Chicago Blues Songs (11.17.11) Week 13

“We didn’t do anything I planned, but I didn’t plan anything.” –Tony

Favorite song of the week: Too Wet to Plow by Johnny Shines

Chicago blues. Johnny Shines sang “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Too Wet to Plow”. He plays the song effortlessly, as I watched his hands gloss over the guitar strings. I really liked the song “Ramblin’ Blues” that he sang in the studio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-EM--yqr58&feature=related
I also listened to Robert Johnsons’ version of “Sweet Home Chicago,” which I liked equally as much, maybe even a little more, than Johnny Shines version. His voice seems so real, like he is singing about Chicago and his home town from experience.

The song mentions California several times. What makes California so great, over let’s say, Chicago? California is its own country: it has rivers and lakes, the ocean, desert and forests, wild animals and open spaces, and people from all over the world as its population. I cant even think of another state that is so diverse. There is a certain air about people from California…possibly more laid back? Friendly? Who knows. I have never been to Chicago so I can’t make any assumption about the major differences. However, I’ve lived in Colorado, which is not similar to California, in the sense that people thrive on the outdoors and its activities, going to national parks for camping, yet skiing in the freezing cold winters.

Who is Charlie Rich? Nicknamed the Silver Fox, he grew up on a big cotton farm in Arkansas, where he learned how to play the piano from CJ. His voice is very catchy… “Feel like going home” was definitely a great. “Behind Closed Doors” was not my favorite song of his, but he revived me with “Most Beautiful Girl in the World.”
He kind of sounds like Elvis.

“Most Beautiful Girl in the World”

Hey, did you happen to see
the most beautiful girl in the world ?
And if you did, was she crying, crying ?
Hey, if you happen to see the most
beautiful girl that walked out on me
Tell her, "I'm sorry"
Tell her, "I need my baby"
Oh, won't you tell her that I love her

I woke up this morning, realized
what I had done
I stood alone in the cold gray dawn
I knew I'd lost my mornin' sun
I lost my head and I said some things
Now comes the heartaches that the
morning brings
I know I'm wrong and I couldn't see
I let my world slip away from me

So Hey, did you happen to see
the most beautiful girl in the world ?
And if you did, was she crying, crying ?
Hey, if you happen to see the most
beautiful girl that walked out on me
Tell her, "I'm sorry"
Tell her, "I need my baby"
Oh, won't you tell her that I love her

If you happen to see the most
beautiful girl that walked out on me
Tell her, "I'm sorry"
Tell her, "I need my baby"
Oh, won't you tell her that I love her

Delta Blues Songs (11.10.11) Week 12

“Corrina, Corinnnaa, where’d you stay last night?

Corina, Corina, where’d you stay last night? Your shoes aint buttoned, girl, don’t you fit right?....

Delta blues? Chicago blues? Blues music? This week we focused on the Delta blues, featuring Skip James and Robert Johnson. Delta style is so expressive and unique because it links to the voice of the musician and the expressive playing on the guitar. We talked about the differences between front porch (country style) vs. performance (studio) blues music…..could songs be a combination of both?

O the versions of “Careless Love”:

Max Hutchinson, Max Hunter, Blind Man Fuller, Odetta, Janice Joplin

Which one did I like most? I liked Janice Joplin’s version.

Odetta was really interesting; the way she sang “careless Love” seemed so personal. The young Janice Joplin’s version seemed more edgy, as if her experience with careless love was more regrettable, and truly “broke that heart of hers.”

Bob Dylan is just a genius. His songs are like poetry at its best and come up with great lines: “going where the closet suits my clothes.” I think it is appropriate to say that listening to Bob Dylan and his smooth guitar playing needs a Kant Emmanuel quote: “You can’t tell someone it’s beautiful. Hold it up and say ‘yes.”

We looked at a number of art work from Crumb, Guston, Rembrandt, and George Bellows. I personally liked the expressive sketch that Rembrandt made of the man bent over his desk: it looked like the drawing had a lot of energy surrounding it.

Who is this Legba figure that we looked at? If it is the source of blues music and lyrics, then why have I never seen it before? Is it a god or creation from the people?

