Rawson House Rhetoric

From the South to “Satisfaction”:
The Roots of Modern Popular Music
by Matthew M. Moye, Executive Director

Ask a teen today where her music came from, and she'll likely say New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, or Orlando.
Actually, that is true. Those are the places where marketers, studio execs, session players, choreographers, and costume designers do the business of fashioning the next eighteen-year-old pop phenom. Those professionals and others, however, owe their livelihoods to several centuries’ worth of musical expression by untrained hands, feet, and voices. Where did that evolution begin its ferment? It was here in the rural American South.

We Did It

I’m not sure why we Southerners don’t make a big deal of our ancestors’ fundamental role in carrying out the coup d’etat that is Modern Popular Music. Perhaps it just doesn’t occur to us to venerate and proclaim our musical heritage. We should be shouting, Look here! Our forebears started all this!
I hear you lamenting, Must we accept credit for Brittany Spears? Your point is well-taken, but think of it this way---Brittany is just one of millions of modern musicians imitating us Southerners. Anyway, Brittany is from Louisiana, so she’s right in the heart of this music! Our heritage is clearly a source of kinetic energy for the world. We should know more about this wellspring and even tap it for our own benefit.

Southern Strains

It’s nothing short of amazing the number of current musical styles the roots of which are either partly or entirely Southern---Bluegrass, Blues, Country, Gospel, Honky-Tonk, Jazz, Ragtime, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Sacred Harp, and Spirituals, to name but a few. I doubt that there has been a popular composition in America in the last 75 years that is not owing to the music of the South.
That last statement may surprise you. Yet, it’s true, because the American South is where African, British, French (to a lesser extent) and (to an even lesser extent) German cultures were thrust together in the tri-joined commissions of agriculture, religion, and slavery. Blacks and whites on the plantations inevitably adopted cultural elements from each other, new musical forms being the infectious result.

Reviving Interest in These Roots

In a new series of articles, this newsletter will trace through the music of the South, out of which has erupted this cultural revolution. (Look for Part 1, Early Southern Roots of Modern Popular Music in the next issue of this newsletter.) While the Mississippi River Valley supplied the meat and potatoes of the musical stew, the Chattahoochee River Valley certainly added spice, fiber, and thickening. We will emphasize some local contributors.
The purpose of this series is to explain how the music you hear at Westville is related to modern popular music. By giving a modern context to the historical music, we hope to spark renewed interest in and respect for the importance of our musical heritage.
I would therefore be remiss if I didn’t invite you to come to our various musical events especially in the coming year. They are sponsored by the Ellis Music Fund and the new Thornton Jordan Music Fund. These events are first-hand experiences with the music that would change the world. Watch our calendar for dates and times.

For the Record

This series stresses the linkage between antebellum Southern rural music and 1965 popular music. (The year 1965 was the beginning of the current guitar-based rock period.)
By focusing on antebellum Southern rural music, I do not mean to suggest that other areas and cultures have not had impact on popular music. For example, New England psalmody is one of the two or three most important ingredients in the modern mix. Also, Native Americans, the Spanish, and the French all practiced music in the Chattahoochee Valley before the area was settled in 1827. Of course, the advent of the Gramophone allowed every culture to contribute. I nevertheless stand behind the idea that modern popular music is at its roots Southern.
Neither will this series be comprehensive or even representative. There are many existing texts which do that. Our interest here is linkage. I’ll give a reading list at the conclusion of the series.
To get us started, I’ve devised a couple of inexact formulas: (1) Country + Blues + Gospel = Rock ‘n’ Roll; and, (2) Ragtime + European = Jazz. Much of this series, then, will be devoted to explaining the relationship between antebellum Southern musical forms and these later developments.
Now, let’s celebrate the South. Let the music begin!