What Role Did Song Pluggers Play In The Music Industry From The Nineteenth Century Until The 1920S?

What Role Did Song Pluggers Play In The Music Industry From The Nineteenth Century Until The 1920S
A song plugger, also known as a song demonstrator, was a vocalist or pianist who was hired in the early 20th century by department stores, music stores, and song publishers to promote and assist in the sale of new sheet music. This was the method by which hits were advertised prior to the widespread availability of high-quality recordings.

Frank Harding, who worked in the music publishing industry, is credited with developing the sales approach. In most cases, the pianist would sit on the mezzanine level of a store and play the music that was brought up to him by the sales clerk of the shop where the sheet music was being sold. Customers may choose any title, have it brought to the song plugger, and listen to a clip of the song before deciding whether or not to purchase it.

Although the phrases are sometimes used synonymously, people who worked in department shops or music stores were more commonly referred to as “song demonstrators,” whilst those who worked directly for music publishers were known as “song pluggers.” George Gershwin, Ron Roker, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and Lil Hardin Armstrong are some of the musicians and songwriters who have worked as song pluggers at one point or another in their careers.

What was the job of a song plugger quizlet?

Working in a music publishing firm was part of the song plugger’s professional responsibilities. When a possible client came, he would play and sing for him the most recent “hit” publications that were available for sale as sheet music, in the hopes of persuading him to purchase them.

Which is true about African American Ballads of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

Which of the following statements concerning African American songs from the 19th and early 20th centuries is true? They honored the deeds of black warriors and ‘evil men,’ as they called them. Rock and roll was significantly influenced by the music of Mexican immigrants who settled in California in the early 20th century.

What is true about the Diddley bow?

1982 recording of Moses Williams playing the diddley bow The diddley bow is a type of American instrument that features a single string and was instrumental in the creation of the blues sound. It is made out of one strand of baling wire that is stretched taut between two nails on a board that is placed above a glass bottle.

  • The bottle serves two purposes: it acts as a bridge and it amplifies the sound produced by the instrument.
  • In the Deep South, particularly within the African American community, it has a long history of being regarded as a beginner or children’s instrument.
  • However, outside of the rural South, it is extremely uncommon to hear this instrument played.

There is a possibility that it was affected, even if only little, by instruments from West Africa. This instrument is also known as the “jitterbug” or the “one-string,” however an ethnomusicologist would refer to it more officially as a “monochord zither.”

Which is the best known of the English ballad operas?

The Beggar’s Opera (1728), which is both a parody of Italian serious opera and a satire on the morals of modern politicians, is one of the first and most well-known examples of the genre of ballad opera. It is also one of the most renowned. The narrative was written by John Gay, and John Pepusch adapted the music for it. It was widely replicated by others.

What did song pluggers do?

Song pluggers are like musical matchmakers; they present musical compositions to recording artists and teams from record labels in the hopes that one of the songs would become a hit.

What was the purpose of Paul Whiteman’s 1924 concert entitled An Experiment in Modern music quizlet?

Paul Whiteman’s concert in 1924, which he labeled “An experiment in Modern Music,” had the objective of demonstrating that jazz was, in fact, a type of classical music. This was Whiteman’s thesis going into the performance.

What became a significant genre in American music in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

The Blues – Blues music was the first prominent type of secular music established by African American ex-slaves in the deep South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This occurred during the time period in which the 19th and 20th centuries were being written.

The blues evolved from previous black spirituals, work songs, field hollers, and dance music to address the social circumstances of ex-slaves who were struggling to establish themselves in the post–Reconstruction society of the southern United States. Early country blues songs frequently addressed topics such as strife in romantic relationships, being alone, enduring hardship and poverty, and going on journeys.

Blues music, on the other hand, highlighted the ups and downs of life and frequently expressed a sharp sense of sardonic humour as well as a determination to keep going in spite of challenging circumstances. It would be incorrect to conclude that the blues were only about sadness.

The majority of the earliest recordings of country blues were made in the 1920s and featured a lone male vocalist supporting himself on acoustic guitar. Some of these early performers included Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, and Son House. However, blues singers often utilized instruments such as banjos, mandolins, fiddles, and harmonicas, and they sometimes played in small groups that supplied the dance music at country juke joints.

Blues music was often played in social settings where African Americans danced, communed, and solidified their group identity. Despite the fact that blues has been interpreted as a highly individualistic form of expression due to the solo voice and first person text, blues music was frequently played in these settings.

