Chapters 5 &6 -Listening Journal #3

 

                This week’s Listening Journal focuses on Chapters 5 and 6 in the book American Popular Music. The Chapters focused on the Race Records and development of the Blues during the 1920’s and 1930’s as well as the swing era from 1935-1945. During the course of my readings, I also listened to several different songs that were written around the same period. I learned about several musicians from these eras such as W.C. Handy, Bessie Smith, Blind Lemmon Jefferson as well as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Count Bassie from the swing era.

                One of the first recordings I listened to was “That Black Snake Moan” by Blind Lemmon Jefferson. This song was first recorded in 1926. This song has a pretty straight tempo from start to finish. You hear a guitar riff in the beginning before Jefferson starts to sing. It is the only instrument heard on this recording. Jefferson seems to be strumming chords on the guitar throughout this song. Jefferson starts each phrase of his first few lyrics with a type of moan that is punctuated at the beginning of each phrase. The lyrics seem like a brief repeated ideas. His voice seems to have a lot of timbre and versatility in pitch as well. Like many race/blues songs, the lyrics seem to tell a story about a black snake being in the room and some pretty woman better come and get the black snake soon. Hhhhhmmmm, seems like a sexual innuendo. This kind of innuendo with lyrics is a common theme that we will see in lyrics of popular music in the coming years.

                “In the Mood” was recorded by Glen Miller and his orchestra in 1939. To many musicians and historians, this song is considered the most popular song of the swing era. The song starts with a 16^th note sax riff to start before the trumpets and rhythm section start up. The main melody of the song is the Saxophones with the trumpets doing some short responses of an eight note followed by a half note. There is also a saxophone and trumpet solo during the course of the song as well. The tempo of the song is straight forward in a moderate tempo and the band uses dynamics as well. “In the Mood” was also a popular dance tune of the 1940’s at many proms and social dances throughout the United States. Listening to this song takes me back to my high school jazz band days when we played this song. It was always one of my favorites to play. Comparing “That Black Snake Moan” to “In the Mood” is like comparing apples to oranges. I was much more into listening to the swing era music than the blues.

                                During the course of my readings and other listening, I learned that many of the popular songs of the swing era are still the standards played by big bands today. There also were recordings of country music as well as Latin music in swing. “Brazil” was one of the most popular Latin jazz songs of the swing era. There still seems that there were no racial mixed bands yet. It would be several decades before this would become a reality.

               

Chapters 3 and 4 Listening Journal #2

                This week’s Listening Journal focuses on Chapters 3 and 4 in the book American Popular Music. These Chapters focused on the early development of Jazz from 1917 through the Tin Pan Alley songs of the 1930’s. During the course of my readings, I also listened to several different songs that were written around the same period. I learned about many of the early Jazz musicians such as King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington as well as many of the famous Tin Pan Alley composers like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

                One of the first recordings I listened to was “Tiger Rag” by the Original Dixie Land Jazz Band. This song was first recorded in 1918. This song is a high energy song from start to finish. You do not hear a strong identifiable melody throughout the song which was unlike much popular music of that time. The only time that you heard any solo instrument was during the stop-time sequences. This sequence happens when the band stops abruptly for a few beats and one instrument plays a brief one measure solo. During the song, you also hear the clarinet and trombone doing glides or glissandos from a lower octave to a higher octave. This element of the music really captures a sense of the time it was recorded in. “Tiger Rag” seems to have more of a structure and less improvisational than many of their African American counterparts of the era.

                “Dipper Mouth Blues” was recorded by King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band in 1923. King Oliver was an important figure in the early days of Jazz in the United States. He also served as a teacher and mentor to Louis Armstrong, one of the greatest figures of all-time in popular music. This song makes a strong contrast compared to “Tiger Rag” from the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. “Dipper Mouth Blues” has more of a laid back and flowing feel than “Tiger Rag”. The structure of the song also seemed like it was more improvisational than the “Tiger Rag”. I also like how King Oliver incorporated the Cornet into this song. He was backed up on Cornet by a young Louis Armstrong. I preferred this recording over the Original Dixie Land Jazz Band “Tiger Rag”.

                My favorite “Tin Pan Alley” song I listened to was “I Got Rhythm” by George and Ira Gershwin. The song was first published in 1930. To me the lyrics are a great insight into how simple life was at that time. “I’ve got Rhythm, I’ve got Music, I’ve got my gal who could ask for anything more?”. Those lyrics about sum it up. It says to me, why is this person so happy? The form of the song is AABA and has a steady tempo from start to end. My first exposure to this song was when I was in 8^th Grade and saw the movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus” for the first time in 1995.

                During the course of my readings and listening, I learned that bands of this era were either all white or all black. There were no mixed racial bands. Even though African Americans were gaining gradual acceptance in the music world, they still suffered hardships from society. I also learned about some of the early pioneer women who sang Jazz in some performing groups from the video posted on our class module. I really thought that these women were talented and had beautiful voices that blended perfectly with their respective bands. I loved the sound of their voices and how well they “Scat Sang” so well. Louis Armstrong was also famous for scatting as well.

               

Chapters 1 & 2 Listening Journal

This week’s Listening Journal focuses on Chapters 1 and 2 in the Book American Popular Music. The Chapters focused on the early development of popular music in the United States from around 1840 to 1917. During the course of my readings, I also listened to several different songs that were written around the same period. The course of this timeline of history took us from the early traveling minstrels up to ragtime. I also learned about several early popular music artists such as Stephen Foster, John Philips Sousa and Scott Joplin.

                Early American music was influenced by the British Ballad tradition. “Barbara Allen” was one of the earliest popular songs from this time. The recording of this song I listened to was sung a cappella. By listening to this song, I can see that this could be considered an early influence of what will in later years become county music. The strain of her singing voice and pronunciation of words lead me to come to this conclusion. This song talks about love which will be a common theme in many popular song lyrics for years to come. In the recording I listen to, Jean Ritchie sings twelve four line verses.

                “Soldier’s Joy” was another song that I listened to during my readings. This song used a popular instrument of the time called the fiddle. I found the lyrics interesting as I listened and followed along in the book. The lyrics “25 cents for morphine, 15 cents for beer, 25 cents for morphine, that’s gonna take me away from here” blew my mind. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought by just looking at those lyrics that they were written in the 1960’s during the Vietnam War.

                During the Chapters, I also listened to many other early recordings that influenced the development of music in America. I listened to early recording of African American, Latino and Brass Bands. Brass Bands lead to the development of community and school bands that are still a major part of our culture today. John Philips Sousa was the major figure of the Brass Band movement. He toured all around the United States and the World towards the end of the 19^th Century and the beginning of the 20^th. One of my favorite Sousa marchers that I have both played and conducted with my High School Band is “El Capitan”. I love the way Sousa composed the 16^th note and dotted 8^th note runs. I also like the use of dynamics that he uses as well. The B section is more of a laid back feel but it does have its impact hits before having an exciting a forte ending.