In the 1600's, enslaved Africans brought with them to America a rich heritage which included their music. Most slaves came from West Africa, mainly from the wealthy kingdom of Dahomey. They were a very religious people. However, they were not allowed to dance their tribal dances, or do anything that would organize the slaves into groups. They were not allowed to talk to each other, so they used "calls" to communicate. A call is a way of speaking in song. They used calls to send messages at a distance. This included warnings, greetings, and a means of calling people together. As the slaves worked in the fields, they would sing to make the time go by faster. There was usually one person leading. It was noticed by the plantation owners that when the slaves sang, they worked harder. They were soon made to sing while they worked. These songs were called work songs. The lead singers were sold for a higher price. We listened to "Tutu Jara" by Mandingo Griots, from the Blues Masters CD, Volume 10 and sang songs from "Negro Folksongs for Young People," on Folkways Records. We also studied the lyrics from Huddie Ledbetter's song, "Bring Me Li'l' Water Sylvie," from Alan Lomax's zz'Folk Songs of North America." This is a field holler that was set to music by Ledbetter, after recalling the dialogue between a man and his wife, while the man worked in the fields during the hot months of July and August. When these students, it was October, the day was cold, rainy, and dreary, and the results were "Don't Feel Too Good Today." Early Rural Sounds, Oak Forest Elementary The Early Blues came from men, especially men in jails, depressed, and lost in the world. All they had was a song. The blues came from a people who were unable to speak out and express their feelings. Often these men wouldn't have homes, jobs, or enough food. They would take their banjos, jugs, scrub boards, and guitars, and travel from community to community singing and expressing deep thoughts and feelings. They may have been put in jail for no reason. Without money, they would begin to rob and steal and end up with the broke joke blues. Students listened to the song, "The Birth of the Blues" as an inspiration. Students also read books about the times and how distressing they were. They learned how early singers would use things and sounds that they heard and put them into a song. Whatever the situation, they sang about it. Mr. A. C. Williams, Memphis blues historian and disc jockey as well as blues artist, Lane Wilkins, and other Arts in the Schools performers also provided background information and inspiration. The jail experience seemed to have an impact on the students and they did not want to experience that situation, so, it became the basis of their song. Delta Blues, Idlewild Elementary The Early Delta blues were closely related to work songs and field hollers. The work was so hard the men sang the blues so the time could pass by and keep them from being bored. The first notation of Delta Blues lyrics was made in 1903 by an archaeologist, Charles Peabody. The blues began in the fields, but when the instruments were added it quickly moved to recreational gatherings. The bluesmen brought new music and techniques to old instruments like the guitar. The slider technique is a glass bottle or something that can be slid against the strings of a guitar, and it has become synonymous with early blues. The first blues artists in the Delta were part-time musicians. They worked as fieldhands on cotton farms in the daytime. Some famous Delta blues artists were Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, and Son House. In 1925 Lemon Jefferson, who was born blind, became the first southern folk blues artist. He turned to the blues as the only means of self-expression for a black man in the south. The Delta Blues are still enjoyed today. We came up with the lyrics for our Delta Blues song, "Monday Morning Blues" to express our feelings on how we feel on Monday morning getting ready for school. Memphis Blues, Double Tree Elementary Follow me down to Memphis, Tennessee is a good beginning for Memphis Blues. When we think of Memphis Blues we think of W.C. Handy, who is called the "Father of the Blues", B.B. (Blues Boy) King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Beale Street. Beale Street was the place that people came to on Saturday nights to sing and play their blues. It provided an atmosphere of various feelings and emotions acted out by songs and dance. Beale Street stands as a legacy of tradition for Memphis' Black Heritage. Give Me the Memphis Blues, composed by Cluster 4, is a tribute to all of the musicians, present and past, who have helped to recognize our city as the capital of southern blues. Chicago Blues, Gordon Elementary Chicago Blues is the style of blues being celebrated at