The song is called "West End Blues" and was recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in 1928. Through an examination of Smith's touring itinerary, the testimony of fellow entertainers who toured . My name is Lex and I am a rising senior at the University of Georgia. Baraka attributes this knowledge to his mentor Sterling A. Smith continued on to become very successful with hits like St. Her lyrics aid the audience in understanding why she is down. Backwater blues done called me to pack my things and go. Known as the\"Empress of the Blues,\" Bessie Smith's first recording, \"Down-Hearted Blues,\" from 1923, was very successful, and helped her to become the leading African-American performer of the time. The song has a homophonic texture due to the use of instruments and vocalization in unison. The first two verses are unique and do not have any repetition. Create beats, songs, and musical snippets with built-in music theory, melody guides, and intelligent chord suggestions. The opening choruses of each performance . Log dich ein um diese Funktion zu nutzen. Bessie Smith - Back-Water Blues Lyrics | Genius Lyrics Backwater Blues Chris Fisher-Lochhead Backwater Blues is written in the key of E Major. The rhythm and beat remain constant throughout the song. Bemoaning the fate of losing a home to flood waters after five days and nights of rain, Smith laments: 'Thousands of people ain't got no place to go.'. The backwater blues caused me. Backwater Blues Sheet music for Piano (Solo) | Musescore.com The beat is easy to tap along to, making it easier to focus on her lyrics. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) began her professional career as a blues singer in cabarets in 1912. 3.2 Online-Unterricht - Backwater Blues - YouTube Dinah Washington - Back Water Blues - YouTube She made almost 200 recordings, including duets with Louis Armstrong and Joe Smith. Billed annually at $39.99. The elements of voice, musical instrument, and audience formed a living tercet in which the blues singer and musician resound one another to deliver that final line blues statement. She performed in various minstrel and black vaudeville shows, and as her reputation and fame grew, she performed with many of the other leading early jazz musicians of her time: Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, and James P. Johnson, just to name a few. Mchtest du Inhalte von aktivieren? Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas was written by Bessie Smith and was first recorded and released by Bessie Smith in 1927. Updated September 9, 2020. Leadbelly - Backwater Blues - YouTube The third-sixth verses have the traditional AAB blues pattern, which helps emphasize what she is saying during each verse. The scene is set with the terrific storm by the female speaker, so depressed that she cant even get out of the door. ). Bessie Smith, commonly referred to as the Empress of the Blues, was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Louis Blues featuring Louis Armstrong, Backwater Blues, and Nobody Knows You When Youre Down and Out. As the Swing era was emerging, Bessie Smith was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 1937 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Create beats, songs, and musical ideas with built-in music theory and AI from over 30k songs. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith recorded her song. Kevin Young was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Song: Back-Water Blues written by Bessie Smith | SecondHandSongs Blues on Yellow Marilyn Chin from Rhapsody in Plain Yellow. There's thousands of people ain't got no place to go. In our workshop, In the Voice and in the Deep, Blues Poetry, participants and I studied blues music, history, aesthetics, and ultimately blues poetry. I cant do justice to this poem, to Backwater Blues, by just reciting it myself. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith Chords, Melody, and Music Theory Bessie Smith's Back-Water Blues: the story behind https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143007001158, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. Print and download Backwater Blues sheet music by Bessie Smith. Of course, we Americans have historical amnesia. This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith . Great cover of blues classic Backwater blues on The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band 2011. album How I Go Become a Musicnotes Pro - Premium member today and receive 24 titles per year plus take 15% off all digital sheet music purchases and get PDFs included with every song! The three most important chords, built off the 1st, 4th and 5th scale degrees are all major . We were grounded by Amiri Barakas claim in Blues People, in which he conveyed that in the context of Black American culture, music explains history as history explains music. Death. Bessie Smith- Back Water Blues. Youtube, uploaded by TravelerIntoTheBlue, 9 Oct 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gXShOJVwaM. The conjunct melody made me want to sing along with her! Terrible images came across the television screen and recently with global warming and continuous flooding and natural disasters this poem survives the test of time and can speak to a variety of incidents and international dislocated peoples. The Cumberland River, which flows through the city, rose 56 feet (17m) above its normal level, still a record as of 2014[update].[4]. Backwater Blues does not sound as much like the blues as Down Hearted Blues to me, but it is still distinguishable as the blues due to the sad content of the song. See the E Major Cheat Sheet for popular chords, chord progressions, downloadable midi files and more! Harmonically, what is the piece based on? The rhythm remains constant throughout the song, allowing the melody to flow peacefully during the piece. One subscription across all of your devices. Cover versions of Back Water Blues by Irma Thomas | SecondHandSongs Though, after repeated listening and reading of blues standards like Backwater Blues, call and response became more than an AAB tercet on page/to my ear. Thematically, write about whatever you feel must be sung. Thank you. I see myself as an activist Chinese American poet, and I want to show the multiple sides of my literary inheritance. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. Chin is the recipient of the PEN/Josephine Miles Award, a Fullbright Fellowship, and the Paterson Prize, among numerous other honors. Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com. She earned her title by displaying her powerful voice to the public for everyone to hear. Back-Water Blues 65th in 1927. "Backwater Blues" (Song) - Song Meanings and Facts Datenschutzbestimmungen. The first line sets the scene, the second line repeats the first for emphasis. SKU: MN0121681 Second, the first published blues composition is accredited to W.C. Handys Memphis Blues in 1912. Bemoaning the fate of losing a home to flood waters after five days and nights of rain, Smith laments: Thousands of people aint got no place to go. While many latter-day listeners have equated this song with the disastrous 1927 flood of the Mississippi River, Smith actually recorded this before that particular flood had occurred. [1] Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023. Sheet music arranged for Piano/Vocal/Guitar in C Major (transposable). Hostname: page-component-75b8448494-knlg2 We could define and reproduce several devices of blues lyric, such as call and response, and blues turnaround, and surely, we can write sad poems. Discuss Bessie Smith's performance of "Back Water Blues" as an example of both. She manages to escape her flooding home, only to look back and see that she will never be able to go back to it. Includes 1 print + interactive copy with lifetime access in our free apps. In this blog post I am going to be looking at and analysing a track by famous New Orleans jazz musician, Louis Armstrong. Backwater Blues by Bessie Smith - Digital Sheet Music, View our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out. Published online by Cambridge University Press: Designed and built by Hooktheory in California. It also deals with how said flood displaced several victims and led to the loss of hundreds of lives. Borrowing from song to write about whats wrong. It was written by Bessie Smith, and recorded (under the title ". This is historically problematical because that flood began two months after Smith recorded her song. The third line either comments or reverses the first two lines. Bessie Smith tabs, chords, guitar, bass, ukulele chords, power tabs and guitar pro tabs including backwater blues, careless love, nobody knows you when youre down and out, taint nobodys business . Try listening to Backwater Blues while reading the lyrics; hear how the piano embodies the texture of what is being sung, as if the piano witnesses and takes on the storm and flood alongside Bessie Smith. Her powerful voice stands out so much in this song that the instrumental background may not even be needed as supplementation. Backwater Blues - Piano - YouTube The lyrics of the song are interpreted with respect to the events of that flood. The vocals to be the focus and the 'response' to be more complex, At times it can sounds almost 'half-spoken'. And the rain begin to pour. Another way of reading classic blues lyric structure is as weighted-sonic couplets. The rhythm and beat remain constant throughout the song. Today, I hear phrases such as the winter blues and Blue Monday and know that they are not considering this history. What is the structure of the lyrics? There's trouble taking place in the lowland that night, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Bessie Smith's 'Back-Water Blues': the story behind the song", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Backwater_Blues&oldid=1150358087, This page was last edited on 17 April 2023, at 18:17. Writer(s): Smith Smith describes how down she is about her life and how she knows there is nothing she can do about it. Lets look at this poem closely. She began recording regularly in the 1920s, distinguishing herself as the most successful African American artist of her time with her recording Down Hearted Blues in 1923. According to the Theorytab database, it is the 5th most popular key among Major keys and the 5th most popular among all keys. Bessie Smith's 'Back-Water Blues': the story behind the song Mmm, I cant move no more. Irma Thomas released it on the album Our New Orleans 2005 - A Benefit Album in 2005. La Bouche) [2023 Mix] [Extended Mix] Songtext. } The piece uses syncopation to allow variation between the instruments and the vocals. Study of Smith's touring itinerary, of testimony of fellow entertainers who toured with her, and of contemporary reports indicates that the song was written in response to the flood that struck Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas Day 1926. 04 January 2007. On September 26, 1937, Smith was en route to a show in Memphis, Tennessee with her companion of many years, Richard Morgan, when he sideswiped a truck and lost control of their car. This personal depression by extension is about the depression of an entire people, marginalized in the back waters, stricken with poverty, homelessness, suffering social injustice, discrimination, and now hit with this catastrophic natural disaster. View Official Scores licensed from. What are the introductory chords that illustrate this? I love writing blues poems. Bessie Smith - Songs, Death & Facts Backwater Blues is written in the key of E Major. Almost a million people became homeless for a time. While many latter-day . I am majoring in biology and love helping my community! The piece has a homophonic texture due to the supplementation of the instruments to the vocalization of Smith. Marilyn Chin (1955- ) was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Oregon, and received her MFA from the University of Iowa. Please use a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, or Opera instead. Furthermore, Baraka notes that Africanisms (retentions of African culture throughout the African diaspora) were not limited to US Black people but that the culture of the Americas contains and is itself influenced by Africanisms.