Blues, jazz and their impact on the Civil Rights Movement

Thank you for your attention!

References

Questions?

Steinfeld. S. (2017) The Social Significance of Blues Music [Bachelor's Degree Thesis, LUISS Guido Carli].

https://tesi.eprints.luiss.it/17909/1/072752_STEINFELD_SUSANNA.pdf

Blakemore. E. (2019, February 22nd). How Race Records Turned Black Music into Big Business. History.

https://www.history.com/news/race-records-bessie-smith-big-bill-broonzy-music-business

Houle. K. (2018) How Music Moved the Movement: Civil Rights and the Blues. HEC: St Louis’s Home of Education Arts, and Culture. https://hecmedia.org/posts/how-music-moved-the-movement-civil-rights-and-the-blues

History. (2010, January 28). Selma to Montgomery March. History. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/selma-montgomery-march

Martin Luther King and Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movement and Music

Conclusion

In 1963 Martin Luther King gives his "I Have a Dream" speech.

"Jazz speaks for life. The blues tell the story of life’s difficulties — and, if you think for a moment, you realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music”

-Martin Luther King Jr

• Green, G. (1965). Selma March [song]. On His Majesty King Funk. Verve. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz3QHbe2PU0;

• Jackson, M. (1963). We Shall Overcome [song]. On We Shall Overcome. Columbia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W02hDYBcqU

• Williams, D. (1954). Hoocihe Coochie Man [Song Performed By Muddy Waters]. On Hoochie Coochie Man. Chess. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5QKpsVzndc

• Williams, J. (1935). Baby, Please Don't Go [Song]. on Baby Please Don't Go. Bluebird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88f3D1xZOIM

• Ammer, C. (2004). The Facts on File Dictionary of Music (4th ed.). Infobase Publishing, New York.

• Covach, J., & Boone, G. M. (1997). Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis (1st ed.). Oxford University Press USA.

• Hatch, D., & Millward, S. (1989). From Blues to Rock: An Analytical History of Pop Music (Music & Society). Manchester University Press.

"I Have a Dream"

• O’Neal, J. (2002). The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine (1st ed.). Routledge, Abingdon.

• Roth, R. (1952). On the Instrumental Origins of Jazz. American Quarterly, 4(4), 305–316. https://doi.org/10.2307/3031415

• Wynn, N. A. (2007). Cross The Water Blues: African American Music In Europe. University Press of Mississippi.

The 1960’s were the beginning of a new era. Songs like ‘Selma March’ and ‘We Shall Overcome’ gave people hope. It also gave the people of colour a reason to stand up and fight. The impact of the movement is still felt as people continue to fight for their rights to this day.

• Peretti, B., Moore, J., & MjagKij, N. (2008). Lift Every Voice : The History of African American Music. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Birth of Jazz

Luis Armstrong

We Shall Overcome

By Mahalia Jackson

Segregation Issues

• African Americans at that time mostly played on instruments that resembled ancient African ones;
• Confederate army demobilized in New Orleans in 1865;
• Gave access to a lot of cheap brass and percussion instruments to the African Americans flooding New Orleans.

Uniqueness of blues

• Segregation causes high tensions;
• Media not covering civil rights movement;
• 1955 Rosa Parks gets arrested, outrage follows.

• Unofficial track of the movement;
• Combination of gospel and blues;
• Empowering lyrics.

• Inventiveness and individuality of the singer;
• Singer's and instrument's "conversation" - call and response type of performing;
• Deep intimacy of the lyrics.

Selma Marches

Blues

Help Me

By Sonny Boy Williamson

Mahalia Jackson - We Shall Overcome

• March 7th 1965 Selma marches led by John Lewis begin;

You got to help me

I can't do it all by myself

You got to help me, baby

I can't do it all by myself

You know if you don't help me darling

I'll have to find myself somebody else

I may have to wash

May have to sew

I may have to cook

I might mop the floor but you help me babe

You know if you don't help me darling

I'll find myself somebody else

Big Joe Williams - Baby Please Don't Go

• Became prominent around 1890's;
• Originated in Mississippi Delta plantations;
• Usually sole singer with guitar;
• Three line stanza in AAB form;
• I-IV-V chord pattern;
• "Blue notes";
• Stable and slow rhythm.

Segregation

Issues

• Plan to walk from Selma, AL to Montgomery, AL;
• Dubbed "Bloody Sunday";
• March 21st Martin Luther King leads 2,000 supporters in a four day march;

Selma March

By Grant Green

1954 saw the beginning of the civil rights movement in America.

New Orleans

Muddy Waters - Hoochie Coochie Man

• August 6th the Voting Act of 1965 is passed.

• Kept hope alive during final march;
• Reflected jubilation felt by protesters;
• Anthem for the tired and the weak.

"It was thus a liberal city, and emancipation and defeat of the Confederacy increased the flow of rural Negroes into the uptown section” (Roth, 1952, p. 306)

Highly Racist

Despite the fact that Creoles of color had long supported formal musical instruction, they were excluded from official parades and other festive occasions.

Storyville, NO;

1900s

Grant Green - Selma March

Martin Luther King at Selma March, March 21, 1965

"Bloody Sunday" March 7, 1965

Blues, jazz and their role in the Civil Rights Movement

Toma Jovarauskaitė, Hannah Burgess