Re: Jewish involvement in R&B/soul music

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

I teach this stuff, so it's on my mind constantly and there are endlessly
fascinating takes on it.  I only occasionally get to do this in an explicitly
Jewish context, mostly in a general history of rock, that includes
African-American youth popular music as well.

Yesterday, when I played Carole King (Carole Klein, originally)  (excluded
from the Stars of David book, as are Simon and Garfunkel, for reasons I don't
fully understand) and thought of how fully she'd 'assimilated so many
African-American styles, I felt compelled to point out that as a composer and
session musician, she was one of the architects of at least one region of the
music that would otherwise only be regarded as an influence ON HER.  One could
say the same about Lieber and Stoller and many others, but it really comes out
in Carole King because she eventually emerged from the back offices and
studios as a performer in her own right.  She is, btw, better than ever, if
her most recent recordings are any indication.  Too bad she's out of fashion.

When I think about the degree to which Jewish artists were relegated to
behind-the-scenes roles, I get angry.  It reveals a societal attitude that's
not all that easy to take.  BTW, the parallels with the film industry to this
day are quite strong.  It gets more disturbing when one realizes that Jews get
blamed for lurking in the shadows when the only alternatives are comedy (Jerry
Seinfeld, Deborah Messing, et al) and an outsider/alienated quality (Dylan) in
music, unless one is able to 'pass,' which may require a name change like
Carole King (such as obviously didn't adequately serve to mask Dylan's
persona).

In a less obviously musical vein, the role of Jews in the music industry, as
well as theatre and cinema, is emblematic of a very long historical pattern in
which we were excluded from numerous, relatively safe employments and
industries, were forced to take risks that often involved new technologies
like film and sound recording, did very well for having gotten into the game
early and stayed the course, and then got resented bigtime for our success and
tenacity.  I'm not suggesting that every Jewish entertainment mogul was/is a
paragon of ethical/moral virtue, but that comes with the turf.

If that all seems too 'unmusical' for the tastes of some on the list, just
delete everytime you see my name.  If you happen to be in the Twin Cities
tomorrow, my concert at Beth Jacob starts at 7 pm.  An $18 donation is
requested, but not mandatory.  I'll be performing original works including a
couple of premieres on four instruments, along with my long-time collaborator,
dancer Judith Brin Ingber.

Ari Davidow wrote:

> >
> >There seems to be a sense of affinity between African-Americans and Jews
> >which facilitated this type of co-operation across racial lines, even at
> >times when segregation was strict elsewhere in society. I'm neither
> >American nor Jewish, so it would be hard for me to assess...However, many
> >of the bios of these people reveal that they grew up in mixed
> >neighbourhoods (at a time when blue collar neighbourhoods might have been
> >more integrated than they are now?) and that they became fascinated by
> >jazz and R&B at an early age....so writing songs for/working with black
> >artists was just an extension of this interest.
>
> An interesting place to start thinking about Jews and Arican-Americans in
> US popular music is a documentary produced by Michael Goldfarb for WBUR
> radio a couple of years ago: "Jews and Blues,"
> http://www.wbur.org/special/jewsandblues/index2.asp
>
> ari
>
> Ari Davidow
> ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
> list owner, jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> the klezmer shack: http://www.klezmershack.com/
>

--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music and Jewish Studies
Adjunct Professor of American Studies
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


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