Return to MUSE Table of Contents
Title
Preface
Introduction
Early America
European Elements
African Attributes
Instruments
MusicSamples-Folk
MusicSamples-Sacred
Music Samples - Blues
Conclusion


Music Samples - Blues

9. Lonely Tombs
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 386Kb.   Short version, 53.8Kb.
This selection, recorded in Virginia, is an example of what was described in 1959 as the relatively recent development of allowing the use of instruments in folk churches. This is a recording of a Baptist hymn sung in the "modern Holiness style." (24) The modern nature of this selection reduces its value as evidence of early African influence, but African influence is definitely discernable here. The extraordinary thing about this selection is the guitar style, it is unmistakably blues influenced. The stress is on beats 2 and 4, like Sheep Sheep Don'tcha Know The Road (see "Music Samples - Sacred"), and the repeating 16 bar I/V pattern is very similar to the classic 12 bar I/IV/V blues.

10. You Got Dimples in Your Jaws
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 476Kb.   Short version, 36.0Kb.
This 12 bar I/IV/V blues was recorded by Lomax in 1959 in "the wilds of the Arkansas bottom, where the Mississippi blues singers used to go when things got too hot in the East." Lomax described it as "the hectic and city-influenced blues style of the deep South of today." (25) The meter is fluid. It begins to go faster toward the end, and the emphasis on the backbeat rhythm is not prominent. Whether this is intentional or merely the result of an inexperienced drummer, it creates an edgy immediacy in the performance.

11. I'm a Stranger Here
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 472Kb.   Short version, 33.3Kb.
This selection is an example of 12 bar blues performed by Doc Watson, a rather eclectic white artist known primarily for playing folk and bluegrass music. The CD from which this selection was taken was an intentional attempt by Watson to cover African-American blues. The ease with which folk/bluegrass artist Watson interprets the song originally recorded by black bluesmen Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry seems to indicate that the so-called white and black styles of music are not far apart. (26)

Next: Conclusion

[Preface]   [Introduction]   [Life in EarlyAmerica]   [EuropeanElements]   [AfricanAttributes]   [Instruments]   [MusicSamples-Folk]   [MusicSamples-Sacred]   [MusicSamples-Blues]   [Conclusion]