How I Got Over - African American History Through Music

Tribute to Donny Hathaway

cecile.johns — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:51:51 +0000

Only Rock and Roll

cecile.johns — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:06:11 +0000

i was moved to see Otis Blackwell’s children at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies last night. In fact, I thin it was the part of the ceremony where the songwriter’s were honored that had the biggest impact on me.

Of course, I always love to see Peter Wolf, anywhere, because he radiates love for the music. He reminds me of Joe Strummer, in that there could be no doubt that they both were truly *taken* by rock and roll, r&b, reggae, whatever it was – they were bodily, spiritually, chemically hooked.

Otis Blackwell wrote “All Shook Up”, “Return to Sender”, “Great Balls of Fire”, “Breathless”, “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Hey Little Girl”, “Fever”, “Daddy Rollin’ Stone” and many more.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Elie Greenwich, who passed away recently, was also inducted, by her sister; there’s a really informativeinerview with Greenwich here.

A Flower is a Lovesome Thing

cecile.johns — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:53:15 +0000

I’m so glad you’ve visited.

A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing -...">

This blog was initially a companion site for a bit of teaching I was doing at my son’s school, the Pacific Boychoir Academy. Despite the fact that their bread-and-butter CD was African amerucan spirituals, they did not make much effort to teach African American history in their curriculum. After failed attempts to get them to adjust their approach, I offered to come in and do a series of lectures on my own. I have no formal training in African American history, by the way; but I felt that I had a lot to share and that I could, in some small way, put things in context.

This has been a personal mision of mine for a while, since studying music at Mills and finding that the “20th Century American Music” course didn’t include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, or John Coltrane (if it included Scott Joplin, it might have only been in reference to his influence on turn-of-the-century European composers). What about Will Marion Cook, James P. Johnson, William Grant Still? I felt that the Music Department either had to change the name of the course, or not excluded Black composers and performers. To rewrite history to exclude African American achievement is to cheat ourselves of the knowledge of who we really are, in the name of education.

Another example. Ten years ago, I took my son to his friend’s 5th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, and watched this video interpretation of the history of rock and roll. There was not one image of Chuck Berry. No Little Richard. No Fats Domino. No Bo Diddley. They were teaching kids that Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly invented Rock and Roll – by themselves. Now, it’s likely most of the kids weren’t really watching the film anyway – there’s a lot to do at Chuck E. Cheese. But Rock and Roll was a marvelous collision of black and white, North and South (not to mention East and West), country and R&B – it was so much more than the sum of its parts, all tied to a moving train! Why not tell the truth about that? It’s baffling, this lie, because the truth is so much more beautiful, so much richer and deliciously complex. It’s like sniffing at a fake flower, when you couldbe enjoying the living, breathing thing.

My obsession with African American history through Music is that music is my way *in*, and I hope that this website becomes a place that is a resource for my son, and my friends and family, and anyone else who loves it like I do.

I plan to add an updated links page, embed more audio, and, with some help, put some more real history and context into “How I Got Over”. And certainly, as I learn more about Caribbean and South and Central American musics, more of that will be incorporated as well, since it’s becoming clear to me that we are all America (what else is the bo Diddley beat?) As I compose and perform my own music, I often find myself searching for something that reminds me of someone that sounds like a time and a place that I just have to share with someone, and I hope this blog will become that space for research, discovery and exchange.

Again, thanks for stopping in.

A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing.

