Sandra Jean Graham
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780252041631
- eISBN:
- 9780252050305
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252041631.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
The ever-growing success of the Fisk Jubilee Singers attracted widespread notice, and by 1873–1874 the troupe was facing a field of competitors, some of whom made innovations to the concert ...
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The ever-growing success of the Fisk Jubilee Singers attracted widespread notice, and by 1873–1874 the troupe was facing a field of competitors, some of whom made innovations to the concert presentation of spirituals and others of whom were content to imitate the Fisk Jubilee Singers in style and repertory. Among the innovators were the Hampton Institute Singers, directed by Thomas P. Fenner. Their repertory was largely distinct from that of the Fisk singers, and they sang in a more folk-oriented performance style, as evidenced by the fact that they had a “shout leader” and sang in dialect. Another group of innovators was the Tennesseans (1874), directed by John Wesley Donavin, who sang in support of Central Tennessee College in Nashville. Their popularity rested on the supposed authenticity of what they billed as their “slave cabin concerts”—not a Fisk service of song but meant to be a naturalistic representation of slave life. The Tennesseans’ bass singer Leroy Pickett made many of their arrangements, becoming one of the earliest black arrangers of concert spirituals; later he became acting musical director. Imitators, on the other hand, reproduced the repertory and aesthetic of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. They included the Hyers sisters, who reoriented their programming of art songs to include spirituals so that they could complete with other black singers at the time, as well as the Shaw Jubilee Singers, New Orleans Jubilee Singers, Jackson Jubilee Singers, Old Original North Carolinians (managed by T. H. Brand), and Sheppard’s Colored Jubilee Singers. With all of these groups, a jubilee entertainment industry began to take shape in 1872 to 1874, as performance norms were established and as organizations like lyceum bureaus began to add jubilee troupes to their roster.Less
The ever-growing success of the Fisk Jubilee Singers attracted widespread notice, and by 1873–1874 the troupe was facing a field of competitors, some of whom made innovations to the concert presentation of spirituals and others of whom were content to imitate the Fisk Jubilee Singers in style and repertory. Among the innovators were the Hampton Institute Singers, directed by Thomas P. Fenner. Their repertory was largely distinct from that of the Fisk singers, and they sang in a more folk-oriented performance style, as evidenced by the fact that they had a “shout leader” and sang in dialect. Another group of innovators was the Tennesseans (1874), directed by John Wesley Donavin, who sang in support of Central Tennessee College in Nashville. Their popularity rested on the supposed authenticity of what they billed as their “slave cabin concerts”—not a Fisk service of song but meant to be a naturalistic representation of slave life. The Tennesseans’ bass singer Leroy Pickett made many of their arrangements, becoming one of the earliest black arrangers of concert spirituals; later he became acting musical director. Imitators, on the other hand, reproduced the repertory and aesthetic of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. They included the Hyers sisters, who reoriented their programming of art songs to include spirituals so that they could complete with other black singers at the time, as well as the Shaw Jubilee Singers, New Orleans Jubilee Singers, Jackson Jubilee Singers, Old Original North Carolinians (managed by T. H. Brand), and Sheppard’s Colored Jubilee Singers. With all of these groups, a jubilee entertainment industry began to take shape in 1872 to 1874, as performance norms were established and as organizations like lyceum bureaus began to add jubilee troupes to their roster.
David Manning
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182392
- eISBN:
- 9780199851485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182392.003.0042
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
The art of the folk singer, like all true art, is essentially un-self-conscious—the artistic result is not openly sought, but comes, as it were, by accident. In the same way the sailor, with the ...
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The art of the folk singer, like all true art, is essentially un-self-conscious—the artistic result is not openly sought, but comes, as it were, by accident. In the same way the sailor, with the object of improving the quality of his work, has invented the “shanty,” and it is these that Dr Richard Runciman Terry now has collected into a book. Modern developments in machinery have destroyed the original purpose of the shanty, but like the tithe barn, the church, and the castle, they remain for the people as works of art, and it is as works of art, and that only, that one must now judge them. If they are merely of nautical or antiquarian interest, then their proper place is the library of the folklorist or the marine expert.Less
The art of the folk singer, like all true art, is essentially un-self-conscious—the artistic result is not openly sought, but comes, as it were, by accident. In the same way the sailor, with the object of improving the quality of his work, has invented the “shanty,” and it is these that Dr Richard Runciman Terry now has collected into a book. Modern developments in machinery have destroyed the original purpose of the shanty, but like the tithe barn, the church, and the castle, they remain for the people as works of art, and it is as works of art, and that only, that one must now judge them. If they are merely of nautical or antiquarian interest, then their proper place is the library of the folklorist or the marine expert.
