Hey, it’s me again, Lauren! I am here to talk about my opinion of rock and roll, and heavy rock music.

Music has always been a big part of my life, from listening to Shania Twain dancing in the reflection of the oven door, the heavy metal and rock and roll music my parents listened to the classical music in my ballet classes. Music has always been here for me. The music that parents listen to shape what music their children listen to. My dad spent his early twenties driving around with Age of Electric band through British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and a little Manitoba. He was always been into the heavy metal and you could even tell by the long his hair was.

There has been a number of heavy metal bands since the late 1960s like:

• Metallica
• Iron Maiden
• Judas Priest
• Black Sabbath
• Mötley Crüe
• AC/DC
• Led Zeppelin

Some people say that Led Zeppelin was the first was the first to introduce heavy metal music to society but I personally believe that Black Sabbath was the first. I feel that Led Zeppelin was more rock and roll then heavy metal. What my understanding of rock and roll verses heavy metal is that heavy metal is a sub-genre inside of the rock genre.

Good Times and Bad Times by Led Zeppelin released in 1969 is listed as a hard rock genre. With the guitar solo in the middle of the song gives a little more hard rock vibe to the music and the electric guitar adds a little heavier sound to the music. This makes me think of a hard heavy rock band rather then a heavy metal band.

Dazed and Confused by Led Zeppelin released in 1969 has a nice slow electric sound to the beginning and then picks up as the song goes on adding more drums. I feel it is still considered rock not heavy metal but it is getting closer.

You Shook Me by Led Zeppelin released 1969 has more of a heavier beat to the music but is slower then what I would consider to be rock, not heavy metal.

Led Zeppelin first album is was filled with great songs that everyone knows. Everyone loves a little Zeppelin especially on a road trip. This song has more of a plain, lighter sound with a less heavy electric guitar and drum bass without a double bass pedal.

Iron Man by Black Sabbath released 1970 is also listed as a hard rock genre. It is a heavy sound that has a stronger electric guitar sound and a deeper bass of a drum.

Sleeping Village by Black Sabbath does has a slower beginning, but once you get into about 1:00 minute of the song it picks up and and gets a heavier deeper electric guitar sound that makes for a heavy metal sound. Then at 3:00 minutes into the song there is an even more guitar and drums that makes for the most heavy metal part of the song. Sleeping Village by Black Sabbath is a great representation of the transitions between the smooth rock, to hard rock to heavy metal sound.

The Warning by Black Sabbath is a pretty long song but a true lover of Black Sabbath just thanks for it to never end. It starts off with a heavy deep bass and a beautiful electric guitar, then adds in the deep voice with the slow lyrics. At 3:00 minutes into the song the amazing guitar solo with the brass drums in the background goes on for a perfect  6:00 minutes before adding back in the lyrics. I feel like this is a perfect example of heavy metal. No need for vocals if the instruments can do all the talking. A real musician can make people feel what they want but just playing the instruments. The fact that out of a 10:25 minute song there is really only 4:00 minutes of vocals makes every Black Sabbath fan go nuts.

My mom and dad have always loved Black Sabbath and I have grown to love Black Sabbath because of them. I am trying not to be close minded towards Led Zeppelin but just from listening to the two bands and what their first albums were back in 1969 and 1970 there is a definite difference between the two.

I know everyone has has their own opinions about what was the first heavy metal band, Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. I know that this is just a question for the Music 111 course, and I think it’s good because it doesn’t matter, both Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin are amazing bands. I love them both.

I am happy I was able to share my little opinion to the rest of you all that had the chance to read my few blogs. Best of luck to all of the final!

 

Hey, I am back I am talking about the Great American Songbook and the song Baby its Cold Outside.

The Great American Songbook is the most popular and influential jazz music from the early 20^th century, from 1920 to the 1950. The era that is Tin Pan Alley Era through the Broadway stages and sets of Hollywood musicals. (Jazz Times n.d.) The music genre that was included in the Great American Songbook is referred to as the American Standards. This music was known for lifting hopes and spirits during the great depression and the two world wars. It related to what was read during this week, because of how the music is uplifting and has an upbeat feel to the music. The music was for the hipsters and was fast, exciting and far removed from the sweet swing music.

Some songwriters would include Hoagy Carmichael, Walter Donaldson, Harry Warren, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Richard A. Whiting, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rogers, and Johnny Mercer. These songs were mostly happy energetic songs that had lyrics that rhymed and were easy to remember and sing along to. Today, these songs are still with us and are also used as a teaching tool. (Johnny Mercer Foundation n.d.)

This picture is of Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer at a piano.

This picture is of Hoagy Carmichael with Johnny Mercer.

Some songs that are included in the great American Songbook would be:

• Big Spender by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields
• I get a kick out of you by Cole Porter
• The way you look tonight by Dick Haymes
• Ol’ man river by Paul Robeson
• Blue Moon by Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Rod Steward
• Baby its cold outside by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan

Some of the earliest Songbook classics were written on New York’s Tin Pan Alley (U Discover Music n.d.)

The song that I will talk about is Baby its Cold Outside. It was written in 1957 by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan. The song has a smooth, jazz vibe and a little seduction too.

Many other artists made covers or their own editions to the song including:

• Frank Sinatra and Dorothy Kirsten
• Dean Martin and Martina McBirde
• Joseph Gordon Levitt and Lady Gaga
• Idina Menzel and Michael Buble

The original song by Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald. The Man singer is playing the role of trying to keep the woman over. He doesn’t want her to leave and the impression is that if she stays, there may be a little fun involved between each other, if you know what I mean. He is using the excuse that it is too cold for her to go outside. She uses the excuse that that her family will be worried that she isn’t home yet.

