Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Hah!

A related issue is that of what constitutes African American
authenticity in the current day.

This is hardly the only ethnic group that has had to confront the
issue of whether behavior and attitudes rooted in the ghetto are in
fact the most authentic expression of their ethnicity.  Ghetto and
non-ghetto styled Irish Americans used to refer to each other
derisively as "bog trotters" and "lace curtain Irish" respectively.

What's different in the case of African Americans is that their
ethnicity is by its nature instantly recognizable, making it difficult
for individual members of the group to ignore such issues, and that for
150 years a good chunk of the American entertainment business has been
based on black styles and stereotypes -- and perhaps never morseso
than now.

What makes Eminem compelling to me as an artist is that he's talented
and has something to say -- I always give his stuff a listen even
though in general I'm not a big rap fan, or a big fan of anything from
the past 25 years or so.

I think he may represent more than a white guy "acting black."  I
think the advent of Eminem is a sign that ethnic identities have
blurred among at least part of the American population and that the
attitudes and styles expressed by Eminem are no longer exclusively
black.

This is not the first time such a thing has happened (is pizza still
exclusively Italian-American?) but we're so used to having a firm line
between black and white ethnicity that we have no way to make sense of
it.  Other than suggesting it is skillful posing or cultural theft,
neither of which may make sense in this case.
  

    
"This is not the first time such a thing has happened (is pizza still
exclusively Italian-American?) but we're so used to having a firm line
between black and white ethnicity that we have no way to make sense of
it."

Speaking of Italian-American, how about the way those same I-As made
doo-wop their own? Dion and the Belmonts did just fine on the black
charts -- to name just one group. 
  

    

Italians have a strong tradition of music at home that they brought to
the U.S..  So they have skill as one of the American ethnic
groups that most valued music and musical training.  But it runs both
ways as it seems there has been a potent call and response going on
between the Italian/Italian-american and Afro-american music for quite
some time, particularly what I've read about Detroit with
Motown and the later disco that morphed into electronic dance 
music.  

As to what is authentic or not...some (decafinated) speculations.

There is I suppose as well a certain mastery of the canon, of the
genre based on intensive listening and practicing, and to some an
emotional need, that lends to authenticity.  Early exposure to the
genre could also be a factor. Initiation to the form via intensive
jamming with people and other means of having the art passed on to the
artist could put them on the road to authenticity.

Some can successfully accomplish this by practicing to records even,
but like any other language, depth will be missing if the vocabulary
of timing, timbre, and other subtlties are not acquired somehow.

Sometimes I think visualization might be a factor, visualization of
landscapes and scenarios. Having a CV that includes working in a coal
mine likely makes singing about working in a coal mine a little more
convincing. Imagination can perhaps fill in some gaps, if the artist is
serious and hard working enough.
  

    
Having a CV?  From context something about community history?
  

    
Lack of just that sort of authenticity is what makes most modern C&W
completely unlistenable to me.
  

    
CV -- academic term for resume. curriculum vitae or somesuch
  

    
Modern C&W is perfectly authentic to its audience, which is suburban
females over 35. Take the earphones off of a kid on a tractor and he's
listening to Linkin Park or Eminem or Zep. 

(Incidentally, Lee Dorsey never worked a day in a coal mine, but he
did have an auto-body shop for years and years).
  

    
(Duh!  Of course - Cv is in CV. I thought the sentence was about 
the collective instead of the individual and it threw me. Thanks.)
  

    
Right, Ed, and one of the problems with "Americana" flavored C&W is
that it's authentically made for an audience that died off about 20
years ago.  Ma & Pa Kettle have gone to their reward.  Which isn't to
say some of the music is not terrific.
  

    
Well, no, I'd say "Americana" is aimed at an urban (mostly)
college-educated audience who feel deracinated, and who have taken to
learning about older country styles while supporting new performers who
articulate some of their interests. 
  

    
Right, that's the *actual* audience (obviously, they aren't selling
CDs to dead farmers born in 1908).  
  

