To understand The Payola Scandal we first must understand what Payola is. Payola is the act of paying disc jockeys in order to gain more air time on the radio. It was a widely known practice through the 1950’s when rock and roll was becoming more popular for teenagers. It was not illegal then to take Payola, but it was illegal to take commercial bribery. (Marie H., 1:46, Video Attached Below). Payola became illegal in the early 1960’s and disc jockeys suddenly become criminals for doing something they had always done.  Many claim that Payola was the only way that rock and roll music would ever be on the radio while others believed something different, “several witnesses testified that payola existed long before rock-and-roll” (Sernoe, Pg.139).

Many people did not like Alan Freed’s music taste. He played many songs that came from Black singing groups and played Rock and Roll songs which parents and adults did not enjoy. When others in the music industry found out about Payola people came from far and wide admitting they had paid Freed to play their music. With so many people pointing fingers at him an investigation by Congress began. Once Freed began to be investigated may other disc jockeys began to be investigated as well, the other most known investigation being into Dick Clark. As many of these disc jockeys did not see they were doing anything wrong they admitted to every bribe they had taken and were dismissed with a slap on the wrist. Freed would not admit to any wrong doings and with evidence against him was charged with commercial bribery. The charges that were laid was such a downfall in the music industry that it essentially was the downfall to Rock and Roll music.

I found a short video on Alan Freed and how Payola played out in the 1950s and 1960s:

Of course, the two major players in the Payola scandal (as stated above) were Alan Freed and Dick Clark. Dick Clark admitted to all his wrong doings. Showed every cent of money he had taken and walked away with a small fine. There were many other charged in the scandal (I can not seem to find an exact number) that all admitted to what they had done and were left with the same outcome as Dick Clark, just a small fine. I believe that because it was such a common practice, although somewhat illegal, the courts had a hard time convicting them. It was more a warning to give to all the disc jockeys as well as other jockeys in the United States that this is now illegal and if caught after all these hearings there will be trouble.

I found a second video of Dick Clark speaking about the Payola Scandal, what it is and some of his thoughts on the Scandal. I found it interesting as you can see as he is speaking how he truly felt that there was nothing wrong with making a little extra money to play a record. But also, his feelings that he never dud take any money. It was the disc jockeys underneath him that were paid but like he said it was normal (at 1:16 in the video). Attached the video here:

Payola does still exist today it just has to be more open. “The act of exchanging cash or promotional consideration for airplay is not actually illegal in and of itself in the United States. Such exchanges are legal as long as they are done openly, providing some manner of public corresponding explanation of the character of the relationship between the parties involved” (Fairchild, Pg.1). It only becomes illegal if it is done secretly without anyone knowing. I believe that this is saying that instead of being paid directly, the record labels give radio stations some kind of compensation. Helping the radio station promote themselves (by donating money) or running a contest for the radio station to get their name out to the public.  It could just be a gift for the radio company making the record labels song become big, something that is still a pay off but is not necessarily giving them money to play their music. As long as it is in the public eye and there is a valid reason for the money then it is okay.

I have a hard time deciding if payola is a good or bad thing. I think there is pros and cons to having it. It is good as it gets new music on the radio. As many suggested, rock and roll may have never made it on the radio if it was not being paid for. So, if it is the only way that a record label can get a new song on the radio that sounds different than anything before it then maybe it is not such a bad thing. But, it is also quite unfair for a label to pay as one company may have much more money than another. If one company continuously pays a radio station to play their songs and another record label wants to do the same but cannot pay as much then it becomes unfair. Especially if the company that is paying less is getting more listeners and people that are enjoying their music more. I do feel if there was just a mix of all the record labels without any payola that would probably be the best.

Although, I also feel in the world we live in today and the future we will see that. With the rise of XM radio a consumer can pick any type of music they like. If they like country they pick the country station on the XM radio, if they like coffee house they pick the coffee house station. In that sense record labels will only have to promote themselves to those specific stations rather than to a large station that plays all popular music. I believe XM radio is becoming more and more popular and it could abolish payola in the future.

 

Lindsy

Works Cited

Fairchild, Charles. 2012. Alan Freed still casts a long shadow: the persistence of payola and the ambiguous value of music. Retrieved from: http://journals.sagepub.com.cyber.usask.ca/doi/pdf/10.1177/0163443711433667

Histoy.com. 2009. The Payola Scandal Heats Up. Retrieved From: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-payola-scandal-heats-up

Sernoe, James Lawrence. 2000. ‘It’s the same old song’: A History of Legal Challenges to Rock-and-Roll and Black Music. Retrieved from: https://search-proquest-com.cyber.usask.ca/docview/304631095?pq-origsite=primo

Youtube

FoundationINTERVIEWS. (2012, Apr. 26). Dick Clark discusses the Payola Scandal – EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG. Retrieved From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oOe3jkXR-w

H., Marie. (2013, Feb.26). Alan Freed Payola Scandal

. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGycBSVu7xo

Living in Saskatoon has the perks of many annual events that take place along the beautiful South Saskatchewan River. One of my favourite events is the annual Jazz Fest. A highlight of every summer is enjoying the live music of both well-known artists and local musicians alike. This year from the many performances I saw, one stood out to me the most, and I was very fortunate to hear them perform. That artist being Kamasi Washington.

