Songs Flashcards
Enigue Nigue
Artist: AfroCuba de Matanzas Decade: 1990s Genre: Afro-Cuban Rumba Form: Strophic Significance: Montuno section, involves call-and-response and solo improvisation. Example of rumba, friendly competition song.
Dipper Mouth Blues
Artist: King Joe Oliver & Creole Jazz Band
Decade: 1920s
Genre: Jazz
Form: Three sections, ABC
Significance: Improvisation, first African American Jazz recording. King Joe Oliver as Louis Armstrong’s mentor.
My Blue Heaven
Artist: Gene Austin Decade: 1920s Genre: Crooner, Tin Pan Alley Form: Verse-refrain (AABA refrains) Significance: Best-selling record of its era. Features crooning as a new musical style.
St. Louis Blues
Artist: Bessie Smith (& Louis Armstrong) Decade: 1920s Genre: Classic Blues Form: Twelve-bar blues Significance: Early racial crossover hit, one of the first hit blues songs. Race record.
Black Snake Moan
Artist: Blind Lemon Jefferson Decade: 1920s Genre: Country Blues Form: Significance: Jefferson as the first country blues star, sexual imagery in the text. Race record.
Hound Dog
Artist: Big Mama Thornton Decade: 1950s Genre: R&B Form: 12-bar blues Significance: One of the most influential female R&B singers. Lyrics project image of female power.
Maybellene
Artist: Chuck Berry Decade: 1950s Genre: Rock n roll (vocal-based R&B) Form: Verse-Chorus Significance: Chuck Berry's first pop music hit. Novel synthesis of explosive tempo, electric guitar, and humorous lyrics.
Don’t Be Cruel
Artist: Elvis Presley Decade: 1950s Genre: Rock n roll Form: Verse-chorus Significance: Uses electronic reverb, a mixture of rockabilly, swing, blues, and R&B styles; with backing vocals by the Jordanaires.
La Bamba
Artist: Ritchie Valens Decade: 1950s Genre: Rock n roll Form: Strophic Significance: Latin influence on rock n roll, adaptation of Mexican son jarocho folk song.
You Can’t Hurry Love
Artist: The Supremes Decade: 1960s Genre: Motown Form: Unknown, intricate Significance: Example of an innovatively structured Motown song with a structure that reflects its lyrics
Good Vibrations
Artist: The Beach Boys (led by Brian Wilson)
Decade: 1960s
Genre: Rock n roll
Form: Unique
Significance: The most innovative single from the 60s. Features a developing, non-repeating form, with unusual instrumentation and a theremin.
El Watusi
Artist: Ray Baretto Decade: 1960s Genre: bugalu (Latin soul) Form: ? Significance: Based on Latin charanga dance music style, with violins playing repeated montuno. One of the musicians plays the role of a man nicknamed "Watusi".
Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag
Artist: James Brown (The Godfather of Soul)
Decade: 1960s
Genre: Soul
Form: Twelve-bar blues
Significance: Classic form, but groundbreaking new sound that defined dance-oriented soul music, with a repeating instrumental riff.
Like a Rolling Stone
Artist: Bob Dylan Decade: 1960s Genre: Urban folk Form: Verse-chorus Significance: Challenged existing restrictions on length, subject matter, and poetic direction of pop music. Renowned for its sonic density, and being the longest pop single up to its time.
Oye Como Va
Artist: Santana Decade: 1970s Genre: Jazz, Latin rock, Salsa Form: Sectional Significance: Features electrified Afro-Cuban dance rhythm. Example of improvisational, rhythmicaly layered nature of Santana recordings.
Bad Girls
Artist: Donna Summer Decade: 1970s Genre: Disco Form: Verse-chorus Significance: Characterized by heavy beat, fast tempo, and repetitive song form
Pedro Navaja
Artist: Willie Colon and Ruben Blades Decade: 1970s Genre: Salsa Form: Significance: Contains call-and-response dominated montuno section. Song had enormous impact on Latin American audiences.
The Message
Artist: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Decade: 1980s
Genre: Hip-hop
Form:
Significance: Established trend of social realism in rap. Portrays the first honest description of life in the ghettos.
Walk this Way
Artist: Run-DMC feat. Aerosmith Decade: 1980s Genre: Hip-hop Form: Significance: Example of the first successful synergy between rock and hip-hop.
April Showers
Artist: Al Jolson Decade: Two recordings, 1920s & 1930s Genre: Tin Pan Alley Form: Verse-refrain (ABAC refrains) Significance: In second recording, Jolson breaks into song-speak. In second recording, band plays mood-setting intro.
