The narrator, who presents himself as a victim describes how . 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. Nonetheless, when she recorded it in 1927 Backwater Blues became an anthem for the great Mississippi River Flood. Become a Musicnotes Pro - Premium member today and receive 24 titles per year plus take 15% off all digital sheet music purchases and get PDFs included with every song! Bessie Smith. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, courtesy of the Rock Hall Library and Archive, https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bessie-smith. 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. Jazz- Review Questions Flashcards | Quizlet However, the blues utility in our everyday language signifies to me that the blues are ingrained into US culture. Pro Credit Pack (3 Pro Credits) Included with first year, Your high-resolution PDF file will be ready to download in 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. Backwater Blues tells the story of how the speaker is forced out of her home due to flooding waters. She teaches in the MFA program at San Diego State University. Kevin Young was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. } In the Voice and in the Deep, Blues Poetry - Poetry Foundation 'Cause my house fell down. Dinah Washington - Back Water Blues - YouTube Smith (on vocal with James P. Johnson on piano) recorded it as "Back-water Blues" on February 17, 1927, in New York City. 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. 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. Dazu brauchen wir deine Einwillung*. Each verse in the song follows an AAB pattern from beginning to end. Sheet music arranged for Piano/Vocal/Guitar in C Major (transposable). What is 12-bar-blues form? 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. 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. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. I am majoring in biology and love helping my community! 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. 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. Almost half a million homes were destroyed. The lyrics of the song are interpreted with respect to the events of that flood. When it thunders and lightnin' and the wind begin to blow. Bessie Smith - Backwater Blues Flashcards | Quizlet In our workshop, In the Voice and in the Deep, Blues Poetry, participants and I studied blues music, history, aesthetics, and ultimately blues poetry. The third-sixth verses have the traditional AAB blues pattern, which helps emphasize what she is saying during each verse. Learn to hear chords by ear. Jazz- Review Questions. Smith performed for nearly a decade until Columbia Records signed her in 1923. The words vary from one performer to another; this opening verse is representative: When it rains five days, and the skies turn dark as night (2) Published online by Cambridge University Press: Thank you. What characterizes a blues performance? Smith describes how down she is about her life and how she knows there is nothing she can do about it. The beat does . Smith, Bessie. Carl Van Vechten Estate/Library of Congress, Washington D.C., photograph by Carl Van Vechten, 1936, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bessie-Smith. Backwater Blues Bessie Smith Chords and Lyrics for Guitar Smith is believed to be one of the highest paid black performers of her time. The flood was a devastating ordeal. She is the author of three collections of poems, most recently Rhapsody in Plain Yellow (2002). "useRatesEcommerce": false Hooktheory requires WebAudio and this browser doesn't support it. Listening Guide to Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith - YouTube This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith recorded her song. I have sympathy towards Smith during her performance of this song because she conveys how lonesome she is. Bessie Smith Chords & Tabs : 24 Total @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com 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. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. The flood from The Cumberland River that struck Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas Day 1926, AAB e.g. Backwater Blues is written in the key of E Major. Terrible images came across the television screen and recently with global warming and continuous flooding and natural disasters this poem survives the test of time and can speak to a variety of incidents and international dislocated peoples. Lets look at this poem closely. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith . 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. The first two lines are of almost equal length. There were reports that officials behaved in a discriminatory fashion. 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. 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. 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, Clar. [Verse 5] And I went . What are the introductory chords that illustrate this? 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. Feature Flags: { 04 January 2007. Hi! 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. Cover versions of Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas | SecondHandSongs 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. Not only did she sing, she was also an actress and comedian. A modified 12 bar blues. Download and Print scores from huge community collection ( 1,426,528 and growing) Advanced tools to level up your playing skills. One subscription across all of your devices. print music publishers. 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. 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. 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. The opening choruses of each performance . 