AMS 335 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Jackie Brenston, Magnetic Storage, Swing Music
20 Mar 2018
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Economic boom after depression, world war ii, spreads consumer culture beyond cities and elites. Rise of suburbs, highway system, television, new middle class way of life. Political: more conservative, with cold war, senator mccarthy anti-communism, attacks on unions. Show business: broadway and hollywood musicals, radio stars. Pop beat: jazz, played by big boy bands. Outsiders: country and blues artists, rural south. Key innovations: microphone, electronic recording, pop singers. Ex: frank sinatra and bing crosby, an italian immigrant and a jazz loving golfer from. Music unites african americans: secular and sacred styles. Cartoonish blackface minstrels (al jolson), often immigrants. Bessie smith, louis armstrong, others, popularize blues and jazz to whites, Race records and live performances remove white filter. Music tests norms of male and female behavior as nation moves from victorian to modern sensibility. Not a one-way process; music can reinforce traditional gender roles.
