Songs Table for Final Exam PDF

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Songs Table for Final Exam...

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Terms Western Swing, Bluegrass, Country & Western: Great Speckled Roy Acuff, from Tennessee, among the first country music “stars” associated with the Grand Bird 1936 Ole Opry and mainstreaming of country music. originally a Southern church hymn based on Biblical passage equating the church with a great speckled bird surrounded by enemies. strophic (ala English ballad, “old time” “folky” music) , steel guitar, acoustic guitar, twangy voice. Cool Water Sons of the led by Roy Rogers (from Ohio) and Bob Nolan (from Winnipeg), who form band Pioneers, called the Pioneers. radio host re-names them Sons of the Pioneers. written by Nolan. less romantic image of cowboy/frontier life. sophisticated song writing 1941 effectively portrays a parched protagonist haunted by mirages. Back in the Saddle Gene Autry, TV and film help make him an enormous star, “The Singing Cowboy”, wanted to be 1939 a pop star; goes to New York, but turned down by Victor Records. early on, performed many styles, including risqué tunes about gambling, drinking, sex. written and recorded by Ray Whitely in 1938. Autry re-records it, works out deal to take credit for co-writing the song. romantic image of the cowboy and the frontier. It Wasn't God Who Kitty Wells, From Nashville, TN; father was a brakeman on the railroad. 1st female country Made Honky Tonk 1952 music star. answer song to Hank Thompson’s “The Wild Side of Life,” which Angels accuses women of seducing good men into bad behavior. both Thompson’s “Wild Side of Life” and Wells’s “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” use the melody and chord progression from Roy Acuff’s “Great Speckled Bird”. well known tune, but given new secular lyrics about contemporary gender politics. in borrowing “Great Speckled Bird,” a religious song with Biblical lyrics, Thompson in a sense claims the “moral high ground”; Wells claims it right back with “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”. song banned by Grand Ole Opry, NBC radio, and many other radio stations; nonetheless became a huge hit; 1st song by a woman to hit #1 on Billboard Country & Western chart (no longer called “hillbilly”). steel guitar way up front; increasingly becomes a timbre distinctly associated with country music. features prominent fiddle and associates with the sound of country. Your Cheatin' Heart Hank from Alabama, born in poverty, out on streets at age 7. learned guitar from African Williams, American street musician who went by Teetot (Rufus Payne). drifter, many jobs: 1947 rodeo, shipyards, traveling medicine shows etc., songs exemplify honky-tonk culture: pain of failed relationships, hardship of poverty, loneliness of drifting life, alcoholism; but also makes this life glamorous (popularized Nudie suits). Also called the “father of country music” because what he did was closer in style to what really became known as “country music.” Williams the most important quality for a country singer is sincerity. life experiences matched with a lot of themes he talked about (drinking and marital problems). he was an alcoholic and fired from the Grand Old Opry for it; had morphine addiction; died at age 29. “Your Cheating Heart” (1952) is iconic “cry into your beer” song; “hurtin’ song.” lyrics put up brave stance, but wailing voice betrays this; he’s the one that’s crying in this song, contrary to the lyrics. Big Band Singers: Minnie the Cab Calloway, bandleader and vocalist, succeeded Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club - chic, stylish Moocher 1931 image, popularized zoot suit. dark topic: about a prostitute addicted to hard drugs. scat vocal in call-and-response. sold 1 million copies. used for Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon (1932) watched in class. Strange Fruit Billie Holiday, born Eleanora Fagan; took first name from favourite singer (Billy Dove) and last 1939 name from father, Clarence Holiday from father, who left when she was an infant. her mother thrown out of the house for becoming pregnant with Billie at age 13. forced into prostitution at age 12; sang in brothels. projects “devil-may-care” attitude. one of first female musicians to tour with big bands; one of first black

Nancy (with the Laughing Face)

