American Music

[KAR120C]

I've put together most of a year of American History and Lit (North American -- I'm including Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean in this) and it struck me that we could really use a soundtrack to go along. I'm not planning to focus on music in an academic sense, although that could happen, I'm just thinking of this as the great big mix tape of the year. :D

 

The major points where we're going to park and look around a bit are:

 

War of 1812

Westward Expansion

US Civil War

Spanish-American War

WWI

WWII

... then a fairly hefty bit of the year will be devoted to the second half of the 20th century - cold war, baby boom, beat generation, civil rights era, Vietnam, social changes, etc. And interspersed through all of that is a focus on different waves of immigration.

 

So with that said.... we have a ton of music appropriate to the civil war era (because I did a playlist for a trip to Gettysburg a few years ago...), and a huge collection of music from the 1960s and 70s. Somehow we have a bunch of Central and South American music but not much Mexican or Caribbean. My biggest gap is in the early 20th century - especially jazz and the Harlem Renaissance.

 

If you were assembling a playlist for this purpose... what would be your can't miss songs and/or artists?

[Emerald Stoker]

I know this is an old post, but thought you might still be looking for a few ideas, Erica.

 

A handful of not-to-be-missed jazz (blues/ragtime/stride/boogie-woogie/Dixieland) artists from the early part of the century (i.e. active by 1930 at the latest): Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Scott Joplin, Fats Waller, Eubie Blake, Meade "Lux" Lewis, Art Tatum, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong (my kids insist on calling him MR. Louis Armstrong, thank you very much!:)). A book you might like is Burton Peretti’s "Jazz in American Culture."

 

Not jazz, but a great piece of American classical music from the early 20th century is Charles Ives’s Second Piano Sonata (the "Concord"; written ca. 1910-15).

 

The quintessential voice of the Great War was the Irish tenor John McCormack (and he took American citizenship in 1917, so you can include him!). "Roses of Picardy" will make you weep...

 

Now I’ll see if I can post this without the computer eating it this time....grrr....

 

Best,

HG

[LanaTron]

You might consider the Negro spirituals.

 

The Negro spirituals were based on rhythms/forms of music the slaves brought from Africa, and they are the roots of the tree of almost all music that is uniquely North American. From these songs the slaves sang in their Sunday worship and/or working out in the fields, we get all the various forms of jazz (blues, ragtime, dixieland, etc.), as well as rock-and-roll and all its offshoots.

 

I took a class on this subject in college, and 20 years and 4 kids later, my recollection of the details is fuzzy, but I'm sure you could find more info if you wanted

 

Here is a website that has info about the spirituals during different parts of U.S. History, as well as some free recordings to listen to.

 

Here is a site that might help with your total endeavor. There is even a cd.

 

I could keep listing websites on this topic, but that's my interest and perhaps not yours. :D

 

Good luck!

[Shifra]

The CD The Story of Foster and Sousa would probably be perfect for a unit on American music. Most of what we would consider American folk tunes were written by Stephen Foster.

 

Wynton Marsalis wrote a book called Marsalis on Music that accompanied a PBS special by the same name. If you could get the book or DVDs, he explains a lot about how jazz (the purely American music) developed.

 

I also just finished the 1970 version of LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S YOUNG PEOPLE'S CONCERTS, which had a whole chapter on the development of American music. The television shows that Leonard Bernstein produced, Young People's Concerts, are also available on DVD. Your local library may have them.

[KAR120C]

Thank you Honoria, Lana, and Shifra! I knew someone would have some ideas!! Now the "problem" will be how to keep from turning this into a rabbit trail bigger than the original history course... Oh to have such problems! LOL

 

Thanks again!

[Shifra]

I have found some other resources that are worth mentioning. Keith and Rusty McNeil have a series of books and CDs with the following titles:

 

Colonial & Revolution Songs

Moving West Songs

Civil War Songs

Working & Union Songs

California Songs

Cowboy Songs

Western Railroad Songs

Religious Songs

 

There is also a book called American History in Song by Ruth DeCesare (published by Hal Leonard). One last CD (and an available companion book) I have seen advertised is George Washington: Music for the First President.

[KAR120C]

I have found some other resources that are worth mentioning. Keith and Rusty McNeil have a series of books and CDs with the following titles:

 

Colonial & Revolution Songs

Moving West Songs

Civil War Songs

Working & Union Songs

California Songs

Cowboy Songs

Western Railroad Songs

Religious Songs

 

There is also a book called American History in Song by Ruth DeCesare (published by Hal Leonard). One last CD (and an available companion book) I have seen advertised is George Washington: Music for the First President.

This is fabulous! Thank you!!

[abbeyej]

Have you taken a look at Exploring America's Musical Heritage? I don't have it yet, but I'm loving Discovering Music, so I can't imagine I'd be less than thrilled with this one either.

 

And I'll second American History Through Folksong -- we have the Colonial, Moving West, and Civil War sets so far...

 

There are still plenty of other things to add in, but I do think these are wonderful resources.

[Storm Bay]

Although the book is for younger kids, there is a good selection of songs on Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder. You could also look for some ragtime music.

 

Aaron Copeland is a very important American composer who was born in 1900 and was already composing for a good 20-25 years of this time, so I'd be sure to listen to some of his work from this period of time. Here's a mini biography of him at pbs http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/aaron-copland/about-the-composer/475/ .

 

I'd also listen to Ella Fitzgerald http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/, Bessie Smith (if there are any recordings of her still available http://www.redhotjazz.com/bessie.html), etc.

[abbeyej]

...Laura Ingalls Wilder...

 

Speaking of Laura, the albums "Happy Land" and "Arkansas Traveler" feature folk songs mentioned in her books as well. Various artists, including a recording or two of fiddlers of Pa's generation (obviously the recording quality on those tracks is poorer than the others).