Wednesday, January 10th, 2024

Let us resolve to be masters, not the victims, of our history, controlling our own destiny without giving way to blind suspicions and emotions.

— John F. Kennedy

MUS106 Lecture 2: Gospel and Blues

  • four pillars of influence
  • gospel
    • popular in mid-20
    • sacred music from the American tradition
    • venue: church, church-related concerts
    • where call and response mainly came from
      • communal: brings a sense of togetherness
      • functional
    • rock influence: tension b/w sacred & secular topics (first wave rock themes)

Gospel

  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe
    • sang spiritual music in a secular place—Cotton Club (1938)
    • early instance of cross-over: secular place and sacred gospel music
  • Sam Cooke (1931-1964)
    • gospel singer
    • lead singer of Soul Stirrers (1950-56)
    • unique style and voice: sweet soul
    • ”He’s So Wonderful”
      • topic: God
      • gospel
    • ”Lovable”
      • topic: girl/romance
      • secular
        • very similar to “He’s So Wonderful”, which is kind of ironic
      • experimenting with appealing to secular audience
      • released under a pseudonym “Dale Cook”
    • became full-on secular in 1957
    • murdered at age 33
      • ”A Change Is Gonna Come” (1964)
      • remains uninvestigated
      • conspiracy theory?

Blues

  • blues: an expression of trouble (in the body or mind) by African-American people
    • secular
    • varied styles, varied motivations
    • emerged in late 19th century
    • blues now have a fixed musical vocabulary (e.g. blues scale) and form (e.g. 12-bar blues) thanks to W.C. Handy
  • W.C. Handy (1873-1958)
    • father of the blues
    • integrates folk music elements into blues
    • codified the blue form and vocabulary
  • ”Ball and Biscuit” (2002)