backwater blues texture

The melody is conjunct, making it easy to follow the lyrics of the song and the instrumental portions at the same time. 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. Back-Water Blues Bessie Smith (Columbia, 1927) Download and Print scores from huge community collection ( 1,426,528 and growing) Advanced tools to level up your playing skills. Bessie Smith - Back-Water Blues Lyrics | Genius Lyrics Smith continued on to become very successful with hits like St. Irma Thomas released it on the album Our New Orleans 2005 - A Benefit Album in 2005. The consonant chords allow for a smooth harmony to flow continuously during the song. The third line either comments or reverses the first two lines. There is one integral line throughout the stanza. The song has a homophonic texture due to the use of instruments and vocalization in unison. 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. print music publishers. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith . In this blog post I am going to be looking at and analysing a track by famous New Orleans jazz musician, Louis Armstrong. 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. Bessie Smith, "Backwater blues", 1927 - YouTube And I can't live there no more. What are the introductory chords that illustrate this? 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. SKU: MN0121681 She manages to escape her flooding home, only to look back and see that she will never be able to go back to it. 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) The flood from The Cumberland River that struck Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas Day 1926, AAB e.g. . Song: Back-Water Blues written by Bessie Smith | SecondHandSongs The flood was a devastating ordeal. 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. '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. I have sympathy towards Smith during her performance of this song because she conveys how lonesome she is. 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! Smith (on vocal with James P. Johnson on piano) recorded it as "Back-water Blues" on February 17, 1927, in New York City. Great cover of blues classic Backwater blues on The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band 2011. album How I Go 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. The piece uses syncopation to allow variation between the instruments and the vocals. However, the blues utility in our everyday language signifies to me that the blues are ingrained into US culture. 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. The song has a homophonic texture due to the use of instruments and vocalization in unison. The scene is set with the terrific storm by the female speaker, so depressed that she cant even get out of the door. Log dich ein um diese Funktion zu nutzen. Hostname: page-component-75b8448494-knlg2 Backwater Blues Bessie Smith Chords and Lyrics for Guitar Johnson was instrumental in the development of the piano style that emerged from Harlem in the 1920s known as \"stride.\" \r\rIn the age before sound amplification and microphones, a successful singer needed to be able to project. She uses her voice in this particular form to symbolize that she has given up and that she knows she will never find true love. Writer(s): Smith Her powerful voice stands out so much in this song that the instrumental background may not even be needed as supplementation. Bessie Smith. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, courtesy of the Rock Hall Library and Archive, https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bessie-smith. Smith's voice not only had this quality, it also possessed a rich timbre and tremendous emotive power. 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. Notice, however, that although the form remains the same throughout, pianist James P. Johnson's accompaniment style frequently changes during different verses of the song, as he interacts musically with Smith and attempts to depict the meaning of her lyrics through his playing.\r\rBessie Smith (vocal); James P. Johnson (piano)\r\rRecorded in New York, February 17, 1927 Teach music and songwriting in ways that keep students engaged, excited, and inspired. 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. It was originally composed by Joe "King" Oliver and is largely performed as an instrumental, although lyrics were . 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. Listening Guide to Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith - YouTube Brown, who alongside Langston Hughes was a pioneer of blues poetry in the 1920s. Of course, I learn so much from the Bessie Smiths blues poems. I love writing blues poems. Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith Chords, Melody, and Music Theory She is the author of three collections of poems, most recently Rhapsody in Plain Yellow (2002). Post 4- Blues Music: Bessie Smith | by Alexis Allen | Medium 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. 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. Please use a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, or Opera instead. Chris Fisher-Lochhead. Updated September 9, 2020. The beginning of Down Hearted Blues actually reminded me of Ragtime music slightly. In "Backwater Blues", the writer retells the incidents surrounding the flooding of Nashville in 1927. La Bouche) [2023 Mix] [Extended Mix] Songtext. Smith is believed to be one of the highest paid black performers of her time. Harmonically, what is the piece based on? Back-Water Blues 65th in 1927. ). Hier geht's zu meiner Musik auf Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/1EV1CjZHtzJGK5SZyEyKst?si=ya1BsYRcTpSlZeVFtMKekAMeine Musik auf Deezer:https://deezer. Each verse in the song follows an AAB pattern from beginning to end. The beat does not change because each verse follows the same AAB pattern, which results in the same rhythm continuing on. Backwater Blues - Wikipedia She teaches in the MFA program at San Diego State University. I do not believe in a fixed way to write blues poems or poetry with blues feeling. Smith describes how down she is about her life and how she knows there is nothing she can do about it. Lets look at this poem closely. Her lyrics aid the audience in understanding why she is down. 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. 