Willie Mae " Big Mama" Thornton
Elvis who? If you ever thought of who inspired the styles of rock and roll and you thought of was Elvis Presley, then I'm sorry to tell you my friend; but, you're going to have to look back in time a little further than that. She was a part of an old generation yet was the new sensation that rocked the 1950's through the 1970's forever. With her boldness, swagger, and attitude, "Big Mama" Thornton reshaped the blues and jazz scene forever. Inspiring the styles of future stars like Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin, Thornton's big voice and risqué moves became one of the greatest influencers of the rebel genre loved by all. Often known as the "New Bessie Smith" or "Big Mama", Willie Mae Thornton, with her hit songs,
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By this time however, Willie Mae already gained a reputation for heavy drinking and masculine behavior. She always wore khakis, shirts, and would never do anything she didn't want to. Her dressing up like a man though sparked rumors and controversy that she may have been lesbian, yet there was no proof of this.
Big Mama Thornton performing as supporting act for Johnny Ace in Texas in 1953 (courtesy Billy Vera Collection) x
In 1951, Thornton recorded her single "I'm All Fed Up/Partnership Blues. And with the help of her friend Johnny Otis, Willie Mae began touring with his orchestra in 1952. With Otis, Willie Mae performed at the Apollo Theatre, where after stealing the show with a rendition of "have Mercy Baby" by Billy Ward and the Dominoes; she was given her nickname, Big Mama.
"I didn't have no record and I was singing The Dominos' song 'Have Mercy, Mercy Baby', and I stole the show! We played the Apollo in New York and that's where they made their mistake. They put me first. I wasn't out there to put no one off stage. I was out there to get known and I did! I stopped the show!"
- Willie Mae Thornton
Interview Big Mama Thornton with Ralph J. Gleason, San Francisco Chronicle, April 6,
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and San Francisco. In 1965 and 1972 , Thornton toured with the American Folk Blues Festival in Europe. She toured in places like Germany, France, Switzerland, etc. In the United States the blues revival age was over, but in Europe, the people loved her. Afterwards though she performed at local spots and the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and 1968. With Arhoolie, Thornton recorded her albums Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blue Band with songs like "Ball and Chain" and renditions of "Wade in the
Waters' success was related to her style of singing. She could sing like other classic blues singers with plenty of passion and fire, but she had a unique approach. She was not a shouter but was able to hold the attention of the audience with her low and sweet voice. According to Jimmy McPartland, who saw her in the 1927 show Miss Calico, "We were enthralled with her. We liked Bessie Smith very much, too, but Waters had more polish, I guess you'd say. She phrased so wonderfully, the natural quality of her voice was so fine . . ." Waters introduced a new style of the blues, one that was influenced by her grandmother who always told her "You don't have to holler so.
After several years with the "Tennessee Ten", Florence joined a new show called "Dixie to Broadway" in 1924. With her widely recognized theme song, "I'm a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird", the show was a phenomenal success. In June of 1925, Florence received vaudeville's highest honor. She was the star attraction at the Palace Theatre. By heading the bill at the Palace, she became the first black performer to have that honor.
The “king of Western swing,” Bob Wills, was a prominent figure from the 1930s through 1950s. At at a young age he learned to play the fiddle and he and his father performed at dances and other social gatherings. He was exposed to other genres of music as a young boy such a blues, conjunto and mariachi, but it was the new sounds of jazz that inspired him to experiment with traditional country music. In 1929 Wills moved to Fort Worth, Texas, were he formed a band, the Wills Fiddle Band, which would soon change to Light Crust Doughboys. Their music was played was played on the Fort Worth radio station, KFJZ radio, and their unique sound quickly spread which is what the radio advertisers needed during the economic downfall. However, in 1933 Wills left the band and formed a new one called Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and they toured together over the next forty years. In 1945 Wills appeared at the Grand Ole Opry and insisted that there be a horn and drum section on stage. The audience was surprisingly pleased with this unwanted change by the directors. Despite his somewhat strained relationship with Nashville, the local country music establishment formally recognized Wills and his important overall impact on country music when the Country Music Association Hall of Fame inducted him in 1968 (Hartman, 146). Bob Wills died in 1975, but was still a major influence in up and coming young country artists like Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack.
Born Gertrude Pridgett in Georgia in 1886 to parents who had both performed in the minstrel shows, she was exposed to music at a very early age. At the age of fourteen, she performed in a local talent show called “The Bunch of Blackberries,” and by 1900 she was regularly singing in public.2 Over the next couple of decades, she worked in a variety of traveling minstrel shows, including Tolliver's Circus and Musical Extravaganza, and the Rabbit Foot Minstrels; she was one of the first women to incorporate the blues into minstrelsy. It was while working with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels that she met William Rainey, whom she married in 1904; together, they toured as “Ma and Pa Rainey: Assassinators of the Blues.” By the early 1920s, she was a star of the Theater Owners' Booking Agency (TOBA), which were white-...
At the age of nineteen years old Presley began his music performing at the “Hillbilly Cat.” After being discovered Presley signed with Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee in 1954. Then his contract was sold in 1955 to RCA Victor. His musical influences were a mix of multiple genres. He was influenced by gospel threw church; black R&B threw Beale Street in Memphis. He combined all the genres to create the early rock n roll that would arouse many people around the world.