Michael Buble and Idina Menzel version of the song continues the story line. This version is a little more upbeat with a faster tempo.  Michael Buble us known as one of the best Christmas music artists. Since he has such a great reputation the song has become very popular. It has many views on YouTube, 30,488,823. This version would be the most popular.

Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon- Levitt version of the song takes a spin of things. For this song, the woman in the song is fighting to keep the man from leaving. Lady Gaga is trying to seduce Joseph in order to keep him from leaving. This song is also a little quicker than the others. They have also added a little choreography to the music video. On YouTube it has 9,544,280 views.

I personally like the version with Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I love they way they changed the roles within the song. They went against the norm of how males always have control over the woman. I also love that in this music video, they added in Kermit the frog. This attracts the generation that loved the Muppets, as well as the children.

I asked a friend of mine what version she liked more and she said Michael Buble. She liked his voice and the tone that he takes with the jazz feel. Everyone has different opinions over which version of the song that they like more and it may all depend on their personal taste in music. The numbers don’t lie though. From the views off YouTube, it clearly states that Michael Buble version of the song is the most popular worldwide.

Hi, my name is Lauren Worobec and I am here to talk about Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and her impact on the music and blues era.

Ma Rainey was born Gertrude Pridgett on April 26th, 1886 in Columbus Georgia. She left home as soon as she was able to at the age of fourteen to become a vaudeville performer.(NYTimes n.d.)She was known as the “Mother of the Blues” and was recognized as the first great female blues vocalist. Gertrude married a comedian and songster named William Rainey at the age of eighteen. The two of them were then known as Ma and Pa Rainey. The couple traveled all around the south performing in tent shows and cabarets. She is also no stranger on the vaudeville stages. The couple sang, danced in their performances. The Rainey’s toured with Fat Chappelle’s Rabbit Foot Minstrels and eventually were “Assassinators of the Blues”

After separating with her husband, Pa Rainey in 1916 and then toured with her own band. She then released her first song “Moonshine Blues” with Lovie Austin and “Yonder Comes the Blues” with Louis Armstrong. Ma Rainey’s songs were different from other blue singers because of her experiences as a black woman from the south brought a new aspect to her songs.  Her songs were about heartbreak, promiscuity, drinking binges, odyssey of travel, the workplace, prison road gang and magic and superstition.

Ma Rainey was known for wearing long beautiful gowns, covered with diamonds. Always wearing necklaces of gold and had gold in her teeth that would sparkle on stage. One memorial moment for Ma Rainey was when she stepped on stage with an ostrich feather in one hand and a gun in the other. (atlasobscura n.d.) Hre on stage was over powering and filled with confidence. After her mother and sister passed away, she retired and bought two entertainment venues. She carried out she years in Columbus until she passed away on December 22^nd, 1939. (Biography n.d.)

Ma Rainey was one of the first black diva in history. She then took Bessie Smith under her wing and helped and coached her in her singing. Bessie toured with Ma, where Ma was a get influence in her songs and singing. They were both recorded by 1923. (NYTimes n.d.)Both of these young singers were openly bisexual.

Ma Rainey had a large influence on the American blues. She was also a role model in the African American womanhood. She helped establish the world of women in the blues industry. She was acknowledges her accomplishments when she was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and Georgia Woman of Achievement.

Some challenges that Ma Rainey faced was, she was the first black woman to really sing the blues and have such an influence on the era. Ma Rainey has also expressed and stated that lesbian sexuality and this was very uncommon at this time. She overcame this obstacle by keeping he music the most important and not letting what other people say about her influence what she does.

Several artists have covered her songs including, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley and Cher. Her name is also mentioned by Bob Dylan in his song Tombstone Blues. (CBC n.d.)

Here is a singer Alana Bridgewater who sang a cover of one of Ma Rainey songs.  She is still a role model today and has fans who love and admire who she was and what she did for music.

I am a dancer and I am trained in CDTA (Canadian Dance Teachers Association) in tap. In that training, the basic tap steps where invented and started on the stages in Vaudeville. There are steps like grapevine, time steps shim sham shimmy. It is nice to hear the music that would have been sung for the vaudeville dancers and how those tap steps would be danced to that music.

This song is about a love story and an unfaithful partner. It was very popular in 1925, and multiple artists recorded their own version years later. See See Rider was seen as a song about a easy woman, or “easy rider” about a woman who is experienced in sexual encounters, or a woman who has been married multiple times. In Ma’s interpretation is referring to the male in the love story. Experiencing that he is the unfaithful one in the relationship.

Moonshine Blues was one of her early written songs. It demonstrated the smooth, relaxed blues that she was commonly known for. It was seen that the song was about drinking and the effects that alcohol has on a man.

Don’t Fish in my Sea is either reflecting on a relationship with her father or an adulterous male. She uses powerful words to paint a detailed picture of the relationship and the story line.

Works Cited

n.d. Biography.https://www.biography.com/people/ma-rainey-9542413.

n.d. CBC.https://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/tuesday-may-15-2018-mary-steenburgen-james-bay-and-more-1.4662028/gateway-to-the-music-of-blues-singer-ma-rainey-1.4662156.

n.d. NYTimes.https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/28/theater/the-real-ma-rainey-had-a-certain-way-with-the-blues.html.

 

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