[Ads-l] Antedating of "Old School" (Music)

[Ben Zimmer]

Good find, Fred. I wonder if this deserves at least a bracketed cite:

---
_Tan_, Mar. 1955, p. 17, col. 1, "On the Records" by James Goodrich
Roy Hamilton, a big-voiced ex-choir singer with training in the classics,
is now setting on recordings a new pattern for rhythm and blues vocalists
which amounts to something quite radical for the field. Crooning blues in
the polished and sedate style of a concert artist, he appears as a direct
opposite of old-school r&b singers who depend on raucous, off-color
presentations to make their way.
https://archive.org/details/sim_tan_1955-03_5_5/page/16/mode/2up
---

Perhaps this would better fit OED's adj. 1b ("Reflecting, exhibiting, or
adhering to traditional values or old-fashioned ways; outdated, no longer
in vogue," with cites from 1946) rather than adj. 2 ("Of, designating, or
relating a style or genre of music regarded as relatively traditional,
old-fashioned, or uninfluenced by newer styles"). After all, the writer is
talking about "old-school (r&b singers)" rather than "(old-school r&b)
singers."

--Ben

On Sat, Apr 20, 2024 at 11:45 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
wrote:

> old school (OED, adj. 2., 1988)
>
> 1986 _Spin_ 1 Oct. 42 (ProQuest)
>
> The reincarnation of Grace Jones, religious or mystical pop, altruistic,
> collaborative superjam projects, the Monkees, and old-school hip-hop funk.
>
>

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