Kamasi Washington performed on a clear Monday night on the TD mainstage in the Bessborough gardens. Being an employee of TD meant I had free access to a musician I had heard only a few times before. However, after his performance I became a true fan. Kamasi has a sound and vibe like no other performer I have heard before. He combines elements from hip-hop, R & B (a personal favourite of mine), and classical which creates a unique twist on a foundation of jazz music. Performing alongside Kamasi is a ten-piece band consisting of percussion, saxophone, trumpet, piano which is accompanied with many others depending on the song performed creating strong and unique combinations of sounds to accompany Kamasi on the saxophone. The songs performed by Kamasi do not have lyrics, he focuses on sound rather than a message.  In his songs, the rhythm is very upbeat portraying energy and happiness that makes it feel good music.

Being as Jazz Fest came with many emotions, of happiness, excitement and a sort of tingle inside. When Kamasi started playing, you could see the energy within the audience increased tremendously. People of all ages and backgrounds could all feel the rhythm and this was evident when you saw people tapping their feet keeping along with the beat. People used the Jazz fest to almost escape reality and go off into a world of music filled with joy and happiness. People used the jazz music to relax and enjoy the performances from artists of vast backgrounds. My personal experience from this concert did not differ much from the general audience member. I left feeling very happy and went home to discover unperformed music just to keep the new experience flowing. Now weeks after this experience took place, I find myself being more open to different genres that I used to look past. I find myself understanding and enjoying the different messages through each song which help me relate to the feel and emotion each artist puts into their music.

 

A personal favourite of mine is called “Hub-Tones”. This upbeat song has a fast tempo that draws the crowd in. The intro starts with a lone piano playing. Listen as the song progresses percussion joins in for a short duo. As the song continues after about thirty seconds you can hear the timbre of the saxophone join in and increase the intensity of the overall song. Once the song becomes well established, the melody consisting of a trumpet that changes the overall dynamic of the song for a riff. The tempo of the song varies. It changes in waves from upbeat and fast, to a relaxed and moderate tempo. Different sections of the song highlight different instruments being played. The songs duration totals approximately nine minutes. Within the song, the accent changes. A personal favourite of mine occurs at 6:30. Listen to the fade as it shifts to a percussion focused riff. This section lasts about a minute before the rest of the band fade back in.

 

As we go back in time and look at the upbringing of Kamasi, we can see how the musician he is today was developed. It all started when he was thirteen years old when he first picked up a tenor saxophone. This was not the first instrument he played but it would be his favourite. After playing in his high school band, he went off to play at UCLA where he also studied ethnomusicology. It was in university that Kamasi recorded a self-titled album with newly establish quartet the Young Jazz Giants. As Kamasi’s career became more developed he began collaborating with major artists like a personal favourite of mine, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lemar, Raphael Saadig and Gerald Wilson to name a few. In 2015, is when Kamasi really took off for a career of fame. After releasing an album with nearly three hours in duration, it landed Kamasi number three on the billboard jazz charts. As the years went on, Kamasi become more and more of a household name.

Sites Used:

Kellman, Andy. “Kamasi Washington | Biography & History.” AllMusic. Accessed July 20, 2018. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kamasi-washington-mn0000772447/biography.

“Kamasi Washington Group – Hub-Tones // LEWITT Lounge 2014.” YouTube. February 04, 2014. Accessed July 20, 2018. https://youtu.be/e8xA3voo9v4.

Josephine Baker was a deeply influential, intelligent and passionate woman. She succeeded in any area she chose to; from dancing and acting to civil rights and military intelligence work. Born on June 3rd, 1906 to a poor mother and a step-father who struggled to find employment, she learned early on to never be dependent on a man, an attitude of independence that stuck with her her whole life. She dropped out of school at 12 and got a job as a waitress. She first married at the age of 13 to a porter named Willie Wells, which lasted less than a year. She would marry three more times in her life and would go on to give birth to and adopt a combined 12 children from all around the world. (1)

The Harlem Renaissance 

The Harlem Renaissance brought more opportunities to black performers, as they flocked to northern cities after World War I. Josephine Baker was one of those performers who went to New York City, at the age of 15,  working as a chorus line dancer in Harlem for the productions of Shuffle Along and The Chocolate Dandies. These shows challenged the alleged taboos around black sexuality. She used the Harlem Renaissance as an opportunity to showcase her skill sets and start her career in entertainment.

Feminism

The Harlem Renaissance was known expanding the sexual revolution of women, to an extent. Baker herself became well-known in France for her exotic dancing routine, which she brought over from New York. Her most famous work is a picture of her wearing a costume only made of bananas.

Baker was also an bisexual woman during a time when that was not widely accepted, especially for a woman of color. She definitely utilized the growing empowerment of women in order to raise her status in popular culture of the time.

The Charleston

“The Charleston” was the dance craze named for the song which shares its namesake. Josephine Baker raised the popularity of this dance greatly after she performed it at Folies Bergère in France in 1926. Her profile as a celebrity led to a popular dance movement which is still performed to this day at dance clubs and competitions.

The above video is Josephine Baker dancing “The Charleston” in the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics.

Film Career 

Josephine Baker was one of the biggest female stars in the world, so she obviously had a successful film career as well. She starred in the silent film Siren of the Tropics in 1927. Her next two pictures were both talking films. She then became the first black woman to star in a major motion picture when Zouzou was released in 1934. She also starred in Princesse Tam Tam in 1935. Being that these were films from the thirties, there were obvious racist overtones in the plots, and although these films were only really successes in Europe, she still gained popularity and notoriety.

