I'm not even much of a singer, but I would love to know how to sing The Blues... and wouldn't everybody? Especially, the basic Blues songs of the turn of the century!
The Blues genre of music has influenced many other musical styles of our modern day, such as Jazz, Country and most notably, Rock and Roll. So what were or are The Blues?
The Blues originated from the "call and response" melancholic choruses or "hollers" of African American slaves working in the fields in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi in the 1800's and was continued after the Civil War with the emancipation of slavery in early minstrel shows, vaudeville shows, and early gospel music with its "spontaneous weaving of harmonies". As African American slaves were freed and started moving North to urban areas their music began evolving and the Blues ensemble developed because the bluesman was accompanied by a pianist or harmonica player and also the bass and drums made up the rhythm. This music at this time in history was considered low-class and not worthy of documenting or recording.
At the turn of the century, Ragtime, or piano music, became popular. Ragged time meant syncopated - having an "off the beat" accent- and was influenced by the folk tradition and the minstrel shows. By the 1920's, technological advances increased the intensity of the music and meant blues musicians could record their work.
Scott Joplin- the King of Ragtime
The first recorded Blues singers were W.C. Handy with the "Memphis Blues" that introduced his style of 12-bar blues and was credited with the beginning of the Foxtrot. In the rural area of Kentucky, Sylvester Weaver was recorded with his use of the slide guitar. However, most credit went to Mamie Smith who was known as the "Queen of the Blues", and later Bessie Smith was given the title "Empress of the Blues". Other early Blues musicians were T-Bone Walker who inspired B. B. King. Chicago is credited with having a heavy influence on Blues music with early musicians like Memphis Minnie, Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, and Sonny Boy Williamson.
Mamie Smith known as "The Queen of the Blues"
The Blues and Jazz are very closely related. Jazz is the innovation of Blues and Ragtime. Jazz contains the complex harmonies and syncopated rhythms but adds more improvisations. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1912 was the first recording of Jazz but recorded in New York by white musicians, it is said not to be the same as jazz from New Orleans where it originated. Notable Jazz musicians include Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and the Creole Jazz Band and Duke Ellington, among others. Louis Armstrong invented the swing rhythm and is the most influential jazz musician of this time.
Louis Armstrong
The biggest influence, of the Blues, was on Rock and Roll with Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley, stemming from Rhythm and Blues, as well as Soul music with its similar tones and rhythms. Country music originated from folk music and Blues, paving the way for Western Swing with amplified guitars and strong dance rhythms. Hank Williams was a big influence in Country music and Honky-tonk, as well as Johnny Cash, and Patsy Cline.
Blues is both a musical form as well as a musical genre which originated with a slow tempo and strong rhythm with "bent" or "blue notes" the sixth note on a standard pentatonic scale which gives the "tension and release" sound in the melancholic Blues music. It centers on a single vocalist over a strict chord progression known as the 12-bar blues. It uses three chords: the 1 chord, the 4 chord and the 5 chord in any given key. It's usually in 4/4 time and the twelve bars (measures) are repeated over and over. The melody and lyrics follow an AAB pattern where the first phrase is repeated and then the third phrase is different.
Here is an early Blues performance by Muddy Waters:
As the sound evolved, the tempo increased and eventually this evolved into the foundation for Jazz with a more swing polyrhythm being more lively and upbeat with instruments such as the trumpet, trombone, saxophone, string bass and tuba. A soloist or an ensemble improvises the tune with usually an AABA or an ABAC 12- bar, 16-bar, 24-bar, or 32-bar form in 4/4 time. Syncopation is still usually present as in the Blues but it is all up to the player on how they perform these notes.
I personally love the evolution of Blues to Jazz because the sadness of Blues music is too deeply emotional and Jazz makes me want to sway or dance to the rhythm. I was not aware of the improvisation piece of Jazz compositions and I have so much respect for the talent it must take to perform great Jazz music.
Here is a lively Jazz example featuring Jelly Roll Morton's song "Black Bottom Stomp".
I'm curious to what you prefer? Jazz or Blues? I certainly learned a great deal in researching the history and components of these two great music genres. So many great artists to add to my playlist!
Since it is the month so many of us indulge in fun Halloween festivities, I decided to look into one of the songs I always played for my kids while taking them trick-or-treating. Because as Fairbanks, Alaskans know, the parent usually follows their little trick-ot-treaters in the car so they can run back at any moment and warm up, as not to have to end their fun early just because of below-freezing Halloween temps. And, the "Monster Mash" is a perfect song to add to that trick-or-treating playlist, in fact it is THE song for us that makes the night feel so ghoulishly exciting!
This was a very fun deep-dive! I chose to link a live performance of Boris Pickett singing it because his facial expressions add so much to the song.
