View all Google Scholar citations "When it rains five days, and the skies turn dark as night (x2) There's trouble taking place in the lowland that night." Harmonically, what is the piece based on? I love writing blues poems. Known as the\"Empress of the Blues,\" Bessie Smith's first recording, \"Down-Hearted Blues,\" from 1923, was very successful, and helped her to become the leading African-American performer of the time. In this recording of \"Backwater Blues,\" we can hear these techniques at work, and they stand in contrast to the very structured twelve-bar blues form of the song. The third line either comments or reverses the first two lines. Chris Fisher-Lochhead. The call and response between vocals and piano does what? Backwater Blues - The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - YouTube After discussing blues history, we went over Bessie Smiths Backwater Blues, then Langston Hughes Too Blue, and concluded our study with Jericho Browns Duplex (specifically A poem is a gesture toward home). Writer (s): Smith Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com. Datenschutzbestimmungen. Through an examination of Smith's touring itinerary, the testimony of fellow entertainers who toured with her, newspaper reports, and other documents, it can be shown that the song was composed about a flood of the Cumberland River that struck Nashville, Tennessee, on Christmas morning, 1926. [1] Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023. The beginning of Down Hearted Blues actually reminded me of Ragtime music slightly. The lyrics are in the often-used AAB blues format. The backwater blues caused me. Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com. On September 26, 1937, Smith was en route to a show in Memphis, Tennessee with her companion of many years, Richard Morgan, when he sideswiped a truck and lost control of their car. When it rained five days and the sky turned dark as night, Zur deutschen bersetzung von Backwater Blues, Die 10 schnsten Songs fr ein gemtliches Picknick, Die 10 beliebtesten ESC-Songs aller Zeiten, "Sing meinen Song" 2023: Alle Infos, Teilnehmer, Songs & Folgen, "Let's Dance 2023": Alle Tnze aus Show 9 + Songtexte, I'd Rather Be Dead and Buried in My Grave, Udo Lindenberg & Apache 207 - Komet Songtext, Ikke Hftgold, Schrze & DJ Robin - Bumsbar Songtext, Purple Disco Machine & Kungs - Substitution Songtext, Hypaton, David Guetta & La Bouche - Be My Lover (feat. Bessie Smith's Back-Water Blues: the story behind https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143007001158, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. The piece has a homophonic texture due to the supplementation of the instruments to the vocalization of Smith. 04 January 2007. The vocalization stands out far more than the sound of the instruments, primarily due to Smiths incredible voice. Backwater blues done caused me to pack up my things and go, / Backwater blues done caused me to pack up my things and go, / 'Cause my house fell down and I can't live there no more. This is a song poem. Third, Mamie Smith became the first Black blues singer to record a blues record in 1920. "Backwater Blues" (1927) . The initial first line resoundstherefore necessitates itself perhaps as a question, a declaration, or even a second guessing of this sung things existence to its audience of many or just their self. Once more, listen for the turnaround (the melody at the final two bars of each 12-bar progression or last line of each stanza) and hear it transform the melody of one progression/stanza into the next. I have sympathy towards Smith during her performance of this song because she conveys how lonesome she is. While many latter-day . Marilyn Chin (1955- ) was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Oregon, and received her MFA from the University of Iowa. Big Bill Broonzy released it on the album Folk Blues in 1954. Bessie Smith, commonly referred to as the Empress of the Blues, was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith - Digital Sheet Music, View our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out. Has data issue: false Mchtest du Inhalte von aktivieren? The song is called "West End Blues" and was recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in 1928. Bessie Smith tabs, chords, guitar, bass, ukulele chords, power tabs and guitar pro tabs including backwater blues, careless love, nobody knows you when youre down and out, taint nobodys business . However, I recommend practicing the classic form (first line repeated in the second line, third line responds to the second, entire poem at least three tercets long) to fully grasp blues aesthetics. One subscription across all of your devices. Render date: 2023-05-02T09:42:40.381Z Bessie Smith (Down Hearted Blues, 1923) Jazz Legend. Youtube, uploaded by RagtimeDorianHenry, 3 Jun 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA. Nonetheless, when she recorded it in 1927 "Backwater Blues" became an anthem for the great Mississippi River Flood. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith recorded her song. Create beats, songs, and musical ideas with built-in music theory and AI from over 30k songs. Johnson was instrumental in the development of the piano style that emerged from Harlem in the 1920s known as \"stride.