World War II

During the second world war, Baker used her extensive fame and influence in Europe to help fight for the allies in her own way. She hid large amounts of secret messages using invisible ink on her sheet music. She even concealed secret photos of German military installations out of enemy territory by pinning them to her underwear. She was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Rosette de la Résistance for her efforts.(2)After her death, she became the first American-born woman to receive a military burial in France. (3)

 

What Josephine Baker did during the war was truly incredible. It would have been easy for a woman of her stature to flee France when the war broke out and go back to her home country of America. However, she put her life and riches on the line and sacrificed for her adopted country.

Civil Rights 

During the civil rights era in the United States of America, Baker was an avid supporter. She faced racial discrimination at hotels and clubs all around the USA. She refused to perform in front of a segregated audience, which was one of the reasons why entertainment shows in Las Vegas slowly became mixed race. She was such an influential figure in the civil rights movement that when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, she was offered a key role in the civil rights movement that would have had her effectively replace King Jr. as leader. However, she declined in order to raise her children. (4)

Josephine Baker lived an extraordinary life. She was devoted to what she cared about, successful in what she did, and lived her life more than a little flamboyantly. She is an historical figure we could all learn a little from.

 

 

Bibliography

1. Jone Lewis”Josephine Baker Biography” ThoughtCo. Access Jul 18, 2018.
   https://www.thoughtco.com/josephine-baker-biography-3528473
2.  Ethan Trex. “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Josephine Baker.” Mental Floss. June 3, 2017, Accessed July 19, 2018
   http://mentalfloss.com/article/23148/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-josephine-baker
3. “Biography” The Official Site of Josephine Baker, Accessed July 19, 2018
   https://www.cmgww.com/stars/baker/about/biography/
4. Joanne Griffith, “Josephine Baker: From Exotic Dancer to Activist” December 31, 2014, Accessed July 19, 2018
   http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141222-from-exotic-dancer-to-activist

The Great American Songbook is just that — living up to its name, it is a music book filled with popular music referred to as the “American standard” from the first half of the 20th century. Included are pieces associated with many influential musicians of popular music at the time, such as Nat King Cole, Billy Holiday, and Frank Sinatra. Americans found hope in the widely familiar tunes of the book during this time of major warfare and depression. (1)

One of the songs that stands out to me is “There’s No Business Like Show Business”. I myself am a fan of clever rhymes (another one I like is “As a specimen, yes I’m in-timidating!” from Beauty and the Beast‘s “Gaston”, sung at the end of this clip if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JG6f5_37tg), so I think the chorus in itself is enough to attract me all on its own. It was written as part of a film by Phoebe and Henry Ephron and Lamar Trotti, directed by Walter Lang.

Songs in The Great American Songbook retain the pattern of being bright and cheery, easy to remember, and relatively simple musically to allow the songs within it to gain widespread appeal, known by most everyone. “There’s No Business Like Show Business” is not an exception to this. The chorus dances with dynamics, placing emphasis on the “no” and “show” which reiterates the clever rhyme. The popular 1954 version is sung by female singer Ethel Merman with an over-exaggerated but cheery, enthusiastic vibrato, singing about the wonderful people and smiles given by these people in show business. This song is certainly to me what would now be considered an “earworm” — the well-written and easily remembered lyrics, the bright dynamics throughout, and the enthusiasm of not only the performer herself but the band backing her up.

The song takes one of the most common forms in popular music: verse-chorus form. The verses’ words vary from one to another but share their melody. The chorus shares its melody for the most part, but atypical to usual verse-chorus form songs, the chorus is not exactly the same each time, though this could easily be pinned as Merman’s own interpretation of the song as choosing to take artistic freedom and lower or heighten a note here and there to inject more personality into the piece as a piece like this should have. As for the lyrics of the chorus, she initially says, “There’s no people like show-people,” but at the apex of the song changes to, “There’s no business like show business”. Despite the change in words, the chorus’ message is retained, as well as the enthusiasm, general melody, and musicality of the piece.

Another version is an earlier one from 1950 sung by three men to a young lady who asks what show business is, exactly. They get fired up in excitement and fluidly lead into the song with hardly any discrepancy between their regular talking conversation and the beginning of the song. The first major difference between this 1950 version and the 1953 version is, of course, the number of performers. While the latter features a single, strong-voiced female, the former has three men playfully throwing the melody amongst one another, occasionally joining together in unison to emphasize certain lines and for the chorus. In the second half, the young lady takes on the chorus, the three men continuing with the verses, all four of them in unison for the final round of the chorus. This (1950) version has a faint ragtime-y feel — all one would have to do is replace the blaring brass with an old piano. However, the 1953 version sung by Merman has a more traditionally theatrical feel, and while the syncopations and happy tune fit with ragtime music, her version has more of a fanfare to it, a faster tempo, a fuller instrument range, that takes it out of that category. This (1954) version is personally more appealing to me, though there is fun in the quartet’s hot potato-like turn-taking melody, but I would say each version is widely known, the 1954 version being more attractive to women and the 1950 version being more attractive to men, though both I tend to notice are generally more well-known in each group among those of age 60 and up.

To me, The Great American Songbook is a music book of its time. It shows a foundation in history for much of the music we have today, and represents a certain time in America when music was turned to to distract from the devastation occurring in the world. If anyone were to add to it after this time, it would take away from the unified tragedy that these songs specifically were brought together to fight. It would simply become an anthology of songs throughout American popular music’s history, and not the standout rebellion against dark times, the admirability in human nature in music, that it is.