Frank Sinatra, 1945

Nature Boy

Nat "King" Cole, 1948

Midnight Special

Lead Belly, 1934

musicians to tour with white bands. extremely difficult circumstances: she faced a lot of racism and sexism. quit touring to take gig at Café Society (Greenwich Village, NYC). “Strange Fruit” (1939) composed by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high school teacher, who wrote the song after seeing photos of a lynching. Holiday’s label, Columbia Records, wouldn’t release it due to controversial subject matter; released on independent label Commodore Records . light, thin sound, narrow range, not virtuosic. famed for phrasing and vocal improvisation. projects fragility, sensitivity. explicit, powerful lyrics. form hints at A A B A form, but ends up being A AI AII. resigned, no hope for change. Holiday arrested in 1959 for drug possession. suffered from cirrhosis; transferred to hospital, remained guarded by police on her death bed. routinely cheated out of money by music industry. died with 70 cents. started by singing with popular Tommy Dorsey big band. during AFM strike convinces Victor Records to put out records under his own name, becomes extremely popular. Columbus Day Riot of 1944 at Paramount Theatre. “Bobby soxers” (adolescent girls) rioted because they couldn’t get in to see. Frankie had several nicknames: “Sultan of Swoon,” “Swoonatra”, “The Voice,” “Old Blue Eyes,” “Chairman of the Board”. “Nancy (with the Laughing Face)” (1945). strings dominate; band takes backseat to vocalist. contrast with “All or Nothing at All” (1939), recorded with Harry James Orchestra . uses rubato = expression fluctuations of tempo. uses vibrato (referred to as “portamento” in reading assignment) = expressive fluctuations in pitch. highly stylized and nuanced vocal phrasing; pays great attention to every word. vocal control and mastery; musical prowess projects a sense of sexual prowess. mastered microphone as an instrument. recording technology allowed more nuances of vocals. born in Alabama; African American with middle‐class background. father was a pastor; sang in choir and played organ in church. moves to Los Angeles in 1939; has successful jazz trio (Nat King Cole Trio). biggest successes with sentimental ballads backed with orchestra. accused of selling out, massive success for black performer, including 14 Top Ten hits on pop charts. marketed as “Sepia Sinatra”, first African American to host a weekly radio program, first African American performer to have a network TV show. in spite of (or perhaps because of) cross-over success, faced racist backlash because he “didn’t know his place”. house in wealthy Hancock Park area of Hollywood subject to racist graffiti and cross burnings (Ku Klux Klan intimidation technique). 1956, at performance in Birmingham, Alabama, stage stormed by members of White Citizens Council who sought to kidnap the “uppity Black”. “Nature Boy” (1948) goes to #1 on Billboard pop charts and stays there for 8 weeks (unprecedented for a black singer), written by Eden Ahbez (born George Aberle) eccentric proto hippie; Jewish, from Brooklyn, but moves to California to join the Nature Boys commune (vegetarian, long-haired and bearded, yoga, Eastern philosophy, sandals, etc.). lush arrangement (French horn and flute = outdoorsy sound; harp = mystical, enchanting; oboe = Eastern culture, the “exotic”; violin = played in “gypsy” style). smooth, warm, refined vocal. Urban Folk Revival: Lead Belly (née Huddy Ledbetter) was discovered by Lomaxes in Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. Lomaxes foster myth that they helped him get out of prison. 12-string guitar, powerful voice, huge repertoire, undeniable musicality, and creativity. Lomaxes cultivate image of “authentic,” “primitive” folk musician, posing him in farmer overalls or prison clothing. Lomaxes also took co-writing credits for most of Lead Belly’s material (both Lead Belly’s re-working of traditional songs and songs newly composed by Lead Belly) . prison song; dates back to at least 1905. Lead Belly adds verse about Houston jailbreak of 1923. folk tradition of adapting tradition songs to current events. guitar accompaniment with chords and bass line (similar to “Carter scratch” verse-chorus form with distinctive vocal style

