UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOLDEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

African American Music in the 20th CenturyMUSI20066 and MUSI30105

Unit Director : Dr. Justin WilliamsEmail: justin.williams@bristol.ac.uk

Classes take place on Wednesday at 11am in Victorias Room in TB1There will be NO CLASS on 21 November

Unit description:

This course surveys a history of African-American music in the long twentieth century.Styles will include the blues, jazz, swing, bebop, free jazz, funk, jazz-rock, hip-hop andpopular music crossover styles. In addition to an investigation of the social and politicalcontexts of these styles, the course will look at a number of theoretical applications to thestudy of black music (Gates, Floyd, Stuckey, Maultsby) and critiques of such anapproach (Tagg). In particular, we will discuss and explore concepts such as call-response,Diaspora, African nationalism, Signifyin(g), crossover, and issues of gender and sexuality.

Unit aims:

to give students an opportunity to expand the breadth of their historical knowledgethrough the study of optional subjects

to expand their knowledge of the associated musical repertoire and to be able tocomment accurately and perceptively on matters of style, structure and context

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to develop their ability to assemble and assimilate information from a wide varietyof sources

to engage in critical evaluation of texts about music to develop effective and detailed arguments, both orally and in writing to display competence in the practices, processes, techniques and methodologies

that underpin musicological practice

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the module, students are expected to:(1) have a good knowledge of the social and political history of the United

States, post-reconstruction era (1877-)(2) be familiar with the various forms of African-American musics in the long

twentieth century(3) describe with confidence the primary features attributed to African-based

musics(4) write critically and perceptively about questions of race, style and

appropriation in African-American music(5) write critically and perceptively about theories and debates surrounding

black music, using appropriate language and terminology.

And additionally (specific to third years) to:(6) display to a high level skills in evaluating, synthesising and (where relevant)

challenging scholarly thinking on this topic, including evidence of a highlevel of bibliographical control.

(7) engage with, and perhaps critique, the theoretical constructs that underpindifferent scholarly interpretations of music of this period

Assessment

At both levels: 1x 2-hour exam (50%). For second years: 1x 2500 word essay (50%). Forthird years: 1x 3,000-word essay (50%). Both the essay and the exam will demonstrate thefirst three learning outcomes listed above, and the essay will also demonstrate learningoutcome five. Additionally, for third years, the essay will demonstrate the criticalevaluation skills described in the fourth learning outcome listed above.

Essay Questions (choose one):

1. Discuss, using the relevant academic literature, the features of African-Americanmusical traditions (e.g. call-response) located in a particular genre or style of 20thcentury popular music.

2. Discuss the approaches of the music industry (e.g. marketing, Top 40, productionstyles) to a specific African-American music or style? What factors led to themainstreaming of that particular style (or not)? Did this disrupt other genres orsystems?

3) Is black music a useful term? Either agree or disagree with Philip Taggs openletter on black music.

4) Discuss the convergence of European/Western elements and African elementswithin a single style of music using relevant examples.

5) Discuss the contributions of African-American women to a particular genre ofmusic. Do the current histories exclude women? Or historically, were women excluded

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from music-making practices?

6) Look at a particular genre which engages with music and politics in a particularlypervasive way. Use musical examples for analysis to support your arguments.

7) How did the struggle for African-American political or social advancement come atthe expense of African-American women? Use musical examples to support yourargument?

8) Since minstrelsy, forms of African-American music (performed by whites andblacks) have often communicated various stereotypes about African-American people.Analyse and describe a particular artist or group in African-American history that hasdefied the stereotypes of their genre. Use musical analysis and media reception asevidence within the essay.

9) Discuss the role of technology in a particular genre or style of African Americanpopular music.

Deadlines

Week 8: Tuesday, 27 November, noon GMT [uploaded to Blackboard]

2-hr Exam in week 12: time and place tbc

Workload for this unit

The universitys published guidelines on credit weightings assume that a 20-credit unitshould involve students in approximately 200 hours of student effort. We advise that inaddition to the timetabled contact hours you spend on average three hours of preparationtime for each weekly class (including completion of weekly exercises/reading, asappropriate) at least 60 hours research time for the assessed essay and at least 60 hoursrevision for the examination.