The first blues lyrics were constructed around rhymed couplets, which were later standardized into a 12-bar (measure) format. This format featured an AAB structure, in which a couplet was repeated twice, and an answer was provided by a second couplet. For example, “I woke up this morning, I was feeling sad and blue.” As soon as I opened my eyes that morning, I was overcome with gloom and depression.

My darling gal she abandoned me; now I have no one to sing my tribulations to. The chords I (tonic), IV (subdominant), and V (dominant) form the basis of the major tonality, which is often constructed around a progression of 12 bars (measures) of chords.

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The melodic line frequently makes use of bent and slurred notes, and it also makes extensive use of the flatted third and seventh tones of the diatonic scale, which are also referred to as “blue notes.” The meter is often duple, which is equal to four beats each measure, and the tempos can range anywhere from a sluggish drag to a quick boogie.

In spite of the fact that the original blues were almost certainly rooted in the country, by the 1920s, blues music had already found its way into the city. Composers like W.C. Handy adapted blues motifs into successful symphonic compositions like “St.

Louis Blues” and “Memphis Blues,” while urban vocalists like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith recorded and popularized sophisticated, jazz-tinged interpretations of blues in the 1920s. Artists from Chicago such as Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield), Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Burnett), and Elmore James, as well as a bluesman from Memphis named B.B.

King, were responsible for electrifying the country blues and transforming it into rhythm and blues (R&B) in the years following World War II. By the middle of the 1950s, southern white singers like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly were combining aspects of rhythm and blues and country music to create a new pop genre called rock and roll.

How has African American music influence history?

Agency and Identity – Musical Crossroads examines the ways in which African American musicians and music lovers exercised personal agency and asserted their identities even in the face of daily humiliation and oppression at the hands of the American mainstream by using objects to do so.

The exhibition is titled “Musical Crossroads: Agency and Identity.” Throughout the 20th century, African Americans fought for civil rights, and music was an integral part of those campaigns. Objects with direct ties to political action shed light on the roles that music and performers played in movements for equality and justice.

A ticket to a performance given by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (S.N.C.C.) Freedom Singers in 1963, for instance, brings to mind the significant part that music played in boosting the morale of activists during the Civil Rights Movement that took place in the 1950s and 1960s.

  • The attire that was worn by Marian Anderson during her renowned performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 is a musical example of a blow that was delivered against systemic prejudice.
  • Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in front of a crowd of 75,000 people when the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her use Constitution Hall in Washington, DC because of her race.

The redesigned jacket and skirt that she wore at the concert bring to mind her historic performance. The ensemble that was linked with Marian Anderson’s performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 (modified 1993), Ginette DePreist’s donation to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in honor of her late husband James DePreist is part of that museum’s collection.

Other pieces in the Musical Crossroads exhibit investigate the creative agency that is utilized by a large number of African American artists in order to question preconceived assumptions of what it means to be African American. In spite of immense pressure from the music industry, there have always been black musicians who have refused to be pigeonholed.

One of these ferocious iconoclasts was the absolutely singular singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. Prince strove for commercial autonomy from the beginning of his illustrious career, all while violating societal standards about race, gender, and genre with his music, which could not be categorized.

Tambourine that was played by Prince during his Nude Tour at Wembley Stadium in 1990 and is now part of the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture In a similar vein, the Black Rock Coalition has spent the better part of a decade disproving the notion that rock music is exclusively “white” by drawing attention to the rock genre’s roots in African American culture and promoting modern black rock singers.

This drum belonged to Will Calhoun, a member of the rock band Living Colour, which is linked with the BRC. Will Calhoun’s custom Mapex black panther snare drum was donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2005.

What musical form was a carry over from African American singing into what became known as the blues?

An early style of African American music that was documented in the 19th century was called field holler music. This type of music is also known as levee camp holler music. The blues, spiritual music, and finally rhythm and blues all owe a debt to the field hollers that came before them.

What was Bo Diddley famous for?

Listen to music that was carefully selected to complement and increase your understanding of Bo Diddley (1928-2008) – You should have it playing in the background as you study and get completely immersed in this subject! Bo Diddley, also known by his real name Ellas Bates McDaniel, was a boxer and singer who was born on December 30th, 1928 in the city of McComb, Mississippi.

  1. When his mother’s spouse passed away in the middle of the 1930s, he was given up for adoption by his mother’s cousin.
  2. When McDaniel moved her family to Chicago, little Ellas began taking violin instruction at the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church from Professor O.W.
  3. Frederick.
  4. He spent a total of twelve years honing his skills as a violinist and wrote two concertos.

