Sounds of the City

Hey guys, it's me. I'm really sorry that this post is coming late but last week was very hectic for me with my band preparing for the show and work. If any of you came to the show I'd like to thank you because it was a great success. Anyway, down to business...

In last week's lecture we discussed some of the more important rock n' roll cities and the figures that embodied their sound and put them on the map. The three cities are New Orleans, Chicago, and Memphis. These cities all have distinct musical cultures and even subcultures, but the main things you should associate with each are as follows: New Orleans-Jazz, Chicago-Blues, Memphis-Rock n' Roll and Country. Of course each city is not as musically limited as I may be implying, but I am just trying to give you a way to remember each.

We will start in New Orleans. One of the more prominent figures of New Orleans jazz is the legendary cornet player Louis Armstrong, who is responsible for brining jazz to a mass audience in the 20's and 30's. He was the ambassador of jazz and his remarkable gritty, deep voice made him easily recognizable to even casual jazz fans. His song "Potato Head Blues" is a standard.

Moving from brass to piano we find Jelly Roll Morton, a man who claimed he invented jazz, which seems to be a ridiculous statement considering that jazz is a largely improvisational form of music, it could have come from many different sources. Nonetheless, Morton is important because he pioneered New Orleans' long list of piano men. His real name is Ferdinand La Menthe and he, like many other New Orleans piano players, grew up playing in bawdy houses. He was interviewed by the great Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress before his death.

Lomax was a folklorist who is responisble for preserving some of the most important American roots music known today. Without him, much of the history of American roots music would have died with the artists.

Professor Longhair might be the quintessential NO piano man. Known as the "Bach of Rock" he was a successful recording artist before he became reclusive and gave up music to take a job as a janitor. Paul McCartney resurrected his career in the 70's.

In any great music city, the recording industry is fueled by its phenomenal session players. Hal Blaine and Glen Campbell and "The Wrecking Crew" in L.A., Willie Dixon in Chicago, Earl Palmer in New Orleans, Jay Dee Maness in Nashville, are just some of the more famous session players. New Orleans is no different. Remember...Bumps Blackwell, Allen Touissant, Cosimo Mutassa, and Naomi Neville.

Fats Domino is one of rock n' roll's most influential and successful figures. His slow boogie-woogie style and warm cajun drawl made him consistent, yet still original. Only Elvis sold more records than Fats in the 50's.

Last for New Orleans is one of my favorite artists of all time, Little Richard. Often imitated, never duplicated, Richard played and sang with a fury unheard to that point in rock n' roll. His recording career in the 50's was cut short because he joined the ministry, but his showmanship and often primal approach to vocal delivery would later inspire the likes of James Brown and The Beatles. "Long Tall Sally" is often my choice for the greatest rock n' roll record ever.

Now we move to my favorite rock n' roll city, Chicago, probably because I worship the blues that was made there. Chicago blues represents the divide between rural and urban blues, and urban blues is very closely associated with the electrification of the guitar. Before the electric guitar, rural blues was extremely rhythmic but often less structured than electric blues which almost always follows the 12-bar format. Alternate tunings and finger-picking also played a large part in rural blues, especially Piedmont blues. Also, thematically the music changed, there was less talk about God, about field labor, about the lonliness of rurality, and was more focused on heartbreak, and tough, city living. Some topics remained the same, like drinking, gambling and womanizing.

Elmore James is one of the pioneers of electric blues and he sang in a higher more melodic tone than his forefathers. Think of Buddy Guy for a vocal match. James Brown would take the refrain from his song "Shake Your Money Maker" and make it a famous line in the hit "Sex Machine."

The Holy Trinity of the electric is Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield), Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett), and John Lee Hooker. And unfortunately I have a lot to say about these guys but this post is getting long and I have to eat lunch and go to class. More to come later...