The Art Reflects the Time
Today we want to talk about the video below. Watch and enjoy. Trust us, there’s a point.
That was James Brown and The Famous Flames in Ski Party, a 1965 movie in the Beach Movie genre, set, for a change, at a ski lodge. What do you notice, musically, and visually when you watch the video?
- Maybe the white people clapping off time really bothered you. That’s fair.
- You may covet James Brown’s sparkly sweater.
- You may be impressed by Brown’s dance moves. Maybe you see clearly how he influenced Michael Jackson.
- Maybe it seems horribly outdated to you, or boring.
- Maybe you feel they just don’t make music or musicians like this anymore, and that’s a shame.
All of these things are true, or not true, depending on your perspective (although you cannot deny the off-beat clapping if you listen closely).
To us, and likely to many of you, this video exemplifies a theme we will touch on throughout the course, and one that continues to influence American popular music today – race relations, particularly those between black and white people in America. James Brown and the Flames arrive at the party not to hang out with the nice white kids, but rather to perform for them and leave. There are no other black people, or people of any race other than freshly-scrubbed Caucasians, at the lodge.
Does this matter? We would argue that it does. This movie is fluffy, light-hearted, and not intended to incite deep discussion. But it is an artifact of its time, whether it intended to be or not. 1965 was right in the middle of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Just the year before, the Civil Rights Act was passed, banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or origin, and ending segregation in schools (or to think of it another way, many schools were still segregated only a year before). Only one hundred years before, in 1865 at the end of the Civil War, slavery was abolished.
Think of this video when you read through the sections on minstrel shows, classic blues, the rise of rock and roll, and Motown (just to name a few). The theme of black people performing for white people and the dynamics of that relationship influence the music industry from the end to slavery to today. When you consider, for example, the #OscarsSoWhite controversy from early 2016, the broader issues being confronted in the Black Lives Matter movement, and the rise of facism during the Trump era, you may ask yourself, have we come much farther since the creation of Ski Party?
Your readings this week cover some of the very earliest styles in popular music in North America. It is useful to understand a bit about the time period in order to contextualize the music. But it is also worth looking critically at the music of that time period through our own modern lenses.
We encourage you to be critical in your assessments of the music you write about in your blogs and other assignments. You may want to consider race, gender, socio-economic issues, and/or historical context – in the Humanities, these are referred to “lenses” or perspectives through which to consider texts (and music is a type of text). Look at the lyrics, the videos (if there are videos), the musical choices. Push yourself to challenge the music you love – is there more to it? Should there be? How would others perceive this music? Does it play up stereotypes or challenge them? Switch lenses and see how much you can unearth – even the most basic pop music hit can have many layers.
Challenge Questions for blogging:
If you have chosen to blog as part of your assignment package, you may choose ONE of the following challenge questions to blog about this week to earn 10% of your overall assignment mark. Please ensure you have read and understood the entire Assignment Details and Blogging pages prior to beginning.
1. Minstrelsy and the Problem of Race: Follow the link to access the article “Whitewashing Blackface Minstrelsy in American College Textbooks” by Joseph Byrd. As you are reading the article (and you do not need to read the Addendum), consider the following questions, and address them in a well-crafted blog post. Be sure you have completed this module’s textbook readings prior to beginning this post. Remember to cite your sources.
- Provide a brief summary of the article.
- What new information caught your interest in this article?
- What is meant by “lumpenproletariat”, and how does this term, and a better understanding of the intended audience for minstrelsy, change how we approach the genre? (Note that this would be an example of both racial and socio-economic lenses).
- What were the Jim Crow laws, and from where did they derive the name?
- Byrd’s article does not shy away from the racist aspects of minstrel music, and he makes an effort to present the reality of minstrel lyrics. Why is it so important for us to understand this reality? Present an informed opinion on why you think textbooks, including ours, deliberately avoid this material.
#M2Q1
2. On Boxing and Music: Sports, like the arts, can be analysed at different levels, and often unintentionally reflects the zeitgeist of its time period. Please read the Smithsonian article A Year of Hope for Joplin and Johnson, by Michael Walsh, and the (very brief) Vulture article ‘Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ Is the First Pure Piece of Trump-Era Pop Art, by Mark Harris. Consider the following questions, and address them in a well-crafted blog post. Be sure you have completed this module’s textbook readings prior to beginning this post. You may wish to use your textbook as a source. Remember to cite your sources.
- Provide a brief summary of the Smithsonian article.
- Explain how Johnson’s and Joplin’s successes both reflected and encouraged the growing sense of optimism for the African American community in the US at the time (circa 1910). How did each man, in their own way, challenge racial stereotypes at the time? Consider their careers through the lens of Booker T. Washington’s philosophy – how did each man, intentionally or unintentionally, embrace or embody this philosophy?
- Now consider the Vulture article – what is different about the tone?
- Each of these articles examine both a boxing match and a piece of popular music as reflections of, and possibly challenges to, the culture and prevailing sentiments of the time period. So what does each article suggest about their respective eras of history? What issues are at the forefront of each era, according to the articles? And more to the point of popular music – how does this suggestion influence the way we think about the works of a musician or band, for example, Taylor Swift?
#M2Q2
3. Other Important Figures in Early Pop Music History: Research one of the artists or songwriters in the list below. Provide a brief biography to introduce your person and explain their importance and contributions. What challenges (racial, socio-economic, gender, etc), if any, did they face, and how did they overcome these challenges? Listen to some of their music (available on Youtube), and pick three examples you feel best represent their contributions, describing why you have chosen each (describe the sound of the music as well as any other relevant aspects). Embed videos for the songs you discuss, where possible. Remember to cite your sources. You may choose from the following figures:
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Harry von Tilzer
- James A. Bland
- C. Handy
- Mamie Smith
- Ma Rainey
#M2Q3
4. Live Concert Review:
Attend a live concert and write a review detailing your experience. You may only complete one concert review for the whole course. If there are multiple groups on the bill, choose only one. The concert must take place during the course and reflect the knowledge you’ve gained from the course materials. It should be the same length as your other blog posts but must describe the following features:
- Performer: biographies, band history, current place in popular music. Assume the reader is unfamiliar with the group.
- Sound: specifics of the music – harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, lyrics (if applicable) etc. Focus on one or more songs and construct a thorough description.
- Venue and Audience: describe not only the practical details of the environment, but how the music might inform us of the social realities of the audience and vice versa.
- Reflection: how meaningful was this concert to you? Was it meaningful to a broader group of people? What contributed to this feeling, or what was lacking? Use your knowledge of the history of popular music to support these feelings.
- Organization, Spelling, References: cite what research you use, utilizing a recognized citation method (Chicago is preferred).
- Proof of Attendance: take pictures of the event for your blog post and/or a selfie.
#M2Q4