GLST 490

1
GLST 490 Days 11-12

• Soul and Mid-term Review

2
Housekeeping Items

• I dont think there are any presentations today.
  We will review soul, then review for mid-term on
  Thursday (will not include soul).
• But first I wanted to share with you some excepts
  from the views of Nazis and Stalinists on jazz
  (their views were similar in some respects in
  that they were threatened by its liberatory
  spirit). The Nazis
• Pieces in foxtrot rhythm (so-called swing) are
  not to exceed 20 of the repertoires of light
  orchestras and dance bands
• In this so-called jazz type repertoire,
  preference is to be given to compositions in a
  major key and to lyrics expressing joy in life
  rather than Jewishly gloomy lyrics

3
Housekeeping Items

• As to tempo, preference is also to be given to
  brisk compositions over slow ones so-called
  blues) however, the pace must not exceed a
  certain degree of allegro, commensurate with the
  Aryan sense of discipline and moderation. On no
  account will Negroid excesses in tempo (so-called
  hot jazz) or in solo performances (so-called
  breaks) be tolerated
• So-called jazz compositions may contain at most
  10 syncopation the remainder must consist of a
  natural legato movement devoid of the hysterical
  rhythmic reverses characteristic of the barbarian
  races and conductive to dark instincts alien to
  the German people (so-called riffs)
• Strictly prohibited is the use of instruments
  alien to the German spirit (so-called cowbells,
  flexatone, brushes, etc.) as well as all mutes
  which turn the noble sound of wind and brass
  instruments into a Jewish-Freemasonic yowl
  (so-called wa-wa, hat, etc.)

4
Housekeeping Items

• Also prohibited are so-called drum breaks longer
  than half a bar in four-quarter beat (except in
  stylized military marches)
• The double bass must be played solely with the
  bow in so-called jazz compositions
• Plucking of the strings is prohibited, since it
  is damaging to the instrument and detrimental to
  Aryan musicality if a so-called pizzicato effect
  is absolutely desirable for the character of the
  composition, strict care must be taken lest the
  string be allowed to patter on the sordine, which
  is henceforth forbidden
• Musicians are likewise forbidden to make vocal
  improvisations (so-called scat)
• All light orchestras and dance bands are advised
  to restrict the use of saxophones of all keys and
  to substitute for them the violin-cello, the
  viola or possibly a suitable folk instrument.

5
Housekeeping Items

• The Stalinists
• The dry knock of an idiotic hammer penetrates
  the utter stillness. One, two, three, ten, twenty
  strikes, and afterwards a wild whistling and
  squeaking as if a ball of mud was falling into
  clear water then follows a rattling, howling
  and screaming like the clamor of a metal pig, the
  cry of a donkey or the amorous croaking of a
  monstrous frog.
• The offensive chaos of this insanity combines
  into a pulsing rhythm. Listen to this screaming
  for only a view minutes, and one involuntarily
  pictures an orchestra of sexually wound-up
  madmen, conducted by a Stallion-like creature who
  is swinging his giant genitals. Maxim Gorky
• There were many other insults directed against
  jazz the moaning in the throat of a camel, the
  hiccupping of a drunk, etc.

6
Soul Music

• As with rock n' roll, soul largely though not
  exclusively originated in the south. Though
  rock was originally a multi-racial music, blacks
  were increasingly forced to the margin and the
  new race music of the 1950s and 60s became
  soul, a not-too-subtle reference to the soul
  brothers and soul sisters who produced it.
• It emerged from rhythm and blues and gospel,
  especially the latter and, as Palmer says, it
  came to represent a self-consciously 'black'
  idiom, proudly displaying its roots in gospel
  singing and in the rhythm and dynamics of the
  holy dance or shout.
• In the '50s, gospel singers, like Sam Cooke,
  experimented with bringing more of a pop feel to
  their music, and pop music borrowed more from
  gospel. As Palmer notes, Ray Charles took known
  gospel tunes and changed them from being about
  Jesus to being about women and sex....

7
Soul Music

• This scandalized some who saw in this an attempt
  to turn God's music into the devil's music.
  Charles was an early practitioner of soul, which
  he fused from gospel, rhythm and blues, jazz and
  even country.
• Others came out of the gospel tradition as well.
  An early feeder stream was doo wop music with a
  strong emphasis on vocal harmonies which
  emerged on the East Coast and California. And
  Aretha Franklin considered by many to be one of
  the greatest singers of all times grew up
  singing in her father's church in Detroit.
• Just as rock n' roll had been the soundtrack of
  teenage rebellion in the '50s, soul was partly
  the soundtrack along with protest songs like
  those of Bob Dylan for the 'freedom riders' and
  civil rights marchers of the early to mid-60s who
  sought to desegregate southern society. Although
  most soul was not overtly political, there were a
  few exceptions, like Curtis Mayfield with songs
  such as Keep on Pushing and People Get Ready,
  which had a strong influence on Bob Marley and
  other reggae artists.

8
Soul Music

• Despite the vast majority of soul artists being
  black, whites played a strong role through such
  studios and companies as Stax/Volt in Memphis and
  Fame in Muscle Shoals (Palmer describes how white
  producer, Rick Hall was assigned to produce music
  by Wilson Pickett, and with an all-white band!).
• And, at Stax/Volt in Memphis, the house band was
  Booker T and the MGs two white and two black
  musicians who not only backed some of the best
  known soul artists, like Otis Redding, but were
  also very successful as an instrumental band in
  their right, releasing a string of hits beginning
  with Green Onions.
• Atlantic Records, with Jerry Wexler as producer,
  also played a major role in nurturing Aretha
  Franklin's career.