    
Wished I'd been here earlier for the whole Italian-American exchange,
because the (Young) Rascals fit right in there, as well as adding yet
another layer of complexity to the whole issue of authenticity.

And I just popped my copy of the newly-issued double disc of Bill
Withers' debut, "Still Bill" into the computer to watch the DVD side,
which combines archival interviews and performance footage with a
contemporary interview Withers did with Elvis Mitchell. Bill is at his
irascible best, saying that white and academic folks can't know shit
when it comes to  the true experience of the blues, which can only be
gleaned from being black.

To paraphrase, he says, "You're gonna come up here after reading
something in some book somewhere and talk to me about The BLUES? Man,
my momma spent years scrubbing  white people's floors on her hands and
knees. You don't know nothin' about 'the blues.' Kiss my ass."

Embittered? Perhaps. But the man does have a point.
  

    
Indeed he does.

Leadbelly once said no white man can truly sing the blues "'cause he's
got nothin' to worry 'bout." 

Whites might interpret his comment in terms of economics, and say,
wait a minute, plenty of whites are poor and desperate. I think
Leadbelly was talking about things other than money, though, just as
Bill Withers was. 
  

    
The Rascals are yet another great undervalued band -- I have to thank
Kevin for re-introducing me to them -- whose explorations in black
music went well beyond their "white soul" period: they even recorded
with Alice Coltrane at one point. I think the album was "Peaceful
World?"
  

    

Yep, "Peaceful World" was the first album The Rascals made for Columbia,
which had lured the band away from Atlantic for huge bucks, thinking
they were buying the dependable hit machine that turned out a long
string of great singles from "Good Lovin'" to "People Got To Be Free."
Imagine Columbia's dismay when they got a transformed Rascals (minus
Eddie Brigati, who quit just as the new contract was being finalized),
who turned in a hit-free album with a side-long title track featuring
Alice Coltrane, Joe Farrell and other jazz luminaries.
  

    
One of my favorite memories from playing music was opening for Little
Steven and the Disciples of Soul because Dino Danelli was playing drums
for him. Even my jaded lead player was excited about it.
As far as academics not knowing the blues, well grad school bummed me
out quite a bit;) 
Sorry I have been a bit out of pocket. I invited Ellen Willis down to
speak at Temple U yesterday. Ed, a hello to you from her.

Kevin, I wanted to respond to your comments, so I just reprinted them
as there have been quite a few posts since then.

"Insofar as your point, Lisa... I confess to a bit of mystification.
Your academician attempts to characterize what Northern listeners felt
in hearing 'Dixie' when she writes that the song, 'tapped Northern
nostalgia for the agrarian life in an era when the North was changing
rapidly and the South was not.' 

"Is this a suggestion that Southerners, who after all, adopted the
tune as theirs, were ambivalent or oblivious to its lyric content? Had
Northerners identified so strongly with it, perhaps they would have
adopted 'Dixie' as their signature in song, rather than 'Battle Hymn
of the Republic.'" 

Doubtful, as not much cotton was grown up North.
 
"I'm simply writing about what the lyrics suggest, and I believe that
is a more logical place to interpret from than trying to get into the
heads of those Northerners who were hearing the tune more than a
hundred and fifty years ago -- unless there's some theater exit poll
of which I'm unaware." 

The History Dept here was so pleased that there is no point in trying
to decipher cultural meanings in eras where we can no longer conduct
theater exit polls. There has been wild cheering and I believe the
building is now for sale. Although there are a lot of over-educated
folks who are now unemployed. 
Seriously, the way that you understand how dead folks felt or thought
is that you listen to them. Through diaries, reviews of shows, letters
and other sources. Dr. Varon is not a mere "academician," she is an
expert on 19th century America with a Ph.D. from Yale and four titles
out on the subject. If she asserts that this is how Northerners felt
about the song, she is not relying upon the suggestions of the lyrics
but rather upon the facts she has been able to glean from years of
study on the subject.
 
"Much of what's written elsewhere in her reply includes points I make
as well. I am perhaps guilty of assuming in that section that readers
understand the South was an overwhelmingly agrarian economy while the
North was about the business of industrialization. But I certainly
never assert the opposite."

