"Blues Take on a New Meaning," The BG News, May 1, 1974.
By Montel Jennings
210 Rodgers
Guest Student Columnist
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| The cover of Blues People by Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) |
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The blues are a part of our tradition
reflecting not only the history of the
black man in America, but also the
prodding changes of civilization as it
grew from the farm to the factory, and
from small rural townships to the
larger cities.
Although the blues can reside only
with black people, it also accurately
reflects the movements, trends and
changing atmosphere of American
society as a whole.
Today the blues are taking on a new
meaning because at no other time in
history has the large black populous
been on the verge of achieving a sense
of equality with the larger white
majority.
FREEDOM, anti-racism and black
power are the keynotes for a movement that is attempting to move
the black man away from
subservience, hypocrisy and second-rate American citizenship.
A large part of current change is due
to evolution and the almost frenetic
pace of contemporary society. All
men, whether black or white, when the
proper time arises, will attempt to
claim the few universal rights which
should ideally govern one man's
relationship to his fellow man.
The blues in the early years dealt
with the black man's interaction with
his new environment, the oppressive
struggles of work, torment and the
never-ending fear of an unpredictable
future.
THESE VERY tangible,
unendurable hardships permeated a
good deal of the early music. Lack of
hope and incentive will weaken a man;
driving away all feeling of hope and he
eventually arrives at the point where
he no longer wishes to work, realizing
that the road is endless.
Feelings and moods changed as this
country grew, for the blues spoke for
an entire people, cleansing the
impurities of everyday life and giving
sustenance for one's day today
existence. Like any musical form, it
slowly evolved as this country began to
grow and expand. New elements were
injected into the music as the black
man's needs and scope broadened.
THE HISTORY of the blues is in
essence a study in self-realization.
That is to say that, as the black man's
perspective of himself in relation to
society changed, his music changed in
almost direct proportion. In the early
years, the question of freedom was
always very remote; it was thought
about, but more often than not. it was
only a pleasant dream never to be
actually enjoyed.
But as the years passed through Civil War and Reconstruction, the black
man's feeling about himself and his
new status came to the fore with a
more pressing Immediacy.
Each new problem that faced the
newly emancipated slave was dealt with in song; such as the movement
away from the plantation, searching
for work, on the rails, and finally the
mass migration to the big city in
search of new opportunities and a
supposedly new grasp of life.
Traditional blues varied with
interpretation. It was happy, sad.
melancholy and always mournfully
soulful. To the present time, the blues
still reflect the enforced isolation or
cultural separation resulting from an
entire group's one outstanding
common bond-skin pigmentation.
THE BLUES of today represents a
synthesis of all that preceded it,
primarily in terms of textual contents
and musical form. Early blues tended
to be a purer form in that the degree of
outside influences were negligible.
While enslaved, the black man's
musical frame of reference was quite
limited. Plantation life and the
unending tortures of work served as
the primary textual motivation.
However, the form and drive of this
early music was still rooted in an
African culture whose influences were
to slowly dissipate as time obliviated
memories of a past life. The early
music revealed a rhythmic structure
that utilized polyrhythms. exotic
syncopated patterns and had a
responsorial flavor never before heard
in this country.
These early characteristics
remained, but as the black man's life
became more complicated, new
influences were to slowly alter basic
forms and content.
Today the blues are a sophisticated
art form whose rhythmic and formal
structures are over expanding The
relaxed down-home quality of much of
early rural blues has given way to a
form that is not only musically
interesting, but aggressive and proud
in all its aspects.
A GOOD part of early blues music
was not written down and many
singers and writers are to this day still
anonymous. Words and music were
passed down from father to son, generation to generation, never to be
formally recorded in musical history.
The work songs, chain gang songs, and gospel music were a source of
relief and were a socially acceptable
way for a singer to give voice to his
innermost feelings.
It is now. more than ever, one of the
black man's creative tools, proudly
enforcing his equality, his manliness,
and his right to be free in a country
that has denied his existence for well
over a hundred years.
Traditional 12-bar blues' patterns
and rather simple guitar
accompaniments are being replaced by
more elaborate instrumental
ensembles utilizing sophisticated
recording techniques. Some of the
contemporary blues artists are using
rhythm and blues effects, ensemble
groups and a basic rock foundation to
forcibly drive home a point.
THE BLUES will never cease to be
sung it will only change as time alters
and redefines the black man's plight in
this country.
