I love writing blues poems. 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. Leadbelly - Backwater BluesTaken from: 16 Greatest Songs (As Pictured)Track no. The poem moves to personal depression. This suggests to me that aspects of contemporary US poetry could be in lineage of African diasporic culture. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like backwater blues, libretto, step interval and more. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith . I see myself as an activist Chinese American poet, and I want to show the multiple sides of my literary inheritance. She lets the chords of the instruments dangle off of her words, resulting in a beautiful piece that focuses primarily on the lyrics. The song has a homophonic texture due to the use of instruments and vocalization in unison. The third-sixth verses have the traditional AAB blues pattern, which helps emphasize what she is saying during each verse. Of course, I learn so much from the Bessie Smiths blues poems. Backwater blues done called me to pack my things and go. The piece has a homophonic texture due to the supplementation of the instruments to the vocalization of Smith. On September 26, 1937, Smith was en route to a show in Memphis, Tennessee with her companion of many years, Richard Morgan, when he sideswiped a truck and lost control of their car. 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. Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023. Log dich ein um diese Funktion zu nutzen. The rhythm and beat remain constant throughout the song. Almost half a million homes were destroyed. The beat does . Kevin Young was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. The flood was a devastating ordeal. 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.'. Smith (on vocal with James P. Johnson on piano) recorded it as "Back-water Blues" on February 17, 1927, in New York City. Smith (on vocal with James P. Johnson on piano) recorded it as "Back-water Blues" on February 17, 1927, in New York City. In the Voice and in the Deep, Blues Poetry - Poetry Foundation The scene is set with the terrific storm by the female speaker, so depressed that she cant even get out of the door. 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. Nonetheless, when she recorded it in 1927 Backwater Blues became an anthem for the great Mississippi River Flood. 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. El disco e. "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? Marilyn Chin (1955- ) was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Oregon, and received her MFA from the University of Iowa. 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. "When it rains five days, and the skies turn dark as night (x2). Most of us dont remember the great Mississippi River Flood of 1927, but when I read this poem a few years ago during a gathering on the behalf of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the same issues resoundedneighborhoods destroyed, slow government response, the African American neighborhoods were hit the hardest. She manages to escape her flooding home, only to look back and see that she will never be able to go back to it. Backwater Blues by Big Bill Broonzy was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. The lyrics of the song are interpreted with respect to the events of that flood. The opening choruses of each performance . When it thunders and lightnin' and the wind begins to blow. What characterizes a blues performance? Has data issue: false 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. 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. music review for midterm Flashcards | Quizlet Bessie Smith (Down Hearted Blues, 1923) Jazz Legend. Youtube, uploaded by RagtimeDorianHenry, 3 Jun 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA. Try listening to Backwater Blues while reading the lyrics; 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 consonant chords allow for a smooth harmony to flow continuously during the song. The backwater blues caused me. 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. Dinah Washington - Back Water Blues - YouTube 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. 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. She is considered by many as one of the most successful African-American females of all time. Bessie Smith, commonly referred to as the Empress of the Blues, was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Bessie Smith - Songs, Death & Facts 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. The melody is conjunct, making it easy to follow the lyrics of the song and the instrumental portions at the same time. Smith is believed to be one of the highest paid black performers of her time. Feature Flags: { Although Smith is very pleasing to the ears, she seems to be slightly monotone in this piece. The blues artists who wrote and sang in this era there are famous names in this era such as Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howling Wolf, and of course, Bessie Smith, who is one of my favorites. 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 . Teach music and songwriting in ways that keep students engaged, excited, and inspired. Discover an intuitive and deep understanding of how music works. 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) Bessie Smith had a powerful impact on future blues and Rock and Roll singers, like Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. Adds to the blues feel as the music is seen to reflect the realities of her situation. 3.2 Online-Unterricht - Backwater Blues - YouTube There is one integral line throughout the stanza. 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 narrator, who presents himself as a victim describes how . 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. There were reports that officials behaved in a discriminatory fashion. Backwater Blues tells the story of how the speaker is forced out of her home due to flooding waters. 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.
