What Role Do Music Play In The Civil Rights Movement?

January 9, 13- Lecture 2
• Blackface Minstrelsy
• Betrays simultaneous fascinations and repulsion for African American culture (don’t imitate unless admire)
• Appeared in the 1830’s and onward
• As much a matter of class as a matter of race
• Live entertainment in which white performers darkened their skin to imitate what they thought African American music sounded like (didn’t know much about African American culture or the south in general)
• Ridiculed blacks and made profit
• Northern cities such as New York was emergence
• Blacks represented as lazy, overly sexual, and uneducated
• Both performers and audience had mainly European American men and some blacks
• Made a less guilty conscience for slavery and also allowed newly
arrived immigrants to “prove they were white” by proving they were not black
• Typical minstrel Band: o Singers o Violin o Banjo o Tambourine o Bones
• Dan Emmett o Composer of “Dixie” o Banjo virtuoso o Founding member of the Virginia Minstrels
• “De Boatman’s Dance” o Strong bones and banjo o Duplo meter o Texture between monophonic and heterophonic o Doesn't sound very African American but rather Irish even though it was supposed to mimic African American music
• Tim D. Rice o Wrote “Jim Crow” o Famous for singing his song while doing the cakewalk (slaves used to make fun of master’s dancing and cakewalk is white imitation of the black imitation of the master’s dancing) o Counterpart of Jim Crow was Zip Coon

• Ragtime
• Distributed as sheet music so people could play at home
• First piece officially identified as a rag in USA was published in 1896
• Accentuated up beats is known as ragging
• Syncopations (excitement)
• 1,2,3,4 (down beats)
• Ands (up beats)
• Scott Joplin o Most famous ragtime composer o “Maple Leaf Rag”
• Most famous rag of Joplin’s
• Form AABBACCDD
• Left hand steady bass and right hand creates syncopations
• Ragtime was eclipsed by Jazz at the beginning of WWI

• Jazz
• Around 1910
• Emerged in New Orleans around the turn of the 20th century
• Transformation of ragtime o addition of improvisation o not as rigid o has a nice “swing”, meaning fluidity
• Early Jazz Ensemble o Trumpet or Cornet o Clarinet o Trombone o Banjo o Tuba or String Bass o Drums
• Spread of Jazz o Great migration of blacks from south to northern cities meant spread of jazz o Rapid growth of radio networks after WWI o Invention of shellac record (4 minutes of music)
• Original Dixieland Jazz Band o All white band so unclear if truly representative of early jazz in New Orleans o first to record Jazz music (1917) o Replicate animals sounds with instruments o Polyphonic music (each instrument plays something different)
• Paul Whiteman o “king of Jazz” o 1890-1967 o Gentle syncopations and little improvisations o An Experiment in Modern Music (1924)
• Feat. George Gershwin
• "Rhapsody in Blue" (mixing of classical and jazz)
• The Jazz Singer (1927) o Starring Al Jolson o Movie is about a cantor’s son who wants to become a vaudeville actor o Black minstrelsy still around

January 14, 13- Lecture 3

• Musical Mainstream in 1920’s and 1930”s
• Gene Austin, “My Blue Heaven” (1927) o Joy of family life o American dream
• Tin Pan Alley o Many songs composed here had escapists lyrics o Street in Manhattan where lots of music publishing industry was centered
• Crooning o Became the dominant singing style around this time o Sounds as if singer is singing right next to you (intimate) o Invention of electric microphone in 1925

• Race Records
• Race Music o Black targeted music o Does not describe sound of music but rather who made the record and who the music was marketed to o Idea started in 1920’s with OKeh Records
• Ralph Peer was a producer
• He convinced them to record Mamie Smith singing “Crazy Blues” (1920) o Black Swan Records
• Founded in 1921 by Harry Pace
• Black recording company
• Hillbilly Music o White targeted music o More information below

• Blues
• Feeling
• A singing style: blue notes
• A poetic form: AAB
• A musical form: 12 Bars, 3 Chords

A I

A IV
I

B
V
I o Example: “I Got You (I Feel Good)
• Three chords always but places can change

• Classic Blues
• Music recorded in 1920’s (1920-1926)
• Composed and published as sheet music
• Sung by women and accompanied by a band
• The songs are not always actual blues: influence of Tin Pan Alley

