history
Iconic moments in music history.
Queens of Soul.
I think I am a black woman in a white woman’s skin.When I was growing up my friends were all listening to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. I admit they were good bands,but they did not move my soul. On the other hand, I was a big Motown fan.Four tops, Temptations, Supremes you name them. my favourite song was and still is summertime.Always when we would have parties , family and friends would ask me to sing summertime.I even won a competion singing Birth of the blues.
By Kathleen Merry3 years ago in Beat
Black women in music
If you want to talk music, music has had a real influence in my life. The sound of Etta James was pure poetry and beauty. She sang these stories that grabbed my attention and her sound was both powerful, lovely and alluring to me. I'd rather go blind and At last were two that grabbed my attention immediately when I was young. Everybody knew Aretha, and Diana Ross and I think Donna Summer. They were big names in the T.V. era and they sound great. Everybody knows Whitney Houston her vocal power is amazing. I loved T.L.C. I think Chili was my favorite but T-Boz and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopez were great part of the group, too. I think used to try to pick one to like but it didn't fully work, so I gave up and decided I could like them all. I'm not sure I could choose a favorite. I loved Salt and Peppa. I wanted to be some fries with my shake shake booty. They were two beautiful women, singing a women perspective that I liked to here, like with the song Schoop. Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton. They just had these amazing sound qualities. Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters made me want to go to the mighty, muddy Mississippi river. They romanticized radio for me. I wanted to be around the airwaves when they were new, first beginning. Even the look of the microphones that caught and funneled the sound were cool. The large head microphones are the ones I am speaking about, not the big screen in front of the ice cream cone looking microphones. Etta James sound seemed to me the same country sound as Patsy Cline. I never looked into were Etta James was, I know Detroit had a big blues influence, I guess St. Louis must have, I know Harlem was a big place for it. I don't know where it started, I know Hank Williams was one of the first, televised or radio, I think. The Supremes, The Ronettes, whoever the woman in the Platters was. The sounds of the seventies and then my lifetime. My cognitive lifetime. Whitney was biggest which lead into Salt and Peppa and T.L.C. and the current culture of music today. It is a talent to tell a story in short form, to give a full visual picture with the lyric representation of the poetry of song. It is one thing to sound good but paired with the beauty of a great lyrical story really gives life to music. I always loved listening to what they had to say. They had these stories of life. Some were fraught with tragedy, some were just joyous exclamations but that is the beauty of music. Whatever it was that made this person or that person sing what they were singing about and bring that message to a large audience and carry that story into the future on a recording meant to last forever. It was a new technological transition. We, people, invented writing to carry stories of the past to the future forever. Before writing, they were word of mouth passed on from person to person, family to family, carried on through family and conversation. Then they invented symbols to represent sound and when put together they formed a word, then they invented writing utensils, ink, parchment and paper, then pen, pencil. Right now I don't know which came first the paper or the ink. Anyway, after that, people came up with a way to carry the voice of a person into the future, so you can hear the way that person sounds as they sing their song first hand I am grateful for that. I am glad I can hear the beauty of that singers sound, even if I can't meet them in person any more. I love the fact that I can experience the sound and songs of these artists and musicians even if I can't get there in person or even whenever I want at my convenience, and don't always have to wait for a live performance. I thank the black women of music for the beauty and entertainment they have brought to my life.
By James M. Piehl3 years ago in Beat
Strength In Vulnerability
Billie Holiday is probably my favourite singer of all time. She was never considered as technically proficient as other singers of the era such as Sarah Vaughan, but Billie made up for everything she may have lacked in range in pure emotive expression.
By Josh Chandler Morris3 years ago in Beat
Black Women in Music
Black people in general have contributed so much to music. Black people have given their lives in the name of music. Black entertainment is a whole vibe, you hear me? If you go to other countries, you see our influence. People emulate our (I am a black person) style of dress, our hairstyles, our bodies. Where do you think full lips and big butts came from?? We inspired rap. We inspired the beats. All that bass you hear? That's drums honey! We move our hips and pout our lips to the rhythm. Y'all see us!
By Latoya Giles 3 years ago in Beat
Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Etta James and Tracy Chapman The Bluesy Black Women that I Love
Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Etta James and Tracy Chapman The Bluesy Black Women that I Love By Kami Bryant My love affair with the blues began one day when I was fourteen sitting at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale’s library listening to scratchy songs on vinyl. My mother was attending SIU Carbondale pursuing her bachelor’s degree. I would spend hours in the library while she was in class. I didn’t finish eighth grade because I came down with a debilitating illness called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome when I was eleven years old. I spent most of the next five years completely bed ridden. My mother took me out of school and decided that I should be home schooled. When not lying in bed reading as many books as I could get my hands on, I would go to the library. The university library was a treasure trove and a holy place to my fourteen-year-old book worm’s soul. I would spend all day at the library reading books. I then discovered not only could I read books, but I could listen to music too. So, with big can headphones on, I discovered ladies who sing the blues.
By Kami Bryant3 years ago in Beat
Thanks for the Music
If there is one thing on which we can all agree, it is that there is little comfort or security in being poor. According to one census bureau study, almost twice as many Blacks live beneath the poverty line as the average U.S. citizen. Being poor anywhere means little access to counseling, therapy and other mental and emotional health services enjoyed by wealthier Americans. Could this be the reason African-Americans turn to music as a therapeutic alternative? Dr. Mark E. Williams, MD, in an article for Psychology Today, wrote “Because habits provide the shields and safeguards to anxiety by making the future more predictable and less uncertain, they can become the focus of anxiety.“ Hey! Music has helped me get through a lot.
By James Power3 years ago in Beat
Bulldyke Blues: Proud Black Lesbianism
Bessie Smith, Lucille Bogan, and Gertrude "Ma" Rainey - three names you should know by the end of this article. Each of these legends were openly gay during the 1920's and 30's and let their soulful, sultry music tell the tales. Before I continue, here is some background information for context and terminology.
By Gabriella Pomales3 years ago in Beat