I believe the songs in the book are still relevant today and will continue to be. It’s hard to continue to make music and not be aware of these roots as a musician, no matter what kind of music one makes. Every genre has certain connotations with it which demonstrate their origins, show tunes such as this one being associated with New York and America, blues taking its cues from African musicians, swing with its controversial dances and young women, and so on, without having to take a history of music course. As long as these connotations are perpetuated, music of any form will never completely lose it roots or relevancy. The best songs are continually remade in the current styles as time goes on as well, which not only reminds listeners of the originals and grants appreciation to them and the music of the time, but clearly shows that we, as humans, enjoy the familiarity of a well-worn melody enough to make it again and again and again, creating a timeline of the evolution of technology, current events, morals, and music itself.

1953 version (Ethel Merman): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVMXw_y7jyI

1950 version (Annie Get Your Gun): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lakGIwI9u0

Sources Cited:

1. “What Is the Great American Songbook?” The Center for the Performing Arts – Home of the Palladium – Carmel, Indiana, thecenterfortheperformingarts.org/Great-American-Songbook-Inititative/About-the-Great-American-Songbook.

 

This review is about my experience at the music festival called Fvded in the Park. I will provide an explanation of the event, such as the location it took place in, how long is has been occurring,  and the atmosphere. I will also explain in details on some of the performers (artists) and how I personally think their performance at the event went.

The festival took place on July 6th and 7th of 2018 in Vancouver, BC [in Surrey] (FvdedinthePark, 2018), and it opened from 1pm to 11pm on both days. It was an exciting and thrilling event, with performances from various artists from different genres . As a festival it was a very large space consisting of various stages, food trucks, open bars, and the basic washroom areas that is very needed for a festival. The event is open to all ages, but had restrictions to the bar areas, if an individual is of age, they’re given a special wrist band to show that they’re adults:

.

The amount of people at the festival was grand, I don’t know the exact number but it could be somewhat about a thousand (1000) people. the audience was filled with both male and female, and people of various ages. Different people of colour and caucasians alike. It was environment of freedom and joy of music. The vibe I got from the event was that of ravers (that’s based on what I could tell from talking to people and how others where dressed), and I would know because I’ve been to a number of raves myself. This means that the music played  is predominantly EDM.

EDM is electronic dance music , which is played a lot in festivals or nightclubs, and the “beats” are that to move your body to, not in a traditional dancing fashion but rather in the motion of the tempo. The dynamic in festivals are somewhat stable, which means that the intensity is at one level, high, at all times. The audience shouts and sing along and the performer does the same, which makes it an all-out loud experience.

I am an allrounder when it comes to music, as long as i can bop my head to it and feel the beat, then its good music. I visited the different stages to experience the variety in music. The stages with artists like KYGO were packed and filled with calm wonderful vibes of people bobbing their heads and singing along in unison. KYGO is known for some songs like:

While stages with artists like Future and Ferg were filled with an amazing crowd of uplifted vibes, with people in the audience shouting and singing along. Future is know for songs like:

I believe that listening to music should be something that excites you and make your blood rush, going to a festival allows you to experience this. To see the amount of people, of all ages (literally saw elderly couples), enjoy themselves and relate to the vibe of music is really amazing. To see the way that music has evolved through the ages, from Jazz that served as an avenue for rebellious white people (hipsters) in the 1940’s to music that is somewhat similar as to how it focuses on the beat like trap, really makes music a growing and amazing field of experience.

Proof of my Attendance

These are images of the event and the wristband that shows that I went to the event. The first image shows the main stage, and the image to the bottom shows a artist known as Nav performing.

I don’t take pictures of myself, but I would’ve loved to share a video if I could attach it without uploading it on youtube first.

Fvded

Fvded started in 2012 and was created for individuals who loved music with heavy bass such as what is commonly known as trap, future bass, dubstep and moombahton (DH Vancouver Staff, 2016).

Artist

To keep my blog less jammed, i’ll like to focus on one of the Artists that performed.

• NAV

“Nav”, also known by his real name as Navraj Singh Goraya, is a Canadian rapper and producer based in Toronto. He was born in Toronto Ontario to Punjabi parents. Nav’s career started out from SoundCloud where he relaesed a song called “Take me Simple”, and had a  large amount of listeners.

Since then his career has been steadily growing. He was involved in the writing of one of Drake’s (Drake is a popular artist, famous for songs like “God’s Plan”) famous tracks, “Back to Back”. He was eventually signed under Drake’s label (OVO Sound Radio) in 2016 (Guan, 2017).

Nav has then been involved with other artists such as “Metro Boomin”, “Travis Scott” and “The Weeknd”.  His involvement in Hip-Hop has opened the gates to success for him.

At the fvded event, Nav brought the crowd to life. He began his performance with “Freshman List” (which is the song linked above), it made everyone sing along and the crowd was shaky. In all honesty, his couple songs after that were not as interesting [to me], but he ended his performance amazingly and brought everyone back to the the right mood.

 

Reference (Bibliography)

Fvded in the Park, 2018. Retrieved from: http://fvdedinthepark.com/#

DH Vancouver Staff (2016). Daily Hive, Retrieved from:

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/history-evolution-fvded-vancouver/

Guan, Frank (2017). Vulture. Retrieved

from: http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/who-is-nav.html

 

 

2. Shuffle Along: ​In 2016, Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a musical about the making of the 1921 hit show Shuffle Along, opened on Broadway. This revival, of sorts, brought new attention to the original show. Though mentioned only briefly in your textbook, Shuffle Along was groundbreaking for African Americans in music and on stage. Read the New York Times Magazine article “’Shuffle Along’ and the Lost History of Black Performance in America.” It rambles a bit, and bounces back and forth between the history of the original show and commentary on the modern production. In a thoughtful blog post, answer these questions based on your reading:

 

 

Why did black people don blackface in early American theatre? Explain the power dynamics of blackface worn by black performers.