Attendance

Students are required to attend all lectures and other classes related to their units. When they are unable to do so because of illness or other good cause, it is their responsibility to inform the lecturer and to make up any work missed. Student attendance at these classes is monitored for pastoral and administrative purposes not disciplinary or credit purposes.

Award of Credit Points

Credit points are awarded on the basis of the following criteria:

completion of all required work, whether for formative or summative purposes, on time and to the specified length

achievement of a satisfactory standard (normally a mark of 40 or above) in the summative assessment for the unit

attendance at any classes, seminars or tutorials, and/or participation in any activities, which are identified in the unit documentation as a pre-requisite for the award of credit

completion of any other tasks or activities that are identified in the unit documentation as pre-requisites for the award of credit

Notes on Listening: Most recordings can be easily found online, either through YouTube, Spotify, iTunes or other sites. Please let me know if you are unable to find any of the recordings.

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Notes on Readings: You are strongly encouraged to purchase Maultsby and Burnim, eds. African American Music: An Introduction as crucial background reading to many of the weeks. The main theoretical text is Samuel Floyds The Power of Black Music which will be useful throughout the module. You are expected to read all core reading in a given week. Your exam will include questions from Burnim and Maultsby (only the assigned chapters), an essay and listening-based questions.

A-A Music= African American Music: An Introduction, eds. Portia Maultsby and Mellonee Burnim (W.W. Norton).

Floyd= The Power of Black Music by Samuel Floyd (Oxford University Press) [available as e-book in library]

Class Outline

Wk Date Topic AAMusic FloydBookChs. BookChs.

1 10/10 Introduction:Minstrels,Ragtime,BrassBands,Spirituals

3,5,7 Intro

2 17/10 TheBlues 4 3,93 24/10 Jazz,Swing,Bebop 6 44 31/10 ConcertJazzandClassical/ArtMusic 8 55 7/11 JumpBlues,RhythmandBlues,RockandRoll 9 106 14/11 JazzrockorFusion7 21/11 Readingweek 10

8 28/11EssayDue:Thurs22November,noon[onBb]Funk,Disco,EarlyHiphop

11,12

9 05/12 Hiphop 1410 12/12 CrossoverandTheCaseofMichaelJackson

XMASVACATION

11 16/01 ExamRevision:QandAsession12 tba Exam

Week 1: 10 OctIntroduction

Issues for discussion:

What was African-American music making like before the 20th century? How did the period after the Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction

(1865-1877) affect the lives of African Americans? What is the African Diaspora? Blackface minstrelsy, spirituals, ragtime, brass bands, dance music

Core Reading:Maultsby and Burnim: Ch. 3 (religious traditions), 5 (ragtime), 7 (musical theatre)Shank, Barry. From Rice to Ice: The Face of Race in Rock and Pop. The Cambridge

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Companion to Pop and Rock, ed. Simon Frith, Will Straw, and John Street, 256-271.Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Floyd: Introduction

Additional Reading: Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History. W.W. Norton (3rd Edition), 1997. [An excellent overview of African American music history.]

Week 2: 17 OctoberThe BluesIssues for discussion:

What are the different types of blues? How are try defined geographically and musically?

How did the blues become commercially successful? What was the impact of sheet music and race records?

What are some musical features (form, harmony, melody) attributed to the blues? How has the blues become a trope for later African American styles?

Core Reading:Maultsby and Burnim: Ch. 4 (blues)Floyd: Chs. 3 and 9Jones, LeRoi. Excerpt from Blues People, in The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader, ed. DavidBrackett (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005): pp. 18-25. [only one copy in lib, needto change to 3-day loan]

Music for listening/study:Bessie Smith: Youve Got To Give Me Some, Nobody Knows When youre Down and OutMamie Smith: Crazy BluesMa Rainey: Yonder Come the BluesBig Bill Broonzy: When Will I Get to Be Called a Man?Robert Johnson: Come on in My Kitchen, Terraplane Blues, Ramblin on my Mind, Love in Vain Blues, CrossroadsMuddy Waters: Mannish Boy, Hoochie Coochie ManB.B. King: Three O Clock Blues, The Thrill is Gone, Everything I Do is Wrong

Further Reading:Wald, Elijah. Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. New York: Harper Collins.McClary, Susan. Bessie Smith: Thinking Blues', in Bull, M. and Back, L. eds. The Auditory Culture Reader, Oxford: Berg, 2003: pp. 427-34.Oakley, Giles. City Blues in The Devils Music: A History of the Blues, London: BBC, 1976:pp. 172-190.

