RACC 2010 Study-Discussion Guide

Department of Behavioral Sciences/CETL
RACC 2010
Study and Discussion Guide

In response to his own personal vision, Muddy Waters took the music of the Delta plantation, transplanted it in a Chicago nightclub, surrounded it with an electric band and proceeded to change the course of popular music forever. In doing so, I believe Muddy became one of the most significant links between early Afro-American culture and the global electronics of modern rock ‘n’ roll as we know it today… (Eric Clapton)
Muddy had his own regrets, but they tended to be more about legacy---he sensed this great art of his people had been lost. “I think to myself how these white kids was sitting down and playing the blues that my black kids was bypassing…And that was a hell of thing to think about.” (Rich Cohen)
Book: Rich Cohen. The Record Men: The Chess Brothers and the Birth of Rock and Roll. Atlas/Norton. 2005
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Understand impact of intra-racial migration of blacks rural south to urban/north and Midwest.
2. Understand how black music idioms impacted and transformed American music genres.
3. Understand how black music genres impacted and transformed American socio-political culture.
4. Understand historic role of the music idiom, the Blues and selected Blues artists, impacted American culture.
5. Understand how role of religion and its varied diverse influences—Christianity, Judaism, and Voudon (Voodoo) impacted the development of black music development and culture.

Lecture and Discussion Format

Online Discussion Blog Address: http://racc2010.blogspot.com
Second Life Display: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%Harlem/224/96/30

(1) Date and Time: February 4: (Drake Hall; 12:30-2:00)

“The Cross, The Star and The Crossroads” (Dr. Bond: Introduction and Overview)
Christianity, Judaism, and Voudon—Religion and the Blues Idiom
“The Train Stands for Freedom” (Dr. Joseph Rosher: Introduction and Overview)
Black Migration out of South: Chicago and the Black Urban Landscape
Student Discussion: Chapter 1 -Today You a Man, Go Get Me a Drink
Chapter 2-Jew Street
Questions to consider:
1. How did the black migration out of the South, impact the spread of the Blues?
2. What was it about train travel that led a significant amount of black migration out of Mississippi to end up in Chicago?
Bonus Discussion Topic: Pullman Car Porters and Black Labor
(Vocabulary Terms: Pogroms, Schnorrers, Harbinger, Schul, Torah, Usurer, Proximity, Vernacular, Precursor, Horde, Gargantuan, Surrealist, Émigré, Enunciated, Garish, Medium, Transcendence)

(2) Date and Time: March 4: (Drake Hall; 12:30-2:00)

“Contracts, Payola and Music: Economic Exploitation of Black Musicians”
(Dr. Eric Green: Introduction and Overview)
“From Blues to Rock and Roll” (Dr. Ronald Slaughter: Introduction and Overview)
Questions to consider:
1. Was WC Handy really the Father of the Blues?
2. How do you judge Leonard Chess in respect to his role as a record producer and his relationship with black blues musicians?
Student Discussion: Chapter 3 – They call it the Blues, but it makes you want to Dance)
Chapter 4 – 2120 South Michigan
Bonus Discussion Topic: Identify seminal Blues songs
(Vocabulary Terms: Remnant, Renaissance, Exuberant, Deconstruction, Lascivious, Malaise, Malleable, Conduit, Realpolitick, Cabal, Borscht, Tudor, Zeitgeist)


(3) Date and Time: April 1: (Drake Hall; 12:30-2:00)

“Chess Records and the Independent Producers -Jazz and Gospel” (Mr. Douglas Turner: Introduction and Overview)
“From Michael Jackson to Jay Z – Black Music Producers (Jodie Jones: Introduction and Overview)
Student Discussion: Chapter 5 – The Kids Dig it but the Kids are Sick
Chapter 6 – The Record Man Pays for Our Sins
Questions to consider:
1. What English Rock groups/individuals credited the Blues as their musical inspiration?
2. Was Leonard Chess’s demise with GRT, just rewards for his treatment of black musicians?
Bonus Discussion Topic: Blues Songs covered by White rock groups
(Vocabulary Terms: Hallucinogens, Muckraker, Antecedents, Psychedelic, Counterculture, Brinksmen)

Films/Movies:
1. Goin to Chicago (Documentary) January 28: (LRC: 12:30 and 7:00)
2. Ain’t Nothing but the Blues (Documentary) February 18: (LRC: 12:30 and 7:00)
3. Crossroads (Movie) February 25: (LRC: 7:00)
4. Wild Women Don’t get the Blues (Documentary) March 25: (LRC: 12:30 and 7:00)
5. Cadillac Records (Movie) April 8: (LRC: 7:00)

Supplementary Books:
1. Sandra Tooze. Muddy Waters: The Mojo Man. ECW Press. 1997
2. Willie Dixon with Dan Snowden. The Willie Dixon Story: I am the Blues. Da Capo Press. 1989.
3. Julius Lester. Black Folk Tales (Stagolee);Grove Press, NY. 1969