Williams Martin
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195083491
- eISBN:
- 9780199853205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195083491.003.0054
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
The Beatles were't likely to be reviewed in “Down Beat” magazine, and after contemplating what a distinct decline this would be to the readers, the author decided to provide impressions of how the ...
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The Beatles were't likely to be reviewed in “Down Beat” magazine, and after contemplating what a distinct decline this would be to the readers, the author decided to provide impressions of how the next Beatles LP—whatever it might contain and whenever it might appear—might be received elsewhere by other commentators. Many had noticed that, with the rising popularity of coffeehouse “folk” singers, certain of the more established jazz journalists had turned their notice to the trend. Whatever their reviews may have revealed about it, they seemed to reveal something about our jazz writers. This chapter talks about an imaginary review of some of Bob Dylan's previous LPs.Less
The Beatles were't likely to be reviewed in “Down Beat” magazine, and after contemplating what a distinct decline this would be to the readers, the author decided to provide impressions of how the next Beatles LP—whatever it might contain and whenever it might appear—might be received elsewhere by other commentators. Many had noticed that, with the rising popularity of coffeehouse “folk” singers, certain of the more established jazz journalists had turned their notice to the trend. Whatever their reviews may have revealed about it, they seemed to reveal something about our jazz writers. This chapter talks about an imaginary review of some of Bob Dylan's previous LPs.
John Milward
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780252043918
- eISBN:
- 9780252052811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043918.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter explores Joni Mitchell's music. After Mitchell played “Both Sides Now” for Neil Young, he offered his coming-of-age tune, “Sugar Mountain,” which inspired her to write “The Circle Game.” ...
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This chapter explores Joni Mitchell's music. After Mitchell played “Both Sides Now” for Neil Young, he offered his coming-of-age tune, “Sugar Mountain,” which inspired her to write “The Circle Game.” She met and married folk singer Chuck Mitchell; they lived in Detroit and played coffeehouses. Tom Rush, a folk singer from Cambridge, Massachusetts, crashed on their couch and left with a song for his next album, Mitchells's “Urge for Going.” Rush titled his album The Circle Game and included a third Mitchell song, “Tin Angel,” alongside original compositions from two other little-known singer-songwriters: James Taylor (“Something in the Way She Moves” and “Sunshine Sunshine”) and Jackson Browne (“Shadow Dream Song”). This new crop of songwriters wrote from personal experience and was as strongly influenced by contemporary music as by traditional folk songs. But to varying degrees Bob Dylan touched them all.Less
This chapter explores Joni Mitchell's music. After Mitchell played “Both Sides Now” for Neil Young, he offered his coming-of-age tune, “Sugar Mountain,” which inspired her to write “The Circle Game.” She met and married folk singer Chuck Mitchell; they lived in Detroit and played coffeehouses. Tom Rush, a folk singer from Cambridge, Massachusetts, crashed on their couch and left with a song for his next album, Mitchells's “Urge for Going.” Rush titled his album The Circle Game and included a third Mitchell song, “Tin Angel,” alongside original compositions from two other little-known singer-songwriters: James Taylor (“Something in the Way She Moves” and “Sunshine Sunshine”) and Jackson Browne (“Shadow Dream Song”). This new crop of songwriters wrote from personal experience and was as strongly influenced by contemporary music as by traditional folk songs. But to varying degrees Bob Dylan touched them all.
Lauren Meeker
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835682
- eISBN:
- 9780824870928
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835682.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book explores the cultural politics that have shaped the recent history and practice of a unique style of folk song that originated in Bắc Ninh province, northern Vietnam. The book delves into ...
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This book explores the cultural politics that have shaped the recent history and practice of a unique style of folk song that originated in Bắc Ninh province, northern Vietnam. The book delves into the history of quan họ, showing the changes it has undergone over the last sixty years as it moved from village practice onto the professional stage. The book presents a vivid and historically contextualized picture of the quan họ “soundscape.” Village practitioners, ordinary people who love to sing quan họ, must now negotiate increased attention from those outside the village and their own designation as “living treasures.” Professional singers, with their different performance styles and representational practices, have been incorporated into the quan họ soundscape in an effort to highlight and popularize the culture of Bắc Ninh province in the national context. With its focus on the politics of rescuing, preserving, and performing folk music, the book shows how a tradition can become a self-conscious heritage and national icon. In 2009, Quan Họ Bắc Ninh Folk Songs was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Defining and reframing quan họ as cultural heritage has further complicated the relationship between village and professional quan họ and raises crucial issues about who has the authority to speak for quan họ in the international context. The book offers an in-depth account of the impact of cultural politics on the lives and practices of quan họ folk singers in Vietnam and shows compellingly how a tradition can mean many things to many people.Less
This book explores the cultural politics that have shaped the recent history and practice of a unique style of folk song that originated in Bắc Ninh province, northern Vietnam. The book delves into the history of quan họ, showing the changes it has undergone over the last sixty years as it moved from village practice onto the professional stage. The book presents a vivid and historically contextualized picture of the quan họ “soundscape.” Village practitioners, ordinary people who love to sing quan họ, must now negotiate increased attention from those outside the village and their own designation as “living treasures.” Professional singers, with their different performance styles and representational practices, have been incorporated into the quan họ soundscape in an effort to highlight and popularize the culture of Bắc Ninh province in the national context. With its focus on the politics of rescuing, preserving, and performing folk music, the book shows how a tradition can become a self-conscious heritage and national icon. In 2009, Quan Họ Bắc Ninh Folk Songs was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Defining and reframing quan họ as cultural heritage has further complicated the relationship between village and professional quan họ and raises crucial issues about who has the authority to speak for quan họ in the international context. The book offers an in-depth account of the impact of cultural politics on the lives and practices of quan họ folk singers in Vietnam and shows compellingly how a tradition can mean many things to many people.