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. '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. 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 rhythm remains constant throughout the song, allowing the melody to flow peacefully during the piece. I think in the best identity poems that the self represents something much larger than the self. Of course, I learn so much from the Bessie Smiths blues poems. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Bessie and Me). It also deals with how said flood displaced several victims and led to the loss of hundreds of lives. 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). Backwater blues done called me to pack my things and go. The Cumberland River, which flows through the city, rose 56 feet (17m) above its normal level, still a record as of 2014[update].[4]. Yeah, when it's thunderin' and lightnin'. View Official Scores licensed from. The flood was a devastating ordeal. The melody is conjunct, making it easy to follow the lyrics of the song and the instrumental portions at the same time. Instagram oder Facebook auf Songtexte.com geladen werden. Of course, we Americans have historical amnesia. Backwater Blues - Piano - YouTube Song: Back-Water Blues written by Bessie Smith | SecondHandSongs Second, the first published blues composition is accredited to W.C. Handys Memphis Blues in 1912. Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. I have her strong voice in my ear at all times. 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 song "Backwater Blues" is a blues and jazz standard written by Bessie Smith. Adds to the blues feel as the music is seen to reflect the realities of her situation. Create beats, songs, and musical snippets with built-in music theory, melody guides, and intelligent chord suggestions. According to the Theorytab database, it is the 5th most popular key among Major keys and the 5th most popular among all keys. Hostname: page-component-75b8448494-knlg2 My name is Lex and I am a rising senior at the University of Georgia. Mmm, I cant move no more. Bessie actually wrote Backwater Blues for the Cumberland River flood that hit Nashville on Christmas morning 1926. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. [2], The song has long been associated with the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. There were reports that officials behaved in a discriminatory fashion. Backwater Blues Chris Fisher-Lochhead There is one integral line throughout the stanza. 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.'. Cause my house fell down and I can't live there no more. Backwater blues done called me to pack my things and go. Over her ten year career, she created one hundred and sixty recordings. The rhythm and beat remain constant throughout the song. "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? Blues on Yellow Marilyn Chin from Rhapsody in Plain Yellow. The piece uses syncopation to allow variation between the instruments and the vocals. Bessie Smith, "Backwater blues", 1927 - YouTube I cant do justice to this poem, to Backwater Blues, by just reciting it myself. The beat does not change because each verse follows the same AAB pattern, which results in the same rhythm continuing on. Render date: 2023-05-02T09:42:40.381Z 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. "Backwater Blues" (Song) - Song Meanings and Facts There aint no place for a poor old girl to go. 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 . 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. Datenschutzbestimmungen. 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. See the E Major Cheat Sheet for popular chords, chord progressions, downloadable midi files and more! Log dich ein um diese Funktion zu nutzen. 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. Borrowing from song to write about whats wrong. 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. Baraka attributes this knowledge to his mentor Sterling A. This suggests to me that aspects of contemporary US poetry could be in lineage of African diasporic culture. 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. 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. 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. There's thousands of people ain't got no place to go. 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. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith recorded her song. The poem moves to personal depression. 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 . Writer(s): Smith The first line sets the scene, the second line repeats the first for emphasis. Leadbelly - Backwater Blues - YouTube Backwater Blues by Big Bill Broonzy was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. While many latter-day . Alle Informationen dazu findest du in unseren Marilyn Chin (1955- ) was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Oregon, and received her MFA from the University of Iowa. 3.2 Online-Unterricht - Backwater Blues - YouTube The call and response between vocals and piano does what? Please use a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, or Opera instead. for this article. Hier geht's zu meiner Musik auf Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/1EV1CjZHtzJGK5SZyEyKst?si=ya1BsYRcTpSlZeVFtMKekAMeine Musik auf Deezer:https://deezer. In order to interrogate said materials, six recordings by different musicians were chosen and meticulously transcribed. In "Backwater Blues", the writer retells the incidents surrounding the flooding of Nashville in 1927. Back-Water Blues. Marilyn Chin reads and discusses Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues Photo credit: Carl Van Vechten, Celebrating Contemporary Books & Writers at the Library, From the Catbird Seat: The official Poetry and Literature podcast, Receive notifications about events, activities, and online resources, Marilyn Chin reads and discusses Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues", Rhapsody in plain yellow, by Marilyn Chin, Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature. The vocalization stands out far more than the sound of the instruments, primarily due to Smiths incredible voice. 