Module 4

Our listenings in Module 4 were all about music from the Postwar Era.  Our first listening piece was Nancy (with the Laughing Face) performed by Frank Sinatra.  This song shows a big change from Sinatra’s Swing Era recordings.  In this new era, there is a heavy focus on string instruments dominating the instrumental accompaniment.  I really enjoyed how smooth and relaxed Sinatra’s voice is in this song.  The accompaniment complements his voice very well throughout the song.  We also listened to some other styles of music within the Postwar era.  Including two songs that helped to popularize the mambo throughout Latin America and the US.  These two songs were Mambo No. 5 performed by Perez Prado and His Orchestra, and Mambo Italiano performed by Rosemary Clooney.

There were many listening examples highlighting Southern Music in the Postwar era as well.  Choo Choo Ch’Boogie performed by Louis Jordan’s Tympany Five was a fun example of the Jump Blues, which was the first successful category of rhythm and blues.  Performers such as Jordan drew in large, diverse audiences.  Because of the divided racial ideas still happening in America at the time, many concert halls stayed segregated for performances such as Jordan’s.  There were also other styles of Southern and Country and Western music such as such as the blues crooner style used in Black Night performed by Charles Brown and His Band, the Chicago Electric Blues style in Hoochie Coochie Man performed by Muddy Waters, bluegrass music from Bill Monroe, Honky-Tonk hits such as The Wild Side of Life performed by Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys, It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels performed by Kitty Wells, and country classics like I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry and Hey Good Lookin’, both written and performed by Hank Williams.  Of these, my favorite examples were the Hank Williams pieces.  I grew up listening to both Hank Williams and Hank Williams Jr. with my parents and I have always enjoyed his music.

The other big style introduced this week was rock ‘n’ roll.  Though the term rock ‘n’ roll was more of a commercial ploy than anything else, there was still some very interesting music to come out of this time period.  We listened to cover songs- the same song, different arrangement, though most of these tended to sound pretty similar to the original.  We listened to the original and cover versions of popular songs such as Shake, Rattle, and Roll, Sh-Boom, and Mystery Train.

Some other important songs of the time were Maybellene by Chuck Berry, Long Tall Sally performed by Little Richard, Don’t Be Cruel by Elvis Presley, and Charlie Brown performed by the Coasters.  Maybellene, a song distantly modeled after the country song called Ida Red, was a shockingly new song on the music scene at the time because of it’s upbeat tempo that was not typical of other rhythm & blues songs.  Long Tall Sally by Little Richard was built on the 12 bar blues style.  When looking up some different recordings of this song, I found a live of that I found particularly enjoyable.  I am a fan of Little Richard’s stage presence, and how relaxed he is and looks like he is always having a good time.

                                          

Another favorite from this listening assignment was Elvis Presley singing Don’t Be Cruel.  I have always had a love-hate relationship with Elvis Presley music.  When I was younger, my dad played it so much that one year at Christmas, he received a new Elvis CD and after listening to it for a solid 3 hours, my brother and I stole it and hid it in a ceiling tile.  To this day, I think it is still there, though we can’t remember which one we hid it behind anymore.  Since then, I’ve grown to appreciate the music of Elvis more (probably because I don’t have to hear it everyday), and I enjoy whenever I do get a chance to listen to him now.  Don’t Be Cruel, based on the 12 bar blues, is reminiscent of western swing music and incorporates some bits of white gospel music as well.  Our final listening this week, Charlie Brown, performed by the Coasters, was the first song where the biggest market of listeners and purchasers were younger, school-aged children.  This is an up tempo song that features King Curtis on a saxophone solo.