• Country Blues
• Probably started around 1900 but not recorded until the 1930’s
• Sung by men, accompanying themselves on guitar
• Never notated: oral tradition
• Blind Lemon Jefferson (1897-1927) o “That Black Snake Moan” (1926)
• Call and response between lyrics and guitar
• No regular beat o From Texas o Different style than Delta Bluesmen o No regular beat
• Robert Johnson (1911-1938) o “Cross Road Blues” (1936)
• Hard-driving rhythm o From the Delta o Bottleneck guitar
• Hillbilly Music
• Ralph Peer (again)
• Variety of styles: white gospel groups, string bands, singers influenced by Tin Pan Alley
• More of a marketing strategy
• Radio played a role in the diffusion of Hillbilly Music
• Hillbilly Music on the Radio o WSB in Atlanta (1922) o National Barn Dance, from Chicago o Grand Ole Opry, from Nashville (1927)
• The Carter Family o From Virginia o A.P. Carter, Sara, and Maybelle o “Gospel Ship” (1935)
• Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933) o “Blue Yodel No. 2” (1929)
• Mixed blues form and cowboy singing
• 12 bar blues

• Working Class Music (1940’s)
• Benny Goodman o First white band leader to integrate his band
• Glenn Miller
• Jitterbugs doing the Lindy Hop
• ASCAP: American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publisher o Tin Pan Alley
• BMI: Broadcast Music, Incorporated o Choice of Country singers

• R&B
• Louis Jordan o From Arkansas o Played saxophone o Jump Blues o “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” (1946)
January 23, 13- Lecture 5
• Elvis
• Poor Family
• Working class background
• Covered “That’s All Right” at Sun Records in 1954 o Scotty Moore: guitar with slapback echo o Bill Black: bass o No drums but rather “clickety clack” by bass o Elements of country music and R&B
• Covered “Mystery Train” (1954) o Looser form o Ending lyrics changed
• Covered “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (1954)
• Vibrato, stuttering, slide (his own style of singing)
• He carefully studied Marlon Brando and James Dean to create a certain persona
• “Baby, Let’s Play House” (1955) o His own song o Epitomizes how he uses his voice to create a cool, carefree persona
• “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956) o Inspired by man who killed himself in hotel room o More of a carefree version of a heavy topic o Not his song, rather a cover version o First recording session for RCA
• “Hound Dog” o Written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller o Recorded by Big Mama Thornton in 1953 o Elvis covered it in 1956 on the Ed Sullivan Show
• Signed by RCA in 1956
• Defies our perception of authenticity in popular music
• Jailhouse Rock (1957) o Not his first movie o First movie by Elvis about rock n roll
•
• Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup o “That’s All Right” o Original version
• Junior Parker o “Mystery Train” (1953) o 12 Bar blues
• Bill Monroe o “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (1954) o Country song
• Rockabilly
• Country side of rock and roll
• Hard to distinguish from rock and roll, which is more close to R&B side of spectrum
• Authenticity in Popular Music
• Important in folk, blues, and jazz musicians