In 1940, McDaniel’s sister gave him an acoustic guitar over the holiday season as a gift. Soon after, he began to play the guitar, and his technique on that instrument was basically similar to that of the violin. Soon after that, he established his first band, initially called The Hipsters and then renamed The Langley Avenue Jive Cats, which consisted of three members.

  • During this period, the members of the band that he was a part of gave him the moniker “Bo Diddley.” On March 2, 1955, Diddley went into the studio with Checkers Records to record his debut song, which was titled “Bo Diddley”/”I’m A Man.” It spent two weeks at number one on the R&B chart.
  • Diddley began touring shortly after that, giving performances in a variety of venues, including schools, universities, and churches, all throughout the United States.
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No of the setting, he educated individuals on the significance “of respect and education as well as the risks associated with drug use and gang culture.” Bo Diddley was well-known for pioneering a variety of new musical genres and techniques. He was one of the first artists of the 1950s to include female musicians like Lady Bo, and he was one of the first to do so.

She was the first female lead guitarist in the history of the world to be engaged by a major artist and play all of their stage performances when he hired her on a permanent basis to play all of his stage performances. In addition, the innovative use of effects such as reverb and tremolo, as well as his skillful manipulation of his guitar, helped to establish him as a pioneering performer.

Diddley moved around the stage in a hopping and strutting manner while playing his guitar above his head, with his teeth, and even between his legs. In this way, he had an impact on a wide variety of rock performers beginning in the 1960s. Bo Diddley was honored by being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association in the year 1986.

  • The following year, he received the honor of being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
  • In 1996, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in Los Angeles honored Diddley for his lifetime of work by bestowing upon him the Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • The recording of his song “Bo Diddley,” which he made for the first time in 1955, was admitted into the Grammy Hall of Fame the following year, since it was deemed to be a recording of lasting quality or historical value.

In the same year, 1996, he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony that awards Grammys. Both the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and the North Florida Music Association Hall of Fame inducted Diddley into their respective halls of fame in the year 2000.

Diddley traveled to Mississippi in 2007 in order to accept the Governor’s Award of Excellence in the Arts for Lifetime Achievement, which is the highest accolade that can be bestowed in the state in the field of the arts. He returned to the Mississippi Blues Trail to check on the progress of his Blues Marker’s unveiling.

Bo Diddley passed away on June 2, 2008 in Florida due to complications from heart failure at the age of 79. He had five children, who went on to have 15 grandkids, 15 great-grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren between them. He was married a total of four times.

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What was the most successful dance band of the 1920s?

Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) was the conductor of the Ambassador Orchestra, which was the most popular dance band of the 1920s and by far the most successful.

Who invented the Bo Diddley beat?

Ellas Otha Bates was the name given to Bo Diddley when he was born on December 30, 1928 in Mississippi. Ellas came to Chicago with his aunt when his father passed away when he was just seven years old. His aunt ultimately adopted him, and he changed his last name to McDaniel as a result of the adoption.

  • Professor O.W.
  • Frederick at the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago was the one who first showed him how to play the classical violin.
  • This was the catalyst that got him interested in learning the guitar.
  • The Langley Avenue Jive Cats was the name of his first band, and they played most frequently at the Maxwell Street market.

Although they did not enjoy much success on a local level, they were quickly identified by Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records. On March 2, 1955, McDaniel released his first recorded single as Bo Diddley for Checker Records. The song “Bo Diddley”/”I’m A Man” was a massive smash, and it dominated the R&B charts for several weeks.

  • Despite his popularity, Bo Diddley battled in his relationships with record labels and television corporations because they refused to pay him recognition and royalties that he justifiably earned.
  • This was a problem that he shared with a great number of other blues musicians working at the time.
  • Even though he lost some of his fame in the United States, he managed to gain a significant amount of notoriety in a number of nations in Europe.

Unfortunately, his refusal to travel caused him to miss out on several years of touring, during which time the public’s interest shifted away from the Chicago blues and toward the British invasion. In his latter years, he received recognition for his accomplishments and was admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

  • Both of these halls of fame honor recording artists and producers.
  • The next year, in 2008, he passed away at the age of seventy-nine.
  • The Bo Diddley Beat Bo Diddley is much more than just a name; rather, Bo Diddley is a legacy and a musical style that has influenced the way people all over the world think about music.
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After picking up the guitar, Bo Diddley proceeded to reconstruct his musical equipment, such as his amplifier and his tremolo unit, which he constructed from various automobile components and other home machinery. This allowed him to begin developing the distinctive sound that would come to define his music.