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. The first two verses are unique and do not have any repetition. hasContentIssue false. Bessie Smith, commonly referred to as the Empress of the Blues, was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 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 . As musicologist Dr. David Evans has noted, Back-Water Blues was recorded in February 1927, before the great disaster of April. What are the introductory chords that illustrate this? The scene is set with the terrific storm by the female speaker, so depressed that she cant even get out of the door. 7 available keys. 15Label: Route 16Year: 1990This CD is from my own collection. Mmm, I can't move no more. They relocated the white folks in an expedient manner but corralled the black folks into abysmal camps. Following her death, Smiths legacy continued on as she inspired new artists to display who they truly were. 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. To pack my things and go. Back-Water Blues 65th in 1927. 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. Her powerful voice stands out so much in this song that the instrumental background may not even be needed as supplementation. Chris Fisher-Lochhead. :)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Title: Backwater BluesLevel: BeginnerCom. El disco e. The despair is deep, is deeply personal, but it is also metaphorical and speaks to the despair of an entire community. The three most important chords, built off the 1st, 4th and 5th scale degrees are all major . Thematically, write about whatever you feel must be sung. Smith's voice not only had this quality, it also possessed a rich timbre and tremendous emotive power. I do not believe in a fixed way to write blues poems or poetry with blues feeling. Big Bill Broonzy released it on the album Folk Blues in 1954. 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). 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. 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. West End Blues - Louis Armstrong (Analysis) - bradpottermusic The song has a homophonic texture due to the use of instruments and vocalization in unison. The best song poems, I believe, can live on the pages as well as in the ear. Third, Mamie Smith became the first Black blues singer to record a blues record in 1920. 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). Smith did not cut any corners in her songs- she told everyone how the world really was and how she felt about it. 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. The beat is easy to tap along to, making it easier to focus on her lyrics. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. Bessie Smith - Back-Water Blues Lyrics | Genius Lyrics 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. Another way of reading classic blues lyric structure is as weighted-sonic couplets. music review for midterm Flashcards | Quizlet There was evidence of lynchings and unspeakable killings and terrible acts against the black community. 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. She believed that her truth needed to be told, so she told it. [3] However, that flood was at its worst some two months after the song was written. She manages to escape her flooding home, only to look back and see that she will never be able to go back to it. It was originally composed by Joe "King" Oliver and is largely performed as an instrumental, although lyrics were . The third line either comments or reverses the first two lines. The beginning of Down Hearted Blues actually reminded me of Ragtime music slightly. 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. The song "Backwater Blues" is a blues and jazz standard written by Bessie Smith. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like backwater blues, libretto, step interval and more. Furthermore, Baraka notes that Africanisms (retentions of African culture throughout the African diaspora) were not limited to US Black people but that the culture of the Americas contains and is itself influenced by Africanisms. Total loading time: 0 Songtext von Bessie Smith - Backwater Blues Lyrics Please download this song, preferably the original 1927 recording by Bessie Smith, and listen to her amazing singing. The piece has a homophonic texture due to the supplementation of the instruments to the vocalization of Smith. The song is called "West End Blues" and was recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in 1928. Although Smith is very pleasing to the ears, she seems to be slightly monotone in this piece. LISTENING part 1 SEIGFRIED CHAP 5. richard wagner germany One more piece. When it's . Bessie Smith recorded Backwater Blues in 1927, and it became an anthem for one of the most devastating national disasters in US history. Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com. How does the music reflect the lyrical content of the piece? 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. The repetition of her lyrics depict just how saddening her situation is- she is in the middle of losing everything. Post 4- Blues Music: Bessie Smith | by Alexis Allen | Medium Major keys, along with minor keys, are a common choice for popular songs. The song has a homophonic texture due to the use of instruments and vocalization in unison. Bessie Smith "Backwater Blues" Sheet Music in C Major (transposable
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