Black performers wore blackface in early American theatre because it was not acceptable for African Americans to perform on stage during the 19th century, so in an effort to obey to the predominant white audiences, they had to put on blackface as if they were a Caucasian playing the role of a black person (Sullivan 2016). Many of the actors darkened their faces artificially. The interesting power dynamics of blackface worn by black performers helped strengthen the compromise of the black performers power because blackface was worn as a way to mock their own race. The musical served as a comedy and was reliant on the minstrel tropes used to degrade black culture. Although the use of blackface at the time was used in a negative fashion it played a major role in the acceptance of black performers. In this day and age the use of blackface is looked down upon and described as being racist.

 How did ‘Shuffle Along’ reinforce or challenge:

 The use of blackface in theatre:

The use of blackface in theatre was reinforced or challenged in “Shuffle Along” because of the way it was used, in which the black performers had to put on blackface in order to perform on stage. This was a representation to the Caucasians that they had surrendered their power because it showed that they were mocking their own race. Although the use of blackface signified the loss of power, they increased in power to the point where a genre was established, as seen in black minstrels (Sullivan 2016).

 

 

 

 

The taboo of black sexuality:

As seen in the article presented, black sexuality was seen as dangerous if taken too far, such as a man professing his love through song. This was due to the fact it would match Romeo, but a man singing to a woman at the window would be an acceptable extreme. In the “Shuffle Along” play, this was challenged to see how the white audience would react to Roger Matthews and Lottie Gee singing “Love Will Find a Way”. In my opinion, this subject is best represented by the book Race Matters, by Cornel West (West 2017) “Black sexuality is a taboo subject in America principally because it is a form of black power over which whites have little control–yet its visible manifestations evoke the most visceral of white responses, be it one of the seductive obsession or downright disgust”. In my opinion, West is saying that black sexuality is dangerous because it is something that white people feel as though they cannot control.

 

Typical rhythms:

Shuffle along involved a challenging rhythm in the program, because “The changes often seemed less rhythmical than mathematical”. This in turn made the variations in patterns that much more difficult to follow as a dancer. Due to the fast variations and fast tempo, it helped support a quick rhythm and pace.

Chorus lines:

The chorus lines in Shuffle Along was primarily dance jazz and this was strengthened through stereotypical chorus girls. A dancer that was discussed in this module includes Josephine Baker, who happened to make it to the Shuffle along chorus line, was noticed for her dancing. ​Josephine was an American-born French entertainer. Her career was primarily centered around Europe. She was one of the first person of color to become a worldwide entertainer and to star in a major motion picture.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=josephine+baker&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiK1-TluKzcAhW_HjQIHfL7DrcQ_AUICigB&biw=824&bih=841#imgrc=oKyZMeSe1BEIEM:

 

The most well-known from ​Shuffle Along?

The song that till this day is the most well-known from Shuffle Along is “I’m Just Wild About Harry”, which is a strong fourth beat tied to the down beat (Wilder 1975). The song broke a taboo against musical and stage depictions of romantic love between African-Americans.  Harry Truman used the song for his 1948 campaign for presidency in the United States. It was a good fit amusing because it made it seem like the song is about him due to the same first name. Daffy Duck also sang a chorus of it in the cartoon short Yankee Doodle Daffy. Before researching for this blog post, I have not heard of this song before.

 

 

«patting Juba», and who was Juba (the second Juba). Why is this story included, and how does it tie to our main story?

The term “patting Juba” meant African dancing that involves stomping as well as slapping the legs, body and hands in order to create rhythms. Juba was a young boy that was the best Juba dancer in the world, who rivalled an Irish boy named John Diamond. Although the audience would prefer towards the white dancer who put on blackface, this was changed when Juba also painted his face black and won the crowd over with his greater dancing skills because the audience could not tell the two apart. This is another example of the small victories black people donning blackface gave with regards to power and this is how it ties into our main story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claims about the historical significance of ​Shuffle Along that are not true.  Who or what should actually claim this title?

The claims about the historical significance of Shuffle Along that are not exactly true are how it is promoted as the first successful black Broadway show, this actually belongs to a film called “Bandanna Land” from 1907-1909, which is over 12 years younger than the 1921’s Shuffle Along. ​

Concept of the 2016 show and how it celebrated ​Shuffle Along. How it approached the material

George wolfe had the mindset of transforming rather than reviving to dodge the disappointments of the previous revivals in 1932 and 1952. George would show the creation of “Shuffle Along” instead of recreating it and would “tell the story of the original creators and cast and how they pulled it off” (Sullivan 2016). This was done through the exposure of the material through different characters of Caucasian outsiders during the original show. Concepts such as dancing syncopation and singing were kept the same.

New information, change on perspective on the conditions and challenges faced by early African American performers

What I learned from reading this article was the greatness in which black performers were treated unfairly back then. In order to prosper in that day and age in something they were passionate about a lot of African American performers had to compromise and give up to the harsh racism and inequality placed upon them. It’s saddening that they had to withstand such difficulties such as the mocking of their own race through things like blackface in order to perform. I wasn’t very aware of the culture and things African Americans had to face just to be recognized or perform in theater. Educating myself on this article and subject definitely gives a better understanding of the tribulations and adversities African American performers faced.

