RACC 2010

Blog Question 3

2010-04-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

Are today's music industry executives any different from Leonard Chess? Have performers like Michael Jackson, Jay-Z and P-Diddy changed the way the music industry deals with black artist?

Chess Studios today as Wiillie Dixon's "Blues Heaven"

2010-03-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

Inside Chess Studios Recording Room

2010-03-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

Chess Studios Building in the 1940's

2010-03-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

Blog Question Number 2

2010-02-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

The "Crossroads" is a powerful concept in Voodoun culture and religion. In part it symbolizes the uncomfortable point in life when one must make a choice or select a path. The choice or path you select may be determined by your values, needs or wants. In the Record Men, Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul at the "Crossroads" for fame and fortune. Do you recognize any "crossroads" that confront various individuals in the book? As you answer that question, consider any "crossroads" you may have faced in your own life. Did you make your decision based on lust, love, money , etc.?

The "Crossroads" in the Mississippi Delta

2010-02-24T06:26:00.000-08:00

This is the location where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the Devil and became the greatest Delta blues player that ever lived

RACC 2010 Book Review Contest

2010-02-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

The RACC 2010 Book Review Contest Guidelines:
1. Prize - $150.00
2. 3 to 5 page typed review; must be turned in by April 9, 2010 to the Department of Behavioral Sciences.
3. Contestants must also participate in RACC 2010 blog; at a minimum you must answer/respond to posted blog questions.

Muddy Water's Home in Mississippi

2010-02-24T05:38:00.000-08:00

Muddy Water's Home in Chicago

2010-02-24T05:34:00.000-08:00

2010-02-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

First Blog Questions

2010-02-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

1. What does Cohen mean when he says the"kikes and niggers" at Chess Records were "rejects from proper society who found each other on a trip through a dark room?"

2. How was the Chess family's migration to Chicago either similar to or different from the migration of Blacks from the rural South (especially Mississippi) to Chicago?

If you scroll down you can see two paintings (Monet and Magritte) in the Art Institute of Chicago mentioned by the author referencing the role and impact of the train to the Blues idiom and migration to the North.

Remember you have to scroll down to see earlier postings.

Surrealist Magritte painting at Art Institute, p. 39 in book

2010-02-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

Monet Painting at Art Institute, p. 39 in book

2010-02-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

RACC 2010 Study-Discussion Guide

2010-01-26T06:53:00.000-08:00

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

RACC 2010 Introduction

2009-12-19T15:45:00.000-08:00

The Department of Behavioral Sciences presents “Reading Across the Campus and Community” (RACC 2010). This semester long activity undertakes a detailed analysis of a selected book through a series of group discussions, films and lecture.

The selected book for the 2010 spring semester is The Record Men: The Chess Brothers and the Birth of Rock and Roll by Rich Cohen. The book examines the emergence of the “Blues” out of the Mississippi Delta by key artist like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf who with many others migrated to Chicago. It focuses on how these artists and independent record companies transformed music in America and the world.

RACC 2010 features this online blog in addition to selected events on WJAB 90.9 radio and the Alabama A&M University television channels. RACC 2010 kicks off on January 21 and will include a Blues concert on the Quad (April 14) and a closing lecture by author Rich Cohen (April 15). A calendar of events and study/discussion guide will be posted on this site. We encourage your thoughtful comments.

Thanks to all of our RACC 2010 partners: AAMU CETL (Centers for Excellence in Teaching and Learning),WJAB, AAMU Scholartorium, AAMU Honors Center, AAMU Learning Resource Center, Information Literacy, and Microwave Dave and the Nukes. And a special thanks to the AAMU Chicago Alumni Chapter for agreeing to provide their special insight on the Chicago environment where much of the focus of the book takes place.

For those of who are familiar with SecondLife, beginning in mid-January visit our display at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Harlem/224/96/30

All members of the university family as well as the community-at-large are invited to “JOIN US and READ”.

RACC 2010 Calendar (Study/Discussion Guide)

2009-12-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

RACC 2010 Calendar
Study/Discussion Guide

January 21: RACC Kickoff (LRC: 12:30)
January 28: Film, “Going to Chicago” (LRC: 12:30 and 7:00)
February 4: Discussion-Chapters 1 & 2, pp. 1-13, 23-68 (Drake Hall 12:30)
February 18: Film, “Ain’t Nothing but the Blues” (LRC: 12:30 and 7:00)
February 25: Movie, Crossroads (LRC: 7:00)
March 4: Discussion,-Chapters 3 & 4, pp. 69-118, 120-154 (LRC 12:30)
March 25: Film, “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues” (LRC: 12:30 and 7:00)
April 1: Discussion-Chapters 5 & 6, pp. 156-178, 179-198 (LRC 12:30)
April 8: Movie, Cadillac Records (LRC: 7:00)
April 14: Blues Concert on the Quad (7:00-10:00pm) (Microwave Dave/A&M Students)
April 15: Author’s Lecture: Rich Cohen (Knight Center 12:30-2:00)