Getting Started
UNIT 9
American Roots Music Overview
Step 1
A. Leadbelly - Tells a story, and isn't some song that is a straightforward conversation or something else. It tells a story about the singer and a place in New Orleans. The only instruments used are guitars and possibly other stringed instruments, as well as the voice singing the story.
B. Blue Grass - A very strong country-music feeling. Again, only using stringed instruments, but this time it is a guitar and a banjo. The singing and lyrics don't really seem to tell a story much at all and the accent makes it almost impossible to understand what they're saying.
C. Gospel - Call and response music with one main singer playing a guitar and singing then a whole chorus that responds to whatever they state. Very spiritual and religious, basically church music. The main woman's voice is extremely strong and powerful. It sounds like there is the possibility that a piano is being played as well. The choir claps their hands in a certain beat that sort of provides the rhythm for everyone else.
D. Zydeco - A very strong accordion introduction and other rattling songs supporting it. This sounds like a jug band of sorts and probably is. There is a lot going on and it feels very frantic and quick as it goes on. There isn't too much singing, and that singing is almost impossible to understand when it comes to trying to understand what he is saying. Towards the end the accordion leaves so it's just lots of rattling sounds and drum beats, but then returns for the ending of the song.
Step 3
A. Episode One: When First Unto This Country
In what ways is a song like a story?
Songs can not only resemble a story, but they can tell a story as well. They can show different emotions and sound different and represent many
different things. A song can be written based on a certain event or how someone is feeling due to what they are doing at that time. Every song has its own story and way of showing
it.
What are some songs that have
lasted across generations?
Amazing Grace, Precious Lord, Over the Waves, Goodnight Irene, etc.
What themes do these songs deal
with?
Religion, Love, Nationalism, etc.
Why do such themes remain
relevant today?
People still deal with these themes today. Everyone still feels love and people still follow religions, so some of these songs still remain relevant. But they're also known as "classics" and are usually passed down through generations so they stay around forever.
B. Episode Two: This Land
is Your Land
What impact would a popular radio
program featuring black musicians have had in the racially segregated South?
I believe the whites may have been offended or a bit put off since it wasn't common to hear black musicians featured on popular radio programs.
I think the blacks may have started to feel that segregation was falling and they were finally being treated as equals since black musicians were being featured on radio
stations.
How would it have felt to hear
the blues on the radio if you were an African American living in the segregated South of the 1940's?
It probably felt nice being able to listen to music that you could sort of relate to and connect to that you didn't hear on the radio before.
It probably brought everyone even closer and felt more free.
What kinds of music might we not
know about today if blues hadn't become popular through the radio?
A lot of music genres started out as the blues, so already we would've lost a lot of the music if that's the case. Rock-n-roll and Jazz
probably wouldn't be that popular or even existent if blues had not become popular through the radio. Other genres in that wouldn't be around are ones such as country, blue grass, gospel,
etc.
Do you know of any musical genre
that is not featured on mainstream radio today? If so, why do you think this is the case?
Lots of American Roots music is not really played on the radio as much as it was long ago. This is probably because it's not as modern or appreciated now as it was when it was coming out and the while after that. There aren't many radio stations to begin with, but the ones that exist are usually Classical, Alternative, or Country music.
C. Episode Three: The Times They are A-Changin'
What is gospel music? Where are you most likely to hear gospel music?
Gospel music is a very strong and powerful genre of religious music. It is often heard as call and response songs. The most likely play you will hear gospel music is within a church.
How is gospel music suppose to make you feel?
I believe gospel music is supposed to make you feel closer to God and probably take a part within the song if you know it. I think it is also supposed to help people get their religious messages across much easier.
What are some of the differences in the performing styles of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson?
Mahalia has an extremely strong and powerful voice and often sang traditional gospel-style music that was used around that time. Sister Rosetta used the guitar and made gospel have more rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues aspects within it.
Why did some in the religious community denounce Sister Rosetta Tharpe for her style of gospel?
The religious community did not approve of her style of gospel because she played it within night clubs. This isn't the way or place gospel was played so it caused a great discomfort among the religious community. Gospel was usually within a religious area instead of a night club.
D. Episode Four: All My
Children of the Sun
What kinds of music might be
considered dangerous and why?
Some music may cause riots or fighting between people. Other music may be considered dangerous because one group may not like it and hurt you for singing that specific music. An example is that
the schools that Native Americans were put into would wash out their mouths with soap if they tried to sing their traditional songs.
