Album of the Day — June 4
The 1619 Project— ep.3 The Birth of American Music
The 1619 Project— ep.3 The Birth of American Music
June.4.2020
The NY Times
1619 — Podcast
ep. 3 The Birth of American Music
Yesterday, I said that the albums this week would be from 1968. I lied … but with good reason … I promise.
I am still sticking with the people of color agenda.
I’m blathering on about how “context” is important — usually to anyone within earshot because I feel it’s not found in traditional corporate American media (a whole other story).
While I enjoy posting Albums of the Day, and I felt honoring both 1968 and black artists was a small way (very small) of acknowledging this particular moment in history, another thing occurred to me. I recalled listening to the 1619 podcast and found it fascinating.
And being a music fan (nerd) I thought Episode #3 “The Birth of American Music” would provide some of that context I’m often prattling on about.
While there is a lot of joy in all American music, there is also a lot of pain — which makes sense considering a large chunk of American music’s origin story can be traced back 400 years to the music that the African slaves brought with them.
So, much like with some of the albums, the goal here is to open ears to something you may not have heard or been aware of & I wanted to offer the opportunity for anyone who wanted a chance to hear it.
This 1619 podcast (transcript also provided in NYTimes link below) is an ongoing re-examining about the 400 years of slavery and its legacy in the United States. It’s exhaustive and I can’t recommend the series enough, but this isn’t about the podcast series.
Specifically, it’s about Episode #3 “The Birth of American Music” which runs about 35:00 minutes (about an album-length, see what I did there). The episode takes a deep dive into how slavery and black culture had a major impact and forever changed music in America. It’s so micronized into American music, you’re most likely not aware of it. I wasn’t.
It goes much further back than Robert Johnson and the Mississippi Delta.
Like many things in our country, without the influence and work of black Americans, this country would look and sound a lot different. The pulse of their influence in music beats in every genre that’s rooted in America — from the holler in West Virginia to the streets of Chicago and Detroit to the Mississippi Delta to New York City to Los Angeles … well, you get the idea.
That may sound hyperbolic, I assure you, it’s not.
If you need evidence of the influence of black musicians on white musicians consider the following high-profile lawsuits:
Led Zeppelin was sued by Willie Dixon for “Whole Lotta Love” and “Bring it on Home” off Led Zeppelin II. Both lawsuits were settled out of court with songwriting credit reverting back to Dixon on “Bring it on Home” and credit shared for “Whole Lotta Love.”
George Harrison was the first Beatle to have a solo song hit number one in 1970 with “My Sweet Lord” … but it came at a price. Ronnie Mack, the songwriter of “He’s So Fine”, a hit for The Chiffons in 1962, and his publisher sued Harrison claiming “My Sweet Lord” plagiarized the song. Eventually settled in 1998 (!), this lawsuit’s importance resides in the fact that it introduced the concept of “subconscious plagiarism” into legal parlance.
Robin Thicke and the infamous “Blurred Lines” lawsuit that torpedoed his career. The family of Marvin Gaye filed a lawsuit against Thicke, producer and co-writer Pharrell Williams, guest rapper T.I. and Universal Records, alleging the song infringed on Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” The court sided with the Gaye estate and awarded them $7.3 million but then reduced it to $5.3 million and a 50% share in future royalties, it was one of the largest pay-outs in music-copyright history.
It goes the other way too, but writing about lawsuits in the music business would be like attempting to drain a lake with an eyedropper.
The point is, without the influence of black artists, dating back, yes 400 years, there would be less guitar, less soul, less banjo, less bass, less feeling, less spirit … less cowbell … and much more harpsichord and allegory.
As a culture and as a people, Americans are an amalgam of so many things. We truly are a melting pot. The whiter/western ones we celebrate … the ones of color we willfully ignore, shamefully bastardize or just co-opt — as performer Thomas Dartmouth Rice (T.D. Rice) did in the 1830s, when he overheard a black man singing while grooming a horse in a stable … allegedly on a man named Crow’s farm.
That night Rice melted a cork, painted his face black, gave the song new lyrics, and the song “Jump Jim Crow” or just “Jim Crow” was born (crow being a pejorative word for black people dating back to the 1730s).
This is the first known truly American born song and on that night “American popular culture was born”. What would eventually become a blight on American culture, the blackface and minstrel show was also born. An instant success the show catapulted both Rice and minstrelsy to the stratosphere and dominated entertainment for the rest of the 19th century.
Some of the most famous American songs in history — some we still sing today — have their origins in minstrel shows.
But the minstrel show is more than blackface and song. It’s the story of the very complicated emotions that America had around slavery. As the shows were most popular in the North, they provided an escape from the complicated issue. It also portrayed the actors in blackface as enjoying slavery, therefore, allowing the audience to feel both “civilized” and “superior” as they stuck their head in the sand.
Like it or not, minstrelsy is the foundation of modern cinema and the Hollywood blockbuster … D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation and of course, the first talkie, Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer.
And then came the ability to record music … and the rest as they say, is history.
Without first understanding American music as a direct result of slavery, I don’t feel I would be properly acknowledging the black artists (or white ones) I write about when I highlight an album every day.
So, if you’re curious how America went from slavery to minstrel shows to Yacht Rock, this episode of the 1619 podcast will guide you.
If that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will.
As I said, I loved this series, but this episode, in particular, blew my mind.
Like many things in our country, we must first look at slavery. Once you do, you can then examine how that contributed to the evolution of American music … because you don’t have one without the other.
It’s that beat that was forcibly brought over from Africa over 400 years ago that still coarses through music today.
Listen to Episode #3, “The Birth of American Music”, of this 1619 podcast and learn how the history of slavery and black music is tightly woven into the music of today.
I’ll return to 1968 and albums tomorrow. In light of ALL the recent events, I felt it was important to at least offer up access to the background, as it relates to my very little music-centric corner.
I suspect if you’ve read this far, you’ll enjoy the podcast.
Peace.
I normally don’t include links, but here you go:
NYTimes link & transcript (episode 3):
Listen to '1619,' a Podcast From The New York Times
"1619" is a New York Times audio series, hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, that examines the long shadow of American…www.nytimes.com