Last week we discussed the concept of social dances and examined some examples of such in Oceana County (how about those $50 oyster dinners?). This week I wanted to expand on that concept and discuss popular music from the turn of the century in the United States. Specifically, I want to talk about the history of America’s burgeoning music tradition.
At the beginning of American history, popular music was set by British tradition - operas and classical music primarily enjoyed by the upper class and folk tunes and reels enjoyed by everyone else. One common thing you’ll find in a book of traditional American music is “lyrics sung to 'X' traditional British tune.” One well-known example is “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” sung to the tune of the British national anthem “God Save the Queen.” Or King, as it typically is when Queen Elizabeths are in short supply. I myself got to witness this awkward transition firsthand when I was at school in Scotland in September 2023, when King Charles inherited the throne from his mother. For a while, it was sung a bit like “God save the Quing.” I myself was sitting in the back, whispering “My Country ‘Tis of Thee…”
The more America evolved as its own independent nation, the more it formed its own music culture, which came from a wide variety of influences. These influences represented not only the diversity of European immigrants coming to the country, but the musical traditions of indigenous cultures, enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Following the upheaval of the American Civil War in the 1860s, marching and battle songs also rose to prominence amongst everyday Americans. The most famous composer in this genre is John Philip Sousa, whose music is still performed today at military events and parades.
Towards the end of the 19th century, a new musical trend emerged in the U.S., not unique to the nation but what certainly became its most popular cultural export - minstrelsy. This genre was characterized by comical musical routines featuring stereotyped non-white characters, performed by white actors in blackface. Much of the music was either stolen from or based on Black Spirituals. While minstrel shows were primarily performed by white artists, Black artists were not uncommon. Some of them were even expected to paint their skin darker and put on the same dehumanizing and caricaturistic acts to adhere to genre expectations.
While this tradition is an unfortunate shadow in America’s popular history (which only fell out of popularity in the last 60 or so years), it is inextricably linked to our history and cannot be ignored. The Library of Congress put it perfectly: “The minstrel shows promoted and reinforced many of the worst stereotypes of African-Americans, but their importance to the development of American popular music is inescapable. At their best, they presented a uniquely American blend of absurdity and pathos and freed musicians and actors from the restrictions of old-world performance styles.”
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most popular American music was produced and written on a short city block in New York City known as Tin Pan Alley. Here, a large amount of American music was copywritten and sheet music produced en masse. Many of the genres produced here started as penny opera ballads and minstrel songs, with staples such as cakewalk, ragtime, jazz and blues - for which it is primarily known - coming later.
Because of its location in New York City, many popular and prolific songwriters were African-Americans or immigrants, and their musical traditions influenced what they produced. Jewish and other Eastern European immigrants popularized genres such as klezmer and polka music. Black artists produced perhaps the most widely popular music at the turn of the century - ragtime - drawing from blues and classical music, and it stands as a precursor to jazz. Famous ragtime songs you might recognize today include the Maple Leaf Rag, by famed composer Scott Joplin. While undeniably popular, ragtime music and its content were considered “degenerate” by many.
Country-Western music as we know it today only emerged in the 1940s, and its widespread popularity was aided by Ford Motor Company to compete with jazz on the radio (I am refraining from saying my opinions on Henry Ford as a person for my own safety as a Michigander and my love of Dolly Parton.) The Ford of it all aside, by the beginning of the 20th century, much of the influence for Country music was already in place.
“Hillbilly” and Traditional American music from the Ozarks, Appalachia and the Southern U.S. were being collected through the Smithsonian Folkways recording project. This category of American music itself was influenced heavily by Traditional Irish and British music, mixing in Southern Gospels and African instruments, like the banjo. Western “cowboy” music, the other primary influence - the “Western” in Country-Western - drew from traditional American and Latin music - shared by Mexican “vaqueros” through their involvement in the livestock industry in the Plains.
The first phonograph was commercially available in the 1890s, with ever-increasing popularity through the following 40 years. By 1930, many well-off Americans had a gramophone in their house, and 12 million Americans owned radios, playing those records live. Music became a permanent experience, no longer ephemeral, limited by time and ability; it could now be recorded, widely distributed and played over and over again on loop.
All of these disparate origins, traditions and technologies have intermingled and evolved American musical culture, and now in the 21st century, billions of records can be accessed online for us to enjoy today. You could even do what I do, make a playlist featuring popular music from the 1790s, 1890s, and 1990s - because you too are a normal person with normal hobbies such as myself.
As always, I would love to hear from the community their favorite music (from any time in history) and your favorite method through which to experience it, be it live, streaming, on a record player or even a gramophone.