January 28, 13
• Buddy Holly
• Signed by Decca in 1956
• Dropped by Decca
• Records “That Will Be the Day” in 1957 with independent label
• The Day the Music Died
• February 3, 1959; Plane crash killing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper
• 1957: Little Richard goes to church
• 1958: Elvis goes to the army
• 1958: Jerry Lee Lewis goes to bed with his 13 year old cousin
• 1961: Chuck Berry goes to jail for violating the Mann act
• The Payola Scandal
• 1959: “everyone goes to court”
• Record companies paid DJs to play songs on radio
• At the time the practice wasn’t illegal
• The Early 1960’s
• 1960: JFK is elected
• 1963: JFK is assassinated o LBJ becomes president o “Great Society” program o Vietnam
• Making a Record
• Writing the song: o Composer o Lyricist o Publisher
• In the Studio o Producer o Engineer o Lead vocalist o Musicians o Backup vocalists
• The Brill Building
• Home of many songwriting teams including Carole King and Gerry Goffin
• Kind of like a Tin Pan Alley
• Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
• “Jailhouse Rock”
• “Hound Dog”
• “Down in Mexico” o Sang by the Coasters o AABA
• Phil Spector
• Philles Records
• Wall of sound
• Teenage symphonies
• The Ronettes, “Be My Baby” (1963)
• Teen Idols
• Not trained musically, good looks, interchangeable
• “Good Boys” o Fabian
• “Turn Me Loose” (1959)
 Not great singing
• American Bandstand
• Lip synching
• 1960
• Instrumental in introducing the twist o first individual dance: non-couple and no contact
• Focused on dance crazes
• Controlled environment
• Played when kids got home from school
• Chubby Checker
• “Let’s Twist Again” (1961)
• The Beach Boys
• Surf rock style
• Leader was Brian Wilson
• Strongly influenced by Chuck Berry and Phil Spector
• “Surfin’ USA” (1963) o Berry sued Wilson for Melody
• Folk Music
• Went through revival in 1960’s
• appealed to 20 year olds (those who were teens in the 50’s) because it offered an alternative to mainstream pop
• Music associated with leftist politics unionism, social consciousness, and progressive ideas.
• Two types of folk singers o “The Real Thing”
• Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie in the 1940’s (influence)
• Bob Dylan is best representative of those in 1960’s
 born in 1941
 Influenced by blues
 Original voice, no effort to make voice pretty or able to be understood
 "Blowin' in the Wind” (1963) o Worked like pop music but still socially conscious
• The Kingston Trio
• Peter, Paul, and Mary (1961)
 Capitalize on success of Kingston Trio
 Covered "Blowin’ in the Wind” in 1963
 Well-received, proving that authenticity is a complicated thing
February 4, 13
Soul and the Civil Rights Movement
• Some music played an active role in civil rights movement
• Civil Rights meeting in 1964 in Mississippi o “We Can Overcome”
• Helped to solidify unity
• Some music just inspired people and also captured spirit of the movement
• Sam Cooke o “A Change is Gonna Come” (1963)
• 1st and 2nd verse not sure what change is gonna come
• "I go to the movie" is clear that it is segregation
• Many not political songs were seen as political due to the time
• Martha and the Vandellas o “Dancing in the Street” (1964)
• Quickly seen as confronting police even though really just a party song
• Does music have to sound political to be political?
• What is black music?
• Civil Rights Movement
• Mostly about making sure that everyone had an equal shot at the American dream
• 1960’s Civil Rights
• 1960: Sit-in in Greensboro
• 1961: First Freedom Rides
• 1962: James Meredith at Ole Miss
• 1963: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham
• 1964: Civil Rights Act by
LBJ
• 1965: Assassination of Malcom X o March of Selma to Montgomery o Voting Rights Act o Watts Riots
• 1966: Black Panthers party created
• 1967: “Black Power”, Riots in Newark and Detroit
• 1968: Assassination of MLK; Civil Rights Act
• Africanisms in Music
• Polyrhythms o Each instrument creates a different rhythm; different textured
• Participatory music; call and response
• Predilection for rich tones
• Arts considered as interrelated rather than independent
• Musical Markers of Blackness in US Music
• Elements borrowed from the blues Tradition o Form: 12-bar blues o Blues scales o Blues notes
• Elements borrowed from gospel o Melismatic singing o sound of the tambouring
• Elements borrowed from jazz o Scat singing
• Elements borrowed from doowop o All vocal harmony
• The Motown Business
• Berry Gordy, Jr. o Motown Record Corporation o Jobete Music (Publishing Company) o International Talent Management Inc. o Tamla (and other subsidiaries) o Berry Gordy, Jr. Enterprises
• The Temptations o “My Girl” (1964)
• Bass and guitar hooks
• Steady groove with heavy accents on beats two and four
