The Midnight Special

As I listen to Leadbelly sing the "Midnight Special," I realize that song writing once was a valued commodity in America.  Songs were the voice of the people, and the styles varied according to the cultures they represented.  This is what makes the history of American popular music interesting and complex.  Harry Belafonte sings "Midnight Special."  It was a hit album for him, and interestingly the songs on it represented the pirating of Roots Music in America.  The chord progressions of the songs he sings are exact replicas of traditional Old Timey, Gospel, and Country songs in the public domain.  Good composers borrow, great composers steal!  Imitation is the highest form of flattery!  As you listen to Harry Belafonte sing, you are singing along with him; you all ready know the melodies from having heard and sung them in your youth.  It was the era of Stephen Foster and his song "Old Folks at Home."  The Black Church had a strong influence on American popular songs, and that has continued through the decades.  Khruanbin's guitarist and drummer played at Beyonce's church in Houston, Texas.  The Black Church has been a cornerstone of American music.  Black influences on American popular music are syncopation, improvisation, and The Blues.  Pundits suggest the The Blues spawned in the American South during and after slavery are the sole source of this emotionally moving music.  If suffering and sorrow are the overt traits expressed in The Blues, then everyone will understand all cultures throughout time have faced equal adversity.  It is not just enslaved and trafficked African-Americans.  Scot-Irish, German, Italian, and Jewish cultures all are infused with The Blues.  The Ballads in particular of the Appalachians not only express hardship, but impart wisdom to their offspring.  Any music in minor mode going back to Gregorian Chant expressed piety and sorrow at the crucifying of Jesus.  Sadness and hardship are nothing new, but perhaps the prospect of riches in the Wild West of America usurped these trials and tribulations.  All cultures have vehicles to express grief and sadness, and they are important.  One listen to aria and recitative by George Frederick Handel, and you will hear bereavement personified.  What America did do was exploit The Blues, and that is okay.  The vehicle of The Blues, its chord progression in varied forms, was a worthy foundation for the creation of American Rock 'n' Roll.  Early Rock 'n' Roll was race music or Rhythm and Blues, and largely its chord progressions were from The Blues.  This feeling of The Blues is what is appealing, and always it does not have to be lamenting.  Quickly Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, and many others discovered you could superimpose overt sexuality onto the vehicle of The Blues.  The tempos went up, and energy, vitality, and physical showmanship became paramount.  I concur.  If you want to end a party early, have the band play, "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone."  With no disrespect to Bill Withers, that song will depress anyone.  Baby's love it.  It is common to exploit the poor and down and out.  "Them that's got shall get.  Them that not shall lose."