Skip to main content

Mr Twin Sister - Alien FM

The evolution of the blues had to await the mass production of inexpensive guitars, as the first blues musicians bore the burden of racial discrimination and Jim Crow. Therefore, it was the creativity of blues artists, ca. 1900, together with the innovations of the entrepreneurs who developed affordable guitars, that allowed the blues to develop when it did.

The Industrial Revolution, first and foremost, was a revolution in productivity. Say’s Law of Markets states that production creates demand, that is, with the move from muscle power to steam power, entrepreneurs and their employees became more productive. Increased productivity permitted people to demand, or purchase, more goods. Also, when factories produce more of something, they can both manufacture and market the products at lower prices. Sears, Roebuck and Company could produce inexpensive goods, including guitars, and still turn a profit by serving the rising tide of new purchasers. Last but not least, by mechanization, the Industrial Revolution reduced the significance of muscle power, helping to put an end to the horror of slavery.

With the market innovation of the mail order catalogue, Sears, Roebuck and Company could reach rural customers who previously could not hope to own what were, not long ago, a luxury. However, the history of business and economics is replete with stories of how successful entrepreneurs got rich by voluntary exchange, what goes by the label capitalism, they provided a product that many people wanted to buy at a price that many people were willing to pay. One of the products the company produced cheaply and made available to rural customers, including Black Americans who were underserved by rural markets during Jim Crow, was the inexpensive steel string acoustic guitar... The comparatively low prices of the guitars, along with a price drop of almost 60% in only a dozen years, as well as the addition of steel strings, helped fuel the development of the blues in the Mississippi Delta ca. 1900.


Mr Twin Sister - Alien FM
  • Released: Apr 2019
  • Genre: Alternative, Funk, Pop
  • Label: Twin Group

"Twin Sister formed in 2008, when vocalist Andrea Estella, and her longtime friend bassist Gabe D'Amico joined forces with keyboardist Dev Gupta, guitarist/vocalist Eric Cardona, and drummer Bryan Ujueta, all of whom met in Long Island, New York's music scene."

See previous Song of the Day

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ry Cooder - Available Space

It all started with gospel music. After the American Civil War, in the mid 19th century, people moved north from the plantations to the cities, St Louis, Chicago and Memphis. By the end of the 19th century the syncopated rhythms of ragtime and the improvisational nature of jazz had arrived. Hard times in the great depression of the 1930s drove many swing jazz big bands out of business. Jump blues filled the gap. Patrons of dance halls needed small groups who could match the volume and atmosphere of the departed big bands. Singers would shout and saxophonists would honk. This gave performers names like shouters and honkers. Jump blues was an uptempo jazz tinged style of blues. Usually characterised by a vocalist in front of a large horn driven orchestra or medium sized combo with multiple horns. The style had a driving rhythm, intensely shouted vocal and honking tenor saxophone solos. There was also less reliance on the guitar as a lead instrument. It also had a hard, rhythmic drive and...

Lester Young - Ghost of a Chance (Take 1)

Philadelphia was well positioned to play a leading role in popular music. The city had long been one of the nation’s most important musical centers, with strong traditions in both European derived and African American music dating back to the eighteenth century. In the early twentieth century Philadelphia saw a dramatic increase in its Black population as a result of the Great Migration. By the 1940s, Philadelphia’s large and diverse Black population had created thriving scenes in jazz and gospel music. From these traditions a new kind of music emerged in the 1940s, in Philadelphia and across the nation. Usually played in small combos called jump bands, the music featured rollicking dance rhythms coupled with fairly simple blues based harmonies and melodies. The adaptation of this style, known as rhythm and blues or R&B, by white musicians essentially created rock and roll. In Philadelphia in the late 1940s and early 1950s, jump bands played dance halls, nightclubs, and corner bars...

The Uncommon Vinyl Sizes & Speeds

The Uncommon Vinyl Sizes & Speeds The standard sizes and speed for vinyl records are 12" and 7" both played at 33 1/3 RPM or 45 RPM. RPM means revolution per minute, the number of times the record rotates a minute. Image by Mink Mingle Unusual Sizes for Vinyl 2 in (5.1 cm) Recorded at 10-20 seconds each side. 3 in (7.6 cm)   Also known as 8ban for 8cm Bandai, these were developed in Japan by record pressing company Toyokasei. Records in this format continue to be manufactured. 3 inch singles are made available exclusively. 4.7 in (12 cm)  Although dubbed a 5 inch record, to be usable in most compact disc players, the record can be no bigger than 120 mm. 5 in (13 cm) Children's records records were manufactured in this size from the early 1900s all the way up to the late 1950s and underground punk bands in the 1990s. 6 in (15 cm) From the late 1940s to the early 1960s. The 78 RPM speed was used for some children's records of this size well into the 1960s...