Minstrel Music Thread - Specifically about the tunes performed in minstrel shows

[X del]

The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of African Americans.

With the idea of separating the art from the artist, I think everyone should be able to consume and study a piece of history with fascination regardless of their political beliefs. That being said here's a minstrel show thread (not a blacks-hating thread).

Best know example is a tune Jump Jim Crow:

performed on piano

performed on banjo

A show by Edison Minstrels performed in 1899.

A more "modern" song from Babes On Broadway performed by Judy Garland

 

[KRAINOS]

Bro wtf

 

[X del]

Bro wtf

From a historcal aspect. I don't listen to ts

 

[KRAINOS]

We still have minstrel shows, but I think they're called 'drag' now.

 

[synthetic_glazer]

With the idea of separating the art from the artist, I think everyone should be able to consume and study a piece of history with fascination regardless of their political beliefs. That being said here's a minstrel show thread (not a blacks-hating thread).

Best know example is a tune Jump Jim Crow:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=rxHQmkvQV_w

Obviously I’m speaking from a 21st centrury perspective, but I never understood the appeal of minstrel shows. Suppose I was intensely racist (and it just so happens I am intensely racist)- why would I want to go to a show/listen to music about blacks? Sure, it’s making fun of them, but it’s still about blacks. If I hate them, I don’t really want to pay money and time to watch a peformance about how zany and backwards they are. It’s one thing to make jokes about ‘em and stuff, but there’s only so much mental real estate you can give the joke about shit you don’t like just gets demoralzing.

Analyzing it musically, that Jump Jim Crow song has got to be well-known only for the novelty of the song existing because it’s painfully rudimentary, from a music theory perspective. The song basically has only three chords that exist in a meaningful capacity: I IV and V. These three are tonic major chords that are almost always voiced here as a 7 chord. The melody emphasizes only chord tones so the vocal line doesn’t help on that front, either. There’s very little variety in the song, and considering a verse is only ten measures long and there’re ten verses, that’s pretty damning.

I won’t get too deep into the lyrics’ syllables not mapping well onto the melody since that’s something someone without a music theory background can pick up on, but that’s also a pretty big issue I have with the song.

Fascinating historically for sure, but on its own I’m not seeing much artistic value to it, sadly.



But tbf I’m really big into theater, so I am quite picky with performance art and show tunes.

 

[Wraithdolf the White]

Well today is the super bowl, so this is apt.

 

[Rango Dango]

theres this dude right now who tries to restore old minstrel (specifically coon) music

Spoiler: some of his

in fact he is streaming right now (started like 10 minutes ago, doing only instrumental stuff)

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Well today is the super bowl, so this is apt.

 

[Althalus]

This thread is interesting from a historical perspective, thank you for making it. There is a youtube channel called Ikachina that posts videos of actual minstrel shows.

Everyone here has probably seen the /pol/ copypasta about how "America worships niggers". Not going to get too much into sociology here but I genuinely wonder just how much of that got started with minstrel shows and minstrel music.

Obviously I’m speaking from a 21st centrury perspective, but I never understood the appeal of minstrel shows. Suppose I was intensely racist (and it just so happens I am intensely racist)- why would I want to go to a show/listen to music about blacks? Sure, it’s making fun of them, but it’s still about blacks.

That's basically my opinion of Johnny Rebel's songs- yeah they're catchy, but at the end of the day most of his songs are still singing about blacks despite being hateful in tone. At a certain point listening to that kind of stuff is just letting blacks live rent-free in your head.

 

[RomanianSchizo]

theres this dude right now who tries to restore old minstrel (specifically coon) music

Spoiler: some of his

https://youtube.com/watch?v=imspRb_gf5Yhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=OvYBaKV_qrUhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=lmjjvsge_2Uhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=MurDRuNVyXw

in fact he is streaming right now (started like 10 minutes ago, doing only instrumental stuff)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=V_eesHtH9RE

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https://youtube.com/watch?v=_8R6dFldPeo

You beat me to it, I was gonna mention Kylan! This guy is doing a great job at preserving history, I highly recommended anyone reading this to go sub to him.

