Unit 1 – The Blues, Rock and Roll and Racism
“It used to be called boogie-woogie, it used to be
called blues, used to be called rhythm and
blues…It’s called rock now.”
- Chuck Berry
I. The Birth of the Blues
1. Rock and Roll comes from the blues.
2. Blues is an art form derived from American slaves, which mainly came
from West Africa. They often sang together as they worked, using a call
and response technique, and sang about their problems (i.e. torn from
family, middle passage, etc.)
3. The slaves used their bodies as drums because their masters outlawed real
drums. They also made creative instruments
4. Blues turned into Gospel at African-American churches.
Big Bill
Broonzy
II. The Great Migration
1. Many former slave families left the south in the Post WWI era. They
were looking for less Racism but mainly the new manufacturing jobs
the northern cities had to offer.
2. Chicago was a primary location – a.k.a. “The Home of the Electric
Blues”
a. Artists include Big Bill Broonzy , Muddy Waters, Willie
Dixon, Tampa Red, Sleepy John Estes, Sonny Boy Williamson
3. Initially they played country Blues, then they sang about their
problems in the cities
Willie Dixon “You Shook Me”
Led Zepplin "You Shook Me"
4. Migration of many Blacks to Northern cities continued through the 1930s, 1940s and
1950s; many looking for work in factories designed for wartime production and because
of the new mechanical cotton-pickers – inadvertently the blues becomes the music of
blacks in cities
5. Statistics: African American Populations
1. Chicago 1910 – 40,000
Chicago 1930 – 234.000
2. Chicago: 1940-1944 50,000
Blacks leave Mississippi for Chicago
3. Chicago – 1940 – 1950 214,000
African Americans move
“Sweet Home
Chicago”
Robert Johnson
“SWEET HOME
CHICAGO”
performed by the
Blues Brothers, 1980
Home of the
Electric Blues
6. Many musicians played a type of Blues called ‘Delta Blues’ - coming from the Mississippi
Delta region – one of them Robert Johnson is considered the King of the Delta Blues
III. Chicago Rhythm and Blues
A.
A. Muddy Waters
1. From Clarksdale, Mississippi sold his last horse to buy a Guitar from Sears for $2.50
2. Lived as a tenant farmer and musician in MS until 1943 when he moved to Chicago
3. Worked in a paper container factory by day and as a musician at night
4. Bought an electric guitar/amplifier in 1944, which he purchased to project his
music over the crowds at the clubs he was playing.
5. The ‘newer’ electric blues was accompanied by optimism felt by many African
Americans after World War II. They were happy to Not be in the south where
Racism still flourished. See the Senatorial Elections of 1946.
Red = New Republican States
Pink = Old Republican States
Turquoise = Democratic Sates
B. Record Companies, Racism and American Culture
1. America in the first half of the 20th Century was still a very
racially divided society. Although blacks were freed and legally equal to
white-Americans, it was rare that the two races mixed.
2. As a result two major things happened both of which were
controlled by record industry executives:
a.
Q
a. In the 1920’s and 30s, race records
were produced by mainly
independent companies for
exclusive sale to a particular
audience (ethnic or racial). The
major labels wanted nothing to
do with selling black music to
white audiences
b. In the 1950s white artists ‘covered’ (this means stole or
copied) black musician’s music giving no credit or money to the
original artist.
3. If you were white in America in this time period you had no idea this music
existed unless you saw it for yourself, which you wouldn’t because races didn’t mix
in public
C. Chester (Howlin’ Wolf) Burnett
Smokestack Lightning
1. Born in Ruleville, Mississippi learned music from
a white yodeler/plantation worker
2. Became a DJ at a local radio station
3. In 1952 moved to Chicago
4. Initially lived with Muddy Waters and later
became his biggest competitor
5. Not only did Wolf play music, he was an
energetic performer on stage.
The Grateful Dead-”Smokestack Lightning
D. Riley “Blues Boy” King, Elmore James, and John Lee Hooker
1. Born in Mississippi, worked on a cotton plantations, influenced by share-cropper songs
2. Each had successful careers and brought the pain and suffering felt by Southern
African-Americans to the stage.
