American Popular Music Midterm
Tin Pan Alley
A nickname for a section of East 28th Street in New York City, where many music publishers had their offices. Also, the styles of the songs created in the first half of the century for these publishers; refers to songs by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and their contemporaries.
Crooning
A style of singing made possible by the invention of the electric microphone (1925). It involves an intimate approach to vocal timbre.
1942 AFM Recording Strike
ASCAP called a strike withdrawing the rights to broadcast any material composed by their members. In 1942, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) called a strike against the recording companies. In the end, the strike put many dance bands musicians out of work.
Scott Joplin (1867-1917)
African American composer and pianist; the best-known composer of ragtime music. Between 1895 and 1915, Joplin composed many of the classics of the ragtime repertoire and helped popularize the style through his piano arrangements, published as sheet music. Scott Joplin's first successful piece was "Maple Leaf Rag" (1898).
Gene Austin
Austin was one of the first "crooners," singers who mastered the electric microphone. He was tremendously popular performer (films, radio, and recordings) in late 1920s into the 1930s: it is estimated that his recordings for Victor sold 86 million copies. "My Blue Heaven" (1927) was the best selling record of its era.
Al Jolson
Billed himself as "The Worlds Greatest Entertainer." The most popular performer of his generation; his career overlapped the era of vaudeville stage performance and the rise of new media in the 1920s. Jolson was featured in the first "film with sound" The Jazz Singer (1927). "April Showers" recorded by Jolson
Cole Porter
Born into a wealthy family in Indiana; studied music at Yale, Harvard, and the Schola Contorum in Paris. Songs: "All of You," "I Get A Kick Out of You," etc. Very Difficult music for singers because of his wide use of chromaticism and non diatonic melodies.
Bessie Smith
Called the "Empress of the Blues," she was born in Chattanooga, TN, and performed in traveling shows and vaudeville before embarking on a recording career with Columbia Records. Her recordings included W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" and Irving Berlin's "Alexander 's Ragtime Band." Her first recording "Downhearted Blues" (1923) sole 780,000 copies in the first 6 months of its release.
Jimmy Rodgers
Called the "Singing Brakeman," he was the most versatile, progressive, and widely influential of all the early country recording artists and was early country music's biggest recording star. His influence can be seen in the public images of Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and almost every contemporary male country music star.
Benny Goodman
Clarinetist and popular band leader; known as the "King of Swing." His popularity and the success of his band helped establish the swing era in the early 30s. He was the 1st white bandleader to hire black musicians in his band "Taking A Chance on Love" (1940)
Joe "King" Oliver
Cornetist and mentor to Louis Armstrong who lead King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band and made some of the first recording by black musicians from New Orleans. "Dippermouth Blues" 1923
Three streams of American Pop Music
European American Stream African American Stream Latin American Stream
Bob Willis
Fiddler from East Texas whose musical career ran from the 1920s through the 1960s. His group, the Texas Playboys, pioneered western swing music. Bob Wills is today widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern country and western music.
Vernon and Irene Castle
Husband-and-wife dance team who popularized the tango and the fox-trot. The Castles attracted millions of middle-class Americans into ballroom classes, expanded the stylistic range of popular dance, and established an image of mastery, charisma, and romance.
Robert Johnson
Little is known of his early years. His guitar playing was so remarkable and idiosyncratic that stories circulated claiming he had sold his soul to the devil to play that way. Johnson died apparently as a victim of poisoning by a jealous husband. His work was especially revered by the British guitarist Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton.
Big Band "Swing" Music Style Features
More use of written arrangements Less emphasis on ragtime- like copositions less collective improvisation and more focus on solo improvisation less use of tuba and more use of string bass more swing feeling, achieved by increased use of swing 8th- not patterns increased use of high-hat cymblas by drummers replacement of banjo with the guitar big band rather than small group instrumentation the saxophone becoming the predominant instrument in the swing era
Tin Pan Alley
Nickname for a stretch of 28th Street in NYC where music publishers had their offices-a dense hive of small rooms with pianos where composers and "song pluggers" produced and promoted popular songs. Used in the first half of 1900s
Charley Patton
One of the earliest known pioneers of the Mississippi Delta blues style. The son of sharecroppers; a charismatic figure whose performance techniques included rapping on the body of his guitar and throwing it into the air. His powerful rasping voice, strong dance-able rhythms, and broad range of styles made him ideal for Saturday night dances and all-day picnics.