Jesus Christ

It's All Right Now

Take My Hand, Precious Lord

Memphis Flu

Shout, Sister Shout

Woody Guthrie, 1940

From Oklahoma, poor state, during Depression, “Okies” pushed off land (Dust Bowl era) and made to become itinerant laborers. Guthrie takes up hobo lifestyle. traveling commentator, touring the country, taking in its natural beauty, and speaking for its common, lowly, downtrodden masses. wrote songs about abject condition of the common “folk”, often explicitly pro-labor, pro-working class. e.g., “This machine kills fascists” written on guitar. “Jesus Christ” (1940) was based on 19th-century folk song about Jesse James (legend portrays him as American Robin Hood). Guthrie uses modern terms (bankers, cops, landlords, etc) to refer to those who killed Jesus. updates story of Jesus; re-claims Jesus for the political left. Guthrie becomes model for Bob Dylan, who adopts his sound and style. Dylan referred to early on as “Woody Guthrie Jukebox”. Gospel Music: Arizona along with Biddleville Quintette, among the first to produce religious music Dranes, incorporating secular elements from popular music (i.e., Gospel music) . born in 1926 Texas; blind from birth. attended Texas Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Colored Youth. classical training in piano and voice. joined the Church of God in Christ in 1922. A&R man (talent scout) for Okeh Records hears her on the recommendation of a local preacher in Texas. signed by Okeh and brought to Chicago to record. while recording in Chicago, she also played for church services at the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ. there she was heard by an 11-yearold girl, who would later become famous as Sister Rosetta Tharpe. may have been heard by Thomas Dorsey, still known as “The Father of Black Gospel Music”. Church later famous for holding the open-casket funeral of Emmet till in 1955. “It’s All Right Now” (1926) piano style taken from ragtime/stride/barrelhouse piano traditions. prefigures piano style of later rock-and-roll stars like Little Richard ad Jerry Lee Lewis. secular, syncopated rhythms borrowed from dance-oriented styles. call-and-response. Dranes known to whip congregation up into a frenzy, ecstatic performances, and congregational response. can’t hear this on her recordings which were made in a Chicago studio not in church with a congregation. Thomas from Atlanta but moved to Chicago. biggest name in early gospel music; dubbed Dorsey, 1932; the “Father of Black Gospel Music”. later, he acknowledged that Arizona Dranes rec. by preceded him in recording Gospel music. started out playing Hokum Blues as Mahalia “Georgia Tom”. Hokum Blues: a subgenre of the blues that characterized by racy Jackson, 1956 themes and sexual references through comical use of double entendre. Georgia Tom and Tampa Red, “It’s Tight Like That” (1928). lyrics include many thinly veiled references to sex. 1929: Stock Market Crash brings about the Great Depression. Dorsey’s bank folds and he loses everything. takes it as a sign, converts to Christianity, swears off the blues, and turns to sacred music. “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” (1932). best known recording made by Mahalia Jackson (1956). among the 1st “star” vocalists of the Gospel tradition (forerunner to Aretha Franklin). known for her soaring, “angelic” voice, vocal power and control, versatility, and strong dramatic sense. from New Orleans but moves to Chicago; starts out as “song plugger” for Thomas Dorsey. song includes blue notes and pitch bending, expressive devices used in secular music. “heavenly,” harp-like piano accompaniment. soaring melodic lines and leaps; heavy vibrato; nuanced phrasing. embodied, vocal performance of spiritual transcendence. Elder Curry & about 1929 flu epidemic. death may be immanent, so get your spiritual house in Congregation, order. recorded in Jackson, Mississippi. features many key elements of rock ‘n’ roll, consistent backbeat, blues-based guitar, piano style pre-figures rock ‘n’ roll piano. 1930 Sister Rosetta Gospel background; brought up in COGIC . heard Arizona Dranes at age 11. aims to Tharpe, 1941 cross over into more commercial styles. collaborates with Lucky Millinder, successful band leader now seen as a transitional figure between big band swing and rock ‘n’ roll major musical elements derived from his collaboration with

I've Got a Woman

Ray Charles, 1954

Lovable

Sam Cooke, 1957

Pine Top's Boogie Woogie

Clarence "Pine Top" Smith, 1928

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Professor Longhair (Roy Byrd), 1949

