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This will be a quick response to Tony Thomas and Jeff Titon. Tony Thomas: I don't "expect" blues to work as direct political action. I agree that blues politics are indirect. There's more than blatant sexism at work though -- the masculinization of blues of the 1960s led to a devaluation of the black feminist politics of 1920s classic blues (on which Angela Davis has eloquently written in "Blues Legacies and Black Feminism"). I also think that some of what might be seen as sexism in a song like Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" is actually an assertion of humanity rather than masculinity (I'm trying to connect declaring "I'm a man!" with the history of black men being called "boy" in the South here). For me, the *indirect* politics of blues changed in the 1960s, and demands of African Americans were more adequately represented by soul and, later, hip hop (to simplify, blues is pre-Civil Rights, soul is Civil Rights and hip hop post-Civil Rights -- all of these musical genres refer to much more than just music). Considering African American history and the Jim Crow South, it's not surprising that blues expressed politics rather indirectly. In the 60s, though, black music began to express demands for direct political action -- Curtis Mayfield & the Impression with "This Is My Country," James Brown with "Say It Loud," Sly & the Family Stone with "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey." We can see a continuation of this in some forms of hip hop. My comment than referred to why many whites became interested in blues rather than soul music (and quite a few blues aficionados, such as the Living Blues editors, rejected soul as inauthentic). Jeff Titon: I don't claim that Nick Gravenites' comment was representative. Gravenites was a pretty important participant in the blues scene of the 60s though. A more prevalent attitude among white blues performers might have been a feeling of respect for black culture and of humbleness -- but it could switch rather quickly, as when Eric Clapton proclaimed his indebtedness to black music and then went on to support a racist politician like Enoch Powell. Be that as it may, I'm not sure "having been there" in the 60s makes one necessarily more of an expert (those who remember the 60s weren't there, as the saying goes). Critical distance doesn't need to be a bad thing if you are willing to immerse yourself in the time period you're writing about too, read as many sources as you can, interview people, study the music itself, etc. How else is one to reach interpretative conclusions about history? Dr. Ulrich Adelt Assistant Professor American Studies and African American and Diaspora Studies The University of Wyoming Cooper House Dept. 4036, 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-3884 (307) 766-3700 (fax)
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