9
Soul Music

• After the assassination of Martin Luther King,
  the racial politics changed, and blacks began to
  elect to work with their own. In the wider
  society, black militance and separatism became
  more prevalent.
• James Brown, the godfather of soul, began to
  come out with songs like Say It Loud (I'm Black,
  I'm Proud). He also started to encouraged black
  entrepreneurialism and black support for black
  businesses.

source Google Images
James Brown also inspired African musicians, thus
leading to the emergence of Afrobeat, which
migrated back across the ocean in the form of
bands like Antibalas.
10
Soul Music

• Unlike in the past, black businessmen began to
  try to control the production and distribution of
  some of the music for instance, singer Sam
  Cooke (who was murdered in 1964) and musician and
  songwriter, Curtis Mayfield.
• But the most successful music mogul of all was
  Berry Gordy, founder of Motown (short for Motor
  City).
• There were at least two distinguishing
  characteristics of Gordy's approach.

Source Google Images
11
Soul Music

• First, he used 'assembly-line' techniques
  learned from his experiences working at an auto
  plant to produce records at Hitsville USA.
  There was an intense division of labour with one
  backing band (the Funk Brothers), several
  song-writing and production teams, and different
  artists. Different teams were encouraged to
  compete with one another. 'Quality control'
  meetings were held every week, and only the cream
  of the crop of the material recorded was
  released.
• Berry not only recorded his artists, he also
  handled the distribution of the resulting records
  which, for the small firm he was in the
  beginning, was quite unusual.
• A second defining characteristic was that, while
  all his artists were black, with one token
  exception the band Rare Earth he intended his
  music to appeal to people of all races (The
  Sounds of Young America was how he characterized
  it), and it did. It had huge appeal and it still
  does. Even the Beatles were influenced, recording
  at least two Motown songs.

12
Soul Music

• As the '60s passed into the 70s, soul began to
  evolve into funk, sometimes with rock elements
  (for instance, Sly and the Family Stone). Artists
  like James Brown led the shift and were joined by
  new bands like the Ohio Players and Earth, Wind
  and Fire. Even jazz artists, like Herbie Hancock,
  jumped on the funk bandwagon.
• Gradually, funk became increasingly blended with
  pop and became disco. Although largely a black
  idiom, disco was successfully cashed in on by
  white artists such as the Bee Gees and KC and the
  Sunshine Band.
• Disco was noteworthy for its apoliticism, its
  commitment to partying (including sex and drugs),
  and its emphasis on narcissistic
  self-presentation. It eventually evoked a
  reaction, part of it based on racial politics,
  and partly based on a genuine distaste for the
  values expressed by the music.
• Soul and rhythm blues live on, but in fairly
  formulaic forms.

13
Review of Material We Have Covered So Far

• Music is universal in human society (specifics?),
  and serves a variety of functions. Some may be
  emphasized more than others from one society to
  another, but what are they are?
• Why do ethnomusicologists take a relativistic
  approach to music and what does this mean?
• What is the difference between a maestro
  approach to music vs. music as a participation
  sport, and how are the behaviours associated with
  each different?
• Nettl divides music into three aspects sound,
  behaviour, and the ideas cultures have about
  music. Use a couple of examples to elaborate on
  these concepts.
• While we often associate music with pleasant
  sounds, need this always be the case? And, if
  not, why not?
• How people respond to, and evaluate, music often
  depends on the context. Examples?

14
Review of Material We Have Covered So Far

• How does the notion of diaspora apply to music
  for instance, with Romany music?
• What is the role of music in fostering cultural
  cohesion and identity?
• What is cross-fertilization in music?
• What were some of the key historical context
  factors that provided the backdrop for the
  emergence and popularization of jazz?
• What are thought to be some of the reasons for
  the emergence of bebop?
• How did changes in the blues mirror changes in
  Black life more broadly?

15
Review of Material We Have Covered So Far

• What was the role of New Orleans' Creoles in the
  emergence of jazz, and what were of some of its
  precedents? Why did New Orleans emerge as
  probably the most important hearth for jazz. What
  were some of the key sub-hearths?
• What tends to distinguish jazz from other forms
  of music?
• Name key technical innovations that have had
  significant impacts on music in North America
  over the last 100 years?
• In what way has jazz become a world music?

16
Review of Material We Have Covered So Far

• What factors helped induce the major migration
  waves of southern blacks to the north?
• What relation did r b have to rock n' roll?
• Why was the south the initial main hearth for
  rock n roll?
• What role did small, regional studios and record
  companies play in the emergence of rock, and what
  was the response of the majors?
• What are some of the similarities in the cultural
  backlash generated by both jazz and rock n'roll?
• How has cultural appropriation played itself out
  in jazz and rock n' roll?

17
Review of Material We Have Covered So Far

• How was rock n roll, and its associated culture,
  related to the emergence of adolescence as a
  distinct life stage?
• What factors helped it emerge as the dominant
  sound for youth (apart from hip hop to be
  discussed)?
• What was the process whereby British rock emerged
  from American influences, and how did it in turn
  re-cross the Atlantic to revolutionize the way
  American musicians approached the genre? What was
  the role of the blues in all of this?
• In what ways has rock become an international
  genre?
• What factors have contributed to its diffusion
  throughout the world?
• What accounts for its staying power (60 years and
  continuing strong)?