Biography:

Although little is known about her early years, scholars believe that Smith was born Mamie Robinson in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1883. By the age of 10 she was working as a vaudeville entertainer and touring with the Four Dancing Mitchells. She continued to tour with various acts throughout her teens. By 1913 at the age of 20 she was living and working in Harlem and soon after married William “Smithy” Smith. She remarried twice after her career took off (Garner, 2018).

Obstacles of Race:

A newspaper article by a black writer from 1921 talks about the exploitation of black musicians by phonograph companies. The companies used these musicians of color to sell blues music to black record buyers, but still excluded other musicians of color who performed different kinds of music. This picking and choosing of what music to produce and sell contributes to the problem of erasure in black music. There are certain kinds of music that are recorded and preserved, but others aren’t, even if they are equally important (Kenny, 2017).

ALTHOUGH,

Mamie Smith’s record was purchased by black and white consumers and was recognized as a lucrative marketing segment by studios and record company executives (Garner, 2017).

Mamie Smith’s Significance:

Mamie Smith was the first to record blues songs in 1920 with her versions of Perry Bradford’s “Crazy Blues”, and “It’ s Right Here for You” on Okeh Records. The record was a wild success, selling over a million copies in less than a year, and finally ending up selling over two

million copies (Red Hot Jazz, 2018).  Mamie Smith’s music seemed to open up the eyes of those around her. Record companies thought there was a lot of money to be made selling what was then called “race records” to various minority groups in big cities. The success of “Crazy Blues” prompted other record companies to also try to find other female blues singers that could match the sales of “Crazy Blues”. It was a very important record, because it opened the doors of the recording industry to African-Americans, whether they were Blues, Jazz or popular singers or musicians. Smith herself really wasn’t that much of a Blues singer (Red Hot Jazz, 2018).  Mamie Smith’s music was loved for many reasons. “Crazy Blues”, represents the emergence of black female singers into popular music culture and was therefore a very important contribution to black music. Her pioneering musical career paved the way for more successful female blues and jazz artists like “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith (no relation), and Billie Holiday (Garner, 2018).

Success:

Smith’s amount of success and talent was unbelievable. Smith found herself suddenly wealthy, and she spent much of her earnings on clothes, jewelry, real estate,

and servants (Garner, 2018). With all this Mamie Smith mania, New York City suddenly became the blues recording capital of the world. Mamie Smith records have enjoyed tremendous sale in all parts of the country.Mamie Smith and her jazz hounds came, saw, and conquered in Chicago during the month of February. She played to large audiences on the South Side at the Avenue Theatre with immense success.In Mamie Smith’s prime, her stage appearances netted her up to $1,500 a week. Bedecked in diamonds, plumes, and a shimmering gown, she could get a standing ovation just by strutting across the stage (Jasobrecht, 2018). Mamie Smith overall made a historic mark on the musical world that lead women in the right direction to pursue their own music.

Crazy Blues

This was a song about being in a relationship and the love and heartbreak that can go along with it. Throughout this song she wears her emotions on her sleeve about the love she has for a man. Although she also expresses that the love isn’t reciprocated and that he doesn’t treat her right. This song is significant because it was the first blues song recorded and was also recorded by a female which was the first step for black female vocalists.

That Thing Called Love

This song was also a very popular hit of Mamie Smith’s and was her first song recored for OKEH Records.  It has a slower pace and is clearly another love song.

Don’t Care Blues

This song opens up with a wide variety of instruments that catches your attention and ear instantly. Immediately when Mamie Smith begins to sing the lyrics speak to you about being down and out.

Works Cited:

Garner, Carla. “Smith, Mamie.” Black Past. Retrieved July 15^th, 2018. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/smith-mamie-1883-1946 

Kenny, Grace. “Mamie Smith’s Crazy Blues.” October 10^th, 2017. Retrieved July 15^th, 2018. https://pages.stolaf.edu/americanmusic/tag/mamie-smith/

“Mamie Smith.” Retrieved July 15^th, 2018. http://www.redhotjazz.com/mamie.html

“Mamie Smith: The First Lady of the Blues.” Retrieved July 15^th, 2018. http://jasobrecht.com/mamie-smith-the-first-lady-of-the-blues/

Hi, my name is Parissa and this is my first blog post. I will be discussing two different articles that compare sports and music from two different eras and their importance and impact in history.

First we look at the Smithsonian article “A Year of Hope for Joplin and Johnson” written by Michael Walsh. This article dives into the lives and history of boxer Jack Johnson and Musician Scott Joplin. Both African American men had their own way of making a mark in American history, specifically during the 1900s.’

