MUSC 299: Jazz, Civil Rights, & Hip Hop

Blues & Early Jazz

  1. Lyrics (and Blues Form on page two) Link to PDF

    -Victor Spivey’s Handyman
    -Lonnie Johnson’s Hard Times Ain’t Gone Nowhere
    -Papa Charlie’s Shave ‘Em Dry and Salty Dog Blues
    -Bessie Smith’s Lost Your Head (with notes) and St. Louis Blues
    -    Dinah Washington’s Blow Top Blues
    -Mamie Smith Crazy Love (separate pdf, link here)

  2. Readings:

    - Chapter 7 from Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia K. Maulstby eds., African American Music: An Introduction. Routledge, 2014.

    - Chapter 3 from Frank Tirro, Jazz: A History. W. W. Norton & Company, 1993.

    - Review of LeRoi Jones’ Blues People by Ralph Ellison for The New York Review of Books.

    - 100 Years Ago, ‘Crazy Blues’ Sparked a Revolution for Black Women Fans, by Daphne Brooks for The New York Times, August 2020 - Link

  3. Supplementary Notes — Handout on Blues, Ragtime, and New Orleans Jazz: Link to PDF