An Album A Day 2024: Day 262

An Album a Day 2024: Day 262

Sep. 18, 2024

Tracy Chapman - Matters of the Heart (1992)

Folk rock, Pop rock, Singer-songwriter

YouTube

Matters of the Heart

Doc Watson, 1965. Ralph Rinzler papers and audio recordings, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, Joni Mitchell (1977)

Just to be contrary, I’d love to argue against consensus here; to pitch that Joni Mitchell’s Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter simply didn’t deserve such a mixed critical response – and that it should stand as one of her peak period classics. But I can’t. Not seriously, anyway. Not only was Don Juan bad; it was the record Mitchell lost her touch – and from which, in hindsight, she never came back from. 

So what went so wrong with Don Juan? A few things, I suppose. Instrumentally, Mitchell urged towards whatever she believed was jazz, growing increasingly indulgent but near-totally lacking in reward. Even without the lyrics and vocals, Don Juan was lengthy and dull in particularly uninspiring ways.

But it was in the lyrical realm that Don Juan suffered most. Having apparently lost her poetic touch – but, judging from references to her own esteemed poeticism, unaware of it – Mitchell gave off shoddy parody. The stories weren’t there, but neither were the one-liners, the deft poignance, the vivid metaphors. In short, pretty much everything I loved about her previous records was amiss, replaced by tired scenes and silly references.

Add all that together (plus the blackface cover, a dash of Islamophobia and several instances of cultural appropriation and awkward white ignorance) and one is left with a severely unflattering portrait of an artist. Unflattering enough to retroactively dismantle the air of genius of earlier Mitchell works? Perhaps not. But the very idea that this record could dare to call into question Mitchell’s prior untouchability gives you an idea of just how poor it is and remains.

Pick: ‘Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter’

Song of The Day/history of cotton eyed joe

do you want the history of a folk song? dm me or submit an ask and I'll do a full rundown

"Cotton Eyed Joe" Terry Callier, 1963

As a disclaimer, "Cotton Eyed Joe" is my least favorite American folk song and I'm going to talk about why, and I'm going to talk about why Terry Callier's version is subversive and good.

The Earliest date we have for the song's origins is from 1882 when it was Published in "Diddie, Dumps, and Tot, or, Plantation child-life" by Louise Clark-Pyrnelle. This book is a nostalgic recollection of her childhood as a plantation owner's daughter. She reminisces fondly about slavery, missing the old plantation days. Honestly, some of the quotes within this book are beyond parody, in one sentence she says "... My little book does not pretend to be any defense of slavery" and in the next sentence when referring to the morality of slavery she writes, "there are many pros and cons to that subject", later at the end of the chapter she laments about the forever lost emotional connection between the Masters children and the enslaved people. hate this woman and her little book.

It is also important to note that this book goes out of its way to caricature black people, throughout the book she exaggerates accents and dialects to dehumanize them. This is a recurring theme in early publications of this song. Another early publication of the song comes from Dorothy Scarborough in "On the Trail of negro folk-songs" 1925 who got it from her sister who also learned it on a plantation, in Texas. She writes "This is an authentic slavery-time song" This book, if you can believe it, is remarkably racist and dismissive of black music, even as a more "progressive" songbook of black folk songs.

In 1922, the song's history was documented a bit more extensively by Thomas W. Talley in his book "Negro folk rhymes". He writes that it has "deep roots in black traditional lore". Thomas W. Talley was also just a cool guy in general, this book is one of the first compilations of African American folk songs, and it has been a pioneering book in its field. Even today, this book is still one of the best sources for the history of African American folk songs.

So, this is a black song. This was a black song whose first wave of popularization was through the caricature of black people to be amusing for white folks. Let's move on to its second wave of popularization.

The song was first recorded in 1927 by "Dykes Magic City Trio" (all white band) then about a week later by Fiddlin' John Carson (white performer) then in 1928 by Pope's Arkansas Mountanaineers (all white band) then in 1929 by Carter Brothers and Son (all white band) and then it wasn't really recorded for a while because of the great depression and the war but the times it was recorded, it was by white people. We know this because it was mostly recorded by John Lomax and despite documenting southern folk songs, he almost went out of his way to avoid recording black people singing them. Then, in 1941, it was recorded by Burl Ives (painfully white).also covered by a few white country singers like Adolph hofner bob willis but I think you get the point. It wasn't until later that year that it would be recorded by a black person, performed by josh white in 1944-45, who covered it as a lullaby.

However, it wouldn't be until the 90s, during its 3rd wave of popularization that it became its most grotesque. "cotton eye joe" was recorded and released by Swedish Eurodance band Rednex in 1995 as a, to paraphrase reviews, 'Way to make fun of backwater southerners'. This song became incredibly popular throughout Europe and in the USA as well, charting as a number-one song in several countries, sometimes for weeks. Not only is this song incredibly classist, it is, whether by omission or deliberately, fundamentally racist, adding to the whitewashing of black folk and minstrelsy of black people. The attitude and humor derived from the Swedish version are the same as the version in 1882 when it was a "classic slave song".

So, why is Terry Callier's version important, why talk about it? Terry Callier's version is the first version of the song that I have heard and it is not a comedy. It isn't meant to be funny. It slows the melody down and draws attention to itself. It's almost a ballad, showcasing Joe as a tragic but mysterious hero, maybe a love song. His voice is angelic as well. Terry Callier once again, subverts expectations and creates something beautiful out of a song that has been so whitewashed and appropriated that no one remembers its tragic origins.

Thomas W. Talley

some other versions by black folks Josh white 1944-46 Nina simone 1959 The Ebony Hillbillies 2004 Leon bibb 1962 Ella Jenkins 1960 Josh White Jr 1964 Queen Ida 1985

Song of The Day

do you want the history of a folk song? dm me or submit an ask and I'll do a full rundown

"Turn! Turn! Turn!"

The Byrds, 1965

"Turn! Turn! Turn!"/"To Everything There Is a Season" was a song written by Pete Seeger in 1959 and first recorded in 1962 by the Limeliters and then Seeger a few months later. It was featured in Sing Out! magazine in 1964

sing out! vol 14 iss 4 It was based on the Book of Ecclesiastes of the Hebrew Bible, which starts the same way "To Everything there is a season; a time for every purpose under heaven" The song was popularized by the 1965 version by The Byrds.

I like this song, I think it's sweet. I like the original poetry of the Book of Ecclesiastes as well. I like the message, I like the idea that while there is a time war or for rage, there is also a time to mourn and to mend. I think that this song has the attitude of a traditional folk song.

Nina Simone and Judy Collins also covered it

He also did it as a duet with Judy Collins in 1966

RHEAD, Louis (1857-1926). The Century, for June, 1896.