These modifications added depth and complexity to his violin-like skills, which incorporated muted and distorted string sounds. This sound was introduced for the first time on the recording of the song “Bo Diddley,” and it was created by combining the maracas and the guitar. Ellas McDaniel was the one who came up with the name “Bo Diddley Beat,” which refers to a syncopated pattern of two measures.

This beat was quite reminiscent of “ham boning,” which is often referred to as “Pattin’ Juba” and is a classic African American slapping pattern. This method of making music enabled artists to generate a wide variety of rhythms by striking different portions of their bodies to produce a wide range of sounds and tones.

  1. It is also present in the foundations of music that fuses African and Cuban traditions.
  2. In tandem with McDaniel’s one-of-a-kind tonal quality, he laid the groundwork for the development of rock & roll.
  3. This sound is frequently identifiable in the music of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Buddy Holiday, and Johnny Otis, amongst others.

Bruce Springsteen, U2, as well as a great many more artists. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis are three further rock & roll pioneers who had a significant impact. In spite of the fact that Bo Diddley believed he did not receive sufficient acknowledgment for his influence on American music, the Bo Diddley Beat is now well-known among artists all over the world.

  1. It is still a part of many rockers’ vocabularies in this day and age.
  2. Here is a video of Bo Diddley playing on the Ed Sullivan Show for any of my readers who may not be familiar with the Bo Diddley Beat and want to hear it for themselves.
  3. YouTube video of Bo Diddley performing “Bo Diddley” on The Ed Sullivan Show It was called The Ed Sullivan Show.

Subscribers totaling 483,000 The Ed Sullivan Show performance of “Bo Diddley” by Bo Diddley Watch this space! Share Shop online with this copy of the URL. Tap to remove the mute. If the playback doesn’t start after a short amount of time, you should try restarting your device.

Why was The Beggar’s opera important?

The Beggar’s Opera was the earliest example of political satire, and it was one of the factors that contributed to the passage of the Licensing Act of 1737. The popularity of the opera inspired several up-and-coming writers, such as Henry Fielding, to start working on political theatre works.

Which term commonly refers to the most important songs of the early 20th century in the US?

The “Great American Songbook” is the canon of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century that have withstood the test of time in their life and legacy, as defined by the Great American Songbook Foundation.

The term “Great American Songbook” was coined by the Great American Songbook Foundation. It is common practice to refer to the songs that were published during the Golden Age of this genre as “American Standards.” These songs include the well-known and enduring compositions that were written for Broadway musicals, Hollywood musical films, and musical theater on Broadway between the years of the 1920s and the 1950s.

The term “Great American Songbook” is defined by Martin Chilton, a writer on culture, as the “tunes of Broadway musical theatre, Hollywood movie musicals, and Tin Pan Alley” (the centre of songwriting that was the music publishers’ row on New York’s West 28th Street).

According to Chilton, throughout the time span that “extended roughly from 1920 to 1960,” these tunes “formed the basic repertory of jazz players.” Although a number of collections of music with the name “Great American Songbook” have been released, the term “Great American Songbook” does not relate to a particular book or set of songs in any way.

The Great American Songbook is a collection of well-known songs written by composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, and Richard Rodgers. In the book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950, published in 1972, composer and music critic Alec Wilder names and rates the musicians who, in his opinion, should be considered canonical members of the Great American Songbook.

When was ballad opera popular?

The ballad opera is a form of theatrical entertainment that first appeared on the English stage in the early 18th century, and it continued to evolve during the subsequent century as well as in succeeding years. It is distinguished from the comédie en vaudeville, which came before it, as well as the Singspiel, which came after it, by the combination of tunes in a popular style—either pre-existing tunes or compositions that were freshly composed—with spoken conversation.

Which American composer first broke into the music business as a song plugger?

In the beginning of his career in the music business, George Gershwin worked as a song plugger. It is generally agreed that George Gershwin was one of the first American composers to make use of African American blues and jazz influences in his works.

Where was Tin Pan Alley quizlet?

1) It was a conglomeration of sheet music publishers located on New York City’s West 28th Street.

Which work is considered Gershwin’s masterpiece quizlet?

Gershwin wrote a number of hybrid works, one of which being the ‘folk opera’ Porgy and Bess, which is generally regarded as his masterpiece. He did this in an effort to bring together aspects of the jazz heritage with the European concert tradition.

What was Tin Pan Alley originally the name of?

Tin Pan Alley was originally referred to as the area of row homes located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues on 28th Street. This is where the phrase “Tin Pan Alley” was first used.