In the book Blue like Jazz there is a couple of conversion stories I would like to talk about. The first one comes from Chapter 4. It is the conversion of Millers friend Penny. Penny was a person who did not like Christians and Christianity based on the stereotypes that she had seen and the world has given to them. In the chapter it says that Penny wanted nothing to do with Christianity until she met a friend from her school. She went to college at the same place as miller, which is reed college, and after her freshman year she decided to study at a school in france. While there she was introduced to another student from Reed who she was very fond of and her…
"Sonny's Blues" was first published in a mainstream magazine in 1957 and was collected in Baldwin's 1965 book "Going To Meet The Man". Sonny's Blues" is a short story set in the ghetto of Harlem, NY. James Baldwin wrote "Sonny's Blues" to articulate how the African-American culture enabled countless numbers of Blacks to escape, survive, endure and overcome various types of institutionalized racism and accompanying forms of social, economical and political oppression. African-American culture refers to a particular society at a particular time and place, which expresses and shares a set of learned beliefs, values, tradition, history, arts, religion, food and music. The different forms of the African-American culture gave blacks a sense of belonging.…
Sonny’s Blues was first published in 1957 by James Baldwin. The story takes place in Harlem, a historically African American neighborhood in New York City. This story was the start of Baldwin commitment to the civil rights movement, and he became a spokesman for African Americans during the 60’s. Sonny’s Blues is about two brothers, Sonny and the narrator, that suffer in multiple ways that involves music, drug abuse, the way the interact with each other, and even nightmares. Suffering can cause a human to change their point of view drastically. Only a few can overcome the curve balls life decides to throw at one. “Sonny’s Blues” is a fantastic example about how suffering can change a person, but…
The blues music has gone through a massive evolution since it first started out as a musical tradition for the African Americans and their slave culture. Since then we have seen many important improvements and milestones for when it comes to human rights and black music. The end of slave import and the end of segregation lead to black music in the radio among others. It became possible to record and possess music by African Americans with help from record labels like Okeh Records and Paramount Records, great artists like Son House, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters had massive success, and in the late 1940s we even had a black man owning a radio station. After that the blues had a bit of a quiet period before we…
The Blues came before Ragtime, it was born during the days of slavery and more likely playing as church hymns. Blues is considered as a sad and melancholy type of music. It "reflect the city of the forgotten man and woman, the shout for freedom...and the hunger of workless."(pg 53) and the very few of them are fast and happy. Unlike Ragtime, they are more of a happy and lively type of music for military marching and 'a never before heard "swing"'(pg 61). Ragtime music helped the many Americans to strive out of depression of 1890.…
Why B.B King is the most influential person of the blues era? With all the trials and tribulations, he had to go through in his life, he became the most influential artist there was of the blues era. Although B.B, had great success added to his name, the simple fact of his birth place could have created havoc on his future. Mississippi was known for its dislike of African Americans and during this time there were no laws to protect them. In the year that B.B King was born seventeen African Americans had been lynched in America and the Ku Klux Klan reported had 1 billion members. Economically, most black families farmed and sharecropped and during the twenties sharecropping was another form of slavery.…
The Delta Blues was one of the first inspirations for rock n roll. It is entangled in African American history and still is today. The Delta blues has a rich history, and unique musical style which is incomparable.…
“Lost your Head Blues” was written and performed by Bessie smith, known as the “Empress of the Blues.” She lived from 1894-1937. The songs Smith sang along with her performances allowed her the opportunity to become popular in the 1920’s. While the songs she sang were revolved around her life, and not that of the community, many folks said that the stories were relatable to them. “Lost Your Head Blues” in particular was a sad love song that became a popular hit in the 1920’s, specifically 1926. Due to how the man was treating her with such disrespect, Smith sings about leaving the man she loves. Her music was considered to be classical blues based on the African American blues genre. Long before Smith’s time, this type of music with its sad and negative tone was already being played. For instance, “Flow My Tears” was written around the 1600’s which was during the Renaissance period. This was considered popular during Shakespeare’s time. It was produced by John Downland, who was a well-known English composer in Europe. He lived from 1563-1626. It was derived from a poem perhaps previously written by Downland. Downland is well-known for his pieces which represent sadness. In that, it portrays one’s happiness coming to an end—similarly to that of “Lost Your Head Blues.”…
he weather was hot, working conditions dangerous, living conditions hard, relationships strained, and opportunities few, but it was all they knew. For many in the rural south, this life was all they’ve ever known, and all they would ever see. Disillusionment with the American Dream was central to the lives of African Americans in the early twentieth century, yet out of this culture, a spirit was captured in song. Far more than a musical genre, musical storytelling defined a culture, people, and the attitude of African Americans in the south. The 1979 documentary Where the Blues Began chronicles the land and the people of the Mississippi delta throughout the origins of “America’s most distinctive song style,” the blues.…
African-American music has had such an impact on our society today. African-American music became popular in the 19th century after the civil war as musicians of color were hired to play in saloons and brothels. A couple of forms of popular music are spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz and ragtime. Spiritual and gospel music reflected the poverty and oppression of slaves. As Jazz entered the popular culture it provoked a great deal of criticism. An artist know as, Louis Armstrong, had a huge impact in the way white people became to appreciate African American music. Blues music came on to the scene, in which it reflected the emotions and struggles of the poorer segments of the black community. Blacks as well as whites criticized…
In the 1920’s blue’s classic Ain’t no tellin’, blues artist Mississippi John Hurt displays his situation detailing what maybe perhaps his life on the road as a blues artist travelling and performing at different venues throughout a few parts of the country. In attempts to decipher the lyrics, I imagined myself in the 1920’s going through rough times perhaps even being slaved but then gaining an opportunity to travel on the road and perform.…
During the 40’s and 50’s Bluegrass music was a big influence in society. It combined traditional folk ballads, gospel songs, and string band music to create a style characterized by instrumental intelligence, and high-pitched vocals. Its history, instruments, and influences are what make Bluegrass one of the most distinctive American forms of music. Bluegrass music is the old time Country music, which has been influenced by Scottish-Irish, British, the blues, Negro spirituals, and gospel music as well. It had its start on the rural south and came about in the 1940’s after World War II. It was a mixture of hillbilly, folk and various types of Country that were popular with the farm families and blue-collar workers. Country music’s origin dates back to the early 1920s. It infuses archaic ballads and folk music created by White Americans as well as forms of African-American music.…
Blues, established in the secular world of heartache and pain, is sometimes considered “feel good music”. Past and current personal struggles are significant in shaping the lyrics for a blues song. With the sound of its heavy blues guitar and its relateable lyrics, blues, just like gospel can open up an array of emotions. The website Biography.com(n.d), credits the early 1900’s works of W.C Handy, or the “Father of the Blues”, as being the one that made blues music well known. It was his dedication and effort to pursue his musical career that this genre of music was birthed.…
“The Weary Blues,” by Langston Hughes, tells a story of an unnamed narrator recalling an evening of listening to a man sing the blues one night in Harlem. Hughes uses a somber tone, depressed voice, syntax and imagery as language styles to convey a great deal of suffering that was occurring in Harlem during the mid-1900’s.…
1. Blues is based on the music of African-American playing to express longing for better life and lost loves, jobs, and money.…