Tuesday, October 14, 2008

HUM 223: Thursday -- quiz and class links

First, here's the quiz. Write a good, detailed paragraph on the following question and turn it in to me:
Stephen Foster was the first American songwriter to quit his day job and make his living writing songs. How did he deal with the problem of balancing his artistic vision -- i.e. write the kind of songs he wanted to write -- with the necessity of making money?
Be specific. (Heard that before?) Always be specific.

Today in class we will look at some more information on the ministrel shows like those that Foster wrote for. Here are links to some current resources on minstrel shows, including supporting material for the documentary on Stephen A. Foster we watched in class. There's a good overview of Blackface Minstrelsy with comments by historians and musicians linked to a directory page. Be especially sure to read how historian Eric Lott and rock music critic Ken Emerson answer the question, "What's the connection between blackface minstrelsy and rock and roll?" Several people are interviewed for this feature, and they give varied but thoughtful critiques of the racial and artistic issues it raises. Also: There's a very good history of ministrel shows and vaudeville by John Kenrick on the "Musicals101.com" website.

What were the early minstrel shows like? Joe Bethancourt performs an minstrel tune called "Juba" on a fretless banjo made of a gourd. The lyrics, in their entirety, are:
Juba this, and Juba that
Juba stole my yellow cat.
The banjo is like the instruments that were developed by African Americans from several West African antecedents. Little else about the song shows African influence. "Old Dan Tucker" was a very popular song from the minstrel shows. I've linked to several files on the Internet that suggest how widespread the song got to be, especially after it went back into oral tradition as a fiddle tune.
  • Original lyrics, as they were published in 1843, played by Japher's "Original" SANDY RIVER MINSTRELS, show the typical nonsense lyrics of the ministrel shows without some of the more egregious racial stereotyping.
  • Old-time string band musicians jam on "Old Dan Tucker" at the 2006 Early Banjo Gathering in the barn of the Pry House Field Hospital Museum at Antietam Civil War battlefield. They're in period clothes (except for the guy with the white ballcap), playing fiddle, banjo and bones -- or spoons, which jug bands often use instead of castanets.
  • "Old Dan Tucker" was a favorite during the Civil War. Played at a slightly slower tempo, it made a good march. Here historical reenactors of the Excelsior Brigade Fife and Drum Corps play it during a Mardi Gras parade in 2007 in Brockport, N.Y.
  • Habla español? Spanish television broadcasts Bruce Springsteen and his Seeger Sessions band playing "Old Dan Tucker" (and, later, a snippet from "John Henry") when they played in Madrid in 2006. Also Springsteen talks (in English) about the "raw democracy" he finds in American roots music. Notice his band combines the instrumentation of an oldtime string band (fiddle, banjo, guitar) with the brass instruments of a Dixieland jazz band. We've seen clips from these concerts before, and we'll see more as we go along.


How did the shows change when black people got involved with them? John Kendrick's history of ministrel shows and vaudeville on "Musicals101.com" takes them up into the 20th century. (Did you know the first popular "talking picture show," or movie with sound on film, featured a white blackface singer named Al Jolson?) Be sure to click through to Kenrick's discussion of how black vaudville performers changed the art form.
Vaudeville did much to to teach audiences of different ethnic and social backgrounds to get along. Defying the racist norm that dominated American society, vaudeville had black and white performers sharing the same stage as early as the 1890s. But managers had to deal with the legal and social realities of their time. Most southern states did not allow blacks and whites to sit in the same theatre, and even most Northern cities barred blacks from the best seats as late as the 1920s.

The TOBA Circuit ("Theatre Owners Booking Agency," which performers re-named "Tough On Black Asses") were the only venues below the Mason-Dixon Line that welcomed "colored" customers in the early part of the 20th Century, offering all-black bills for all-black audiences. For midnight performances on Saturdays, some TOBA houses allowed whites to sneak into the balcony.
This discussion on "Musicals101.com" is much better than what we have in our textbook. You may want to bookmark it so you can consult it when you write your midterm.

Song and dance was an important part of the legacy of the minstrel shows. As early as the 1840s, William Henry Lane, a black dancer who went by the stage name of Master Juba, was an international success. He combined Irish and African American steps, and is credited as the person who invented tap dance. A London theater and dance troupe recently toured the United States with a tribute to Master Juba that told his story.

Years later, at the turn of the 20th century, a dance known as the Cakewalk became a nationwide craze. It is said to have originated with slaves mocking the "high-falutin' airs" of their masters (without the masters realizing it). A very early motion picture, filmed in 1903, shows a professional dance troupe doing the cakewalk on stage and amateurs cakewalking in the surf along a beach. Note the bathing suits!

We can gain perhaps the best feel for what these stereotypes were like and the profound influence they had on the American entertainment industry from a documentry on blacks in vaudville -- a very popular kind of variety show that lasted up to the early days of television in the 1950s -- that shows clips from old movies.
  • The first part of the documentary shows how lasted well into the 1900s. But they also allowed African American artists to gain a foothold and shape the entertainment industry into what it is today.
  • The second part of the documentary shows how Bert Williams, the Nicholas Brothers and other gifted black artists performed with style, grace and artistic integrity on the TOBA circuit. Williams has been called the "Jackie Robinson of show business." The comedian W.C. Fields once said Bert Williams was "The funniest man I ever saw and the saddest man I ever met."
  • 7 comments:

    jayd said...

    Stephen Foster wrote Black Minstrel music/songs and made is money by selling his songs to musicians to sing. He dropped out of school because all he wanted to do is write music. He was known as the great american song writer.

    ryanshaw said...

    Although Stephen Foster didnt like writting black ministrel music/plays, he saw that it was a way to make more money rather then writting the current music of fiddle tunes.

    Justin Heggy said...

    His artistic vision was not to create the black face songs, but to create regular ballad type songs. The people did not want to hear these songs though, so he created mostly black face music. He made most of his money off of these songs by selling the rights to christy's. He was the first person to be a professional musician and he made 2 cents for every 25 cents. This was not alot but there was no standard at the time, so it seemed fair enough. He did not want to create only black face music but he was forced to, to make money.

    kelsey hudson said...

    He wanted to write white music but he was really good at writing blackface music. He did not want to write the black face music but there was where he made most of his money. For example, he made $1,300 on one of his black face songs, where as when he wrote the white music he would make at most around $25. I do not think he ever dealth with it. Because instead of just writing the black face music, which was what he was good at, he kept trying over and over to write the white face music and would become poorer and poorer.

    shasan said...

    Stephen Foster rebelled against his family to write songs, which he loved doing and spent most of his childhood and beginning of his adulthood life. He wrote black minstrel music and for black face theater shows that him and his friends all took part in. He dropped out of school just so he could write music, and eventually learn that he could make money off what he liked doing. Because of the time period he lived in he always got shorthanded when the publishing company sold his peices for monetary value. Stephen foster was known as The Great American Song Writer.

    jarrett33 said...

    Jarrett Ford
    At this time in history it was never thought of to live on writing music. He soled song sheets to royalty and recieved money for them, at this time may have been good money. Writing music and being paid for it was not heard of at this time. He also had contracts with publishers that gave him little profit. He also did not perform his music professionally people did not know him as a writer very well. He made most of his money from royalty earnings.

    Janetta said...

    Stephen Foster droped out of school to follow his dream of becoming a song writer. At that time in history song writting was not known of and didnt earn much money. Stephen Foster wrote ballads and songs for the black minstrel which made him the most money. He was the first professional song writer. He is known as the great American song writer.