AABA Form
One of the most common structures that Tin Pan Alley composers used to organize their melodic and harmonic material. This structure would be found in the refrain of a verse-refrain song. 32 measures; 4 eight-measure phrases; A sections are the same while B section is contrasting
Importance of "radio" during the swing era
People were coming out of the depression and were able to afford radios and big band jazz developed along with dance bands.
Strophic Form
Song structure in which the same music is repeated with every stanza (strophe) of the poem.
W.C. Handy
The "Father of the Blues," born in Alabama in 1873. Cornet player and composer, he went on to receive a college degree and became a schoolteacher. In 1908, co-founded the first African American owned music publishing house. His first sheet music hit was "Memphis Blues" (1912), and his biggest hit was the song "St. Louis Blues" (1914).
ASCAP vs Radio Networks
The bid radio networks were feuding with ASCAP over royalties. In 1940, the radio networks formed a rival licensing agency. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). BMI allowed songwriters outside of Tin Pan Alley to collect royalties from the use of their songs in the broadcast media. This boosted county and western and rhythm and blues musicians.
Country Music in the Swing Era
The southern string band tradition was updated by Bob Willis, adding a jazz rhythm section, (piano, guitar, bass, drums) with a horn section woodwinds and brass....also added the electric lap-steel guitar- "Western Swing"
The Swing Era 1935-1945
The swing era represented the peak of jazz's influence on popular music. From 1935-1945 Swing era Big Band jazz was Americas most popular music.
Front Line (New Orleans Jazz)
The wind instruments (cornet, clarinet, and trombone) that play and embellish the melody in New Orleans jazz bands. (melodic instruments used collective improvisation to create polyphonic texture)
Collective Improvisation
a situation when all members of a group improvise simultaneously
Louis Armstrong
aka Satchmo or Satchelmouth Born in New Orleans; a cornetist and singer, he established certain core features of jazz, particularly its rhythmic drive and its emphasis on solo instrumental virtuosity. Armstrong also profoundly influenced the development of mainstream popular singing during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1964, he had a Number One hit with his version of "Hello, Dolly!"
The Banjo
instrument most commonly cited as evidence of continuity with West African traditions in the US
The Jazz Craze
represented the intensification of African American influence on the musical tastes and buying habits of white Americans The 1920s and early 1930s, a pivotal period in the history of American popular music
Timbre
-Quality of sound "tone color" -singers "grain" of voice -instrumental memorable soundprints -recording engineers, producers- unique sound prints.
Big Band Blues Forms
12 bar blues and 32 bar structure: 12 bar blues from often used as one common structure for big bands (The Count Basie Band, "One O'Clock Jump) the other popular structure was based on Tin Pan Alley-popular songs, usually with four 8 bar phrases, often diagrammed [AABA] or [ABAC] forms
The Jazz Singer
1927 - The first movie with sound; this "talkie" was about the life of famous jazz singer; Al Jolson.
Habanera Rhythm
8 beat pattern divided 3-3-2
Microphone
A device invented in 1925 that facilitated electric recording, which replaced the older system of "acoustic" recording.
Verse- Refrain Form
A two-part musical structure used by Tin Pan Alley composers in which the verse usually assumed an introductory character and were followed by the refrain.
Ragtime
A type of music featuring melodies with shifting accents over a steady, marching-band beat; originated among black musicians in the south and midwest in the 1880s
Classic Blues
Blues often written by professional songwriters and performed by professional female blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, accompanied by jazz musicians. Fletcher Henderson- piano Louis Armstrong- trumpet Coleman Hawkins- clarinet, etc.
Mamie Smith
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio; known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was a pioneer blues singer, pianist, and black vaudeville performer. In 1920, she recorded the bestsellers "Crazy Blues" and "It's Right Here For You, If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault of Mine." Mamie Smith's success as a recording artist opened up the record industry to recordings by and for African Americans.
The Carter Family
Born in isolated foothills of the Clinch Mountains of Virginia, regarded as one of the most important groups in the history of country music. A.P. "Doc" Carter- The leader of the Carter Family, he collected and arranged the folk songs that formed the inspiration for much of the group's repertoire; he also sang bass Sara Carter- A.P.'s wife; she sang most of the lead vocal parts and played autoharp or guitar Maybelle Carter- Sang harmony, played steel string guitar and autoharp, and developed an influential guitar style, which involved playing the melody on the bass strings while brushing the upper strings on the off-beats for rhythm
Stephen Collins Foster (1826-64)
Composed around two hundred songs during the 1840s, 1850s, and early 1860s; regarded as the first important composer of American popular song. He was probably the first person in the United States to make his living as a full-time professional songwriter; he wrote "Oh! Susanna," "Old Folks at Home," "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night," "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair," and "Beautiful Dreamer."