Will Kaufman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617032882
- eISBN:
- 9781617032899
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617032882.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter explores the different meanings and interpretations of one of the most influential American folk singers of the 1930s and 1940s, Woody Guthrie. It implicitly addresses the issue of what ...
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This chapter explores the different meanings and interpretations of one of the most influential American folk singers of the 1930s and 1940s, Woody Guthrie. It implicitly addresses the issue of what “folk” music means and looks particularly at the notion that Guthrie’s music was “proletarian,” reflecting the views of the Okies, Arkies, and trade unionists, or whether it was shaped instead more by middle-class, urban audiences. The chapter also looks at the issue raised in Chapter 1 of the relationship between folk and popular music and the extent to which recorded, as opposed to performed, music also led to different meanings.Less
This chapter explores the different meanings and interpretations of one of the most influential American folk singers of the 1930s and 1940s, Woody Guthrie. It implicitly addresses the issue of what “folk” music means and looks particularly at the notion that Guthrie’s music was “proletarian,” reflecting the views of the Okies, Arkies, and trade unionists, or whether it was shaped instead more by middle-class, urban audiences. The chapter also looks at the issue raised in Chapter 1 of the relationship between folk and popular music and the extent to which recorded, as opposed to performed, music also led to different meanings.
Paul O. Jenkins
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604733600
- eISBN:
- 9781604733617
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604733600.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter focuses on the legacy of Richard Dyer-Bennet as a minstrel or folk singer. It explains that Dyer-Bennet never considered himself as a folk singer. Some of his contemporaries described ...
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This chapter focuses on the legacy of Richard Dyer-Bennet as a minstrel or folk singer. It explains that Dyer-Bennet never considered himself as a folk singer. Some of his contemporaries described him as the most honest artist, and as a unique performer who used folk material and transmuted it into what might be called art songs. The chapter also mentions that while many artists were heavily influenced by Dyer-Bennet, they were not able to establish a lasting presence in the recording industry’s mainstream.Less
This chapter focuses on the legacy of Richard Dyer-Bennet as a minstrel or folk singer. It explains that Dyer-Bennet never considered himself as a folk singer. Some of his contemporaries described him as the most honest artist, and as a unique performer who used folk material and transmuted it into what might be called art songs. The chapter also mentions that while many artists were heavily influenced by Dyer-Bennet, they were not able to establish a lasting presence in the recording industry’s mainstream.
Pierre Cachia
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640867
- eISBN:
- 9780748653300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640867.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter discusses pulp stories in the repertoire of Egyptian folk singers. In the hands of a master, pulp stories may incorporate characteristic folk themes. The chapter examines the tazhīr or ...
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This chapter discusses pulp stories in the repertoire of Egyptian folk singers. In the hands of a master, pulp stories may incorporate characteristic folk themes. The chapter examines the tazhīr or the ‘opening of the flower’, which sets apart pulp stories from other forms of performances. These pulp stories have rhymes that are inflated into multiple and usually polysyllabic paronomasias achieved by extensive distortion of the normal pronunciation of words. This involves omitting, adding, or altering vowels, semi-consonants, glottal stops, retaining only the consonants in their correct order, so that the result may be called a ‘consonantal’ pun. In addition, pulp stories do not twang the deepest nerves in the consciousness of the common folk.Less
This chapter discusses pulp stories in the repertoire of Egyptian folk singers. In the hands of a master, pulp stories may incorporate characteristic folk themes. The chapter examines the tazhīr or the ‘opening of the flower’, which sets apart pulp stories from other forms of performances. These pulp stories have rhymes that are inflated into multiple and usually polysyllabic paronomasias achieved by extensive distortion of the normal pronunciation of words. This involves omitting, adding, or altering vowels, semi-consonants, glottal stops, retaining only the consonants in their correct order, so that the result may be called a ‘consonantal’ pun. In addition, pulp stories do not twang the deepest nerves in the consciousness of the common folk.