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. Through an examination of Smith's touring itinerary, the testimony of fellow entertainers who toured . "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? One subscription across all of your devices. Third, Mamie Smith became the first Black blues singer to record a blues record in 1920. Almost a million people became homeless for a time. Backwater Blues by Big Bill Broonzy was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. Over her ten year career, she created one hundred and sixty recordings. I make it a point to learn the African American poetic tradition. 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. 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 . 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. About a thousand people lost their lives. 'Cause my house fell down. Bessie Smith's Back-Water Blues: the story behind https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143007001158, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. The first line sets the scene, the second line repeats the first for emphasis. Poet, writer, teacher, and political activist Amiri Baraka was born Everett LeRoi Jones in 1934 in Newark, New Jersey. Learn to hear chords by ear. Marilyn Chin (1955- ) was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Oregon, and received her MFA from the University of Iowa. music review for midterm Flashcards | Quizlet "When it rains five days, and the skies turn dark as night (x2). Bessie actually wrote "Backwater Blues" for the Cumberland River flood that hit Nashville on Christmas morning 1926. Writer (s): Smith Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com. 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. Adds to the blues feel as the music is seen to reflect the realities of her situation. Kevin Young was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) began her professional career as a blues singer in cabarets in 1912. Her voice is subversive, defiant despite all odds against her. Major keys, along with minor keys, are a common choice for popular songs. I think in the best identity poems that the self represents something much larger than the self. Bessie actually wrote Backwater Blues for the Cumberland River flood that hit Nashville on Christmas morning 1926. What are the introductory chords that illustrate this? Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com. There's thousands of people ain't got no place to go. Published online by Cambridge University Press: She is considered by many as one of the most successful African-American females of all time. Following her death, Smiths legacy continued on as she inspired new artists to display who they truly were. 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.'. Cover versions of Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas | SecondHandSongs 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. 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. 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. See the E Major Cheat Sheet for popular chords, chord progressions, downloadable midi files and more! Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith - Digital Sheet Music, View our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out. In the Voice and in the Deep, Blues Poetry - Poetry Foundation Nonetheless, when she recorded it in 1927 "Backwater Blues" became an anthem for the great Mississippi River Flood. Performance: Backwater Blues by Big Bill Broonzy | SecondHandSongs The rhythm and beat remain constant throughout the song. LISTENING part 1 SEIGFRIED CHAP 5. richard wagner germany Backwater Blues gefllt bisher niemandem. "useRatesEcommerce": false We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Feature Flags: { Blues on Yellow Marilyn Chin from Rhapsody in Plain Yellow. Nose To Tail - Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast 2, Mushihimesama Futari - Sea of Frozen Crystals. hasContentIssue false. 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. Since tab form can't express time interval, I hope you will figure The vocals to be the focus and the 'response' to be more complex, At times it can sounds almost 'half-spoken'. Lets look at the blues poem as a form. 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. For examples of innovative uses of these devices in poetry, visit Jericho Browns Duplex, Evie Shockleys Fukushima Blues, and Kevin Youngs Langston Hughes.. Chin is the recipient of the PEN/Josephine Miles Award, a Fullbright Fellowship, and the Paterson Prize, among numerous other honors. My name is Lex and I am a rising senior at the University of Georgia. The a rhyme glues the three-line stanza together. Baraka attributes this knowledge to his mentor Sterling A. I have her strong voice in my ear at all times. Billed annually at $39.99. Hooktheory requires WebAudio and this browser doesn't support it. Following her death, Smith received numerous awards and honors for her achievements, including: Bessie Smith- American Singer. Encyclopedia Britannica, written by The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Feb 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bessie-Smith. "Backwater Blues" (1927) . How does the music reflect the lyrical content of the piece? 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 . The opening choruses of each performance . There was evidence of lynchings and unspeakable killings and terrible acts against the black community. Bessie Smith - Backwater Blues Flashcards | Quizlet While many latter-day . [Verse 5] And I went . The flood was a devastating ordeal. Mmm, I cant move no more. Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023. In our workshop, In the Voice and in the Deep, Blues Poetry, participants and I studied blues music, history, aesthetics, and ultimately blues poetry. Death. Yeah, when it's thunderin' and lightnin'. Dinah Washington - Back Water Blues - YouTube Borrowing from song to write about whats wrong. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like backwater blues, libretto, step interval and more. The song "Backwater Blues" is a blues and jazz standard written by Bessie Smith. Leadbelly - Backwater BluesTaken from: 16 Greatest Songs (As Pictured)Track no. One more piece. The narrator, who presents himself as a victim describes how . Bessie Smith, commonly referred to as the Empress of the Blues, was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Bessie Smith (Down Hearted Blues, 1923) Jazz Legend. Youtube, uploaded by RagtimeDorianHenry, 3 Jun 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA. "Backwater Blues" (Song) - Song Meanings and Facts The call and response between vocals and piano does what? Almost half a million homes were destroyed. 