3. Incredibly talented guitar players and songwriters
BB King
John Lee Hooker:
Boom boom
ELMORE JAMES
E. Fats Domino
1. Born in New Orleans and played piano from age 9
2. Recorded 43 Top selling records in his career
•Born 1928
•36 #1 hits, sold 65 million records
•French was first language, from New
Orleans
•Very long career; 1940s- 1960s
F. Chess Records
1. Founded in Chicago by two Polish immigrant club owners, Phil and Leonard Chess, went
on to find and produce records for a number of memorable artist such as Howlin’ Wolf,
Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee
Hooker, Chuck Berry, Etta James, each having successful selling records
2. The Chess brothers oversaw and encouraged a drastic change in the characteristics of the
Blues band. No more horns and piano, guitars, harmonicas and vocals became the electric
blues sound then called Rhythm and Blues
3. Today all Chess recordings are owned by MCA Records and are released occasionally
4. Chess Brothers also owned upscale clubs in Chicago
5. More concerned with documenting sound, not changing it
Phil Chess
Leonard Chess
Other Independent Record Labels
1. Mainly in cities with large African-American populations
2. Started mainly by Jewish immigrants because of the status in white America and their
location in poor urban areas
3. King, Savoy Records, Old Town Records, Modern Records, Imperial Records, Alladin
Records, etc
4. While there were big Record companies, they rarely involved themselves in selling
R & B for racial reasons. Entrepreneurs produced 92% of all R&B records.
III. The R & B Market
A.
A. Segregation
1. 1.
African Americans were not
usually allowed into white venues or
nightclubs, not even to see black
musicians.
2. 2.
Most blacks were forced to
buy records to listen to at home
driving up record sales for Small
independent labels and black artists
3. 3.
In some cities there were
black only clubs like the Apollo
Theater in New York City
4. 4.
Most would not listen to
country music
5. 5.
R & B was distributed to
blacks only in black area, they
received little to no radio play
B. Desegregation and Rock and Roll
1. As more whites began to get exposed to the soulful sometimes angry sounds of R
&
B, they began to buy these records, usually teenagers and college students
2.
Whites began to show up at venues to see their favorite black musicians play and
perform
IV. From R & B to Rock and Roll
A. A.
Defined: R & B is essentially race music which was unpopular to say after
World War II
B. B.
Take away the race issue and combine it with a back beat, the music is called
Rock and Roll
C. C.
The initial Blues artists were getting slightly older and the younger white crowd
needed artists they could identify with the first two Rock and Roll Artists
were…
A. D. Little Richard
1. Born in Macon, Georgia, grew up singing
gospel in Baptist Churches across the south
2. Recorded his first record in 1951 featuring
blues and boogie-woogie (or faster blues)
3. Father was murdered in 1952 so Little Richard
washed dishes to make ends meet
4. Changed his hair to pompadour
style and wore more cutting-edge clothing,
earrings and make-up in 1953
5. Black audience did not respond to
his wild-style or fast-tempo blues
6. Recorded with Specialty records out
of California in 1955 when he first recorded
“Tutti Frutti,” which sold over 200,000 copies in
10 days
Additional Little Richard Facts
• Not really sure how old he is
•Learned piano in Church
•Left home because of possible homosexuality; 1
• or 12 children
•First recorded and played with Fats Domino
•Originally no market for records because of his
•flamboyancy
•Original words for Tutti Frutti are ‘white-washed’
•because they are too explicit
•He becomes a novelty act and hugely successful
•between 1955 – 1958
•He got religion when he was on tour so removed
•himself from Rock and Roll business (he was also
•being exploited by white-run recording companies)
•From 1957-1964 goes back and forth between God and Rock scene
WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOIN ON
A.
E. Chuck Berry
1. Grew up in the middle-class outskirts of St. Louis,
Missouri, singing gospel
2. Influenced by gospel and country music and the
blues
3. Went to reform school and worked various odd
jobs, got his first electric guitar in the early 1950s
4. Moved to Chicago in 1955 and was introduced to
the Chess brothers by Muddy Waters
5. His first recording was “Ida Mae” which he
renamed “Maybelline.” This song was a mix of
country and R &B which influenced Rockabilly, a
style of music Elvis made famous
6. He became a sensation overnight and toured the
U.S. passionately playing 101 gigs in 101 nights
7. Berry and Richard became the icons of the new
style of Rock and Roll
Additional Chuck Berry Facts
• born in 1926 in Cali
•Was arrested for stealing guitars
•Opened a club in St. Louis in 1959 which played a variety of music from R & B to
country
•Was arrested under the Mann Act for transporting a minor across state lines. He brought
a young girl from AZ to St. Louis to be in act at club. She happened to be a prostitute
•Went to prison 1962- 1963
•His 4 bar guitar intros become the Rock and Roll standard
•Bridges gap between generations and races by making music that is ‘clean’ and rebellious
•Stage presence with Duck Walk
Maybellene
Bruce Springsteen on Chuck Berry