One of the most popular songs was "Brother, Can you Spare a Dime", written by Rudy Vallee. (Lyrics are in the description below.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU
Another extremely popular one was "All of Me"by the world-renowned Louis Armstrong :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFzxo-XI8As
Depression era music often times had wistful and nostalgic tones as people reminisced about the good 'ole days in the 1920s. The music was much slower and had a lot more swings (going from a high note and dropping down to a low note, getting softer as it dropped) compared to the rapid pace of the energetic 1920s music.
The most popular genre of music during the Great Depression was jazz. But in that period of time, it was known more commonly as Swing. Country blues also arose during this era.
Popular Depression era Music Artists:
Victoria Spivey Louis Armstrong
Rudy Vallee Hal Kemp
Great post, Katherine! The songs do sound depressing. How fitting :P Actually one of my favorite swing song is written during the Great Depression period. Maybe you and the other might have heard of this before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S1I_ien6A It's called "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman, who is known as the "King of Swing".
ReplyDelete"Benny Goodman was at the absolute height of his legendary career when his publicist first suggested they book Carnegie Hall. He was a star on radio, on stage and on film, and the label "King of Swing" was already attached permanently to his name. So outlandish was the suggestion that a jazz band might play inside the citadel of American high culture, however, that Goodman is said to have laughed the idea off at first. Once he warmed to the notion, however, Goodman threw himself into the task with characteristic passion. In addition to numbers from the regular repertoire of his own band—which included the legendary Harry James on trumpet, Lionel Hampton on vibraphone and Gene Krupa on drums—Goodman planned a program featuring a brand-new "Twenty Years of Jazz" piece and an extended jam session featuring stars of the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras. The concert sold out weeks in advance, with the best seats fetching $2.75." (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/benny-goodman-brings-jazz-to-carnegie-hall)
Considering how much a bushel of corn cost and how much the best seats of the concert cost, it goes to show how popular swing was and how willing people were to spend that kind of money :)
During the Great Depression, people often tried escape their problems with music.
"As critic Gary Giddins explained, 'Swing music was an electrifying development in American popular culture. It... unleashed forces that, I think, people didn't know existed. There had been dance bands, sweet bands, sentimental bands. But when Benny Goodman reached those kids at the Palomar ballroom in California, it was like 20 years later with rock and roll... he was playing a swinging rough music that had been played in black communities for years. Ellington, you know, wrote It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing three years earlier and Chick Webb's band was doing it and Fletcher Henderson's... it swept the country. It was, it unleashed some kind of pent up...excitement and, and, and physicality that I think nobody was quite prepared for... And, also, this was the Depression. It was not an easy period. And this was a music that was just pure pleasure. Pure physical pleasure. ' " (http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_depression.htm)
Great post Katherine! Of all the musicians you listed, Louis Armstrong is by far the most well known. His childhood in New Orleans was very rough. He grew up in a bad neighborhood nicknamed "the Battlefield". He first found his love for music while at a colored correctional facility for boys. Early on, his musical career didn't take off, so he had to work odd jobs in order to generate an income. However, he was able to get Joe "King" Oliver as a musical mentor. After 1918, his musical career took off. He moved to Chicago and New York to pursue music. His songs "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "Stardust", and "Body and Soul" became some of his most well known works. His songs even served as inspiration for subsequent entertainers like Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby. He had become so popular that he began to appear in movies in 1932, right in the middle of the Great Depression.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.biography.com/people/louis-armstrong-9188912#mid-career-acclaimed-artist
I love this post Katherine! I think the evolution of music is really interesting. You can tell a lot about what what going on in the time period from the popular music. Here's a youtube video that shows the progression of popular music since the 1890s. Skip to about 5 minutes for the time period we're studying now; the transition from the roaring twenties into the depression.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaqokusDbbs
Thanks for the post Katherine, I liked how you looked at society during the Great Depression from a new perspective.
ReplyDeleteI was interested as to why swing music became so popular in the 1930's, and thought I would expand a little bit more on the ideas you already addressed in your post. Through a little research, I discovered that swing music was actually a modification and subgenre of jazz, the difference being a bunch of musical stuff I didn't understand. Ultimately, swing music characterized the popular culture of the Great Depression era, with swing music playing constantly on the radio. The so-called "swing era" can not only be categorized in music, but in the dances, clothing styles, and slang of the time period as well. Something I found humorous was that by the 1940's, there were several dictionaries that had been published to help the general public understand the language of swing. If anyone is able to find what swing music evolved into or what the next popular type of music was, I'd be interested to hear about it!
I love this post! I did some of my own research, and I found that jazz was very popular during the Great Depression. Jazz came to represent "American Freedom," which would be called upon to lift the spirits of those experiencing Depression. Although the Great Depression was very hard on the music industry, music was very helpful in the lives of the civilians.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_depression.htm
ReplyDeleteheres the link to the website I used
Thanks so much for providing this context, Katherine! Music of time periods always tends to reveal popular public sentiment, especially during times of trouble like this. I researched some of the top songs of the era, and found "Detroit Moan," by Victoria Spivey, was relatively popular. The lyrics are as follows:
ReplyDelete"Well I'm tired of eatin' chili, and I can't eat beans no more
Yes I'm tired of eatin' chili, and I can't eat beans no more
People'll hurt my feelings, Lord from door to door
I got to leave Detroit, if I have to flag number ninety-four
I'm gonna leave Detroit, if I have to flag number ninety-four
And if I ever get back home, I ain't never comin' to Detroit no more"
I looked up what Detroit was like during the Great Depression, and found that after mass unemployment in the auto industry, many were left on the streets. It was a dreary and unpleasant place, and it was common to see thousands in line at the Progressive Independent Grocers Association, leading to the lyrics discussing "chili" and "beans."
Sources:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-great-depression-american-music-in-the-30s-mw0000621234
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/v/victoria+spivey/detroit+moan_20190676.html
http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Design/Gartman/D_Casestudy/Great_Depression.htm
Listening to both songs it's a bit odd to find them surprisingly upbeat considering what occurrences were happening during this time period. I guess that people had to stick with what Roosevelt inspired within them; "confidence" to overcome the "fear" of depression. A composer who died right before the Depression was born, Leos Janacek, composed a piece that to me was more befitting of how I would have felt if I was in this time period. Movement V, of the Suite for Orchaestra:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx1PBU3BuK8