• Staggered entries of instruments
• Full orchestra
• Smooth singing
• Verse-Chorus
• Written by Smokey Robinson
• The Supremes (Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard) o Signed to Motown in 1959 o Paired with Smokey Robinson
• Then switched to Holland-Dozer-Holland who wrote a lot of their hits (very successful) o Diana Ross took over lead singer (formerly Florence Ballard)
• Seemed strange choice but worked out well o “Baby Love” (1965) o "You Can't Hurry Love” (1966)
• Sound of music and words really work together
 Create certain expectation in pattern and then there are surprises; appropriate for this song
• ABCBCBAAAB
 A: “ I need love…”
 B: “you can’t hurry love…” (2x)
 C: "But how many heartaches…”
 B: “You can’t hurry love….” “how long…”
 C: "No, I can't bear to live my life alone..."
 B: “You can’t hurry love…” (2x)
 Break, VERY BRIEF
 A: "No, love, love,..."
 A: "for that soft voice..."
 A or B?: "I keep waiting.” (instruments play the melody of B but singer doesn’t)
 B: "You can't hurry love..." o “Come See About Me” (1964)
• On Ed Sullivan
• Practiced to project a certain image
• Diana Ross has all teeth pulled out but her front teeth, shows groomed nature by Berry Gordy, Jr.
• Southern Soul
• Gospel influence was much stronger than in Motown
• More "authentically black"
• Stax (Records) o 1957: Jim Stewart launches Satellites Records o 1961: Satellite becomes Stax Records o Record Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Isaac Hayes... o House Bank: Booker T. and the MG’s
• Otis Redding o Most successful to come out of Stax o “Try a Little Tenderness” (1966)
• Intensity builds with addition of instruments (similar to My Girl)
• Starts mellow (well with tenderness) but at tenderness he is very intense and not very tender
• Emotional intensity (not much in Motown)
• Soul
• James Brown o Developed individual sound o "Papa's Got a brand new bag" (1965)
• AABA
• A is a 12 bar blues
• Strong Down beat
 funk
February 6, 13
Monterey Pop and Psychedelia
• Psychedelia
• Aldous Huxley o Opening the Doors of Perception (1954)
• Marijuana
• Timothy Leary o The Psychedelic Experience (1964)
• LSD (Acid)
• Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters o offered people to pay $1 to board bus and take LSD
• Music of this genre was meant to replicate what it was like to take LSD o Losing sense of time and losing sense of space
• “Tomorrow Never Knows” (1966) o The Beatles o Opens with playing of the sitar (Ravi Shankar) o Panning projects sound in different directions
• Tambourine out of right channel
• Guitar sounds from left to right
• Sounds like music is moving around you o Tape played backwards (not really a guitar)
• guitar solo is played backwards and inserted
• “Good Vibrations” (1966) o Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys o Response to The Beatles- Revolver o ABABCD [Form]
• Beginning could be verse-chorus but is interrupted
• A-trippy part
• B-picking up good vibrations
• C-Complete switch to new music
• D-Shaking maraca and slower verse “Gotta keep those…” o The theremin
• UFO sounding instrument
• Electromagnetic instrument
• Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) o First cohesive album o Concept is a fake band o Music varies a lot o Elements from rock, british musical, indian classical, folk music, and Avant garde music
• “A Day in the Life” (1967) o Song within a song o Starts with Lennon singing normal and then he is interrupted o The inner song is sung by Paul McCartney o Transition from Lennon to McCartney used Aleatory music (chance operation)
• low to high and soft to loud in orchestra but at own pace o McCartney’s “song” starts with an alarm clock o Then transitions back to Lennon’s song but not such a radical transition o Ends with a dramatic build up using chance operation and then a piano chord that is just long enough to make you feel uncomfortable
• Monterey Pop’s Eclectic Lineup o The Line up reflected diversity of rock
• Soul: Otis Redding and Lou Rawls
• Urban Fold: Simon and Garfunkel
• Blues-inspired groups: Canned Heat; Big Brother and the Holding Company
• Folk Rock: Scott McKenzie, the Mamas and the Papas
• Second wave of British Bands: The Animals, The Who, Jimi Hendrix
• World Music: Hugh Masekela, Ravi Shankar
• Bands from the San Francisco Underground Scene (The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane…) o Monterey Masterminds
• Lou Adler
• John Phillips
• Alan Pariser
• Derek Taylor
• Sound system designed by Abe Jacob o The Who and Jimi Hendrix appeared Back to Back
• Hippies o White o Middle Class o Introduced a new dress style
• Eclectic
• Influenced by indian clothing
• African clothing
• Blue Jeans o Like to think they were politically engaged but very few were actually active