Cranky Spanky Poem Analysis

“Cranky Spanky” is representative of hard bop because it displays many characteristics of the genre. The structure is much like bop with improvisations and solos taking up much of the song besides a quick intro and outro. This song was performed by a small combo and has a fast tempo. This song defines hard bop by its dark and heavy tone color and its complex melodic improvisations, although not as complex as some bop improvisations. The rhythm section is much more active in the hard bop genre. For instance, in “Cranky Spanky” the drummer uses press rolls at the end of choruses, beats on the rims of the drums to add clicking noises, and is constantly active and adding colorations to the song. The pianist can be heard comping throughout the
song except for when the pianist takes a solo. The bassist can be heard employing a walking bass line throughout the song and is then recognized and appreciated by his accompanists in the twentieth chorus when they play a simple rhythm to accentuate the walking bass line. This song has similarities to bop, but it defines hard bop better by its raw sounds and hard-driving rhythm section. Art Blakey gave this song unique character with his high energy drumming and his technique.