Chapter Six:
Gospel, Blues ,
Country and Folk
Gospel Music
Definition
• A family of religious music
styles : there is white and black
gospel music. Black gospel
music has had the more
profound influence on popular
music.
• Created by Thomas Dorsey and
others around 1930’s.
• Influenced Rhythm and Blues,
since early 1950’s
Gospel Music
• Through the decades
gospel music remained
virtually unknown outside
the black community it
gained wider audience
after world war II gospel
songs included traditional
hymns such as :
• “Amazing grace”
• “precious Lord”
• “ How I got over”
Gospel Music
• Gospel came by its blues times
naturally, Black gospel blends
white protestant hymnody , the
black spiritual and more fervent
religious music which is blues.
• Life is bad at times, gospel is
strictly good news .
• This music lifted to muck and mire
of property out of muck and mire
of proverty and loneliness of being
broke and gave them hope anyway
John Lomax
• Collected cowboy songs in 1910.
• Thanks to his efforts the American
Folk Song archive was created in
1928.
• Signed a contract with a company to
record folk ballads in 1932.
• Recorded with Huddie Leadbetter
( Lead Belly)
Lead Belly
• Was known by the
black community as a
songster.
• Songster: An
entertainer that plays
many different kinds of
music.
• He performed different
types of music
including blues,
ballads, folk songs and
children songs.
Most Famous Songs of Lead Belly:
Goodnight Irene-Leadbelly
Skip to my lou
• Belly performed both songs without any trace of
his blues style or his husky voice. Guitar is simple
and straight forward.
• He assumed a different musical persona when
singing “white songs”.
• “Goodnight Irene” became a hit song for “The
Weavers”, an american folk song quartet, for the
pop singer Jo Stafford and for the country singer
Ernest Tubb.
• Blues and country appeared on recordings targeted
at marginalized audiences.
Jo Stafford-Goodnight Irene
Ray Charles
Gospel Music
Scandalized the black church
community by giving the gospel
hymn “Jesus is all the world to
me” new words and a new beat
to create a song called “I got a
woman”.
Ray Charles- I got a Woman
Ray Charles
explored many
genres such as:
Jazz
Big Band
His song “I got a
woman” was
number one in the
R&B billboard lists
He has influenced
many artists until
this day.
Thomas Dorsey
• Considered the father of
black gospel music.
• Blues pianist known
professionally as
Georgia Tom
• He acknowledged blues
on gospel music.
• Dorsey Acknowleged
the blues on gospel
music also gave gospel
its name first gospel hit
“if you see my savior”
another hit “tell him
that you saw me”
written in 1926.
Gospel Music
Gospel harmony: as it developed
during the thirities and forties and •
forties gospel took its harmonic
language from the nineteeth-century •
European hymns and colored it with
blues harmony.
Amazing Grace-blue
grass gospel version
Deep African influence in Gospel
and Folk music.
Griot: is the healer the witch doctor
the tribe historian the preserves its
history in his songs, the griot in
African history in his songs.
• The Griot in African culture has
been the blues man. Like the griot,
he tells stories through songs ands
earns admiration and respect for his
abilities.
Country and Folk Music
• Country and folk music: Before there was
country music and folk there was folk
music from the country.
• Some types of folk music came from the
british isles: England, Scotland ,Wales and
Ireland.
• Blind Lemon Jefferson: The black Snake
moan was the blind Jefferson first
recordings 1927
• Country blues : We hear no pop no
jazz just a man with his guitar
Hokum and Blues
• Popular between the two world wars, Hokum
songs were a different side of blues up beat
salacious good humored, and light hearted.
• One of the most famous hokum blues song is “
Its tight like that” 1928 recording by Georgia
Tom guitarists Tampa red.
• Lyrics from “its tight like that” introduce the
Hormonic form of the song is 12 bar blues but
lyrics replace the conventional rhymed couplet
with the verse / chorus scheme.
It's tight like that
Boogie woogie
• Is a blues piano style that chases the blues away
it is typically exuberant even boisterous loud and
strong.
• Its creator was the pianist who performed in
noisy working class bars and clubs variously
called juke joints, barrel houses honky tonks.
• To be heard over the crowd pianists created a
power full two handed style in which they played
active left hand pattern in lower part of the
instrument. and repeated riffs on the upper part.
•
It flourished in the 1930s and 40s and spread
beyond the black neigorborhoods in main stream
America.
Folk Music
1936 :
The hit “Roll em, Pete”
Featuring joe turner and
pianist Pete Johnson one of
the kings of boogie -woogie
piano .
“ Roll em pete” is a straight
forward blues form.
Roll em pete
Boogie Woogie Bugle Man
• Music, usually of simple
character and anonymous
authorship, handed down
among the common people by
oral tradition.
• Folk music of white southern
people became Country
Music.
Ralph Peer and Hillbilly Music
Ralph Peer was arguably the most
influential man in country music
during his first three decades .
• He set up the first race record
recording sessions on which were
produced with Mamie Smith along
with Hillbilly music he had
recorded
• The term Hillbilly had been in used
since the term of the century to
identified white southerners music.
• But its musical association dates
from 1925 recording sessions with
Al Hopkins
•
• First country music hits were recorded by Vernon Dalhart
first two hits:
• “Prisoners” and wreck of the old 97
• They dealt with common themes in country music and
where melodically traditional
• The Carter family is one of the most influential groups in
the history of country music.
• Traditional country: vocal
sound flat, nasal, and without
much inflection
• Thumb-brush style: plays the
melody in the lower strings
and between melody, notes
brush the chords on the
upper string.
• Consisted of Alvin Pleasant
A.P. Carter , his wife Sarah
and his sister in law Maybelle.
Carter Family Guitar Style
.
• Developed one of the most
widely imitated guitar styles
in the history of country
Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers had a brief but
extraordinary influential carrier
it was estimated the perhaps
75% of modern country music
performers were directly or
indirectly influence to become
entertainers through hearing
Rodgers in person of through
his recordings.
Among the artists that Rodgers
influenced we have:
Muddy Waters, Chester Burnett
and others.
Western Swing:
• Western swing is ballroom dance music
with a Western flair, played primarily on
stringed instruments. However, horns
were and are used in many Westernswing bands.
• Other characteristics are an emphasis on a
heavy rhythm sound for dancing, and the
aforementioned improvisation.
• Bob Wills: Putted the swing in country
music.
Bob Wills-Sittin' on top of the world
Bill Monroe:
• A singer at Mandolin player .
• Is known as the father of
bluegrass.
•
He was responsible not only
for the sound but the name
Monroe Bluegrass music.
• Descends directly from the
early string bands.
• Broadside: is a typical text swing to
well known tune
Electric Steel Guitar:
• An acoustic guitar with a metal
resonator built into the body, often
played with a slide and producing a
twangy, variable tone.
• Country Rock :
Identifiable "rock" creation that used
at least one element of standard
country instrumentation. Either pedal
steel or fiddle, kept the arrangement
largely acoustic except for bass, and
utilized country like , Appalachianstyle harmonies.
Important Dates:
• 1925-Start of broadcasting
• WSM became radio home
of Grand Ole Opry radio
record let to opportunities
to perform live.
• Records help spread the
sound of old time music
beyond the south
Key Notes
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Songster
Country Blues
Griot
Hokum
Boogie-Woogie
Gospel
Folk Music
Country Music
Traditional Country Vocal
Sound-thumb-brush style
Western swing
Electric Steel Guitar
Country Rock beat
Broadside
Bluegrass