History of Popular Music LATE 19 TH CENTURY TO EARLY 20 TH CENTURY
The Minstrel Show First form of musical and theatrical entertainment that was distinctly American Featured mainly white performers doing “blackface” routines
George Washington Dixon 180?-1861 1 st white performer to establish a reputation as a blackface entertainer
Thomas Dartmouth Rice His song, “Jim Crow” became the 1 st American hit that became an international success
Early Popular Songwriter – Stephen Collins Foster 1 st important composer of American popular songs Oh! Susanna Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
Tin Pan Alley Located on 28 th Street in New York City Publishing companies
Vaudeville Popular theatrical form descended from music hall and minstrel shows, mainly using music from Tin Pan Alley Consisted of singers, acrobats, comedians, jugglers, dancers, animal handlers, etc…
Ragtime ( ) Heavily influenced by African American music traditions “rag” means to liven up a piece of music by shifting melodic accents onto the off beats
Scott Joplin ( ) Best known ragtime composer The Entertainer The Maple Leaf Rag
Phonograph Invented in 1877 by Thomas Alva Edison
New Technology 1925 – 1 st recording with a microphone 1926 – 1 st nationwide commercial radio network – NBC CBS and ABC soon followed By 1927, there were over 1,000 radio stations
“The Jazz Singer” 1927 1 st film to successfully use sound
ASCAP American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers To force business establishments that featured live music to pay fees (royalties) for the public use of music
Jazz Emerged in New Orleans around 1900 Known then as the “African Americanization” of ballroom dance
Louis Armstrong ( ) Nicknamed “Satchmo” What a Wonderful World (1967)
Duke Ellington ( ) Known as the most important American Musician of the 20 th century It Don’t Mean a Thing