Week 3: 24 OctoberJazz, Swing, BebopIssues for discussion:

What are the origins of jazz music? What is Signifyin(g)? How did Benny Goodman and others popularize swing music? How did bebop musicians signify on earlier forms?

Core Reading:Maultsby and Burnim: Ch. 6 (jazz)

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Samuel Floyd, The Power of Black Music: Ch. 4Gunther Schuller, Origins in Early Jazz. Oxford University Press 1986 (originally published 1968): pp. 3-62

Music for listening/study:Louis Armstrong: Potato Head Blues, West End BluesBenny Goodman: Lets DanceDuke Ellington: CottontailCharlie Parker: KokoDizzy Gillespie: A Night in TunisiaOptional Viewing: Ken Burnss Jazz [Great introductory documentary to jazz]

Week 4: 31 OctConcert Jazz and Art/Classical MusicIssues for discussion:

What was the Harlem Renaissance? How did African American classical music signify on earlier forms? In what ways did art music composers seek to express racial identities? Does the venue jazz is played in affect its reception?

Core Reading:

Maultsby and Burnim, Ch. 8 (Classical/Art Music)

Floyd: Ch. 5

Howland, John. Ch. 3, The Blues Get Glorified: Harlem Entertainment, Negro Nuances,and Black Symphonic Jazz in Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson and the Birthof Concert Jazz. University of Michigan Press, 2005.

Music for listening/study:William Grant Still: Afro American SymphonyPaul Whiteman: New Tiger RagDuke Ellington: Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, Harlem Airshaft, Black, Brown and Beige

Additional Reading:Smith, Catherine Parsons. William Grant Still: A Study in Contradictions. University ofCalifornia Press, 2000.Andr Hodeir and Gunther Schuller. Duke Ellington in Oxford Music Online.Gayle Murchison and Catherine Parsons Smith. William Grant Still in Oxford MusicOnline.

Week 5: 7 Nov.Jump Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll

Issues for discussion:

What was the state of the music charts in the late 1940s and 1950s? How does rock and roll appropriate elements from Rhythm and Blues and other

styles? How did Post-WWII political, social, technological and economic changes help to

usher in rock and roll (and its teenage demographic)? What are the reasons for the success of Elvis? And what are the implications?

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Core Reading:

Maultsby and Burnim, Ch. 9 (Rhythm and Blues)

Floyd: Ch. 10

Primary Sources:

In Brackett, D. ed. 2005. The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader: Histories and Debates, New YorkOUP, 2005: Ch. 19 The growing threat of Rhythm and Blues (pp. 76-80), Ch. 24 Rockand roll meets the popular press, Ch. 25 The Chicago Defender defends rock and roll,Ch. 26 The music industry fight against rock n roll (pp. 100-109)

Additional Reading:Taylor, Timothy D. His name was in Lights: Chuck Berrys Johnny B. Goode inMiddleton R. ed. Reading Pop: Approaches to Textual Analysis in Popular Music, OxfordUniversity Press, 2000, pp. 163-182.Peterson, Richard A. Why 1955? Explaining the Advent of Rock Music in Popular Music,9/1, 1990: pp. 97-116.[on jstor.org]Bertrand, Michael T. Race, Rock, and Elvis. University of Illinois Press, 2000.

Music for listening/study:Viewing-- The Blackboard Jungle, dir. R. Brooks, 1955.Chuck Berry: Roll Over Beethoven, Johnny B. Goode.Eddie Cochran: Cmon EverybodyBo Diddley: Bo DiddleyBill Haley and the Comets: Rock Around the ClockRick Nelson: Im WalkinJerry Lee Lewis: Great Balls of FireElvis Presley: Mystery Train, Good Rockin Tonight, Heartbreak Hotel, Dont be CruelLittle Richard: Good Golly, Miss MollyGene Vincent: Be-Bop-A-Lula

Week 6: 14 NovJazz-Rock or Fusion

Issues for discussion:

In what ways were genres associated with race in the 1970s? What were to arguments for and against the incorporation of fusion at jazz

festivals and in jazz history? How did artists like Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis embrace new technology

while creating links with their African-based heritage?

