Skip to main content

Dinah Washington - I Only Know

The style of music that came to be known as rock ’n roll grew out of many other American musical styles, most notably blues, played mostly, but not only, by African Americans, and country, played primarily, but not only, but whites. Perhaps the clearest musical predecessor of rock ’n roll is the jump blues and swing style of the 1940s, typified by the music of Louis Jordan and Louis Prima. Once electric guitars gained wider use, they replaced the saxophone as the small band’s lead instrument, this change was one of the most important developments in rock ’n roll.

After a brief period of popular success, things went wrong for most of rock ’n roll’s early stars... And important dance/radio disc jockey Alan Freed, the man many credit for naming rock ’n roll, faded from the scene in disgrace after a payola, accepting bribes to play specific songs on the radio, scandal.

Meanwhile, big business had discovered that there was a market for this thing called rock ’n roll, so in the absence of many of rock’s original heroes, they manufactured new ones to take their place. This teen idol era featured many disposable, often musically and visually interchangeable, artists, but behind the scenes, true creativity was at work. The so called Brill Building style of pop songwriting launched the careers of many important songwriters who would go onto fame in their later years.


Dinah Washington - I Only Know
  • Released in: 1950
  • Genre: Jazz, Blues
  • Written by: Dinah Washington and Richard Johnson

"Although best known as singer, Dinah Washington also wrote two of her Top 10 R&B hits. No matter what style of music she was singing, she displayed a tough, totally unsentimental grasp of the heartbreaking theme of lost love."

See previous Song of the Day 

Labels:
Location: United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jackson Browne - Kisses Sweeter than Wine

Europe has a rich history of embracing blues and jazz music. In the early 20th century, American jazz musicians began touring Europe, introducing the continent to a new sound that was unlike anything they had ever heard before. Jazz became an instant hit among European audiences, and many European musicians began incorporating jazz elements into their music. Today, jazz festivals are held all over Europe, attracting thousands of fans from all over the world. In addition, many European cities have thriving blues scenes, with local bands and musicians performing regularly. Blues and jazz have also made their way to Asia, where they have found a devoted fan base. Japan, in particular, has a thriving jazz scene, with many Japanese musicians achieving international recognition. In addition, China has also seen a rise in the popularity of jazz music in recent years. Jazz festivals are now held in major Asian cities such as Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, attracting jazz lovers from all over ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Veronica Swift - A Little Taste

There has always been an uncomfortable tension between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, a cyclical influence that vacillates between inspiration, appropriation and separation. Popular music has broken off into categories of rock, pop, country, and R&B, each with their own origin stories. But R&B and rock, usually codified as vastly different, Black and white styles, have long been intertwined in ways our historical memory may have us forget.  Despite the innovation that comes from separation, rock and R&B always find their way back to each other. In recent years, rock veterans have turned to the genre’s classics for inspiration. Queens of the Stone Age veered from their typical hard rock with 2017’s Villains, a dance y album inspired by frontman Josh Homme’s love of 1920s jazz and swing, other Black genres that laid the groundwork for the popular music of today. The whitewashing of rock’s history has oversimplified music’s malleability and silenced the voices of Amer...
Post a Comment
Read more

Moondog - Behold

The history of jazz has been one of fusion. Its musicians and composers have continually drawn upon a huge range of different musics to create the rich and diverse tapestry that is world jazz today. Jazz is an evolving tradition of music making. And how often, in the life stories of individual jazz musicians, do we see these same patterns operating at microcosm? The richness of Turkish music and culture sometimes seems at odds with its turbulent and cruel history. In 1979... the country suffered its third military take over in thirty years... Every kind of music was in Turkey at that point. But it was not appreciated. To understand the culture of the country, with those three military takeovers, Turkey could not go anywhere. Musically, it was very difficult. But things were beginning to happen. Traditional Turkish music is essentially monophonic, rich in melody and rhythm but with little by way of harmony. The contrast with western music, with its beautiful harmonies but rhythmic weakn...
Post a Comment
Read more