\" \r\rIn the age before sound amplification and microphones, a successful singer needed to be able to project. Harmonically, what is the piece based on? But the second strophe, the second stanza, we turn inward, and its about personal disaster: I woke up this morning cant even get out of my door, I woke up this morning cant even get out of my door. Bessie Smith- Back Water Blues. Youtube, uploaded by TravelerIntoTheBlue, 9 Oct 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gXShOJVwaM. Entire black neighborhoods were wiped out. Back-Water Blues Bessie Smith (Columbia, 1927) Mmm, I can't move no more. The repetition of her lyrics depict just how saddening her situation is- she is in the middle of losing everything. 'Cause my house fell down. The conjunct melody made me want to sing along with her! Louis Blues featuring Louis Armstrong, Backwater Blues, and Nobody Knows You When Youre Down and Out. As the Swing era was emerging, Bessie Smith was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 1937 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. I chose these works for how they built upon classic blues (blues that follows the standard AAB lyrical structure and common themes of love, longing, suffering, and travel) by addressing an ecological concern, as in Backwater Blues, or innovating the classical structure, as in Too Blue, and Duplex., I want to encourage reading and listening to early blues poetry and classic blues as a method toward mastering blues aesthetics. There aint no place for a poor old girl to go. Though theres no singular definition of the blues that fully encompasses the history and culture of the people from whom the blues are derived, I do think there are some notes to consider. There's trouble taking place in the lowland that night, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Bessie Smith's 'Back-Water Blues': the story behind the song", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Backwater_Blues&oldid=1150358087, This page was last edited on 17 April 2023, at 18:17. Notice, however, that although the form remains the same throughout, pianist James P. Johnson's accompaniment style frequently changes during different verses of the song, as he interacts musically with Smith and attempts to depict the meaning of her lyrics through his playing.\r\rBessie Smith (vocal); James P. Johnson (piano)\r\rRecorded in New York, February 17, 1927 AAB e.g. Her ability to use \"blue notes\" and other vocal embellishments, along with a loose melodic phrasing, became hallmarks of jazz and blues inflection that other musicians (singers and instrumentalists) emulated. It was covered by Brother John Sellers, Toni Lynn Washington, Meschiya Lake and The Little Big Horns, The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band and other artists. When it thunders and lightnin' and the wind begins to blow. Try listening to Backwater Blues while reading the lyrics; hear how the piano embodies the texture of what is being sung, as if the piano witnesses and takes on the storm and flood alongside Bessie Smith. The piano's bass part keeps the rhythm of the piece steady but when doing the 'response', the right hand can complicate this and create interest. I think in the best identity poems that the self represents something much larger than the self. homophonic texture. Listening Guide to Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith - YouTube The flood was a devastating ordeal. Alle Informationen dazu findest du in unseren Feature Flags: { ). Nonetheless, when she recorded it in 1927 Backwater Blues became an anthem for the great Mississippi River Flood. print music publishers. Bemoaning the fate of losing a home to flood waters after five days and nights of rain, Smith laments: Thousands of people aint got no place to go. While many latter-day listeners have equated this song with the disastrous 1927 flood of the Mississippi River, Smith actually recorded this before that particular flood had occurred. Pro Credit Pack (3 Pro Credits) Included with first year, Your high-resolution PDF file will be ready to download in Though, after repeated listening and reading of blues standards like Backwater Blues, call and response became more than an AAB tercet on page/to my ear. Song: Back-Water Blues written by Bessie Smith | SecondHandSongs He studied under Seamus Heaney and Lucie Brock-Broido at Harvard University and, while a student there, became a member of the Dark Room African diasporic culture and the aesthetics of the blues. Please use a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, or Opera instead. Another way of reading classic blues lyric structure is as weighted-sonic couplets. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like backwater blues, libretto, step interval and more. The song has long been associated with the great flood of the lower Mississippi River in 1927. The elements of voice, musical instrument, and audience formed a living tercet in which the blues singer and musician resound one another to deliver that final line blues statement. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. Billed annually at $39.99. Smith performed for nearly a decade until Columbia Records signed her in 1923. Bessie Smith. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, courtesy of the Rock Hall Library and Archive, https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bessie-smith. } hear how the piano embodies the texture of what is being sung, as if the piano witnesses and takes on the storm and flood alongside Bessie Smith. *Als Songtexte.com PUR User kannst du entscheiden, welche Inhalte von externen Anbietern wie Youtube, Backwater blues done called me to pack my things and go. Her lyrics aid the audience in understanding why she is down. Designed and built by Hooktheory in California. music review for midterm Flashcards | Quizlet Backwater Blues tells the story of how the speaker is forced out of her home due to flooding waters. Most of us dont remember the great Mississippi River Flood of 1927, but when I read this poem a few years ago during a gathering on the behalf of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the same issues resoundedneighborhoods destroyed, slow government response, the African American neighborhoods were hit the hardest. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Bessie and Me). Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like backwater blues, libretto, step interval and more. Cause my house fell down and I can't live there no more. This suggests to me that aspects of contemporary US poetry could be in lineage of African diasporic culture. The first two verses are unique and do not have any repetition. The a rhyme glues the three-line stanza together. Bemoaning the fate of losing a home to flood waters after five days and nights of rain, Smith laments: 'Thousands of people ain't got no place to go.'. She manages to escape her flooding home, only to look back and see that she will never be able to go back to it. We were grounded by Amiri Barakas claim in Blues People, in which he conveyed that in the context of Black American culture, music explains history as history explains music. This piece draws its material from the song "Backwater Blues" by Bessie Smith and from the historically articulated performance practice that has accrued to it. 3.2 Online-Unterricht - Backwater Blues - YouTube Bob Dylan - Backwater blues Lyrics | Genius Lyrics When it thunders and lightnin' and the wind begin to blow. Backwater Blues - Piano - YouTube I believe the blues represents a range of human experience that can speak on and to that thing that nearly ended someone but the very fact of them living to sing about it encapsulates the blues. Adds to the blues feel as the music is seen to reflect the realities of her situation. Backwater Blues Bessie Smith Chords and Lyrics for Guitar Thematically, write about whatever you feel must be sung. Instagram oder Facebook auf Songtexte.com geladen werden. It is a flexible approach to pitch (pentatonic base)-BLUES NOTES, descending melodic lines, raw/ gritty timbres, call and response, swing or laid back/flexible approach to the . They relocated the white folks in an expedient manner but corralled the black folks into abysmal camps. Backwater Blues Sheet music for Piano (Solo) | Musescore.com for this article. The flood was a devastating ordeal. For examples of innovative uses of these devices in poetry, visit Jericho Browns Duplex, Evie Shockleys Fukushima Blues, and Kevin Youngs Langston Hughes.. Este es un disco muy bueno; una gran voz, la Reina del Blues Dinah Washington, y unos temas espectaculares, las canciones de la gran Bessie Smith. Dazu brauchen wir deine Einwillung*. How does the music reflect the lyrical content of the piece? In order to interrogate said materials, six recordings by different musicians were chosen and meticulously transcribed. Total loading time: 0 C, F7, C, C7, F7, C. And I can't live there no more. Following her death, Smith received numerous awards and honors for her achievements, including: Bessie Smith- American Singer. Encyclopedia Britannica, written by The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Feb 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bessie-Smith. Blues on Yellow Marilyn Chin from Rhapsody in Plain Yellow. Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. I am majoring in biology and love helping my community! Includes 1 print + interactive copy with lifetime access in our free apps. Of course, we Americans have historical amnesia. Jazz- Review Questions Flashcards | Quizlet Train with real songs. Lets look at the blues poem as a form. Smith (on vocal with James P. Johnson on piano) recorded it as "Back-water Blues" on February 17, 1927, in New York City. Backwater Blues gefllt bisher niemandem. Log dich ein um diese Funktion zu nutzen. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith . She believed that her truth needed to be told, so she told it. She performed in various minstrel and black vaudeville shows, and as her reputation and fame grew, she performed with many of the other leading early jazz musicians of her time: Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, and James P. Johnson, just to name a few. Through an examination of Smith's touring itinerary, the testimony of fellow entertainers who toured . Bessie actually wrote Backwater Blues for the Cumberland River flood that hit Nashville on Christmas morning 1926. When it rains five days and the skies turn dark as night, when it rains five days and the skies turn dark as night, then trouble's takin' place in the lowlands at night. And the rain begin to pour. This personal depression by extension is about the depression of an entire people, marginalized in the back waters, stricken with poverty, homelessness, suffering social injustice, discrimination, and now hit with this catastrophic natural disaster. The blues poems remind us that the American poetic tradition can be traced to African American oral tradition; that great art, great poems come from deep suffering that is personal, historical, and political and could be read on the page as well as sung out loud. Bessie Smith - Songs, Death & Facts She lets the chords of the instruments dangle off of her words, resulting in a beautiful piece that focuses primarily on the lyrics. The beat is easy to tap along to, making it easier to focus on her lyrics. The consonant chords allow for a smooth harmony to flow continuously during the song. Of course, I learn so much from the Bessie Smiths blues poems. Songtext von Bessie Smith - Backwater Blues Lyrics Back-Water Blues. Play the music you love without limits for just $9.99 $3.33/month. Learn to hear chords by ear. The vocals to be the focus and the 'response' to be more complex, At times it can sounds almost 'half-spoken'. I do not believe in a fixed way to write blues poems or poetry with blues feeling. 'Back-Water Blues', composed by Bessie Smith and recorded by her on 17 February 1927, has long been associated in the popular mind and even by some writers with the great flood of the lower Mississippi River and its tributaries that occurred that year. What characterizes a blues performance? :)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Title: Backwater BluesLevel: BeginnerCom. I have her strong voice in my ear at all times. The first line sets the scene, the second line repeats the first for emphasis. The lyrics of the song are interpreted with respect to the events of that flood. Discuss Bessie Smith's performance of "Back Water Blues" as an example of both. Bessie Smith's 'Back-Water Blues': the story behind the song He attended Rutgers University and Howard University, spent three years in Jericho Brown's first book,Please(New Issues, 2008), won the American Book Award, and his second book,The New Testament(Copper Canyon, 2014), was named one of the best poetry books of the year SterlingAllenBrown devoted his life to the development of an authentic black folk literature. Backwater Blues does not sound as much like the blues as Down Hearted Blues to me, but it is still distinguishable as the blues due to the sad content of the song. I mean, first, it sets up a terrible storm when it rained five days and the skies turned dark as night, when it rained five days and the skies turned dark as night. The three most important chords, built off the 1st, 4th and 5th scale degrees are all major chords (E Major, A Major, and B Major). Back-Water Blues 65th in 1927. The narrator, who presents himself as a victim describes how . There's thousands of people ain't got no place to go. View Official Scores licensed from. Although Smith is very pleasing to the ears, she seems to be slightly monotone in this piece. Baraka attributes this knowledge to his mentor Sterling A. Thank you. As a poet who writes in English I know that every time I write a sonnet I pay homage to the high European tradition and to master poets like Shakespeare, Dunn, Keats, Petrarch. She began recording regularly in the 1920s, distinguishing herself as the most successful African American artist of her time with her recording Down Hearted Blues in 1923. Dinah Washington - Back Water Blues - YouTube Backwater Blues by Big Bill Broonzy was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. Mmm, I cant move no more. SKU: MN0121681 A modified 12 bar blues. Bessie Smith is the best-known of the female \"classic blues\" (or \"city blues\") singers from the 1910s and 1920s (others include Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters, Clara Smith, and Mamie Smith). What are the introductory chords that illustrate this? Following her death, Smiths legacy continued on as she inspired new artists to display who they truly were. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 7 available keys. What is 12-bar-blues form? Irma Thomas released it on the album Our New Orleans 2005 - A Benefit Album in 2005. Over her ten year career, she created one hundred and sixty recordings. Teach music and songwriting in ways that keep students engaged, excited, and inspired. As an attempt to escape poverty as a teenager, she joined the Moss Stokes Company with her brother and Gertrude Ma Rainey, the Mother of the Blues. Ma Rainey served as the most influential person during Smiths pre-professional career. Theres this rich toughness in her voice that tells us this girl and her people are going to get through this calamity. Since tab form can't express time interval, I hope you will figure There were reports that officials behaved in a discriminatory