Like Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” In the 1950’s the South was heavily racially segregated. Elvis Presley unintentionally put himself in the position to become a valuable instrument in the battle against segregation. “Without casting himself as a fighter for racial equality, Elvis became a subversive standard bearer for cultural desegregation at a time when the codified racism of the South was under increasing pressure.” How did an uneducated white hillbilly from the south influence both black and white teenagers against segregation? It was quite simple, for Elvis Presley had a unique talent of combining traditional black music; such as the blues and jazz, with the traditional white music; like country and white gospel. This unique style of blending different types of music, gave Elvis the edge on the musical racial barriers America was facing; and open the path for both sides to enjoy the music together and therefore desegregated.
His performance at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival was a particularly special point in his career, because it caught the attention of a new fan base. Waters continued to record with rock musicians throughout the 1960s and '70s, and won his first Grammy Award in 1971 for the album “They Call me Muddy Waters”. (Muddy Waters.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television) After his 30-year run with Chess Records, in 1975 he went his own way, suing the record company for a royalty fee after his final release with them: Muddy Waters Woodstock Album. Waters signed on with Blue Sky Label. He then captivated audiences with his appearance in The Band's farewell performance, known as "The Last
Since Bill was a native of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, he decided to call his band "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys," and this band sound birthed a new form of country music. "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys" first appeared on the "Grand Ole Opry" in 1939 and soon became one of the most popular touring bands out of Nashville's WSM studios. Bill's new band was different from other traditional country music bands of the time because of its hard driving and powerful sound, utilizing traditional acoustic instruments and featuring highly distinctive vocal harmonies. This music incorporates songs and rhythms from string band, gospel (black and white), work songs and "shouts" from black laborers, country and blues music repertoires. Vocal selections included duet, trio, and quartet harmony singing in addition to Bill's powerful "high lonesome" solo lead singing.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley on January 8, 1935 in two-room house built by his dad in Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis was supposed to be a twin, but his brother Jessie was stillborn, leaving him as an only child. He grew up in Tupelo surrounded and supported by his extended family as well as his loving parents. Though money was tight, Vernon and Gladys managed to support their darling Elvis and regularly attended church. Elvis seemed to start taking influence not only from preaching and music form his church, but also the “black bluesmen in the neighborhood and country music radio programs enjoyed by his family.” (S1) On October 3, 1945 Elvis’s singing was first sawn as he won fifth prize in a youth talent contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show (S1). 1946 helps him along his way to pop sensation as his mother buys him a guitar, since she cannot afford the bicycle Elvis wants. His family is still only scrapping by, so on November 6, 1948 the El...
Although he later denied that he ever said it, Sam Phillips-the man who discovered Elvis Presley-is reputed to have said, “if I could find a white man who had the Negro sound the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars” (Decurtis 78). Certain radio stations would not play the work of black artists in the segregated America of the 1950s. But, nevertheless, rock ‘n’ roll was an art form created by African-Americans. Little Richard, whose songs “Tutti Fruitti” and “Long Tall Sally” became hits only after white-bread versions were made by Pat Boone, said, “It started out as rhythm and blues” (Decurtis 78).
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”
Bessie was born April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to a part time Baptist preacher, William Smith, and his wife Laura. The family was large and poor. Soon after she was born her father died. Laura lived until Bessie was only nine years old. The remaining children had to learn to take care of themselves. Her sister Viola then raised her. But it was her oldest brother, Clarence, who had the most impact on her. Clarence always encouraged Bessie to learn to sing and dance. After Clarence had joined the Moses Stokes Minstrel Show, Bessie got auditions. Bessie's career began when she was 'discovered' by none other than Ma Rainey when Ma's revue, the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, was passing through Chattanooga around 1912 and she had the occasion to hear young Bessie sing. Ma took Bessie on the road with the show and communicated, consciously or not, the subtleties and intricacies of an ancient and still emerging art form. (Snow).
Bessie Smith impacted Billie Holiday because Holiday learned a lot through Smith’s records by thinking that Smith was kind of a teacher. Even though Billie Holiday did not have a voice as powerful as Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday’s musical interpretations and phrasing were similar to Bessie Smith. Frank Sinatra was impacted by Bessie Smith because he believed that she was an early blues genius. Sinatra’s voice was more polished than Smith’s voice, but he did find inspiration in the emotions she sang with in the records. Bessie Smith was a highly influential artist that had the power to help people with their music even after her death proving that she truly is “The Empress of Blues” ("Bessie Smith"
His impact on music is one of the greatest of all time; influencing artists like Buddy Holly and The Beatles, he paved the way for current Rock and Roll. Spotify has created an entire web page, called Elvisualization, tracing current music artists to Elvis Presley, it is found at: http://static.echonest.com/insights/elvis/elvisualization.html. I was able to find many different singers including Blake Shelton, who was inspired by Vince Gill, and he was inspired by Merle Haggard who was inspired by Elvis. Many different artists attribute different characteristics which can be traced back to Elvis. That is what a true king does, encourage long after he is
According to Dan Gediman, Cab was the "Hi De Ho" man, a legendary showman, gifted singer, bandleader, actor, and fashion setter. He was a larger than life figure, who was immortalized in cartoons and caricatures, was also the leader of one of the greatest bands of the Swing Era (Dan Gediman, "Cab Calloway"). Scott Yanow thought Cab was "One of the great entertainers," and Cab's name was a household one by 1932, and never really declined in fame (Scott Yanow, "Cab Calloway's Biography").