No, you don't, you state that the way "the country" was heading was
towards industrialism. That just wasn't so. Only part of it was. 
 
"I also report that there was much fear in the North that if the
slaves were emancipated, competition for even the lowest jobs on the
economic ladder would be evermore fierce. It follows then that
abolitionists were held in low esteem in many Northern quarters. 
 
"In terms of 'isolationism,' (and I don't have the book handy as I'm
typing this) I was referring to Southern isolationism and the states'
rights struggles that preceded the war. This very notion was what led
to secession in the first place -- 'leave us alone and let us have our
slaves and live our lives as we see fit.' How one extrapolates that to
the world stage and a global conflict three generations later is
something of a head-scratcher for me. How does the U.S. isolationism
that led to Pearl Harbor apply? Help me."

The term "isolationism" has a particular meaning. It refers to the US
eschewing foreign involvements. What you are refering to is kwown (both
in academia and in general audience writings on American history) as
"regionalism." It's an easy mistake.
 
"As to my 'regional bias...'  I'm sorry, what regional bias? Where do
I say that one way of life (industrial vs. agrarian) is 'better?' I
never intended to imply such a thing. I didn't feel it while writing,
so if you found it the text, I'm most perplexed."

Perplexed is always a good state of mind for me. It usually means that
I am doing some thinking. As far as your regional bias. Let me spell
it out for more plainly. You stated that "the nation" was moving
towards industrialization and away from agrarianism. That was only true
for one region of the country:the North. You wrote "...the utopia
depicted so romanitically [in "Dixie"] is at odd with the country's
direction..." 
That one of the outcomes of the Civil War, i.e. the industrialization
of the whole country, was a foregone reality before the war was even
fought, implies that you assume the whole country was heading that way
in any case. It wasn't and the South didn't for the better part of a
century after the war.

"I was born in Brooklyn, NY and moved to El Paso, TX when I was eight.
I know both regions of the country well enough to know that both have
advantages and drawbacks. Certainly it's clear that I found slavery
cruel and unjustifiable, but I'm hardly the first writer to do so.

"To conclude, I don't think I insinuated the system wasn't working
well for the American South at the onset of the war. I simply state the
obvious: civilization was moving toward industrialization, and the
South was deeply invested in maintaining its status quo."

To equate civilization and industrialization is highly problematic. I
think you can see why. If not, ask anyone who works in a maquiladora.

"Obviously Southerners thought their system was working for them, or
they wouldn't have shed blood to preserve it. 'Dixie' tries to
immortalize the Southern way of life in song. Since the song was
written from the slave's perspective, and he's a happy fellow who
states, 'I wish I was in de land ob cotton,' the idea was to portray
slaves as contented in their servitude."  
 
"But progress (not your humble scribe) ensured that such an agrarian
economy (with slavery as a vital component) could not survive. Would
you call me anti-horse and buggy to declare that the automobile would
one day replace them?"

Not all Southerners used slave labor. Most couldn't afford it. The
large plantations are comparable to today's agri-businesses. This is
very clear when you consider the fact that the South's agrarian economy
continued for almost a century after the Civil War. This also brings
us to the sharecropper portion of the discussion above. What the South
lost in the Civil War, in addition to its unfree labor, was its
prosperity, not its way of making a living. People, black and white,
still farmed. 

"As the one responsible for what's on the printed page, I'll have to
take a long and hard look at what I've written, to make certain that
if I'm able to clear up any misunderstandings in another edition, I do
so. I hope this helps to clarify in the interim."

No author or reader could ask for more.
  

    
Thanks for your post, Lisa. There are some points we could argue ad
infinitum, But I took particular notice of your use of "regionalism"
vs. "isolationism." Had I used your terminology, I might have avoided a
lot of the confusion. Thanks for your patience with me -- and the
text.
  

    

What I wonder about sometimes is what would of happened
to slavery if the war had never happened.  The north
and england phased out child labor and it seems possible
that the south may have done the same with the institution
of slavery.  What percentage of the wealth of the south
was absolutely dependent on slavery and shouldn't that
be factored into reparations at some point in time?

