Interesting I’ve liked “Sixth Street Rag” myself.
Just goes to show that the push to become more “diverse” is actually have the opposite effect. As we globalize and crush everyone together, the “melting pot” means we’re all the same. That’s unfortunate.
I’m guessing that
Ordinary music life = Popular music history.
Don’t forget that most Americans were regular church goers back then. The influence of Gospel and other kinds of religious worship had a profound effect on popular music, especially in it’s beginning stages. Country music and The Blues became merged at some point in the late ‘40’s and early ‘50’s.
This evolved into what was later called Rock and Roll or Rhythm and Blues.
Some entertainers retained their original Gospel approach, such as Mahalia Jackson, while others’ just as creative embraced the more secular, such as Ella Fitzgerald.
Mahalia refused to sing anything clearly secular, turning down lucrative request after other lucrative requests.
It probably would be more accurate to say that the golden age of music in common life was around 1720-1920, when there were enough non-poor people to have the free time to learn how to play/sing music and the literacy to be able to read words and music. It is no coincidence that this is also the time of the golden age of classical music, from Vivaldi/Handel/Bach to Brahms/Tchaikovsky/Puccini. When singing switched from bel canto to crooning, it was the beginning of the end, though it took a whole cycle of four generations to get to the end, with classical music going avant-garde nuts and popular music going cookie-cutter bland, needing sex, choreography, and fireworks to make it palatable.
We'd all sing songs at YMCA camp, at school...it was a community-binding ceremony (of sorts, I think).
Until it became culturally "uncool"...spearheaded no doubt by the Marxist cultural agitators.
In"Catch Me if You Can", remember how 'cringey' the scene was with Martin Sheen singing with his family to - remember it? - 'Sing Along with Mitch'?
Group singing was a kind of cultural glue that united us
...until our more modern 'betters", marxists who wanted us divided pronounced it passe, unsophisticated, something only the yokels do...yeah, that's the ticket.
You’re writing about REAL music.. Today’s noise bears no resemblance to what is called “music.”
My family had a Victrola given to us by an uncle when his wife passed away. I was just a kid but his wife must have been the music lover in the marriage. That grand old man lived to 105 and his sister to 107 - they had no children.It came with a LOT of 78 records and we played every single one of them for years growing up. We moved it from PA to our home in NY state. My family loved to sing - around a piano my sister played and on car trips.
I find appalling by “WHAT” appears on stage today for millions of dollars - barely clothed...and everyone knows WHO I’m talking about. Even worse was the future King of England taking his two oldest children to one of “the” concerts recently.. Who in their right mind would want their children entertained by someone who has to flaunt her body to grab a crowd’s attention? Yes - I’m an old fuddy duddy and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I grew up in a different time.
We had our great female singers in the ‘40’s (Andrews Sisters, Jo Stafford and not so old Anne Murray) and none had to appear practically nude for us to enjoy their talent. The only who was semi-nude was Esther Williams - LOL.
Right now I’m listening to beautiful music by the pianist John Arpin...THAT’S music!!!
How much is that doggy in the window?
The one with the waggily tail.
Probably from the radio. Long time ago. You triggered the memory.