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. As an attempt to escape poverty as a teenager, she joined the Moss Stokes Company with her brother and Gertrude Ma Rainey, the Mother of the Blues. Ma Rainey served as the most influential person during Smiths pre-professional career. There aint no place for a poor old girl to go. Discover an intuitive and deep understanding of how music works. The despair is deep, is deeply personal, but it is also metaphorical and speaks to the despair of an entire community. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith recorded her song. Cause my house fell down and I can't live there no more. The first two lines are of almost equal length. The best song poems, I believe, can live on the pages as well as in the ear. And the rain begin to pour. 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. Designed and built by Hooktheory in California. Backwater Blues - Piano - YouTube According to the Theorytab database, it is the 5th most popular key among Major keys and the 5th most popular among all keys. 7 available keys. Please download this song, preferably the original 1927 recording by Bessie Smith, and listen to her amazing singing. Not only did she sing, she was also an actress and comedian. Bessie Smith had a powerful impact on future blues and Rock and Roll singers, like Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. To pack my things and go. Backwater Blues tells the story of how the speaker is forced out of her home due to flooding waters. 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 . Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Bessie and Me). Smith did not cut any corners in her songs- she told everyone how the world really was and how she felt about it. Another way of reading classic blues lyric structure is as weighted-sonic couplets. 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. Although Smith is very pleasing to the ears, she seems to be slightly monotone in this piece. 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. 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. C, F7, C, C7, F7, C. The repetition of her lyrics depict just how saddening her situation is- she is in the middle of losing everything. According to the Theorytab database, it is the 5th most popular key among Major keys and the 5th most popular among all keys. I see myself as an activist Chinese American poet, and I want to show the multiple sides of my literary inheritance. Bessie Smith's 'Back-Water Blues': the story behind the song 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. In order to interrogate said materials, six recordings by different musicians were chosen and meticulously transcribed. Play the music you love without limits for just $9.99 $3.33/month. [2], The song has long been associated with the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. 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). There were reports that officials behaved in a discriminatory fashion. The beat does . Smith . Backwater blues done called me to pack my things and go. Down Hearted Blues, her first recording, sold nearly 800,000 copies, firmly establishing her as a new singer in the blues genre. When it thunders and lightnin' and the wind begins to blow. 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. Backwater Blues is written in the key of E Major. The song is called "West End Blues" and was recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in 1928. 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. Backwater Blues - The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - YouTube 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. The rhythm and beat remain constant throughout the song. Backwater Blues Chris Fisher-Lochhead El disco e. [1] Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023. There were reports that officials behaved in a discriminatory fashion. 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. The backwater blues caused me. *Als Songtexte.com PUR User kannst du entscheiden, welche Inhalte von externen Anbietern wie Youtube, 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. 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. When it rained five days and the sky turned dark as night, Zur deutschen bersetzung von Backwater Blues, Die 10 schnsten Songs fr ein gemtliches Picknick, Die 10 beliebtesten ESC-Songs aller Zeiten, "Sing meinen Song" 2023: Alle Infos, Teilnehmer, Songs & Folgen, "Let's Dance 2023": Alle Tnze aus Show 9 + Songtexte, I'd Rather Be Dead and Buried in My Grave, Udo Lindenberg & Apache 207 - Komet Songtext, Ikke Hftgold, Schrze & DJ Robin - Bumsbar Songtext, Purple Disco Machine & Kungs - Substitution Songtext, Hypaton, David Guetta & La Bouche - Be My Lover (feat. homophonic texture. This suggests to me that aspects of contemporary US poetry could be in lineage of African diasporic culture. What is 12-bar-blues form? Mchtest du Inhalte von aktivieren? The vocalization stands out far more than the sound of the instruments, primarily due to Smiths incredible voice. The song has long been associated with the great flood of the lower Mississippi River in 1927. 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. I am majoring in biology and love helping my community! The beat is easy to tap along to, making it easier to focus on her lyrics. They relocated the white folks in an expedient manner but corralled the black folks into abysmal camps. :)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Title: Backwater BluesLevel: BeginnerCom. Bessie Smith "Backwater Blues" Sheet Music in C Major (transposable 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). She made almost 200 recordings, including duets with Louis Armstrong and Joe Smith. As musicologist Dr. David Evans has noted, Back-Water Blues was recorded in February 1927, before the great disaster of April. Alle Informationen dazu findest du in unseren Pro Credit Pack (3 Pro Credits) Included with first year, Your high-resolution PDF file will be ready to download in Datenschutzbestimmungen. Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. Bessie Smith- Back Water Blues. Youtube, uploaded by TravelerIntoTheBlue, 9 Oct 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gXShOJVwaM. Smith performed for nearly a decade until Columbia Records signed her in 1923. 15Label: Route 16Year: 1990This CD is from my own collection. Dazu brauchen wir deine Einwillung*. 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. When it's . The lyrics of the song are interpreted with respect to the events of that flood. "it rained five days and the sky turned dark as night". 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. When it thunders and lightnin' and the wind begin to blow.

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