On the otherhand the damage the north inflicted on the south
to non-slave holding enterprises and real estate, shouldn't
that be paid back as well, if we are talking economic justice?

The cases of Buddy Miles and Bill Withers seem to be
particularly sad instances of the race line having
a negative effect on at least 2 peoples lives.

Kevin, do you have any more to say about these 2 people
or the feelings you got from talking with them? Did you
meet both or either of them and where are they today?
  

    
Darrell, I've talked with them both at length, but only by phone.
Buddy Miles, as he is quoted in the book, is fairly unhappy that
Hendrix' white management had no faith in Band of Gypsys because they
were an all-black trio. 

They pressured Jimi to reunite the Experience in order to capitalize
on the whole "superspade and two British rockers" formula that had
worked so well from 1966 to 1968.  Buddy continues to put out records
sporadically, and you'd have last seen him as the voice of the
California Raisins.

Bill Withers is alive and well and raising his own brand of hell in
Beverly Hills. He gives interviews rarely, but is extremely bright and
most definitely one of the most opinionated people quoted in the book
-- only Artie Shaw comes close. 

He's never been a big fan of the music business, has very little use
for the fellows in A&R (artists and repertoire) who he feels know
nothing better than to try to find more of what's selling elsewhere in
the marketplace. That said, he seems to be relatively happy with the
life that he's built for himself.

As I mentioned, his debut album (produced by Booker T. Jones of Booker
T. and the MG's) has just been reissued as a dual disc, with one side
the remastered CD and the other a DVD. And, as the covers from Club
Nouveau ("Lean On Me") and S.O.U.L. System ("Lovely Day") and Michelle
N'Dege Ochello (sp?) ("Who Is He and What Is He to You?") indicate, he
was one of the best songwriters of the era. 

Buddy Guy still likes to do "Use Me" onstage, and even though it was
never a huge hit, the song has survived so well on oldies radio, he had
the crowd singing along with him.
  

    

Kevin > Have you seen the documentary 'Band of Gypsies'?
  

    
I have not. Is it a doc on the trio?
  

    

Perhaps it does not have U.S. distribution, it
is though a documentary about the trio, and Miles
is interviewed about the group as well.  Miles
is actually crying because it sounds like it
was not only a critical turn for his career,
but business had interfered with a great friendship.

Still though those close to the Hendrix office were
interviewed saying they thought perhaps Hendrix
had made the decision, which I find hard to believe.

Band of Gypsies was the best thing Hendrix ever did IMHO,
I've wore out numerous cassette, vinyl copies, until the
live at the Filmore CDs came out so I'm biased.

It seems though he was caught in the white validation
dynamic and even perhaps the old mother country validation
thing which impacted the states both in the realm of
music and in literature.  That is the wierd thing about
the blues, when blues stars went to the UK it was like the
'second coming of christ' by some accounts, Why do we need
english people singing blues before white americans think 
its cool?

Still though one can't help feel sorry for Buddy Miles,
they really tore up a good partnership on that move,
just listen to the vocal harmonies Hendrix and Miles
were doing.
  

    

Kevin, this has been an excellent discussion and I want to thank you for
joining us for the past two weeks. I also want to thank Lisa for so ably
leading this conversation.

We've just launched another interview with a new author, but I want to
assure you that this conversation doesn't have to stop. The topic will
remain open indefinitely and you're more than welcome to continue as long as
you wish. We're happy to have you here and hope you'll be able to continue.
  

    
Cynthia, thanks for your kind words. It's been terrific getting input
from so many folks who are obviously well steeped in numerous areas
under consideration in the book, so I most definitely should be the one
thanking all of you.
I'm packing for a move to Seattle in the next week, so it'll be some
time before I'm settled in. Anyone with specific ideas, observations,
complaints or quibbles should feel free to contact me via e-mail at
Finiapolis@AOL.com. I very much appreciate your opening the forum to
allow my participation.