Rgsccr
41 posts
Jul 05, 2012
10:29 AM
|
Hi all,
A professor at the University of Washington, Dr. Quintard Taylor, is one of the founders of a very cool website - Blackpast.org. I became acquainted with him after watching a CSpan-3 lecture he gave on the civil rights movement. I wrote to him and asked his opinion about the feeling of sadness in early blues vs. later blues (an idea I've had - perhaps wrong-headedly). Anyway, he wrote back and commented that he was interested in blues but really didn't know much about it, particularly the early bluesmen. Then he asked me if I would contribute a couple of short essays on this subject to his website. I was flattered and interested, but really don't have the depth of knowledge to do a good job. So, I was wondering if anyone else on this site might want to do this. This is strictly volunteer - no pay. If so, let me know and I can put you in touch with Dr. Taylor. You might also want to look at the website. Thanks for listening. Oh yes, in case anyone is thinking that this right up Adam Gussow's alley, it is, but he is too involved in a variety of projects at the moment to do anymore. Rich
Last Edited by on Jul 05, 2012 10:30 AM
|
Honkin On Bobo
1047 posts
Jul 05, 2012
10:34 AM
|
I recommend forum member billy shines for this assignment.
|
LSC
242 posts
Jul 05, 2012
10:46 AM
|
@Rgsccr - There's no email address at your profile.
I have the time and a pretty good library of resource material. I have experience writing for various situations including 3 years of online columns, "Guitarology", and a theater piece which was praised by Elwood Blues himself. I'd be very interested in doing a couple of pieces for the Prof.
----------
LSC
|
Rgsccr
42 posts
Jul 05, 2012
11:03 AM
|
LSC that sounds great. Why don't you email Dr. Taylor - qunitardjr@comcast.net or qtaylor@u.washington.edu. I told him that I was asking on this website so he should be aware of why you are writing to him.
Still, you should probably reference my name and where you heard about him.
By the way, do you have any thoughts on the sense of whether or not much (not all) of early blues has a feeling of sadness and poignancy to it that isn't as often felt in music after WWII? Just the tone I hear in the voices of guys like Tommy Johnson, Sleepy John Estes and Robert Johnson (among many others) strikes me that way. I have pondered if this could be due to the relative proximity to the civil war and slavery vs. later blues efforts.
|
Honkin On Bobo
1048 posts
Jul 05, 2012
11:30 AM
|
Perfect writing sample billy, you should contact the good Doctor.
|
Honkin On Bobo
1050 posts
Jul 05, 2012
12:24 PM
|
Allright, let's recap:
billy shines (and I quote): " its also a well known fact (if you are french plaese forgive mine) that french grandmothers fucked our grandfathers for hershey bars. and this included black servicemen. it was this catylist that finally brought civil rights to everyone and ended the civil war because of the watts riots of 1965 and not the efforts of king."
To which lynn (showing superhuman restraint) quite reasonably responded: "So black men's newfound access to white women's vaginas was the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Interesting theory billy."
At which point billy launched into something about women's sufferage while simultaneously leveling a racist blast at Susan B. Anthony....and for an added bonus....... ironically complained that the thread had gone off topic....thereby rendering the discussion into some kind of macabre Abbott and Costello routine.
Professional comedy writers....take note.
|
lynn
42 posts
Jul 05, 2012
12:32 PM
|
@billy>>no the question was the feeling of sadness in early blues vs. later blues and why. it was about wwII i said wwII gave african americans a sense of pride<<
Yep. I agree with you there. Then you started in with the the hershey bar nonsense so I was mainly addressing the ridiculosity of that. Yes, I just made up the word ridiculosity. Now you are going on about Susan B Anthony being racist -- which what that has to do with anything I'm not quite sure -- so, you should take your own advice and stay on topic.
Anyhow, back to the subject, in case my last post wasn't clear, the black migration from the South up north was in full swing post-WWII and had been for several generations, and folks were acquiring more rights than ever before, and this I believe can account for the newfound optimism you see in black music of the time, and not just in the blues. Let's also keep in mind that those young black folks getting their heads knocked in during the '50s in Mississippi and Georgia etc. were way too young to have fought during the war and it was these young people, not horny black soldiers in Europe doling out chocolate bars (double entendre intended), who made up the bulk of the marchers and made the Civil Rights Movement happen.
Even growing up in the South these kids were privy to the changes going on up north -- everybody had family or knew neighbors who had migrated, and folks who had gone north would send money back home just like immigrants do today -- and so basically all over the US black folks were having new expectations in terms of possibilities. And you can hear this in the music of the time.
|
