An Ear For An Era: 1899-1949

See that? I came up with a title! Nearly by myself! I do admit that my friend Mark got me on the ear/era wordplay thought train. Thanks dude!

Speaking of trains, blues singers sure like trains!

Now, I should put in a couple disclaimers before I get started. This is based on my music library as opposed to all music. So according to my music library, rock & roll was started by Hank Williams and the first album ever was Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads.

Another disclaimer is that I still have a good amount of music with no year in the data field. I just tried to go through it real quick but that would take all night. But I did catch a few more and listened real quick tonight. Such as Rhapsody in Blue, which is one of my all time favorite recordings. And Home On The Range by Gene Autrey was year-less. But those ones are back in. I probably missed some other stuff though.

So it all started in 1899 when music came into existence with Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag.

A lot happened over the next 50 years. Jazz. Folk. Blues. Country. Rock and roll.

Here is what caught my ear.


I love this 20s Louis Armstrong stuff. It reminds me of garage rock. It's supremely talented individuals just having a ball. I'd love to have experienced it, just Satchmo going off on his trumpet with his buddies while a big ol' pot of etouffe cooked. Did I mention I love New Orleans? This is the track that exemplified this for me:

Louis Armstrong "Muskrat Rumble"

Into the 30s, there was a lot of this stuff from Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, and the great Lady Day, Billie Holiday.  All of the Billie Holiday songs that came up were highlights, from the freewheeling good-times jazz of "No Regrets" to the brutally sad ballads like "Strange Fruit." And in the 40s, "Gloomy Sunday." But I'm going to post the happier one mentioned above.

Billie Holiday "No Regrets"

I almost wanted to cut it off at the start of the 40s, because I could feel things start to change as the 30s drew to a close. I will miss the pre-40s jazz (with touches of folk). Things got more serious-ish as everyone dealt with WWII and the fallout. At least that's what I'll attribute it to. But it was fitting that the last song was Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again." I will miss you, 30s music!

The 40s were, as far as my playlist will tell you, the expansion of things. There was still plenty of Billie Holiday but the songs were less fun (still beautiful!). Lots of Django Reinhardt and Edith Piaf as well. I sure have a lot of Piaf in my collection. Here's the one song from her that stood out to me, as she really wailed:

Edith Piaf "Mariage"

The 40s also brought, of course, the great Woody Guthrie, whose Dust Bowl Ballads seems to be the first official album in my collection. It's still a fantastic album, even beyond its historical significance. I was struck by the lasting relevance of one particular song, "Pretty Boy Floyd." With lyrics like "Some will rob you with a six gun and some with a fountain pen" and "you will never see an outlaw drive a family from their home," it could be the mission statement for Occupy (maybe it was?).

Woody Guthrie "Pretty Boy Floyd"

I had a pretty big collection of blues songs in the 40s but none of them really stood out so I'm not going to bother posting a video. They were one thing that lead to rock and roll, though, so I have to mention that I don't really think this white guy started the whole thing. But if you really listen to Hank Williams' "Move it On Over" from 1947, it's more than just his "first country hit." It's rock and roll!

Hank Williams "Move It On Over"

Of course, there were other songs that sounded just like that I'm sure. And two years later, Goree Carter had a no-argument-about-it rock and roll song called "Rock Awhile." I probably picked up this mp3 from a blog somewhere.

Goree Carter and His Hepcats "Rock Awhile"

And what better way to kick us into the 50s? Join me next time on AN EAR FOR AN ERA!

Other Highlights Worth Mentioning:

• George Gershwin, "Rhapsody in Blue" - I am in love with this composition. It merged classical and jazz and makes me think of Manhattan. Probably because the film uses it in the opening. Chapter one...
• Pierre Schaeffer, "Etude Aux Chemins de Fer" - Quite a curiosity. Loops of train noises and such. The avant garde was alive and well in 1949! Although you need only check out some underground film from that time to know that.
• Miles Davis. Birth of the Cool. Duh.

In The Next Installment...

The early 50s! I have about twice as much music from 1950-1954 as I did from 1899-1949. It looks like there's more Edith Piaf, a LOT more blues, and a Hank Williams marathon awaiting me. And of course, plenty of early rock and roll! And Dizzy Gillespie. And Frank Sinatra.

Manifesto for a new 'loggin' project

Hi! I know you! You're the reader that reads this piece of the internet known as Quiet Brandon! How's it going?

I'm going to do a new project and this is the little summation of what I expect to happen.

This project will have a name. Such as...

Musichronology 101! or... Journey Through Time via Music! or...any suggestions?

Basically, here's the whole thing. I have a lot of music on my external hard drive. iTunes says it's 36076  mp3s, totalling 221.07 GB or 92 days, 15 hours, 35 minutes, and 53 seconds of music. All different songs. Mostly. Sometimes there's a remastered version and a not-remastered version of the same track here and there. But for the most part, I have lots. I keep acquiring. It keeps growing. But I keep focusing on the NOW, on the "what came out this year? what's the best of this year?"

A few years ago I decided to go through my whole music collection, alphabetically by artist. It was quite the journey. Since them, I have acquired much more music for this thing. So I'm doing a new thing.

The plan is to listen to all of my music--other than classical because that would cause a long section of classical music to start it off and I'm not ready to critically decipher what was happening there--chronologically, and write about my findings here.

I'll divide it into chunks. I'll probably start with "everything pre-1950" and write about that. Then a time period after that. Etc. And then specific years, probably starting in 1964 or so. A post about each year.

I'm not saying I have all the definitive music of this century at my fingertips. Or the past 63 years even. But I have enough that it should be interesting. Maybe we'll learn something about the history of the world or the nation or just of me.

I'll keep listening to new music as it comes out, which will slow this project down, but I can't resist good new music (particularly if it turns out to be as good as this new Yo La Tengo album, which is fantastic). But for the most part, I'll stick to the chronological journey.


Anyone have a good idea for a title of this project?