Hey La Bas Boogie

Fats Domino, 1950

Ain't That a Shame

Fats Domino, 1955

Choo Choo Ch' Boogie

Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five, 1946

Tharpe, such as the backbeat. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is a pioneer of the electric guitar. Sister Rosetta Tharpe (with Lucky Millinder), “Shout Sister Shout” (1941). features clapped backbeats used in COGIC; 1st Millinder recording to do so. another pioneer of Soul Music. blind pianist and singer from Georgia. based on gospel song “It Must Be Jesus” (1954) by the Southern Tones. controversial; displays the sometimes-thin line between sacred desire and sexual desire. would become enormous solo star but started out in gospel quartet called Soul Stirrers. famous for falsetto voice: head voice. Cooke decides to go solo and pursue a career in secular music. re-records “Wonderful” with new secular lyrics as “Lovable” (1957) under the name Dale Cook. expression of sacred desire transformed to expression of romantic desire. no one is fooled by the name change and Cooke is kicked out of Soul Stirrers. Cooke goes on to record many other hit songs (biggest hit is “You Send Me”), but dies young under sordid, mysterious circumstances . considered a pioneer of Soul Music, soon to be recognized as a genre of secular music that incorporates Gospel influences. Jump Blues and Boogie Woogie: from Alabama, played piano on TOBA circuit (Theatre Owners Booking Association; Black Vaudeville circuit in south; ‘tough on black asses’). gets invited to play a rent party in St Louis, Missouri, and while improvising comes up with a new approach to playing the 12-bar-blues on piano. “sings” over piano groove instructing party goers to dance, using the phrase “boogie woogie”. “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie” (1928). percussive piano style with heavy, shuffled walking bass line. 12-bar blues. heavy shuffle rhythm (very close to swing cymbal rhythm). “longhair” nickname is reference to classical musicians. along with title “professor” implies authority and prestige. often went by Fess. starts by tap dancing in street (“my first instrument was the bottom of his feet”). develops percussive approach to piano. signed by Atlantic Records when Ahmet Ertegun hears him in New Orleans; has him record at J&M Studio. incorporates Afro-Carribean rhythms popularized by the rumba and mambo crazes of the 1930s and 1940s. another boogie woogie style piano player from New Orleans. records at J&M Studio for Imperical Records (Los Angeles). most successful Black artist in the 1950s. major figure in the rock-and-roll explosion of the mid-1950s. crossover appeal aided by his Creole identity (typically refers to persons of mixed European and African heritage) . large Creole community in New Orleans; held higher social status than African Americans. French; Creole identity. 12-bar blues, bass line. among Fats Domino’s biggest hits, #1 on R&B chart and #10 on pop chart. opens with stop time section (common in early rock-and-roll). signature piano style with right-hand triplets and heavy left-hand bass line. “polite” vocal style and image. most successful Jump Blues artist of the 1940s. from Arkansas; saxophonist and singer. started out in vaudeville as a member of a minstrel troupe. moves to New York City seeking big time commercial success as a big band singer. gets job with Chick Webb’s band as sax player and vocalist. gets attention for his excellent showmanship and musical skills; signed to Decca records. among the few African Americans to get signed to a major label. earns enormous crossover success; seen in short films played in commercial theatres. many remain uncomfortable with his performance of minstrelesque gestures and his willingness to play segregated venues. “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” (1946). creative use of language, rhyme, and vocal flow prefigure rappers. swing elements include strong 4/4 pulse established by walking bassline, 4-on-the-floor bass drum. will also be prominent in boogiewoogie. rhythm section more prominent the brass/reeds. swingy, shuffle rhythm. also prominent in boogie woogie. hybrid form. verse-chorus form, but verses and choruses each use 12-bar blues. lyrics about a hobo travelling in search of work, self respect perseveres with upbeat attitude in spite of difficult circumstances

Good Rockin' Tonight

Wynonie Harris, 1948

Sixty Minute Man

The Dominos, 1951

Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean

Ruth Brown, 1953

Hound Dog

Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, 1953

Manish Boy

Muddy Waters, 1955

music and dance as resistance and self-affirmation in face of oppression. train as emblem of (social) mobility. The Big Beat? backbeat is very light, played with brushes; not as prominent as Quincy Jones suggests, still even 4/4 pulse. Rhythm and Blues (R&B): among the most successful R&B singers on King Records. from Nebraska, moves to Los Angeles and develops a regional following. tours the US during the AFM strike. heard by Lucky Millinder (successful big band leader; previously teamed up with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who introduced him to clapped gospel backbeats) . Harris becomes featured singer in Millinder’s band. Wynonie Harris, “Good Rockin’ Tonight” (1948). “rockin’” is a slang term for sex; common use of double entendres in R&B, as in blues before it. big backbeat at the front of the mix, followed by clapped backbeats (a la gospel/Sister Rosetta Tharpe) . boogie-woogie style piano. 12-bar blues. “honking” sax solo . distorted, “dirty” timbres contribute to what many considered the raw, raunchy, sexy sound of R&B . sax will be gradually displaced by the electric guitar as the main lead solo instrument as R&B morphs into rock-and-roll. “Good Rockin’ Tonight” routinely put forward as candidate for the “first rock-and-roll song ever recorded”. other artist on King Records was Bull Moose Jackson. replaced Wynonie Harris in Lucky Millinder’s. featured Clyde McPhatter, a preacher’s son, and Billy Ward, a musical prodigy who went to Julliard (extremely rare for Black musicians) . recorded for Federal Records, a subsidiary of King Records. The Dominoes, “Sixty Minute Man” (1951). male vocal group derived from gospel tradition. performance of swaggering male sexuality. lead sung be bass singer Bill Brown. huge, in-your-face backbeat. massive hit: went to #1 on the R&B charts. remarkable crossed over to the Pop charts, hitting #17. from Virginia, grew up going to segregated schools. gospel background (evident in her vocals an in the foregrounding of the tambourine at the beginning of the recording. distinctive vocal style (Wexler: “Let’s hear that million-dollar squeal!”). blends big band swing with R&B with an emphasis on the rhythm section. lyrics depict a woman complaining to her mother that she is in an abusive relationship. specifically female perspective. Atlantic Records would go on to be among the most successful labels in history. now one of the world’s largest “majors”. Ruth Brown saw little of the profits from her hit records and ended up cleaning houses. many R&B artists ended up...