Skip James singing “Worried Blues,” was surrounded by a group of people (his friends? Workers from the studio he was recording in?) and really dug his fingers into his guitar, feeling the beat and rhythm through his feet and body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhrqBOSazzA

I watched Skip James sing “Crow Jane.” The lyrics were pretty dark, but the video is interesting to watch Skip James’ movement and gestures with the guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytVww5r4Nk0

CROW JANE

1967: “Crow Jane, Crow Jane, don’t hold your head too high,

Someday baby, you know you got to die,

you got to lay down and you got to die, you got to

You know I want to buy me a pistol,

Want me 40 rounds of ball,

Shoot crow Jane just to see her fall,

She got to fall, she got to

And I went to dig her a grave, with a silver spade,

I aint going to let nobody take her place,

No you can’t take her….”

I also listened to his “Devil Got my Woman.”

I'd rather be the devil, to be that woman man
I'd rather be the devil, to be that woman man
Aw, nothin' but the devil, changed my baby's mind
Was nothin' but the devil, changed my baby's mind
I laid down last night, laid down last night
I laid down last night, tried to take my rest
My mind got to ramblin', like a wild geese
From the west, from the west
The woman I love, woman that I loved
Woman I loved, took her from my best friend
But he got lucky, stoled her back again
But he got lucky, stoled her back again”

Furry Lewis plays the guitar very differently is his video singing “When I lay my Burden down”. Its like he is possessed by the song and his guitar….he is acting out the lyrics of the song, as his soul is on “fire”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCqbKdnHZTs

I LOVED “Drop Down Mama-Sleepy” by John Estes.

Spiritual Songs Continued (11.3.11) Week 11

“Swing low, sweet chariot

Comin’ for to carry my home…”

Gospel music week! Paul Robinson said a quite beautiful statement that really meant a lot to me….I don’t know why, and cant really explain how…but he said, “we should not be moved, we should not be moved. Just like a tree that grows in the water side, we should not be moved.”

I really liked The Dixie Hummingbirds: their upbeat gospel music was fun to listen to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mD2IxvKhSs

Anna talked about the history of gospel music. Spirituals came from slavery, as the slaves were not allowed to have drums but studied hymns and stories from the Old Testament. The story of the bible from the New Testament was too progressive. Singing helped African people get through the toils of daily life, and were often drawn to the story of Moses: fleeing from his people, messages of escape, etc. We talked about Mahalia Jackson, (“Amazing Grace,” “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”), where her music intertwined with the civil rights movement, and she actually sang with Martin Luther King Jr. We learned about Thomas Dorsey, about how his wife died giving birth. Yet Thomas sang a beautiful song, "If you see my Saviour," with his assistant Sally Martin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izy4XF88k48&feature=related

Thomas Dorsey was so influential for gospel music. I watched the documentary film, "Say Amen Somebody": Dorsey said: “You wanted to be good, or be nothing. Many people have been helped and saved by the spirit of gospel. Those that can make music count will amuse god in heaven.” He started at pilgrim Baptist church in Chicago and formed the first gospel choir. The film was so sad, because he describes how his wife and child died, as something “I could not accept at all. I started singing “Precious Lord” right then and there.” According to a woman in the film, she said Thomas Dorsey’s songs “come out of experience with him. He wrote “Precious Lord” when his spirit was broken.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEosw5GUCzQ

Who was Sam Cook? He sang “A change is going to come” and “Chain gang,” but he strategically died at an early age.

A CHANGE IS GONNA COME

“I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown somebody keep telling me don't hang around
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knockin' me
Back down on my knees

Ohhhhhhhhh.....

There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will”

CHAIN GANG

(hooh! aah!) (hooh! aah!)
(hooh! aah!) (hooh! aah!)


(Well, don't you know)
That's the sound of the men working on the chain ga-a-ang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang

All day long they're singin'
(hooh! aah!) (hooh! aah!)
(hooh! aah!) (hooh! aah!)

(Well, don't you know)
That's the sound of the men working on the chain ga-a-ang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang

All day long they work so hard
Till the sun is goin' down
Working on the highways and byways
And wearing, wearing a frown
You hear them moanin' their lives away
Then you hear somebody sa-ay

That's the sound of the men working on the chain ga-a-ang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang

Can't ya hear them singin'
Mm, I'm goin' home one of these days
I'm goin' home see my woman
Whom I love so dear
But meanwhile I got to work right he-ere

(Well, don't you know)
That's the sound of the men working on the chain ga-a-ang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang

All day long they're singin', mm
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my work is so hard
Give me water, I'm thirsty…”

He made this song seem so lively and happy, yet it was such a stressful type of work: men “moaning,” “frowning,” …..

