The song is called "West End Blues" and was recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in 1928. 15Label: Route 16Year: 1990This CD is from my own collection. Create beats, songs, and musical ideas with built-in music theory and AI from over 30k songs. Smith (on vocal with James P. Johnson on piano) recorded it as "Back-water Blues" on February 17, 1927, in New York City. I have her strong voice in my ear at all times. My name is Lex and I am a rising senior at the University of Georgia. Almost a million people became homeless for a time. Smith's voice not only had this quality, it also possessed a rich timbre and tremendous emotive power. 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. View all Google Scholar citations The best song poems, I believe, can live on the pages as well as in the ear. Bessie Smith. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, courtesy of the Rock Hall Library and Archive, https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bessie-smith. 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. Bessie Smith (Down Hearted Blues, 1923) Jazz Legend. Youtube, uploaded by RagtimeDorianHenry, 3 Jun 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA. The piece uses syncopation to allow variation between the instruments and the vocals. Entire black neighborhoods were wiped out. How does the music reflect the lyrical content of the piece? Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like backwater blues, libretto, step interval and more. print music publishers. 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. 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. Leadbelly - Backwater BluesTaken from: 16 Greatest Songs (As Pictured)Track no. I think in the best identity poems that the self represents something much larger than the self. 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 . "When it rains five days, and the skies turn dark as night (x2). 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. Following her death, Smiths legacy continued on as she inspired new artists to display who they truly were. Yeah, when it's thunderin' and lightnin'. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith recorded her song. 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. Major keys, along with minor keys, are a common choice for popular songs. [2], The song has long been associated with the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. 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. She is the author of three collections of poems, most recently Rhapsody in Plain Yellow (2002). Of course, I learn so much from the Bessie Smiths blues poems. I do not believe in a fixed way to write blues poems or poetry with blues feeling. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) began her professional career as a blues singer in cabarets in 1912. Lets look at this poem closely. :)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Title: Backwater BluesLevel: BeginnerCom. Train with real songs. 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. Thank you. What are the introductory chords that illustrate this? Blues on Yellow Marilyn Chin from Rhapsody in Plain Yellow. Chris Fisher-Lochhead. The despair is deep, is deeply personal, but it is also metaphorical and speaks to the despair of an entire community. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. Smith continued on to become very successful with hits like St. SKU: MN0121681 What is 12-bar-blues form? The song has a homophonic texture due to the use of instruments and vocalization in unison. } As musicologist Dr. David Evans has noted, Back-Water Blues was recorded in February 1927, before the great disaster of April. 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. "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? Hooktheory requires WebAudio and this browser doesn't support it. In terms of chords and melody, Backwater Blues is more complex than the typical song, having above average scores in Chord Complexity, Melodic Complexity, Chord-Melody Tension and Chord Progression Novelty. Sheet music arranged for Piano/Vocal/Guitar in C Major (transposable). [1] Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023. Bessie actually wrote Backwater Blues for the Cumberland River flood that hit Nashville on Christmas morning 1926. There aint no place for a poor old girl to go. It also deals with how said flood displaced several victims and led to the loss of hundreds of lives. The rhythm remains constant throughout the song, allowing the melody to flow peacefully during the piece. First, research supports the claim that blues music originated during the postUS Civil War era (186165) and is derived from spirituals and work and field songs of Black sharecroppers of the rural south, particularly the Mississippi Delta. Download and Print scores from huge community collection ( 1,426,528 and growing) Advanced tools to level up your playing skills. Bessie Smith had a powerful impact on future blues and Rock and Roll singers, like Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. The melody is conjunct, making it easy to follow the lyrics of the song and the instrumental portions at the same time. hasContentIssue false. Mchtest du Inhalte von aktivieren? The song "Backwater Blues" is a blues and jazz standard written by Bessie Smith. Perhaps the build-up of rain made her anticipate the flood; it was released just as the flood came, and as a result, it became a big hit., Charter Member Directory (Password Protected). The poem moves to personal depression. Mmm, I cant move no more. I am majoring in biology and love helping my community! Hi! Smith describes how down she is about her life and how she knows there is nothing she can do about it. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Bessie and Me). 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. Irma Thomas released it on the album Our New Orleans 2005 - A Benefit Album in 2005. Nose To Tail - Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast 2, Mushihimesama Futari - Sea of Frozen Crystals. She lets the chords of the instruments dangle off of her words, resulting in a beautiful piece that focuses primarily on the lyrics. Kevin Young was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hier geht's zu meiner Musik auf Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/1EV1CjZHtzJGK5SZyEyKst?si=ya1BsYRcTpSlZeVFtMKekAMeine Musik auf Deezer:https://deezer. The beginning of Down Hearted Blues actually reminded me of Ragtime music slightly. The conjunct melody made me want to sing along with her! The flood was a devastating ordeal. Designed and built by Hooktheory in California. They relocated the white folks in an expedient manner but corralled the black folks into abysmal camps. She manages to escape her flooding home, only to look back and see that she will never be able to go back to it. Not only did she sing, she was also an actress and comedian. After discussing blues history, we went over Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues," then Langston Hughes' "Too Blue," and concluded our study with Jericho Brown's . The first line sets the scene, the second line repeats the first for emphasis. Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. The song "Backwater Blues" is a blues and jazz standard written by Bessie Smith. The blues poems was more here on American soil, and so I study the blues poems closely and write blues poems to pay homage to all those African American blues masters. 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. La Bouche) [2023 Mix] [Extended Mix] Songtext. Study of Smith's touring itinerary, of testimony of fellow entertainers who toured with her, and of contemporary reports indicates that the song was written in response to the flood that struck Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas Day 1926. She earned her title by displaying her powerful voice to the public for everyone to hear. About a thousand people lost their lives. Of course, we Americans have historical amnesia. In "Backwater Blues", the writer retells the incidents surrounding the flooding of Nashville in 1927. 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. Down Hearted Blues, her first recording, sold nearly 800,000 copies, firmly establishing her as a new singer in the blues genre. The narrator, who presents himself as a victim describes how . The vocalization stands out far more than the sound of the instruments, primarily due to Smiths incredible voice. I make it a point to learn the African American poetic tradition. Her powerful voice stands out so much in this song that the instrumental background may not even be needed as supplementation. 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. Learn to hear chords by ear. Each verse in the song follows an AAB pattern from beginning to end. Her voice is subversive, defiant despite all odds against her. Bessie Smith, "Backwater blues", 1927The song "Backwater Blues" is a blues and jazz standard. And I can't live there no more. The first two verses are unique and do not have any repetition. The opening choruses of each performance . The call and response between vocals and piano does what? 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. 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 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. The lyrics of the song are interpreted with respect to the events of that flood. Hostname: page-component-75b8448494-knlg2 Today, I hear phrases such as the winter blues and Blue Monday and know that they are not considering this history. Chin is the recipient of the PEN/Josephine Miles Award, a Fullbright Fellowship, and the Paterson Prize, among numerous other honors. Datenschutzbestimmungen. Total loading time: 0 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. The piece has a homophonic texture due to the supplementation of the instruments to the vocalization of Smith. 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. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. Bessie Smith, commonly referred to as the Empress of the Blues, was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 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. 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).

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