Irving Berlin
Generally recognized as the most productive, varied and creative of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters. His professional career started before WWI and continued into the 1960s. His most famous songs included "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Cheek to Cheek," "White Christmas." He was self taught and could only play in one key F#/Gb
Paul Whiteman
Leader of the Ambassador Orchestra, by far the most successful dance band of the 1920s. His assumption of the title "King of Jazz" was part of an attempt to promote a watered-down safe version of jazz music. One of the best selling recording artists of all time!
Hillbilly Music
Music that was performed by and mainly intended for sale to southern whites. It developed mainly out of the folk songs, ballads, and dance music of immigrants from the British Isles. It was later re-christened "county and western music" or simply "county music."
Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra
Musician, bandleader, and arranger; he and his band are widely credited with inspiring the rise of swing music in the 1930s. Many of his arrangements became big hits for Benny Goodman. "Wrappin' It Up (Lindy Glide) (1934)- Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie
One of the musicians most closely associated with the plight of American workers during the Great Depression. He was born in Oklahoma and began his career as a hillbilly singer. He composed songs that were overtly political in nature, including "This Land Is Your Land," "Talking Dust Bowl Blues," and "Ludlow Massacre." After 1940, he was known primarily as a protest singer.
Rhythm Section (New Orleans Jazz)
Plays the material that the horns play over. Banjo- after 1917 it changes and gets replaced by the guitar Tuba- plays the baseline- gets changed in Chicago clubs and gets replaced by the string bass Drums- plays rhythm Piano- gets added in Chicago clubs
Parlor Song
Popular form of American music in the nineteenth century. Parlor songs had simple piano accompaniment and were meant to be performed at home in the parlor.
Richard Rodgers
Produced many of the finest songs of the 20th century, in collaboration with lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Wrote the groundbreaking musical "Oklahoma!" Songs: "Blue Room," "My Funny Valentine," "Have You Met Miss Jones?," "I Could Write A Book," "The Lady Is A Tramp"
Race Records
Recordings of performances by African American musicians produced mainly for sale to African American listeners
Chorus
Repeated melody with fixed text inserted between verses
Tango
Style of dance that developed during the late nineteenth century in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The tango blended European ballroom dance music, the Cuban habanera, Italian light opera, and the ballads of the Argentine gauchos (cowboys)
Minstrel Show
The first form of musical and theatrical entertainment to be regarded by European audiences as distinctively American in character. Featured mainly white performers who artificially blackened their skin and carried out parodies of African American music, dance, dress, and dialect.
Blind Lemon Jefferson
The first recording star of the country blues. Born blind, Jefferson was living the typical life of a traveling street musician by the age of fourteen. His first records were released in 1926. Jefferson's East Texas styles features a nasal vocal timbre and sparse guitar accompaniments.
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)
The most popular bandleader from the 1890s through World War I; was known as America's "March King". -Brass Bands
George Gershwin
The son of an immigrant leather worker. He bridged the gulf between art music and popular music. Studied European classical music but also spend a great deal of time listening to jazz musicians in NYC. Wrote "Porgy and Bess" (1935), "I Got Rhythm," "Summertime," "A Foggy Day," "But Not For Me"
Ragtime
The word derives from the African American term "to rag", meaning to enliven a piece of music by shifting melodic accents onto the offbeats (a technique known as syncopation). Ragtime music emerged in the 1880s, its popularity peaking in the decade after the turn of the century. Scott Joplin is the recognized master of the genre.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
White group from New Orleans led by the cornetist Nick LaRocca. Their recording of "Livery Stable Blues" and "Dixieland Jass Band One-Step" was released in March 1917, and within a few weeks, it had sparked a national fad for jazz music. "Tiger Rag" 1918 text/recording, "Acoustic recording"
Call-and-Response
a song style in which a singer or musician leads with a call and a group responds
Country Blues
aka rural, down-home, folk or delta blues Performed by sharecroppers and laborers in the Mississippi Delta and East Texas; developed from an oral tradition, in which versions of a song were passed down from generation to generation, learned by ear and carried in memory. Country blues performers were usually itinerant male musicians who traveled in the Southeast.