Jack Johnson was the first black and reigning world heavyweight champion when faced the undefeated Jim Jefferies in the ring, who actually refused to enter the ring with Johnson at first due to the difference in race. This fight is historically known for race riot that occurred after Johnson won. Many were injured and more than 20 people were killed, majority being African American.

Johnson was known for “challenging the white establishment at every turn.” This lead to his name being surrounded by a lot of controversy during early 1900s’. He was known for dating as well as marrying multiple white women which in 1912 actually lead to his arrest and conviction for taking his girlfriend across state line which became a law in 1910. Over a hundred years later, President Donald trump has pardoned the late boxer and stated “I am taking this very riotous step, I believe to correct a wrong that occurred in   our history and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion.”

The story of Scott Joplin on the other hand is completely different. Joplin was a pianist and songwriter known as the “King of ragtime” however Joplin wanted to be known for more. He began composing music that reflected the racial history of America. He composed his music to tell the stories and tales shard by others including philosophers.

A few of his most popular pieces include, “The Maple Leaf Rag,” “The Entertainer,” and the opera Treemonisha. Treemonisha is the story of an young African America girl who was “found under a tree by an ex-slave named Monisha. Treemonisha grows into a woman who will change the course of her post-Civil war community.” Unfortunately Joplin was not alive enough to see this opera make it to Broadway however, it eventually did in 1972.

Both Johnson and Joplin made their mark in American history by showing and physically proving that African-American people will not back down and conform to what others thought they should be. Even though they did so in their own ways, it’s clear that Johnson and Joplin had the same goal, to challenge racial stereotypes.

Johnson not only proved that he was capable of becoming the first black world heavyweight champion, but throughout his adult life he showed that he would not conform to the “racial rules” placed upon him. Interracial relationships were frowned upon, especially in the early 1900s’ however Johnson continuously dated and marrying white women. He continued to do so even after he was convicted and married a white woman once again.  As well he was known for spending money freely and driving luxury cars.

Joplin on the other hand challenged racial stereotypes in more of a passive way. Following the philosophies of Booker T. Washington, Joplin intentionally reflected Washington’s messages into his music and operas. The opera discussed earlier, Treemonisha was written based on Washington’s stories. James Joplin made it clear he did want these stories or himself as a musician to be silenced.

Now we look at another article called, “Taylor swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ Is the First pure piece of Trump- Era Pop Art” written by Mark Harris. This article relates to the previous article I discussed, as they both look at history making boxing matches and music. However, the tone of this article is much more casual. I believe the first article presents the information in more of a serious and educational way. Whereas the second article presents its information In more of a humorous and entertaining way.

Michael Walsh’s article suggests that during that particular era, race and racial stereotypes had on impact on everything from sports and music. However that did not stop individuals like Johnson and Joplin to stand up and go against those stereotypes. Mark Harris’s article also discussed a boxing match between two difference races, Floyd Mayweather and Connor McGregor, but beside McGregor being a “racial baiter” to hype up the match it doesn’t compare to the story of Johnson and Joplin. The fight was extremely publicized and promoted and made millions of dollars in the end. it did not make anywhere near the historical imprint.

Now if we compare the music discussed in both articles, we can clearly see there is no comparison again. The music form Joplin’s era has resonated throughout history. It had meaning and purpose and stood for his beliefs. His music told the stories that he believed should be told. In Harris’s article, Taylor Swift’s hit song ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ is presented and discussed. The song is all about Taylor’s feuds with other Hollywood stars. The so called song of the summer really has no true or importance message. It only comes to show what music of this era lacks meaning like it used to. It’s all about the flashy videos and what will sell. Now don’t get me wrong, we definitely see a few songs here and there that have real importance messages, however, the issues in 2018 are not the same as the issues from 100 years ago.

I believe that was these articles suggest dictates and influences how we view these artists work. Looking at Taylor swift specifically, she is a very successful artist who has turned out to be a very good song writer but this song does not represent her that way and it may cause her audience to question her talent and the quality of the music she produces.

Sources

“Jack Johnson.” Biography.com. May 25, 2018. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/jack-johnson-9355980.

“A Year of Hope for Joplin and Johnson.” Smithsonian.com. June 01, 2010. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-year-of-hope-for-joplin-and-johnson-123024/.

Records/YouTube, Big Machine. “Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ Is a Pure Piece of Trump-Era Pop Art.” Vulture. August 30, 2017. Accessed July 18, 2018. http://www.vulture.com/2017/08/taylor-swift-look-what-you-made-me-do-pure-trump-era-pop-art.html.

“Scott Joplin.” Biography.com. January 19, 2018. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/scott-joplin-9357953.