 

Look back to the section entitled ‘Minstrelsy and American Popular Music’ in your textbook (page 28), specifically the paragraph that begins “Minstrelsy would give blacks…” – in light of the article, do you feel this paragraph (or the textbook in general) offers a fair perspective on blackface in America? Why or why not?

Looking back at the textbook, I do not think that that section in book offers a fair perspective on blackface in America. This is because I feel as though it seems to express Minstrels as an overall positive experience and portion of time as represented at the end of the page:

“Still, the positive contributions of the minstrel show include four important firsts, all of which figure prominently in subsequent generations of popular music: – It was entertainment for the masses. – It used vernacular speech and music. – It created a new genre by synthesizing middle-class urban song and folk music. – It was the first instance of a phenomenon in American popular music that has continued to the present day: that of invigorating and transforming the dominant popular style through the infusion of energetic, often danceable music.” (Campbell 2012)

The way in which this section is defined makes it seem like these four main points would not have happened without Minstrels. This in turn paints blackface in a positive light. Furthermore, I feel as though the text focuses too little on African American performers. It does not go into depth in describing the reasoning behind the popularity to blackface and what it meant for both African Americans and Caucasians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Campbell, Michael. 2012. Popular Music In America: The Beat Goes On. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Schirmer.

Hill, Anthony. (2008). Shuffle Along (1921). http://www.blackpast.org/aah/shuffle-along-1921. Retrieved 15th July 2018, from http://www.blackpast.org/aah/shuffle-along-1921

 

Sullivan, John. 2016. “‘Shuffle Along’ And The Lost History Of Black Performance In America”. Nytimes.Com.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/shuffle-along-and-the-painful-history-of-black-pe rformance-in-america.html?mcubz=1.

 

West, Cornel. 2017. Race Matters. Beacon press.

 

Wilder, Alec. 1975. American Popular Song. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hi, my name is Jasleen Dhunna. I am in my fourth year of Microbiology and Immunology. For my first blog post, I have decided to write about Jelly Roll Morton.

Background

Jelly Roll Morton was born on October 20, 1980 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was an American pianist and songwriter vest known for this influence on modern day jazz during 1920s. Jelly Roll Morton died on July 10, 1941 in Los Angeles, California. He was a mix of African, French and Spanish but he adopted the last name of his stepfather, Morton. He learned to play piano at the age 10 and a few years later, he started playing in the red-light district bordellos. This was where he earned his nickname “Jelly Roll”. He blended ragtime and minstrelsy with dance rhythms which is now known as Jazz. Morton moved out as a teenager and toured the country where he was earning money as a musician, gambler and pimp. He believed that he was the original inventor of Jazz. In 1922, after moving to Chicago, he produced his first recording. In 1926, he led a seven -eight- piece band called “Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers” which was comprised of musicians who were well versed in the new Orleans ensemble style. The band earned national fame with hits like “Black Bottom Stomp” and “Smoke-House Blues”. Morton ran the group for four years which marked the highest point of his career as a composer and pianist. Morton moved in 1928 to New York city and he recorded tracks like “Kansas City Stomp” and “Tank Town Bump”. During the great depression, Morton drifted away from music. As during that time, his music was considered old-fashioned and he did not have temporary work to do during that time. Therefore, from 1931-1937, his appearance was very little. However, in 1938, Alan Lomax recorded him for a musical interview for the library of Congress.  In 1939, Morton went to New York for a comeback, where he did lead a few band sessions such as “Sidney Bechet”, “Red Aleen” and “Albert Nicholas”. Late 1940’s, Morton decided to move to Los Angeles for more but he died. His music became famous again as New Orleans Jazz after his death.

Songs by Jelly Roll Morton

This is a Jazz composition and it was composed by Jelly Roll Morton in 1925 and was first titled as “Queen of Spades”. This song was recorded in Chicago by Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers for Victor Records on September 15, 1926. This song has all the elements of Jazz and the harmonic basis is simple, he used standard II-V-I progressions. I choose this song because it was one of the most famous songs by this band in 1926.

This song was published in 1915 as “the jelly roll blues” by Ferd Morton. This was the very first Jazz record published and it survived during that time was a hit. Morton’s piano playing was born of ragtime and he played melody with thumb of his right hand which allowed him to play harmonies above the melody with all fingers that were left. His record was his first piano solo in Richmond, Indiana.

This record was published in 1926 as New Orleans Jazz which had 12-bar blues form. It is one of the famous songs by Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. It was recorded at Webster Hotel in Chicago, Illinois where Jelly Roll Morton was the pianist.

It is a popular tune and song written by Joe “king” Oliver in 1926. However, Doctor Jazz as a record was made by Jelly roll Morton and red hot peppers in 1926 as an example of New Orleans jazz counterpoint.

The source Page

1. Jelly Roll Morton. (2014, April 02). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/jelly-roll-morton-9415945
2. Meddings, M. (n.d.). JELLY ROLL MORTON. Retrieved from http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/page10.html
3. Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jelly-roll-morton
4. Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/music/musichistory/musicgreats/jellyroll.html

 

Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe, also known as Jelly Roll Morton, was born on October 20, 1890 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were racially mixed Creole, making him African, French, and Spanish. Ferdinand would later adopt his stepfathers name, Morton.¹ He was a highly skilled musician and known as a ragtime and jazz pianist, an innovator of his time. ^1,2

Background

At a young age of 10, his interest in music kept growing and soon led him to be playing in New Orleans’ red-light district.  Everyone there would soon give him the nickname of “Jelly Roll”.^1,2 Listeners knew him as the young pianist who could blend styles of ragtime as well as dance rhythms.² Morton was at the front of the movement that would soon be known as “jazz”.