O…and interesting fact….in 1995 Alabama because the first state to resurrect the chain gang? Unbelievable.

Spiritual Songs (10.27.11) Week 10

Spiritual songs reflect the songs of the people who sang them. This weeks focus on Gospel music and spiritualism registers some unfamiliar territory for me, and involves a story of tragedy and triumph of African people. In Leroy Jones novel, he writes really beautifully and sets the stage early on: “This is the history. This is your history, my history, the history of the Negro people.” “The music. The music, this is our history.” (pg 117-146)

“Music was an orchestrated, vocalized hummed, chanted, blown, beaten, scatted, and a corollary confirmation of the history… The music was explaining the history as the history was explaining the music.” The music were a reflection and expression of the people, who were taken from Africa and transformed into a Western people. Leroy states, “Black people did not fall out of the sky but continue to be the most American of Americans.” He goes on to talk about Africanism, and how it isn’t limited to black people, but of African, European, and native cultures, histories, and peoples: people who are incorrectly viewed as the undeveloped peoples. To be at Berkeley, which is a melting pot of every different ethnicity and race, it is hard for me to understand how slavery could even take place. We are all people, all African in a sense. Leroy goes on to explain how strange and unnatural the initial contacts with the western slavery were for Africans, in order to show how the black man was set apart from the New world initially.

What makes African music distinctive?

While the words are difficult to understand, the most apparent survival of the African music are the rhythms and melodic harmonies. The use of drums for communication in Africa allowed them to develop a fine and complex rhythmic sense. Just by simply altering the pitch of the song, gave the song new meaning and melody. The singing technique is also unique and distinctive, with the combination of improvised verses, and the use of folk tales in the lyrics, riddles, and proverbs. The lyrics of the African songs were usually as important or more important than the music, and is the closest imitation of the human voice according to Leroy James. It differed from western music because it was purely functional: songs were used by workers to make their tasks easier, songs were used by old men to prepare the adolescent boys for manhood, songs were used by young men to influence young women.” The stories were passed on from the elders to the young, as the “expression issued from life was beauty.

“ Go on! Go on! Eat enormously! I aint one bit

ashamed-eat outrageously!”

Go On! Go on! Eat prodigiously!

I drink good wine!-Eat ferociously!

Leroy ends with discussing the history of slavery, the conversion of the slaves to Christianity, the slave being seen as the other, and the the beginning of Africa as a foreign place.

Other songs to note and will go into more depth after class:

Blind Willie Johnson: John Revelator

Josephy Spence: coming in on a wing and a prayer

Thomas Dorsey “If you see my savior” “my desire”

Paul Robeson: at a time when social history in the mid 20th century was hectic, left wind political activist for civil rights and justice.

Swing Low Sweet Chariot together with Let Us Break

Bread Together and Balm in Gilead

'O Goodnight Leadbelly" (10.20.11) Week 9

"I say, the RockIsland Line is a mighty good road.

I say, the Rock Island Line is a road to ride,

O the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road,

If you want to ride it you got to ride it like you find it,

Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line."

Leady Belly has a complicated history. Trying to fit Leadbelly into a single, 4 hour class period makes my head spin. Since I already discussed in my last blog about the films we watched on Leadbelly, I learned a lot this week about the people recording musicians: What does it mean when records are recorded in prison? When Lomax went to several prisons, was he looking for talent from the controversial inmates (because it was stated earlier that he didn't know Leadbelly was there)? What does the world get out of this kind of commission? A legend in this case, but not at his time. Racial relations were always complicated in the 20th century, as a black man could not even run up the stairway in a hotel without being yelled at. Yet, exceptions were also made for people, despite their race, because they were musically talented. Lead Belly got out of the first prison he was held at because the governor appreciated the religious songs Leadbelly was singing. We also briefly touched on the talented blues player Skip James, who equalizes the extreme parts of life: hard conditions working on the railroads, work as a bootlegger, etc. Yet, his songs are about his experiences as a laborer, and drew inspiration from fellow Mississippi blues pianists and guitarists.