 

[TokiBun]

You beat me to it, I was gonna mention Kylan! This guy is doing a great job at preserving history, I highly recommended anyone reading this to go sub to him.

Kylan is the fucking GOAT. Wish he had been around when I did my ragtime paper in college oh well. The way he emotes to the camera while singing Nigger on the Moon is amazing lmao

 

[Breadbassket]

theres this dude right now who tries to restore old minstrel (specifically coon) music

He does a lot of old music featuring themes on race but I'm not sure if he is doing is what would be considered purely minstrel songs since a good number of them have lyrics made to sound like the piece is being sung by what was then a stereotypical Black person from the American South.

Take for example the original lyrics to Oh! Susanna:

In summary, there is a difference, though frankly no one cares about it these days, between singing about Blacks to singing as someone dressed up as the caricature of a Black person. This would make sense if there is truth to the idea of the popularity of minstrelsy declining after the American Civil War and being gradually overtaken by vaudeville in the late 19th century (which is when many of the songs that Kylan/Foundring sings were composed).

 

[TokiBun]

He does a lot of old music featuring themes on race but I'm not sure if he is doing is what would be considered purely minstrel songs since a good number of them have lyrics made to sound like the piece is being sung by what was then a stereotypical Black person from the American South.

Take for example the original lyrics to Oh! Susanna:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qSIj17xbAyk
In summary, there is a difference, though frankly no one cares about it these days, between singing about Blacks to singing as someone dressed up as the caricature of a Black person. This would make sense if there is truth to the idea of the popularity of minstrelsy declining after the American Civil War and being gradually overtaken by vaudeville in the late 19th century (which is when many of the songs that Kylan/Foundring sings were composed).

If you read the pinned comment of each upload he gives context for the piece and some composer info. According to some uploads he's argued that Minstrel shows were a form of political satire and not just mindless humor at the expense of black people.

 

[RomanianSchizo]

If you read the pinned comment of each upload he gives context for the piece and some composer info. According to some uploads he's argued that Minstrel shows were a form of political satire and not just mindless humor at the expense of black people.

Adding on to this, it appears that several of these songs were written by blacks themselves

 

[Breadbassket]

If you read the pinned comment of each upload he gives context for the piece and some composer info. According to some uploads he's argued that Minstrel shows were a form of political satire and not just mindless humor at the expense of black people.

I'd think this would have some truth to it since apparently some decried them as falsely showing happy slaves while at the same time making fun of them; segregationists thought such shows were "disrespectful" of social norms as they portrayed runaway slaves with sympathy and would undermine slavery.

To give the art form even further nuance it must be pointed out that minstrel music and blackface that accompanied it gained its first big wave of popularity in the northeastern part of the United States where there were relatively few Blacks and slavery was generally outlawed by the late 1820s. Many of its performers were popular in places like New York City. Composers like Thomas D. Rice (Jump Jim Crow), Dan Emmett (Dixie) and Stephen Foster (Oh! Susanna, Camptown Races) were from Northern states. Foster and Emmett even supported the Union during the Civil War.

 

[millais]

It was mentioned in another thread that there was this long-running song-and-dance TV programme on BBC called "The Black and White Minstrel Show", from the 1960s - 1980s. Ironically, the music featured in the show was never actually historical minstrel show music, instead just being classic and popular 1920s - 1940s American and British songs and musical numbers.

But they did do the performances in full blackface.

Spoiler

 

[Rango Dango]

If you read the pinned comment of each upload he gives context for the piece and some composer info. According to some uploads he's argued that Minstrel shows were a form of political satire and not just mindless humor at the expense of black people.

yeah
if anything "do not trust nigger with a gun" is antiracist
shows the hypocrisy of white people not trusting niggers with a gun but when a war happens theyre the first ones to get guns
it shows them in a good light too because it describes them as fearless soldiers that wouldnt surrender