As a teenager Morton took on many occupations to earn a living such as a musician, gambler and even a pimp.3 Morton had a strong personality and became very confident in his abilities to the point he was telling everyone that he was the “inventor of jazz”.² Though the claims were false it led to resentments. There was no doubt that he could be seen as an innovator of his time. Many believed that he was the first jazz musician that put his arrangements on paper, with “Original Jelly Roll Blues” the first orchestration ever published.¹

After many years Morton moved to Chicago where he would get his big break with the recording company, Victor Talking Machine Company, who would lead him to success.¹ Morton would then lead the “Jelly Morton’s Red Hot Pepper”.  The Red Hot Peppers earned National Fame, especially with “Black Bottom Stomp” and “Smoke – House Blues”, the sound and style produced laid the foundation for the swing movement that would soon become popular.² Morton had a four year run with the group which displayed his talents as a composer and a pianist.

Original Jelly Roll Blues 

Original Jelly Roll Blues was composed by Jelly Roll Morton. Morton played it as a piano solo 2 years before performing it with his band “Red Hot Peppers”. The bands version produces a tango like rhythm, which highlights how different cultures have influenced jazz. To hear the difference between Jelly Roll Morton’s piano version and the bands see reference below. 4

Black Bottom Stomp

Black Bottom Stomp was only recorded once by Morton and the Red Hot Peppers. It was one of Mortons most well known pieces. This song really  captures New Orleans’ jazz. The trumpet, clarinet and trombone are the main layers of this song and can be clearly heard throughout.5 Morton adds an energetic flair though his use of different tunes and instruments making it a fun song for the audience.

Grandpa’s Spells

Grandpa’s Spells was one of the best known ragtime pieces by Morton. It was versatile song that could be played as a piano solo or turned into a band piece.6 Part of the song calls for the performer to smash on the lower keys of the piano with their left hand.  I have included Jelly Roll Morton’s version on the piano as well as the Red Hot Peppers version.

Later Career

During the time of the Great Depression Morton’s fame soon disappeared leaving him struggling to make a living. He eventually had to get rid of the diamond he had on his front tooth.³   Many people no longer wanted to hear hot jazz.³

To make money Morton would play in dive bars where he would later meet folklorist Alan Lomax. Lomax would record a series of interviews for the Library of Congress in which Morton offered an oral history of the origins of jazz and to demonstrate the styles on piano.^1,2 These recordings would spark an interest in Morton but due to poor health it prevented him from staging a comeback and he died on July 10, 1941. ^1,2

 Legacy

Morton was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.²

References

¹Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jelly_Roll_Morton

²Jelly Roll Morton. (2014, April 02). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/jelly-roll-morton-9415945

3 Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.redhotjazz.com/jellyroll.html

4 Original Jelly Roll Blues. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://musicinsideout.wwno.org/2013/09/14/original-jelly-roll-Black

5 Bottom Stomp – Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://thewininboy.blogspot.com/2012/07/black-bottom-stomp.html

6 Edwards, B. (n.d.). Jelly Roll Morton Compositions. Retrieved from http://www.perfessorbill.com/pbmusic_morton.shtml

Pictures

Jelly Roll Morton. (2014, April 02). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/jelly-roll-morton-9415945

Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.redhotjazz.com/jellyroll.html

Hello everyone! In this blog post, I would like to talk about The Payola Scandal.

What is Payola?

“The term Payola is a play on the word ‘pay’ and ‘Victrola’, meaning to bribe to play on the radio Victrola was a phonograph made in the early 1920s by the Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey. Payola means a bribe to influence the programming content of a broadcast radio, television or cable television program.”

In the music business, payola is inhibition and a persistent problem. It is the illegal practice of payment or other inducements by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio. In the American music industry, a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, and those songs shouldn’t be counted as the “regular play”. We can imagine that the more times of the songs are played, the more popularity of a song would get.

How did the payola scandal begin?

In 1958, the famous “game show” scandals attracted people’s attention.  “Federal investigators revealed that the wildly popular NBC-TV show ‘Twenty-One’ and ‘$64,000 Question’ were rigged.”  Therefore, a large-scale investigation direct to similar practices in radio. In 1960, the National Association of Broadcasters proposed that “radio disc jockeys accepting payment from record labels for broadcasting particular songs would be charged a $500 fine and spend a year in prison”.

Major players

Alan Freed

Alan Freed gained great reputation with coining Rock ‘N’ Roll’s name, while he would be associated with the shame of payola.  He was charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery and handed a bundled of fines and a suspended jail sentence. He lost everything and died pennilessly five years later.

Dick Clark

Alan Freed and Dick Clark were hauled into a series of closed and open sessions before the U.S. House Oversight Committee alongside over three hundred other American DJs who admitted to having accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes—framed as “consulting fees”.

Influences

Unless you are the artist whose career gets a boost or the label who sees increased sales, there are few benefits.  Actually, payola hurts everyone, and cause untold amounts of chaos within the music industry itself. People would never hear great music if the artist can’t afford the “consulting fees”. And it increased the cost of music creation, which is a huge obstacle for those artists to write a new song.

Recent Event

“In 2005, one of the world’s largest record labels, Sony BGM, pay out $10 million in fines after the state of New York found the company guilty of engaging in payola.”