fashion. Backwater Blues Chris Fisher-Lochhead Great cover of blues classic Backwater blues on The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band 2011. album How I Go Smith is believed to be one of the highest paid black performers of her time. Almost half a million homes were destroyed. In our workshop, In the Voice and in the Deep, Blues Poetry, participants and I studied blues music, history, aesthetics, and ultimately blues poetry. This incident gave birth to an important blues era, now known as the Delta Blues era. Back-Water Blues' was one of the best known works of the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, recorded for Columbia Records in 1927 with James P. Johnson on piano. Smith . The beat does . Death. Nose To Tail - Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast 2, Mushihimesama Futari - Sea of Frozen Crystals. Download and Print scores from huge community collection ( 1,426,528 and growing) Advanced tools to level up your playing skills. My name is Lex and I am a rising senior at the University of Georgia. La Bouche) [2023 Mix] [Extended Mix] Songtext. It was covered by Brother John Sellers, Toni Lynn Washington, Meschiya Lake and The Little Big Horns, The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band and other artists. She uses her voice in this particular form to symbolize that she has given up and that she knows she will never find true love. The beat does not change because each verse follows the same AAB pattern, which results in the same rhythm continuing on. West End Blues - Louis Armstrong (Analysis) - bradpottermusic Bessie Smith (1894-1937) began her professional career as a blues singer in cabarets in 1912. The song "Backwater Blues" is a blues and jazz standard written by Bessie Smith. The rhythm remains constant throughout the song, allowing the melody to flow peacefully during the piece. About a thousand people lost their lives. Each verse in the song follows an AAB pattern from beginning to end. El disco e. She is the author of three collections of poems, most recently Rhapsody in Plain Yellow (2002). "useRatesEcommerce": false Smith continued on to become very successful with hits like St. Backwater Blues - Wikipedia Borrowing from song to write about whats wrong. However, the blues utility in our everyday language signifies to me that the blues are ingrained into US culture. LISTENING part 1 SEIGFRIED CHAP 5. richard wagner germany Major keys, along with minor keys, are a common choice for popular songs. We could define and reproduce several devices of blues lyric, such as call and response, and blues turnaround, and surely, we can write sad poems. Not only did she sing, she was also an actress and comedian. Performance: Backwater Blues by Big Bill Broonzy | SecondHandSongs Considering these notes about the blues inception, the blues endured and scoredif not directly then through derived musical formsthe majority of the United States early nation-building and cultural formation. Smith did not cut any corners in her songs- she told everyone how the world really was and how she felt about it. Hi! . Marilyn Chin reads and discusses Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues Yeah, when it's thunderin' and lightnin'. In "Backwater Blues", the writer retells the incidents surrounding the flooding of Nashville in 1927. The first two lines are of almost equal length. "When it rains five days, and the skies turn dark as night (x2). Back-Water Blues, composed by Bessie Smith and recorded by her on 17 February 1927, has long been associated in the popular mind and even by some writers with the great flood of the lower Mississippi River and its tributaries that occurred that year. It was originally composed by Joe "King" Oliver and is largely performed as an instrumental, although lyrics were . Major keys, along with minor keys, are a common choice for popular songs. Lets look at this poem closely. Jazz- Review Questions. Updated September 9, 2020. The despair is deep, is deeply personal, but it is also metaphorical and speaks to the despair of an entire community. Hier geht's zu meiner Musik auf Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/1EV1CjZHtzJGK5SZyEyKst?si=ya1BsYRcTpSlZeVFtMKekAMeine Musik auf Deezer:https://deezer. The opening choruses of each performance . https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bessie-Smith, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gXShOJVwaM, https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bessie-smith, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA, 1980: Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, 1989: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1989: Received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 1994: Face was placed upon a US Postage Stamp, 2001: Down Hearted Blues was named one of the Songs of the Century by the National Endowment for the Arts, 2002: Down Hearted Blues was listed on the National Recording Preservation Board by the Library of Congress, 2006: Down Hearted Blues listed in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Deep Sidhu Brother Mandeep Sidhu,
Sergeant At Law Canterbury Tales Social Class,
Actress Who Smoke In Real Life,
Articles B