Core Reading:Fellezs, Kevin. Ch. 2 Where Have I known You Before?. In Birds of Fire: Jazz,

Rock, Funk, and the Creation of Fusion. Duke University Press, 2011: 33-64.Pond, Stephen. Ch. 3 At the Crossroads of Genre: Funk in Action. In Headhunters:

The Making of Jazzs First Platinum Album. University of Michigan Press, 2005: 51-82.

Important Background ReadingNicholson, Stuart. Fusions and Crossovers in The Cambridge Companion to Jazz,

eds. Cooke and Horn, Cambridge University Press, 2002: pp. 217-252.

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Music for listening/study:Herbie Hancock: Head Hunters (esp Chameleon and Watermelon Man)

[Compare with earlier recording of Hancocks Watermelon Man from Takin Off(1962)]Return to Forever: The Anthology (esp. The Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant Part I and II,

The Magician, Beyond the Seventh Galaxy)Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (Miles Runs the Voodoo Down)Mahavishnu Orchestra: Meeting of the SpiritsTony Williams Lifetime: Red Alert

Week 7: READING WEEK--NO CLASS 21nd November-To Read: Maultsby and Burnim, Ch. 10 (Soul)-Philip Taggs Open Letter: Black Music, Afro-American Music and European Music Popular Music 8, no. 3 (1989), pp. 285-298 [available on jstor]-Listening: Curtis Mayfield: This is my Country

James Brown: Say it LoudIm Black and Im ProudStevie Wonder: Livin for the CityMarvin Gaye: Whats Going On

-Viewing (for fun, select one): Dolemite, Foxy Brown, Cleopatra Jones, Coffy, Shaft, Superfly, etc.

*ESSAY DUE (on Blackboard): 27 November, noon GMT*

Week 8: 28 Nov.Funk, Disco, Early Hip-hop

Issues for discussion:

What are the origins of disco, and how did it become mainstream? How did itdecline?

How is the concept of groove played out in the context of funk music? What were the factors which led to the birth of hip-hop culture? What are the four elements of hip-hop? How integrated are they:? What is African nationalism and how has it manifested in music?

Core Reading:Maultsby and Burnim: Ch. 11, 12Anne Danielson, Presence and Pleasure: The Funk Grooves of James Brown and Parliament(Wesleyan University Press, 2006)

Music for listening/study:James Brown: The Funky Drummer, Cold Sweat, I Feel GoodDonna Summer: I Feel Love, Bad Girls, Love to Love you BabySylvester: You Make me Feel Mighty RealChic: Good Times, The Sugar Hill Gang Rappers DelightGrandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: The Message, White LinesAfrika Bambaataa: Planet Rock

Week 9: 05 DecHip-hopIssues for Discussion:

How does rap signify on earlier styles? How have developments in technology contributed to these aesthetics?

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What are the traditions involved in politically conscious rap? What are the racial debates surrounding white rappers like Vanilla Ice and

Eminem?Core Reading:Maultsby and Burnim: Ch. 14Strauss, Neil. Sampling is (A) Creative or (B) Theft? New York Times, in the Pop, Rock and Soul Reader, 1997, pp. 422-423.Hess, Mickey. Hip-hop Realness and the White Performer Critical Studies in MediaCommunication, (22) 5, December, 2005, pp. 372-389.

Additional Reading:Krims, Adam. Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity. .Cambridge University Press, 2000.Rose, Tricia. Black Noise. Wesleyan University Press, 1994.Schloss, Joseph G. Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-hop. Wesleyan University Press, 2004.