Last Week of Mississippi John Hurt: Leadbelly Next. (10.13.11) Week 8

Song of the week: Goodnight Irene with Martha Promise Ledbetter.

Leadbelly: I never knew he went to prison so many times. Yet, he was constantly released, one crime after another, because of his music? His good behavior? Who knows. Can crimes go unpunished because someone is musically gifted? I watched the short clip from Gordon Parks film (1976), of the depiction of Leadbelly as an inmate, who was discovered by John and Allan Lomax. In it, Leadbelly nonchalantly talks about killing a man and moves quickly on to talk about the songs he just knows. Why is this film impossible to find? The film is depicting an ex criminal that creates beautiful music because of his release. Yet, his past can cloud his music? Or is it part of him that people just accept because he is a musical genius?

In the film, Lomax came to the prison to “collect songs” and Leadbelly responded, “I know lots of songs, some I made up and some I changed from other folks’.” When he was asked what he was in for, Leadbelly said, “ Murder. I call it self defense. He stuck me with a knife but I stuck him better.” Leadbelly had never sung into a microphone before, but he sang songs he used to sing in Louisiana, where everyone knew everyone. Leadbelly also grew jealous of Martha (or Margaret?) dancing with Archie, who he later tried to shoot with a pistol. Is Leadbelly as violent as the film depicts? I think the film intended to dramatize Leadbelly's life for the sake of film and entertainment, yet what I primarily got out of it, was that Leadbelly lived a pretty rough life....no doubt about it.

In the Leadbelly newsreel clip, Leadbelly was singing in front of the inmates and later met Mr. Lomax after being released from the Lousianna Prison. The fact that Leadbelly was singing in his prison uniform again goes back to this rough life of his. Lomax said, “you cant work for me, you are a mean boy, you killed 2 men.” Again, Leadbelly is depicted as a criminal, yet Lomax still signs with him because he creates beautiful music.

The last clip that I watched showed Leadbelly singing with Martha. What a treat. When he sang to Martha, while playing on his antique, weathered guitar, Leadbelly appeared to be a very sincere person. He had the qualities of Mississippi John Hurt, where I could feel the genuine nature of his voice and his passion for singing. Possibly his passion for Martha? At that point, he did not seem like the hard edged person he earlier was portrayed as. While his face is naturally bold and stern, that seemed to fade. He became soft and genuine in my eyes, as he brushed Martha's chin with his hand while singing to her in his handsom suite.

Mississippi John Hurt (10.6.11) Week 7

“Is not’ trivial”….that my new favorite song for this week is “Red River Blues,” by Henry Thomas. The combination of the ol’ time singing, and the pan pipes completely captivated me. I love how these songs can just make me forget about everything and just listen; over and over again.

The theme for this week was a more upbeat set of songs about the things in life we experience, and glimpses back to the memories of the 19^th century. John Hurt’s lyrics and songs are not just about written words, but are drawn on from his life. John Hurt is one of a kind; people can imitate his songs and play each note perfectly, but they do not have his lively personality and character. This was apparent when we watched the Pete Seeger show “Rainbow Quest.” Pete Seeger appeared as an uptight and preppy host, despite John Hurt enthusiastically recalling his first recording in 1928. John Hurt lived and farmed in Avalon Mississippi for 30 years without a recording due to the Great Depression: there was no money for records to be made. As John Hurt was part of the Anthology of American Folk Music, someone from Australia came across the song “Avalon Blues,” and went in search of the humble musical genius. What an interesting story. We next touched on several themes in class. Who is the stranger? Stranger is what it means to leave a place is: possibly similar to how John Hurt left Avalon Mississippi in search of a larger audience in New York. He is a stranger to a place but not to his music. I learned about Dr. John, a piano player in the 80’s, and his song “Goodnight Irene” as a New Orleans revelation. What is the difference between a blues player and a songster? Henry Thomas was one of the beginning songsters, as his song “Red River Blues” had an amazing pipes sound to it. Next week we will find out more about the two. We sang several songs from the grey book as well, including “Beulah Land,” “Creole Belle,” and “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me.” An extremely powerful statement was said today: “for water clarifies the spirit even more that a perfect friend.” It’s like a bag of tools that will guide you on your way.