Reservation Blues Research Paper
The Function of Music in Reservation Blues
Definition Popular Music:
Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media.
Popular Music In General:
- the music since industrialization in the 1800's that is most in line with the tastes and interests of people à extremely wide range of music from vaudeville and minstrel shows to heavy metal
- abbreviated to pop music àoften used for a narrower branch of popular music
Popular Music and the Business:
- product of the modern business enterprise
- try to select and cultivate the music that will have the greatest success with the public àmaximize their …show more content…
profits
- the big companies manipulate the audiences and sell them products with no intrinsic value
- Outlet for sense of expression and creativity
- playing for enjoyment
Genres:
- popular music is subdivided into genres
- different genres often addresse different age groups
- the average age of a big band music audience is probably higher then the listeners of rap music
What is Blues?
- a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes
- the word blue is often associtaed with melancholy, depression and sadness
Origin of the Blues:
- early form of blues-like music was a call-and-response shouts
- a form of this pre-blues was heard in slave field shouts and hollers
- expression of suffering and depression
- at the end of the 19th century the blues was diffused in rural areas of the south
Prewar Blues:
- the blues became popular between 1911-1914
- W. C. Handy popularized the blues by realeasing a composition called "Memphis Blues" àFather of the blues
- 1920s became a major element of African American American popular music
- the blues evolved from informal performances in bars to entertainment in theaters
- In the 30s and 40s the blues went north
- famous bluesmen (Muddy Waters/Willie Dixon) played in Chicago or Detroit
Impact of the blues:
- in the early 60s many young American or European discovered the blues àThe Rolling Stones, Cream, Fleetwood …show more content…
Mac àfamiliarized a young white audience with the blues
- inspired Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton or Led Zeppelin
Robert Johnson:
- born Robert Leroy Johnson
- May 8, 1911 August 16, 1938
- one of the most famous Delta blues musicians
- the combination of his singing, guitar skills and songwriting influenced generations of musicians
- Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend
Main Characters:
1.
Thomas Builds-the-Fire
2. Victor Joseph
3. Junior Polatkin
4. Robert Johnson
5. Big Mom
6. Chess Warm Water
7. Checkers Warm Water
8. Father Arnold
9. Betty and Veronica
Minor Characters:
Thomas dad: Samuel
The-man-who-was-probably-Lakota
David WalksAlong (Tribal Council Chairman)
Michael WhiteHawk
Phil Sheridan & George Wright
The Blues in Reservation Blues
Ralph Ellison's famous definition: the speakers "autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe"
Alexie: individual & general problems
Hybridity: mixture
→ essential ingredient in the blues as well as in American culture
1. The Band (Spokane, Flathead, White)
2. Repertoire of the Band (Blues, Country, Punk; Poem; Story)
3. Spokane Tradition and Catholicism:
"You cover all the Christian stuff, and I`ll do the traditional Indian stuff. We'll make a great team." (Big Mom)
Robert Johnson. King of the Delta Blues Singers."
His Music struck a Chord that continues to resonate.
His Blues adressed Generations he would never know and made Poetry of his Visions and
Fears.
Definition Popular Music:
Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media.
Popular Music In General:
- the music since industrialization in the 1800's that is most in line with the tastes and interests of people à extremely wide range of music from vaudeville and minstrel shows to heavy metal
- abbreviated to pop music àoften used for a narrower branch of popular music
Popular Music and the Business:
- product of the modern business enterprise
- try to select and cultivate the music that will have the greatest success with the public àmaximize their …show more content…
profits
- the big companies manipulate the audiences and sell them products with no intrinsic value
- Outlet for sense of expression and creativity
- playing for enjoyment
Genres:
- popular music is subdivided into genres
- different genres often addresse different age groups
- the average age of a big band music audience is probably higher then the listeners of rap music
What is Blues?
- a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes
- the word blue is often associtaed with melancholy, depression and sadness
Origin of the Blues:
- early form of blues-like music was a call-and-response shouts
- a form of this pre-blues was heard in slave field shouts and hollers
- expression of suffering and depression
- at the end of the 19th century the blues was diffused in rural areas of the south
Prewar Blues:
- the blues became popular between 1911-1914
- W. C. Handy popularized the blues by realeasing a composition called "Memphis Blues" àFather of the blues
- 1920s became a major element of African American American popular music
- the blues evolved from informal performances in bars to entertainment in theaters
- In the 30s and 40s the blues went north
- famous bluesmen (Muddy Waters/Willie Dixon) played in Chicago or Detroit
Impact of the blues:
- in the early 60s many young American or European discovered the blues àThe Rolling Stones, Cream, Fleetwood …show more content…
Mac àfamiliarized a young white audience with the blues
- inspired Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton or Led Zeppelin
Robert Johnson:
- born Robert Leroy Johnson
- May 8, 1911 August 16, 1938
- one of the most famous Delta blues musicians
- the combination of his singing, guitar skills and songwriting influenced generations of musicians
- Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend
Main Characters:
1.
Thomas Builds-the-Fire
2. Victor Joseph
3. Junior Polatkin
4. Robert Johnson
5. Big Mom
6. Chess Warm Water
7. Checkers Warm Water
8. Father Arnold
9. Betty and Veronica
Minor Characters:
Thomas dad: Samuel
The-man-who-was-probably-Lakota
David WalksAlong (Tribal Council Chairman)
Michael WhiteHawk
Phil Sheridan & George Wright
The Blues in Reservation Blues
Ralph Ellison's famous definition: the speakers "autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe"
Alexie: individual & general problems
Hybridity: mixture
→ essential ingredient in the blues as well as in American culture
1. The Band (Spokane, Flathead, White)
2. Repertoire of the Band (Blues, Country, Punk; Poem; Story)
3. Spokane Tradition and Catholicism:
"You cover all the Christian stuff, and I`ll do the traditional Indian stuff. We'll make a great team." (Big Mom)
Robert Johnson. King of the Delta Blues Singers."
His Music struck a Chord that continues to resonate.
His Blues adressed Generations he would never know and made Poetry of his Visions and
Fears.