Music for listening/study:NWA: Straight Outta Compton, F**k tha PolicePublic Enemy: Bring the Noise, Fight the Power, Dont Believe the HypeIce Cube: The Nigga Ya Love To HateWill Smith: SummertimeKRS One: MCs Act Like they Dont KnowA Tribe Called Quest: Excursions, JazzVanilla Ice: Ice Ice BabyEminem: The Real Slim ShadyPuff Daddy: Ill be Missing YouWill Smith: Wild, Wild, WestDe La Soul: Cool Breeze on the Rocks

Week 10: 12 Dec Pop Crossover and the Case of Michael Jackson

Issues for discussion:

How did the Motown record label aim to cross over into the pop market? What are ways that Michael Jackson crossed over to the mainstream during his

solo career? How? What was the relationship of race and early MTV? How did Michael Jacksons music and public image negotiate issues of race and

sexuality?

Core Reading:Danielsen, Anne. The Sound of Crossover: Micro-rhythm and Sonic Pleasure inMichael Jacksons Dont Stop Til You Get Enough Popular Music and SocietyVol. 35, no. 2 (2012): 151-168.Brackett, David. Black or White? Michael Jackson and the Idea of CrossoverPopular Music and Society, Vol. 35, no. 2 (2012): 169-185.

Music for listening/study:Michael Jackson: Dont Stop Til You Get Enough, Beat It, Black or White

*CHRISTMAS BREAK*

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Week 11: 16 JanuaryExam Revision Session: General Q and A

Week 12: Exam (exam time/date tba)The exam will consist of short answer questions (based on assigned Maultsby and Burnim chapters), listening questions and a longer essay question. The exam will be 2 hours long.

Additional General Reading:Adams, Kyle. Aspects of the Music/Text Relationship in Rap. Music Theory Online. 14/2

(2008). Available at:

Brackett, David. James Browns Superbad and the Double-Voiced Utterance. PopularMusic 11/3 (1992): 309-323.

Cockrell, Dale. Demons of Disorder: Early Blackface Minstrels and their World. CambridgeUniversity Press, 1997.

Cooke, Mervyn and David Horn, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Jazz. CambridgeUniversity Press, 2003. [order for lib]

Forman, Murray. Represent: Race, space, and place in rap music. Popular Music 19/1(2000): 65-90.

Frith, Simon, Will Straw and John Street, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock.Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Gates Jr., Henry Louis. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism.New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. [e-book]

Hawkins, Stan. Prince: Harmonic Analysis of Anna Stesia. Popular Music 11/3 (1992):325-335.

Hughes, Tim. Groove and Flow: Six Analytical Essays on the Music of Stevie Wonder.PhD Dissertation. 2003. University of Washington. Available at:

Jones, LeRoi (Amiri Baraka). Blues People. London: Harper Perennial, 1999, originallypublished 1963.

Kernoodle, Maxille, Price, eds. The Encyclopedia of African American Music. Greenwood.Maultsby, Portia K. Africanisms in African-American Music. In Africanisms in American

Culture. Ed. Joseph E. Holloway. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.Maultsby, Portia K. Soul Music: Its Sociological and Political Significance in American

Popular Culture. Journal of Popular Culture 17/2 (1983): 51-60.Neal, Mark Anthony and Murray Forman. Thats the Joint! A Hip-hop Studies Reader, 2nd ed.

London: Routledge, 2012.Ramsey, Guthrie. Race Music: Black Music Cultures from Bebop to Hip-hop. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 2003.Small, Christopher. Music of the Common Tongue: Survival and Celebration in African American

Music. Wesleyan University Press, 1987. [order for lib]Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History, 3rd edition. London: W.W.

Norton, 1997.Stuckey, Sterling. Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory and the Foundations of Black America. .New

York: Oxford University Press, 1987. [order for lib]Walser, Robert. Rhythm, Rhyme, and Rhetoric in the Music of Public Enemy.

Ethnomusicology 39 (1995): 193-218.Williams, Justin A. Beats and Flows: A Response to Kyle Adams. Music Theory Online

15/2 (2009). Available at:

Williams, Justin A. The Construction of Jazz Rap as High Art in Hip-Hop Music. The

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Journal of Musicology 27/4 (2010): 435-459.Zak, Albin. Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix: Juxtaposition and TransformationAll Along

the Watchtower. Journal of the American Musicological Society 57/3 (2004): 599-644.

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