Listening List for the Blues (class March 24, 2026)

 Here is the Blues listening list. There is a lot here, and we probably won't finish this week but I might add a few items next week.

While Blues music has only been very popular for short periods of time, it was one of the  most influential types of music from the 20th century and has affected almost every other kind of popular music in America (and beyond). Jazz, rock, country, soul, gospel and other genres all owe their existence at least partly to Blues music, so it needs to be examined in more detail than some other varieties of music.
As always, I haven't checked each link so if you find any dead links please let me know.
Enjoy!

Blues Structure

8 bar blues (Key to the Highway)

12 bar blues (random)

16 bar blues (Watermelon man)

A more formal explanation (don't worry if you don't understand)

Another one (again, don't worry if you don't understand)


Country Blues

Black snake moan
Blind Lemon Jefferson (1926)

Devil got my woman
Skip James (1931)

Cross Road Blues
Robert Johnson (1936)

Last Kind Words
Geeshie Wiley (1930)

Good mornin' blues
Leadbelly (193?)

Key to the Highway
Big Bill Broonzy (1941)

Trouble in Mind (1924 song)
Lightning Hopkins (1967)


Classic Blues

Crazy blues
Mamie Smith (1920)

Shave 'em dry blues
Ma Rainey (1923)

Send me to the 'lectric chair
Bessie Smith (1927)


Memphis Blues

Dirty Butter
Minnie Wallace (1929)

Cocaine Habit Blues
Memphis Jug Band (1930)


Hokum/Dirty Blues

Tight like that
Clara Smith (1929)

Shave 'em dry
Lucille Bogan (Bessie Jackson) (1935)


Jazz and Blues

Fine and mellow
Billie Holiday (1939)

New blow top blues
Dinah Washington (1951)

Class Materials for March 17, 2026

Kind of a change in plans as I realized I made a mistake in scheduling, namely there will be Early Jazz and maybe scat singing tomorrow and the rest of Jazz will happen later, after we get through the Blues.

Anyway, here are the lyrics for tomorrow.

The notes for Early Jazz will be made available when I finish the Jazz section in a couple of weeks.

See y'all in class!

Listening List for March 17, 2026

We will finish elements from the last class (Coon songs, Minstrels and Ragtime) and begin with some elements of Jazz. As always I haven't check if all the links are good, if you find any dead links then please let me know and I'll try to find replacements.

Boogie Woogie

Cleo Brown (1935)
Boogie Woogie

Gene Rodgers (1939)
Jukebox Boogie

Fats Waller (1943)
Ain't Misbehavin' (from the film Stormy Weather)

Early Jazz / New Orleans (review)

King Oliver
Canal Street Blues (1923)

Jazz Funeral of Juanita Brooks (2009)

History of Scat Singing

Gene Greene
King of the Bungaloos (1911) starting at about 1:44

Cliff Edward (1922)
Homesick

Louis Armstrong (1926)
Heebie Jeebies

Duke Ellington / Adelaide Hall (1927)
Creole Love Call

Ella Fitzgerald (1960)
How High the Moon

Evolution from Pop to Jazz singing

song: More than you know (1929)
(In class we'll just listen to a short section)

Helen Morgan (1929) Torch (nightclub) singer

Ruth Etting (1929) Pop Singer

Mildred Bailey (1936) Pop-jazz singer

Billie Holiday (1939) Jazz singer

Big Bands

Chick Webb and his Orchestra (vocal by Ella Fitzgerald)
A-tisket a-tasket

Count Basie and his Orchestra (1940)
Lousiana

Duke Ellington (1952)
Satin Doll

Duke Ellington (from the movie Reveille with Beverly, 1943)
Take the A-Train

Lionel Hampton (1942)
Flying Home

Bebop

Dizzy Gillespie Quintet (1942)
Salt Peanuts

Charlie Parker (1946)
Confirmation

Big Bands and Dance

Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers (1943)
Jumpin' Jive

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers (1941)
from Hellzapoppin

(just for fun)
Chicago Steppin' (2010)

See y'all in class!

Class Materials for March 10, 2026

Here are the notes for music from Africa and Early Music in America.

Here are the lyrics for the class (mostly not as important as some coming classes).

Enjoy!

See y'all in class!

Pre-class Listening List - 1

Here is a pre-class listening list. Please note that these are general videos meant to give you an idea about the content to come. Not all videos will necessarily appear in class and some videos not here will be shared in class.

nb. I mostly cut and pasted links, if any are dead please let me know (email/chat on teams) and I'll try to repair.

I should have lyrics for the class videos during the weekend.

 

AFRICAN ROOTS

Rhythmic complexity: Adowa Dance.

Exhuberant dancing.

Similar to Breakdancing (Northern Nigeria, 1959).

Costumed religious dance (Zaouli - Ivory Coast).

Kumpo dance from Senegal.

Sexualized dancing (la ventilateur from Senegal).

Singing while farming (Ghana).

Post office employees from Ghana (starts at around 0.17).

ON TO THE AMERICA:

Field Hollers and Work Songs.

Hoe Emma Hoe

first version

second version

Prison work songs

Early in the morning.

Black Betty

Studio version - Leadbelly

British rock version – Ram Jam

Spirituals

Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Fisk Jubilee Singers) -1909

Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (Paul Robeson)

Deep River (Marion Anderson)

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (Odetta)

Oh Freedom! (Princely Players)

Coon songs

The Whistling Coon

Nigger Loves his Possum

If the Man in the Moon was a Coon

Minstrels and Blackface

General info:

Sand Dance

Comedy (in theory)

Black and White Minstrel Show (late 1970s UK TV)

Cake walk

Historical footage

Stage performance (recreated from a 1936 movie, Cake Walk starts around 0.35)

Stage performance (from 1903)

Ragtime

Dueling Pianos (something like a cutting session).

Maple Leaf Rag

The Entertainer (piano version)

The Entertainer 1973 version (from the Sting)

Solace

Bethena

A Real Slow Drag from Treemonisha

Commercial recorded version.

Live performance.

Enoy! And See y'all in class!

 

AAM: First Notes

This will be the blog for the African American Musical Tradition.

Here are the first notes (some basic information on African Americans).

Enjoy!

Class Stuff for February 03-04, 2026

UPDATE: Here are the most important things to know for the test.

Okay, this week.

Tuesday (which is... Tuesday).

There will be a Class Review (and preparation for the test).

I will also give a preview of my elective class next semester.

Wednesday (which apparently will also be Tuesday).

The test!

The test will be made up of fill-in-the-blank and short answers. 

It is open book (you may have notes from the class, mine or yours) but only in printed paper form, no digital devices will be allowed.

You will have (but probably won't need) 90 minutes for the test. If someone needs more time I'll probably give it to them....

After grading the test I will calculate grades based on the test and attendance and enter them, mostly likely by Friday or Saturday.

If you're satisfied with the grad I enter, then.... course over!

if you want a higher grade (up to 1 1/2 points) I will give you essay assignments followed by an in person meeting with me (more info on this in class)

If someone needs an exam then I can do that but it will be essay assignments (and an in person meeting with me).

See y'all in class!