please please please

cecile.johns — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:02:41 +0000

Class One – By The Waters of Babylon

cecile.johns — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:53:31 +0000

Name	Artist	Composer	Album
Africa	John Santos & the Machete Ensemble
All God’s Chillun Got Shoes	The Charioteers	Traditional	Gospel Tradition – Roots and Branches
Amazing Grace	Mahalia Jackson	John Newton	In My Home over There
Cabbage Alley	THE METERS	Art Neville	Anthology DIsk 2
Come and Go to that Land	Congregational Song		Wade in the Water Series Vol. 2 – African American Congregational Singing: Nine
Dry Well Blues	Charley Patton		Founder of the Delta Blues
Gospel Train	Wright Brothers Gospel Singers	Traditional	Gospel Tradition – Roots and Branches
Hear My Train a Comin’ [Acoustic]	Jimi Hendrix	Jimi Hendrix	Blues
His Eye Is on the Sparrow	Lauryn Hill/Tanya Blount	Charles H. Gabriel/Civilla D. Martin	Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
I’ll Fly Away	Linda Tillery		Say Yo’ Business
I’m Going Away	Elizabeth Cotten		Shake Sugaree
I’m Not A Bad Girl	Memphis Minnie (1897-1963)		I Ain’t No Bad Gal
Java Jive	The Ink Spots	Ben Oakland/Milton Drake	greatest hits
Old Ship Of Zion	Bernice Johnson Reagon		Give Your Hands To Struggle
Original E Flat Blues	Fats Waller, Art Tatum		Fats Waller, Art Tatum
Ragtime – Jazz Piano	Scott Joplin –
Rising Sun	Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee		Crossroads: Southern Roots
Rivers of Babylon	The Melodians		Bringing Out the Dead Soundtrack
Steeplechase Rag	James P. Johnson	James P. Johnson	Carolina Shout
Sweet Lorraine (1940)	Sidney Bechet-Muggsy Spanier		The Complete H.R.S. Sessions
Terraplane Blues	Robert Johnson	Robert Johnson	King Of The Delta Blues
Them Bones	Mitchell’s Christian Singers	Traditional	Gospel Tradition – Roots and Branches
Tiger Rag	Art Tatum	Eddie Edwards/Harry DaCosta/Henry Ragas/James LaRocca/Larry Shields/Tony Sbarbaro	Art Tatum Solos (1940)
Up Above My Head I Hear Music in the Air	Sister Rosetta Tharpe & Marie Knight		The Gospel of the Blues (Remastered)
Walking to New Orleans	Fats Domino		vol 2 trk 22
What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?	George Washington Phillips	Charles Albert Tindley	Gospel Tradition – Roots and Branches
Will The Circle Be Unbroken	Staple Singers	Ada Habershon/Charles H. Gabriel	Freedom Highway

Class Two – Change Is Gonna Come

cecile.johns — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:50:19 +0000

Name	Artist	Composer	Album
Ain’t Misbehaving	Fats Waller, Art Tatum	Andy Razaf/Fats Waller/Harry Brooks	Fats Waller, Art Tatum
All Blues	Miles Davis		Columbia Years 1955-85: Blues & Standards [Disc 1]
Baby Work Out	Jackie Wilson		Soundtrack-Sweet November
Be My Baby	THe Ronettes
Caravan	Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers	Duke Ellington/Eillignton/Irving Mills/Juan Tizol	Caravan
Caravan	Stuff Smith Quartet		Swingin’ Stuff
A Change Is Gonna Come	Sam Cooke	Sam Cooke	The Man And His Music
Down By The Riverside	Sister Rosetta Tharpe		American Roots Music – CD3
Give Your Hands To Struggle	Bernice Johnson Reagon		Give Your Hands To Struggle
Higher And Higher	Jackie Wilson
Hound Dog	Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton	Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller	Jump, Jive & Swing
I’m So Glad (Trouble Don’t Last Always)	Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers	Sam Cooke	His Earliest Recordings
I’m Walkin’	Fats Domino	Dave Bartholomew/Fats Domino	Fats Domino Jukebox: 20 Greatest Hits the Way You Originally Heard Them
I Can’t Help It	Betty Carter	Junior Giscombe	The Betty Carter Album
I Put a Spell on You	Nina Simone	Screamin’ Jay Hawkins	Enjoy Your Own Blues
I Want To Take You Higher	Sly and The Family Stone
Java Jive	The Ink Spots	Ben Oakland/Milton Drake	greatest hits
The Jitterbug Waltz	Abbey Lincoln & Hank Jones	Thomas “Fats” Waller/Richard Maltby Jr	When There Is Love
The Jitterbug Waltz	Canadian Brass	Fats Waller/Richard Maltby, Jr.	Ain’t Misbehavin’ and other Fa
	15	5/7/2008 9:38 AM	2
Jitterbug Waltz	Eric Dolphy
Jitterbug Waltz	Fats Waller	Fats Waller	Jazz Greats – I Got Rythm
Jump, Jive, An’ Wail	Louis Prima	Louis Prima	Jump, Jive & Swing
Lord remember me	Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers	Huey Williams/Luther Jennings/Nathaniel Baldwin/Prince Paul/Frank Williams	Greatest Hits
Moanin’	Charles Mingus		Passions of a Man – The Complete Atlantic Recordings
My Favorite Things	John Coltrane
My Favorite Things	Julie Andrews -
On The Street Where You Live	My Fair Lady
On the Street Where You Live	Rickie Lee Jones	Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe	It’s Like This
People Get Ready	Curtis Mayfield		The Anthology 1961-1977 (Disk
Reet Petite	Jackie Wilson
Shake, Rattle And Roll	Big Joe Turner	Jesse Stone	Jump, Jive & Swing
Stardust	Louis Armstrong	Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish	I Wish You Were Dead, You Rascal You
Stardust	Nat King Cole	Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish	Love Is the Thing [And More]
The Tears Of A Clown	Smokey Robinson & The Miracles –		Motown 25 -1 Hits From 25 Years (Disc 1) – 12
They Can’t Take That Away From Me	Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald -
What’d I Say	Ray Charles	Ray Charles	Essential Collection [Cleopatra]
What A Friend We Have In Jesus			Amazing Grace
Who’s Loving You	Jackson Five		Tony’s Blues
Will You Love Me Tomorrow	Shirelles	Carole King/Gerry Goffin	16 Greatest Hits
Woke Up This Morning	Sncc Freedom Singers		Crossroads: Southern Roots

