Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Eric Nielsen]

On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 4:13 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> It was through Josh White that I was introduced such songs as "Molly
> Malone" and I still consider his version of "Waltzing Matilda" to be
> the best.
>
> I certainly haven't heard a version I like better. There are some musicians
whose talent is so great that they can make almost any song their own. There
he is singing English, Irish, and Australian songs and they come out
great--and so much his own piece of work. A damn fine guitarist, too.


> Are you familiar with the kings of bluegrass, The Stanley Brothers?
> (Of course you are! The question is merely rhetorical.) They cut a
> couple of bluegrass versions of "Finger-Poppin' Time," originally by
> the R&B group, The Midnighters, led by Hank Ballard, the originator of
> the twist. The Brothers don't try to imitate, they originate. True to
> their roots, they turn the R&B song into bluegrass. They don't try to
> make themselves into R&B stylists.


I checked out both versions of the song on youtube. I enjoyed both and for
the reasons you stated: they stayed true to themselves. All musicians steal.
It's expected in an art form that is so traditional. A particular sound or
form will attract and they can't help but want it. Being able to put your
own individual stamp on a song is what distinguishes the great ones, e.g.
Josh White and Sinatra.


> To white-boy me it isn't the imitation that bugs, _it's the media gush_.

Precisely! You probably recall the late singer-songwriter, Laura Nyro.
In the other L.A. newspaper - not the LAT - I once read a review of
her work that stated, in no uncertain terms, that Nyro was a white
female singer superior in every way to every black female singer from
Bessie Smith to The Supremes. (At the time that the review appeared,
The Supremes were still simply "The Supremes.")
As we say in Texas - and in a lot of other states, too, no doubt -
"Come on, now!"

What bothers me about the above opinion is it seems like the
reviewer happily found a white singer who could outdo black singers at being
black. Why? Most (certainly not all) musicians I know are primarily into the
music, and don't care about the race of the person doing it. It must be a
music reviewer thing to make race an issue.

Still give people their due: African/American music
has incalculably influenced world music. Blues, Jazz (Dixieland, Swing,
Be-bop), and R and B forms are loved--and copped--in most corners of the
planet. And every knowledgeable musician, musicologist, dancer, DJ, and
listener knows that is true.

Eric

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