies and songs of the 1920s and the lyrical and vocal singing of them. Popular music songwriters seemed to suggest a musical rhythm or style with a blues atmosphere even though popular song lyrics were not as straight forward or influential like those
By the end of World War I, Black Americans were facing their lowest point in history since slavery. Most of the blacks migrated to the northern states such as New York and Chicago. It was in New York where the “Harlem Renaissance” was born. This movement with jazz was used to rid of the restraints held against African Americans. One of the main reasons that jazz was so popular was that it allowed the performer to create the rhythm. With This in Mind performers realized that there could no...
The development of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the late 1940s and early 1950s by young African Americans coincided with a sensitive time in America. Civil rights movements were under way around the country as African Americans struggles to gain equal treatment and the same access to resources as their white neighbors. As courts began to vote in favor of integration, tensions between whites and blacks escalated. As the catchy rhythm of Rock ‘n’ Roll began to cross racial boundaries many whites began to feel threatened by the music, claiming its role in promoting integration. This became especially problematic as their youth became especially drawn to ...
The title of this video is “The Land Where the Blues Began” and it is a documentary that was produced by The Mississippi Authority for Educational Television & Alan Lomax. The sometimes visible narrator is none other than Alan Lomax, a renowned ethnomusicologist and collector, as well as the son of John Lomax. The overarching theme in this documentary centers on exploring the roots of the blues. In the introduction of the documentary Alan Lomax talks about how blues belongs to everyone presently and has even created more recent genres such as jazz and rock n’ roll. In saying this Alan Lomax fears that the origin of blues has been forgotten. Throughout the video we are introduced to blues musicians who were whiteness the phenomena
The blues is very diverse, so diverse that in fact two blues songs could have absolutely no similarities, yet still share the same category. This plays into the individuality of each performer and how their unique life experiences is played out in songs. Songs that are centered around sadness, joy, pity, anguish, love, and desire. With such wide range, the blues then spread from rural areas to the urban cities which would then change culture
The Roots of Blues Music Blues is a very important type of music. Most music that you hear today has some form of blues in it. If it wasn't for the blues there wouldn't be any rock and roll, country, rap, pop, or jazz . Blues is also important for African American culture. African Americans were also the people who started the blues.
The music scene in Mississippi was very popular and is known as the home of blues. The Delta blues i...
The blues was adopted and exploited by professional singers and songwriters that wanted to make the genre universally accepted so they could make the most profit. Singers and songwriters changed their styles and voice to adapt to the growing popularity of blues music, “I guess I would have done anything to get recorded – it just happened to be a blues contest, so I sang the