Class Three – Redemption Songs

cecile.johns — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:48:24 +0000

Name	Artist	Composer	Album
Africa	John Santos & the Machete Ensemble
Always and Forever	Luther Vandross	Rod Temperton	One Night with You: The Best of Love, Vol. 2
Bag Lady	Erykah Badu		title
Bankrobber	The Clash	Joe Strummer/Mick Jones	The Singles
Better Together	Jack Johnson	Jack Johnson	In Between Dreams
Blue Monk	Dirty Dozen Brass Band		Crossroads: Southern Roots
Brother John	The Wild Tchoupitoulas	Arthur Neville, Charles Neville & Cyril Garrett Neville	The Wild Tchoupitoulas
Brother John/Iko Iko	Neville Brothers		Crossroads: Southern Roots
Brown Eyed Blues	Ben Harper	Ben Harper/Juan Nelson	Diamonds On The Inside
Crazy	Gnarls Barkley		St. Elsewhere
Crazy Baldheads	Bob Marley & the Wailers	R. Marley	Rastaman Vibration
Exodus	Bob Marley & the Wailers	Bob Marley	Legend
Fais Do Do	Kathleen Battle	TRADITIONAL CREOLE	So Many Stars
Flashlight / Edited	Parliment Funkadelics
Genius Of Love	Tom Tom Club	Tom Tom Club	Tom Tom Club
House of Suffering	Bad Brains		I Against I
How I Got Over	Mahalia Jackson	Brewster	The Essential Mahalia Jackson
Jah Will Provide	Hugh Mundell		Africa Must Be Free by 1983
Let’s Stay Together	Al Green
Louisiana 1927	Randy Newman & The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra With Members Of The New York Philharmonic	Randy Newman	Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album
Mercy Mercy Me	Marvin Gaye	Marvin Gaye	What’s Going on
The Message	Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five		The Message
A Message To You Rudy	The Specials	Lee “Scratch” Perry/Lee Thompson	The Specials
My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now	Dirty Dozen Brass Band	Benny Jones Sr./Charles L. Joseph/Efrem P. Towns/Roger H. Lewis/Jenell Marshall/Kevn Harris/Kirk M. Joseph/Gregory Davis	Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album
O Leãozinho	Caetano Veloso	Caetano Veloso	Personalidade
Paid in Full	PomLoPlum		Old School Hip Hop
Police and Thieves	The Clash	Junior Murvin/Lee “Scratch” Perry	The Essential Clash Disc 1
Province	TV on the Radio	Malone/Sitek	Return to Cookie Mountain [Bonus Tracks]
Put Your Records On	Corrine Bailey Rae –
Rebel Music	Bob Marley
Redemption Song	Bob Marley & the Wailers	Bob Marley	Legend [Bonus Tracks]
Socio-Genetic Experiment	The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy	The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy	Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury
St. James Infirmary	Dirty Dozen Brass Band		jazz
Star Spangled Banner	Jimi Hendrix
There Is None Like Him	Mississippi Mass Choir		Crossroads: Southern Roots
Tipitina And Me	Allen Toussaint	Roy Byrd/Allen Toussaint	Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album
Track 01	Art Ensemble of Chicago
Track 3	Jonas Muller		East African Prayer Meeting Suite
Try Some Ammonia	Henry Threadgill		Too Much Sugar For A Dime
What More Can I Say	DJ Danger Mouse		The Grey Album
Zimbabwe	Bob Marley And The Wailers

The Giants

cecile.johns — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:44:07 +0000

Fletcher Henderson Band:

Billie Holday and Count Basie: God Bless the Child

Eric Dolphy: God Bless the Child

Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit

Champion Jack Dupree: The Woman I Love

Voodoo Child

cecile.johns — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:39:01 +0000

Change Is Gonna Come

cecile.johns — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:30:42 +0000

Loius Armstron: Black and Blue

Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit

Big Joe Turner:Keeping Out of the Grass

LEs Paul and Mary Ford: Multitracking

Chuck Berry

Nina Simone

Sam Cooke: Change Is Gonna Come

Eric Dolphy: God Bless the Child

John Coltrane: Alabama

Sly and the Family Stone: I Want to Take You Higher

Curtis Mayfield: People Get Ready

Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On

Stevie Wonder: Living for the City

Art Ensemble of Chicago

Bad Brains: Re-Ignition

Redemption Song

The Message (Video)

Fishbone