Feb 26, 2018:
Beats revisited. New World beats as compared to African-American beats. Ahead of the beat versus behind it. Now that I’ve seen it illustrated, I’m more conscious of it. Thinking in terms of beats, the tango becomes even more complex. The beat tree of Swing produced the branches Jazz and Blues. See Count Basie and Louis (“King Louis”) Prima.
Interesting niche style: DC Swing/Hip-hop crossover, “Go-Go.” Perhaps the very end of a branch on the music evolutionary tree. Not like it’s a bad thing; it is what it is.
Sweet Child O’ Mine, set to a swing beat and performed in New Orleans style by Postmodern Jukebox, was strangely cool. This was the exception; other examples of rock songs set to a swing beat brought on sensations of motion sickness. Enter Sandman in a Bluegrass arrangement might not have been such an affront to the senses had I never heard Metallica’s version. Aesthetic or not, the lesson in beats was reinforced.
Feb 28, 2018:
Four Chord Song, by Axis of Awesome: Fun and educational.
Borrowed elements in music, borrowed elements across culture. Has the phrase, “Cultural appropriation” been overplayed yet? If not, it’s close. If information wants to be free, then music most definitely wants to be free. Not the money end of it, but the creative part. The heart of it.
In the late 19th – early 20th centuries, things were bad enough for African-Americans in the South already. People like Sen. Tillman (SC) and Sen Glass (VA) weren’t satisfied, and sought to further codify discrimination. No wonder the Great Migration took place. At the same time, minstrel shows were still popular. Words fail me. With jobs in northern cities providing more disposable income, and a yearning for familiar sounds, black families bought records. Adam Smith was proven correct again, and a market stepped up to meet the need. Just be sure to look for the word “authentic.” Speaking of authentic: records were, by their nature, audio only. The phonograph didn’t betray Eddie Lang playing guitar for Bessie Smith.
A side note on migration: Later in the century poverty, not discrimination, was the motivator for a similar but smaller migration of white Appalachians from the hills of the southeast to large northern cities in search of jobs. The “Hillbilly Highways” led to cities such as Detroit, Michigan, and Akron, Ohio, once the tire manufacturing capitol of the world.
My only exposure to Muddy Waters prior to this class was whenever I’d hear one of his songs on an Alligator Records anniversary collection CD. His life’s story is incredible. If the Lomaxes did much good with their folklore expeditions, Muddy Waters is a big part of it.
Authenticity is one of those qualities that’s hard to define. When you see it, though, you know it.