Why is the music of a cultural
group important to that group's cultural identity?
The music can be shared through the generations and help the culture become closer together. It also teaches the younger generations of the songs they sang for certain events within their
culture. The younger generations may not have opportunities to learn about their cultures, but passing down the songs and music would help them get an understanding of the stuff their cultural
group has been through the years. It also helps provide to outside groups a beautiful presentation of the identity of that group.
Why would the U.S. government
want to keep Native Americans from singing their own songs and speaking their languages?
They wanted the Native Americans to speak English and practice Christianity. I believe they didn't want anyone speaking languages that they did not understand too well and wanted them to speak
English instead, and preventing them from singing their songs would help prevent them from speaking their languages.
What effect has the revival of
Native American music had on Native American culture?
More people have knowledge of the music and culture and continue to pass it down through the generations. It has become more popular and more Native Americans know about their culture and music now that it has been revived.
American Roots Music Research
Step 1
1. American Roots artists were interviewed so that people can discover more about the artists at that time. Some of the artists that were interviewed were James Cotton, Bela Fleck, Arlo Guthrie, Buddy Guy, Flaco Jimenez, B.B. King, Alan Lomax, and Willie Nelson. They talked about things such as their inspirations to create music and when and where they started their musical careers.
2. Some of the artists in this 4 episode documentary: Keb' Mo', B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary, Earl Scruggs, James Cotton, Elvis Presley, Pete Seeger, Sonny Boy Williamson, etc.
Songs: Amazing Grace, Precious Lord, Rockin Jerusalem, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Where The Shades of Love Lie Deep, Keep on the Sunnyside, Josha Fit de Battle, Old Joe Clark, etc.
3. Some American Roots songs have lasted forever and will probably continue on for a lifetime. These songs are: Steal Away, Take My Hand Precious Lord, Amazing Grace, Over The Waves, Worried Man Blues, Corrine Corrina, Tom Dooley, Goodnight Irene, Barbara Allen, Prerry Polly, Streets of Laredo, John Henry, and Stagolee.
4. Jim Brown is the producer and director of this 4 episode series, and is well-known for his work on the study of American music and the production of documentaries on it. When he was young he was heavily influenced by folk singers Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. Sam Pollard was a producer/senior editor on this, and Jeff Rosen was yet another producer on this documentary. There are a total of 21 people that were on the Board of Advisors for documentary. All of the people working on this travelled all across the country studying and interviewing folk music singers and songs. The tour started in March of 2000 and ended in August of 2001.
5. Some main focuses if you wanted to continue your study of folk music would be sources about Zydeco, Blue Grass, Blues, The Grand Ole Opry, Gospel, etc. Some people you may want to study are Keb' Mo', Flaco Jimenez, B.B. King, The Carter Family, Willie Nelson, etc.
Step 2
1. What is American Roots Music?
Scholars often used the term "folk music" for music created by whites of European ancestry, primarily in the rural South. It was then expanded to
include music of Southern blacks as well. Folk music was the music of cultures, and it started to include Native Americans, Cajun, and Mexican-Americans. It is passed down from parent to child,
sung in all sorts of different places, and changed due to the changing times. Around the 1960's, the term was changed to "root music" to include all sorts of genres and
groups.
2. What can roots music teach us about cultural identity in the U.S.?
People use songs to preserve their culture's history when they are facing changing social conditions. Songs were sung by African-American slaves, Hispanic labor workers, etc. in reaction to the current social conflicts going on. But roots music also broke down the walls of segregation between the blacks and the whites. That did not change the segregation that was prominent in the South though.
3. How is roots music related to historical events?
Roots music changed based on events going on at those times, such as industrialization, integration, and globalization. Songs were reactions to the major historical events happening at that time like the war on poverty, the New Deal, the labor movement, the Civil Rights movement and the peace, environmental, Native American, Chicano and women's movements.
4. How is American roots music similar to American literature?
Both of them have drawn from each other as sources and reflect common historical and humanistic themes. Instead of writing books, people wrote songs to present themes such as empowerment, freedom in a social structure, preserving traditions in a protean world, maintaining values, and finding strategies for seeking justice. These were also themes in American literature at those times. Developments in American literature also changed and bent American literature through its themes that were understood by a broad American audience.