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 1

 

M2Q3 – Other Important Figures in Early Pop Music History – Mamie Smith.

 

Hello, my name is Natalie Keller! This is my first blog post, in which I have decided to write about Mamie Smith and how she is an important figure in early pop music history.

Mamie Smith was born in Cincinnati Ohio, on May 26^th1883, and died August 16^th1946. Her precious 63 years of life has impacted the music world. When she was 10 years old, she worked as a vaudeville entertainer and she also toured with the Four Dancing Mitchells. When she was a young teenager, she continued touring with various acts. When she was 20 years old, she was working and also lived in Harlem, and she married William Smith, but she remarried two more times after her career started to build up. In August of 1920, Mamie and her composer, Bradford, went to the studio with a group of African American musicians, who went by the name of, “The Jazz Hounds” to record the songs, “It’s right here for you”, and “Crazy Blues”, which is considered to be the first blues song on record. That is what launched Mamie Smiths career, since she was extremely successful for the 75,000 copies of her song within the first month of being released, and one million copies in the first six months. As this was such a high of popularity, it gave ideas to other recording companies to allow and sign female black blues singers to be a part of the new “race records” market. As the song. “Crazy Blues” was the first ever blues recording, it also has a big impact on the popularity flow of black female singers into the popular music culture. This is a great moment and start up point for black females being brought into the music culture, because they are phenomenal musicians as well as any other race or gender. There always is a first for everything, and this moment was the first spark of a equality for black women in the music industry.

Songs by Mamie Smith:

1. “Crazy Blues” Mamie Smith

Since “Crazy Blues” was one of  Mamie Smiths big hits that really brought her into the industry,  the first Blues song ever to be record, and changed the view of black women in the music culture, I thought they would be great example tunes to show.

“Crazy Blues” was the first recording of a female blues singer. This song in particular has a very strong meaning to it. This song is about her broken heart and how the man she loves, does not love her back, and treats her badly, Despite all these awful circumstances, she will not changer her love for him. It has a sad touch to it because it makes you wonder who broke Mamie Smiths heart at this time. A broken heart can really open up a songwriters emotions, and it can create some of the best songs. Although this song is a sad heartbreak song, it has quite an upbeat tempo with a touch of brio.

 

2. “That thing called love” Mamie Smith

This song was a very beautiful song to me, because Mamie sings about the different types of feelings love can give you, and how love is quite a mystery and it’s interesting to hear how Mamie Smith experienced love.

This song was Mamie Smiths first recordings with Okeh Records, so it has quite a bit of popularity to it. This song is a love song, which has some heart breaking lyrics. “That Thing Called Love” is a sad love song which talks about how love is so rich that you cannot buy it with any amount of money. It also expresses how love is a mixture of feelings which cannot always be explained, because love is a mystery. She sings about how love can give you funny feelings, make you go crazy, and also be one of the best things to experience, even though it is a mystery of what it can do to you. This song has a very andante and lento tempo, because it’s a slower song of hers, which is fitting because it is rather sad.

 

Later Life

After her huge reign of fame, she continued her music career by doing  musical recordings for Okeh withing the 1920’s. She did a tour with her band, “Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds” in the United States and in Europe. She developed a name called, “The Queen of the Blues”, with her utter most talent in the music Industry. 

 

 

Legacy

Mamie Smith is a legendary musician for not only her music, but for her acts and accomplishments. She opened the doors for the rights of equality, and in that era, equality was not a notion that was popular or easy to grow on. This opened the doors for many other artists of colour and who were also female. People like Mamie Smith show great drive, desire, and passion for music. Her music touches the heartstrings and also is has very beautiful tunes and ear catching tempos.

“Human laws pattern divine laws, but divine laws use only originals.” – Mamie Smith

Bibliography 

1. Obrecht, Jas. 2013. “Mamie Smith: The First Lady of the Blues.” Jas Obrecht Music Archive. Access July 15, 2018. http://jasobrecht.com/mamie-smith-the-first-lady-of-the-blues/
2. Garner, Carla W.2017. “Smith, Mamie (1883 – 1946).” Black Past. Access July 15, 2018. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/smith-mamie-1883-1946
3. Kenny, Grace. 2017. “Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues”.” Music 345: Race, Identity, and Representation in American Music. Accessed July 15, 2018. https://pages.stolaf.edu/americanmusic/2017/10/10/mamie-smiths-crazy-blues/
4. Smith, M. 2005. “Smith, Mamie 1883 – 1946.” Encyclopedia.com. Accessed July 15, 2018. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/historians-and-chronicles/historians-miscellaneous-biographies/mamie-smith