Gordon. The Chicago Blues began in the early 1900's. During this time many Blacks began migrating north for better opportunities and to escape the harsh racism of the South. These Blacks were partly responsible for bringing the blues to Chicago. Many famous blues artists were part of the Chicago Blues sound. The Chicago sound was unique because horns were being used as well as electric guitars. We've studied Chicago Blues artists such as Muddy Waters and B. B. King. Muddy Waters was born in Mississippi in 1915. As a boy, he began his own sound on the harmonica which he called the "French harp." At seventeen, Waters ordered his first guitar from the Sears and Roebuck catalog. He began his career as a traveling musician who played on plantations. In 1940 he moved to St. Louis, in 1943 he moved to Chicago. Some of Muddy Water's greatest hits were "Rollin' and Tumblin," "Can't Be Satisfied," and "Hoochie Coochie Man." B. B. King was born in Mississippi in 1925. At the age of 16, he began to work in Memphis as a disc jockey on 1070 WDIA and a singer in local clubs. One of King's first recording was a cover of Lowell Fulson's song, "Three O'Clock Blues." Some of B. B. King's other hits include "Why I Sing the Blues," and "The Thrill Is Gone." Rock and Roll, Campus Elementary When a lot of people think of Rock and Roll, they think of Elvis, but it's much more than that. What was said to be the first Rock and Roll tune, Delta 88, all started with an accident. In the 1950's The Jackie Brenson All Stars were driving to record that tune when the amplifier fell off their car and broke. At the recording, the guitar made a buzzy sound that people liked because of the broken amplifier. That sound soon became a signature of Rock and Roll. People soon danced to that tune and the style became popular Back then, Rock and Roll was a combination of the Rhythm and Blues style known as jump blues, boogie woogie, honky-tonk, and the gospel vocal style known as doo wop. Rhythm and Blues music was called Rock and Roll by record companies to attract new fans. Bill Haley and the Comets, originally a country music band from Pennsylvania, became one of the first Rock and Roll bands to become stars. Their first big hit was "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954. The most famous early Rock and Roll star was Elvis Presley. Elvis's music was known as rockabilly before the term Rock and Roll was in style. We wrote lyrics to the tune of his "Hound Dog," but instead of writing about rock and roll themes like cars and teenage love, we wrote about things that are important to us: homework (UGH!), lunchtime, the support areas, recess, and of course, the second bell ring when it's time to go home. From our song you'll notice that we repeat lines like the field hollers the slaves sang many years ago. They repeated their messages so that no one misunderstood them. Most people think that Elvis's music has more African American rhythm than most Rock and Roll songs. Rock and Roll music is still around today, but in many different forms, from gothic rock to heavy metal. People loved it then and they love it now. Southern Style Blues, Overton High School This tune is an expression based on influences from other entertainers in the mid-South area, especially in the blues feel. When I wrote Southern Style Blues it started differently; I was originally thinking of Rap rather than blues. I switched my writing to Blues, and thus gave it a hip hop name with a "down-home" blues lyrics. The music style is basically Memphis style, which consists of piano, drums, bass, and electric guitar. You don't see a lot of horns on Beale Street; if you see horns in Memphis performing blues, they usually are replacing the electric guitar and are performing solo, so I chose to go with the more up-to-date instrumentation. The sounds on Beale St. reflect Memphis' history and also reflects upon those who have made the blues era what it is now. Jazz Blues, Overton High School Funky Old Blues is a jazz blues tune based on a single melodic fragment. Very often in the small combo jazz groups of the 40's and 50's, musicians would come up with a single memorable motif that would fit easily over the three chords of a 12-bar blues form. The musicians easily improvised and harmonized that single phrase into an entire polished tune on the spot. First they played the melody to open the tune (the head), next they improvised several choruses over the chords (solos), and closed the tune by re-stating the melody (head out). The Overton musicians did exactly this; there never was any written music. Jazz masters such as Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis were noted for their abilities to quickly develop these types of tunes, which eventually were written down and remain part of the standard jazz repertoire. |