Paul Jenkins
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781604733600
- eISBN:
- 9781604733617
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781604733600.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
In the 1940s and ’50s, Richard Dyer-Bennet (1913–1991) was among the best-known and most respected folk singers in America. This book tells the story of Dyer-Bennet, often referred to as the ...
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In the 1940s and ’50s, Richard Dyer-Bennet (1913–1991) was among the best-known and most respected folk singers in America. This book tells the story of Dyer-Bennet, often referred to as the “Twentieth-Century Minstrel.” Dyer-Bennet’s approach to singing sounded almost foreign to many American listeners. The folk artist followed a musical tradition in danger of dying out. The Swede Sven Scholander was the last European proponent of minstrelsy and served as Dyer-Bennet’s inspiration after the young singer traveled to Stockholm to meet him one year before Scholander’s death. Dyer-Bennet’s achievements were many. Nine years after his meeting with Scholander, he became the first solo performer of his kind to appear in Carnegie Hall. The book argues that Dyer-Bennet helped pave the way for the folk boom of the mid-1950s and early 1960s, finding his influence in the work of Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and many others. It also posits strong evidence that he would certainly be much better known today had his career not been interrupted midstream by the anticommunist, Red-scare blacklist and its ban on his performances.Less
In the 1940s and ’50s, Richard Dyer-Bennet (1913–1991) was among the best-known and most respected folk singers in America. This book tells the story of Dyer-Bennet, often referred to as the “Twentieth-Century Minstrel.” Dyer-Bennet’s approach to singing sounded almost foreign to many American listeners. The folk artist followed a musical tradition in danger of dying out. The Swede Sven Scholander was the last European proponent of minstrelsy and served as Dyer-Bennet’s inspiration after the young singer traveled to Stockholm to meet him one year before Scholander’s death. Dyer-Bennet’s achievements were many. Nine years after his meeting with Scholander, he became the first solo performer of his kind to appear in Carnegie Hall. The book argues that Dyer-Bennet helped pave the way for the folk boom of the mid-1950s and early 1960s, finding his influence in the work of Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and many others. It also posits strong evidence that he would certainly be much better known today had his career not been interrupted midstream by the anticommunist, Red-scare blacklist and its ban on his performances.
Nick Dawson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813125381
- eISBN:
- 9780813135267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813125381.003.0016
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines the box office performance of Hal Ashby's film Shampoo. The film earned a total of $22 million and was nominated for four Academy Awards but only won one for actor Lee Grant's ...
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This chapter examines the box office performance of Hal Ashby's film Shampoo. The film earned a total of $22 million and was nominated for four Academy Awards but only won one for actor Lee Grant's performance. This chapter also discusses Ashby's next film Bound for Glory, which was about the life of folk singer Woody Guthrie.Less
This chapter examines the box office performance of Hal Ashby's film Shampoo. The film earned a total of $22 million and was nominated for four Academy Awards but only won one for actor Lee Grant's performance. This chapter also discusses Ashby's next film Bound for Glory, which was about the life of folk singer Woody Guthrie.
Alva Noë
- Published in print:
- 2022
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780190928216
- eISBN:
- 9780197601136
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190928216.003.0038
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter describes how Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. Dylan is a rock star, or a folk singer, or a pop musician. He is not a writer, neither of fiction nor of poetry or ...
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This chapter describes how Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. Dylan is a rock star, or a folk singer, or a pop musician. He is not a writer, neither of fiction nor of poetry or drama. Pop music and literature are as different as painting is different from filmmaking. The chapter then considers how Dylan himself takes on the question of his relation to literature in his Nobel Prize lecture, which has been published in the form of a recording. As a young person in grammar school, he read many great books, and some of them impressed him deeply. He asserts that he engages themes from these books in his own songs. Dylan then adds that songs are made for singing the way Shakespeare's lines are made to be performed onstage.Less
This chapter describes how Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. Dylan is a rock star, or a folk singer, or a pop musician. He is not a writer, neither of fiction nor of poetry or drama. Pop music and literature are as different as painting is different from filmmaking. The chapter then considers how Dylan himself takes on the question of his relation to literature in his Nobel Prize lecture, which has been published in the form of a recording. As a young person in grammar school, he read many great books, and some of them impressed him deeply. He asserts that he engages themes from these books in his own songs. Dylan then adds that songs are made for singing the way Shakespeare's lines are made to be performed onstage.