Personal opinion

Payola would have less influence in today’s life.  Network, internet and other many kinds of media could help people to accept more information about music rather than only from radios.  Although these advanced technologies would lower the threshold for the entry, the top level of music is still affected by payola.  Therefore, prohibiting “pay to play” is still required for the music business.

References

Payola: Influencing the Charts. HEATHER MCDONALD. (2018. June 3)  https://www.thebalancecareers.com/payola-influencing-the-charts-2460759

Payola Scandal Rocks 50’s Radio Researched & written by Bob Neira   http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/payola22.html

A Brief History of American Payola. Kim Kelly. (2016. February 14) https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/64y8y9/a-brief-history-of-american-payola

 

Hunter Brothers

The Hunter Brother is an up and coming band which consist of five country brothers that were born and raised in small town Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.(Hunter, n.d.) The brothers who make up the country band are Brock (Electric/Acoustic Guitar), Dusty (drums), J.J. (Guitar/Keyboard), Luke (Bass), and Ty (Lead vocals/keyboard). The Hunter Brothers signed a record deal with Open Road Recordings . (Hunter, n.d.) They released their first album in 2017 called “Getaway”. Their song “Born and Raised” made the top 10 and five songs on their album made the top 40 country hit list. (Hunter, n.d.)

On July 7^th, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan the Hunter Brothers were set to be on stage at 9 pm. The grandstands were filled with families, old couples, and teens who were tired of standing. The place in front of the stage were 17-22-year old girls, in hopes of touching hands with at least one of the Brothers or just getting a good picture of them. There were around 500-600 people there that day waiting for the clock to hit nine, so they can see the small-town band hit the stage. The Hunter Brothers performing in Yorkton brought all the small-town teens and adults on a night out. The surrounding area is into country music every wedding, graduation, or dance has more country songs playing than any other genre.

The atmosphere at the concert was energic, lively, and entertaining. The Hunter Brothers got the crowd on their feet with every song they played, if it was their own song or a cover of an artist they always found a way to make the crowd interested. In one song they did a Hunter hip flip where Brock and Luke went to the front of the stage. where they performed the move. Luke then bent down a little and Brock rolled off him and did a front flip after the roll and landed on his feet. In between songs they told stories about how everyone had a major injury at least once in their life or how their mom reacted to their “El  Dorado” from the meaning behind it. “El Dorado” is a song about their grandfather who owned an El Dorado and after his passing, they wrote this for him and once their mom heard it she was in tears instantly. All their songs have a meaning behind if its “Getaway” which is about their significant other and when they are with them that’s their getaway, and “Born and Raised” is about them being proud of where they came from and through all fame they still will be the same person. Throughout the concert, they fooled around on stage, from lowering Dusty’s mic stand because he is short or when J.J. was introducing the brothers he added in the land locations of each brother. When they got to Brock, he stopped J.J. and introduced him and said, “I can take it from here, since I am the only one not married so I can speak for myself”. The brothers liked teasing each other through the whole night which is one thing no one expected from them.

The Hunter Brothers did a tribute to the Humboldt Broncos accident which happened on April 6th, 2018, where 16 people were killed and 13 injured when a semi-trailer truck struck the Humboldt Broncos bus. Their song “Where I Wanna Live When I Die” became the song for the Humboldt Broncos tragedy. The Hunter Brothers were personally affected by the tragedy from knowing people who passed away, playing hockey themselves and traveling with the band on a bus on that exact road where the tragedy happened. They told a story how Saskatchewan is such a small province because Dusty played hockey for the Melville Millionaires which is just 20 minutes down the road from Yorkton where the concert was held.

The Hunter Brothers songs are easy to find the beat in any of their songs, easy to two-step or just clap along too. In the song “Country Stuff” this is an unique song because it shows all the brothers voices abilities, it shows Ty’s and Dusty’s high vocal range, Brock’s and J.J.’s deep range they both can go “burn it up” and burn it down”, it stands out from the rest of the vocals, and Luke’s vocal range, in general, it showed off. The lyrics in this song is all about what they do back home like “there’s no harm in killing dust up on the farm.” (Hunter 2016) Throughout this song, they vocally complemented each other. A lot of their songs have repetitive lyrics and most of the songs use the same instruments as guitars, drums, and their feet, but they find a way to make them sound different, so their songs do not sound the same.

After the concert, they talked to people who were around the stage and asked who won the sing off they had between themselves and Brett Kissel on their Instagram story from the weekend before. They also were by their merchandise table and encourage people to take pictures with them and get autographs. They were talking to people about all stuff like farming, music and I got to ask Luke how they got into music and he said, “it’s pretty simple dad wanted us in hockey and mom wanted us in piano and it just took off from there” Well it sure did take off because now they are set to be the opening act for Brett Kissel for his upcoming tour.

The whole night was fun, it never felt boring, no one left during the concert. For me, the concert was enjoyable because, the Hunter Brothers knew how to keep a crowd engaged and, on their feet,  which lasted the whole concert. They made sure their fans knew they predicated them for coming out to see them. When talking with some people surrounding me about the concert they were all impressed by how they were so full of energy and not even one person complained about anything through the night. I would recommend going to see the Hunter Brothers if they are performing near you and are into country music or just want a night away from the house. I will be going to their concert again that’s for sure.

Work Sited

Brothers, Hunter. "Hunter Brothers - Those Were the Nights." Hunter Brothers - Those Were the Nights. n.d. http://www.hunterbrothers.com/.

The Hunter Brothers - "Country Stuff" acoustic YouTube. March 09, 2016. https://youtu.be/Uf2iS3H9P6c