While there are many versions of The Monster Mash, the original "Monster Mash" was released in the U.S. on August of 1962 by Bobby (Boris) Pickett, an American songwriter and aspiring actor and hit #1 on Billboard Hot 100 by October of the same year. This novelty, pop song co-written by Leonard Capizzi, is what Pickett is most noted for. He recorded the song with the Crypt Kickers - producer, Gary S Paxton, pianist Leon Russell, Johnny MacRae, Rickie Page, and Terry Berg. If you have ever read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the book will immediately come to mind as the song is about a "mad scientist" who creates a monster who rises and begins to dance - doing a Frankenstein version of The Mashed Potato, a popular dance of the time.
The Mashed Potato dance was introduced by James Brown in 1959 and then later became a big hit by the time Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potato Time" and The Contours' "Do You Love Me?" came out and incorporated the dance in their performances. Want to know more about The Mashed Potato dance that influenced the "Monster Mash"? Check out these videos!
"Monster Mash" with its conjunct melody, is a very catchy song that is hard to listen to without dancing, or at least moving, to the rhythm. It has 70 beats/minute, can also be played at 140 beats/minute, and is played in 4/4 time.
The song is 4 chords - G, Em, C, D with a consonance harmony, but the use of a variety of timbre in making the sounds of coffin opening (a rusty nail pulled from a board), a bubbling caldron (blowing bubbles through a straw), chains rattling (chains dropped on a tile floor) and the pronounced sound of the drums.
Pickett uses more of a narration of spoken lyrics against his backup vocalists. If you are like me, you know the chorus pretty well because it is very repetitive and there are five verses with the chorus coming after each verse. Before verse three there is a bridge:
The zombies were having fun
The party had just begun
The guests included Wolf Man
Dracula and his son
The storytelling verses bring different ghoulish characters into the song like Frankenstein, Igor and Count Dracula, and Pickett gives the line "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?" a special imitation of horror film actor, Bela Lugosi, as Count Dracula referring to The Mashed Potato dance in contrast to The Twist, another popular dance craze (in the Contours video).
The song has a soft spoken outro that leaves you with the creepy feeling that is the undertone of the entire song:
Igor: Mash good!
Mad Scientist: Easy, Igor, you impetuous young boy
Igor: Mash good! Grrr!
I never quite realized how popular the "Monster Mash" has been through the years and even this year, Good Housekeeping magazine listed it in their article of best Halloween songs. In 2021, it re-entered the Billboard at #37 giving it confirmation that this uniquely, spooky song is still a favorite, especially around the end of October. So, I'm in good company when I play it on Halloween night! I will enjoy it even more this year after learning all the words and the story behind the song.
One song that I like that was introduced to me by my daughter (who also attends UAF!) is "The Otter" from Caamp. Caamp is a band from Athens, Ohio that was started by two friends, Evan Westfall and Taylor Meier, in 2012 that had known each other while growing up and eventually added two other musicians Matt Vinson and Joseph Kavalec to join them. They sing Folk music- a mix of West Coast folk, Midwestern Americana, and cathartic indie rock- and have rapidly grown in popularity first through the Midwest U. S. and now all over the world. I just couldn't help but jump on the Caamp bandwagon after hearing their latest album Lavender Days!
"The Otter" was released in June 2022 and it has a sweet summer vibe with kind of a melancholic undertone. Its catchy, rapid melody of the banjo, played by Evan, brings the folksy feel. I am just learning to recognize different musical elements in songs so when I read about the components of this song, it was quite fun to listen for the different patterns and form.
The song is played with 4 chords - D, G, A and Em at 103 beats/minute with "mild rhythmic syncopation and subtle vocal harmony". Here is what the Caamp says about the song:
Now the arrangement is so fun, and it compliments the quirkiness of the lyrics themselves and name of the song. After the first two verses, there is a pre-chorus:
Hope you don't mind, love
But I wrote you a song
Standin' in time, love
I hope you'll sing along
I really love the end of the chorus when it says "How will it end? Will it end?" Isn't that just what we all wonder about everything, especially relationships? These are those feelings that are expressed so well in a song.
And I don't understand
How it all began
And I don't understand
How it'll end
How will it end?
Will it end?
There is a bridge right before the outro:
Will it end?
Will it end?
and then the outro:
I am floating in deep water
Like the unfamiliar otter
In love with someone's daughter
I'm going to lose float
Caamp and Lavender Days has had much success with even former President Barack Obama adding one of the album's songs to his 2022 Summer Playlist . What an honor for Caamp!
And, "The Otter" was added to Apple Music's Indie Folk playlist just days after its release.
Caamp also performed at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer this year!
Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about this great song as I did!
