Did+popular+music+of+the+1940s+reflect+contemporary+social+conditions?

__**The Birth of A New Addiction That Took America By Surprise**__ // By: Deepali Jonas

__White Christmas__ // // “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas Just like the ones I used to know Where the treetops glisten, and children listen To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your days be merry and bright And may all your Christmases be white” //  These lyrics along with so many others were used to help America cope with the transition from one of the most brutal times of the 20th century to the next: [|The Depression]to [|World War II]. The critical changes of the 1940s gave the United States a new understanding of pain and heartache. These experiences bruised many Americans, leaving them with no escape, no place to turn, in need of a distraction, and desperate for change. Americans turned to music, causing it to evolve from just a fad, to an addiction. Singers as the face of bands absorbed a great amount of popularity. However, many of the jazz musicians from these swing bands were popular, as well. Music had changed completely in the course of a decade. **Swing** played by enormous bands slowly evolved into smaller pop and cool jazz groups. This phase was taken over by up-and-comers, who broke out nation wide. Blues began to come into its own albeit to a much less popular extent. Music, like other forms of art, reflected American enthusiasm in its numerous styles. How music would be processed from then on revolutionized the country socially, culturally and economically. Thus marking the 1940’s as one of the most influential times of our history, due to music. **Harry Lillis ‘Bing’ Crosby** came from humble beginnings to be viewed as the personification of all-American wholesomeness. His mellow voiced, record breaking music made him the most popular and successful star of radio, cinema and music, throughout the 1940s and continuing well after the decade. Crosby’s “American Everyman” image contributed not only to his own immeasurable success, but was also a symbolization of the ‘American Way’ during the Depression and the Second World War. The biggest hit of Crosby’s career (the only single to ever make the US pop charts 20 times) and in fact the most popular recording during the time period was **“White Christmas.”** An explosive growth in the variety of musical styles embodied American music during the 1940s. **Electric blues, hard bop, serial music, folk opera, country swing**, and show jazz were all innovations of the decade. Music in general passed into mainstream American culture throughout history. Music had influenced society in the course of the 1940s, where a new era of popular culture was born changing the way America would listen and think about music. This challenged the racial norm; music initiated the bridge of the barrier of discrimination against blacks.  This is evident in **Carol Brice**, one of the very first African American classical singers to win the Walter Naumburg Award. Another famous African American who challenged racial discrimination through her music was **Lillian Evanti**. She performed worldwide and was the first black woman to sing with an organized opera company in Europe. In 1941 she established the **National Negro Opera Company** in Pittsburgh, P.A. with the help of **Mary Cardwell Dawson**. This provided a venue for African Americans to perform and study **opera**. The music of this era called the attention of all age groups as the 1940s began to bloom. In the beginning of the 1940s people were dancing all around America to the popular sounds of **Swing Bands**. T**he 40s ** were, for the most part, built around the **jazz and big band ** styles that were popular during the day. Artists like  Rosemary Clooney, Count Basie**, and** Artie Shaw helped to define the musical era with their unique brand of entertaining crowds through their music. However, this was still the era of World War II**,** and many musical artists strived to reflect the pain that the country was going through, while still remaining upbeat and positive about the impending future. The 1940s was a time for many breakthrough artists, who made their mark in the history of music and several of which are still recognized as innovators of their day. As with all other areas of American popular culture in the 1940s music was heavily affected by the war. The impact of WWII on music was significant: **classical music** blossomed, infused with a host of expatriate **European talent**. Swing became the soundtrack of WWII. Broadway expanded to meet the demands of an enormous off-duty **GI audience**; **jazz, swing** and **country** suffered from the impact of the draft and great talent such as that of [|Glenn Miller’s]was lost in the war. Although, music was discovered in some positive ways, it was also unfortunately lost in other harsher ways. Being a part of this terrible war, as well as, the stress and depression left over from the stock market crasha decade before, influenced the musical change of the decade drastically. As the outlook and state of mind for many Americans was changing for the worse. War restricted the ability of groups to travel freely, causing the popularity of big bands to decrease. Consequently, big bands were replaced by solo artists, who had earlier begun their careers touring as a part of these bands. But the postwar consumer boom also transformed **American music**. Prosperity brought firmer backing to classical music and a toner audience to jazz. The jump into a new era started the transformation of new technology. The end of the war lifted moral significantly. Not only were our brothers, fathers, sons and husbands coming back from war we had just won. The production rates during the war helped pull our country out of the depression in a way that even **Roosevelt** could not, with his **New Deal**. Americans had not been able to openly spend money for access in over a decade. The roaring twenties had been the only memory of the ‘good life.’ **Suburban life** began and grew giving Americans the house with the picket fences in good neighborhoods; this was the time of the **automobile boom**. And Americans had more now than they could even dream of, a decade before. There were also advances of technology during the 40’s. Thus improving the way Americans could listen to their music and acting as a catalyst for the growth in music itself. As the **1940s** started, the most popular music in the US was by large **swing-jazz orchestras**. Swing was a style of **Blues** and **Jazz orchestration**, developed in the **1930s** that was bold, exciting and danceable. Swing could be found on three- to four minute **78rpm records** in the dance halls, on the radio and even in movies. **Commercial recording** by swing bands were big sellers. **Swing groups** led by men such as **Tommy Dorsey, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Harry James, Les Brown and Benny Goodman** (featuring the terrific arrangements of **Fletcher Henderson** and **Eddie Sauter**) criss-crossed America on successful tours. As **Charles Panati** notes, by **“[m]”id-decade**, **RCA Victor** and **Decca** were each selling **100 million records** annually. **Jukeboxes** had also blossomed into an 80 million dollar industry, with four hundred thousand of the flashing players in soda shops and diners. In 1941 the [|Andrews Sisters]earned 5,000 dollars per week; $.02cents for every time each of their 8 million Decca records were played on jukeboxes. For the rest of the decade, Americans bought approximately 10 million records a month. In 1945, Billboard, a record industry trade journal began publishing its “**Honor Roll of Hits**.” As record sales began to move into a new **stratosphere disc sales** began to acquire much greater importance in the gauging of a song’s success. Prior to the mid-1940s, songs made their way into the public’s consciousness more often than not in either Broadway or the movies, which would then result in being put out on a record. Records prior to 1948 were 78 rpms which means that a record had to turn 78 times a minute on a turntable to sound right. For this reason, records required fairly big grooves which meant that very few tunes could fit on an album. However, after WWII, songs of 33 1/3 rpms became more popular as records. This shift was reflected in the nature of the songs on “Your Hit Parade” from 1945 to 1949. Many of which were able to climb their way to the top via disc rather than stage or screen. In New York City on June 21st 1948 CBS unveiled the 33 1/3 rpm microgroove record which meant that 23 minutes could be recorded on either side. Furthermore the tighter grooves made the record (typically a 10 or 12 inch platter) more physically durable and less fragile or likely to break. To add to the benefits, the tighter grooved records sounded superior to their predecessors. Folks simply had to buy cheap adapters to fit onto the existing turntables of their record players and they were ready to listen. The move to 33 1/3 rpm brought into being the idea of a “record” as a single disc on which an artist could record a series of songs as a movement, rather than just single tunes. This was less expensive and more efficient. Likewise, many classical music pieces could fit entirely on a single record, as could the music form Broadway shows. A further innovation was the 45 rpm seven-inch disc, on which approximately four minutes of music could fit on each side (an “A” side and a “B” side). Previously records were much more physically cumbersome. The switch to microgroove records and the rise of a “disposable” income for those in the middle class during the postwar era resulted in a rise in the market in record sales. In 1946 twice as many record were sold as in 1945. Today, we have shows that count down current hits on television (on stations such as MTV, VH-1 and so on) as well as radio stations. Although they definitely do not create the social events that countdown in the 1940s created. On April 20th 1935 the radio program “Your Hit Parade” debuted on CBS radio. The Saturday night shows were sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes and would run continuously for 28 years, the last three of which were on television. During the airing of the different shows, radio audiences cluttered around their seats to hear their favorite bands on weekly programs and on Saturdays they tuned in “Your Hit Parade” to learn the top 10 hits of the week. Over the years the show enjoyed huge popularity, especially in the 1940s during which it served as a barometer for American taste. The show’s format was to play in reverse order, the top songs of the week based on a combination of airplay. The selections were tallied by Price, Waterhouse, and a company that would deliver the list of that week’s selection to the shows producers, in a Brinks armored truck the Fridays before the show. While the choices were fairly obvious, the goal was to build hype and suspense around the songs for a given week. The concept worked, and people all over the nation anxiously tuned in on Saturday night to find out what songs would top that week’s charts. Over the years, the show featured from seven to fifteen songs, although more often than not ten was the number. Nonetheless the largest pomp and circumstance was reserved for the top three songs. Each of which would be introduced by a drum roll and the sonorous introduction of the announcer, as David Ewen notes the final song is introduced as “the top song in the country,” and #1 on your [|Lucky Strike Hit Parade]. “One of the innovators of the **1940s **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> **<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">musical style ** was **<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Dizzy Gillespie **. Known for his trademark puffy cheeks (formed because of his being a prominent jazz trumpeter), Dizzy Gillespie was one of the well-known band leaders of the day.”(Source 9) [|Dizzy Gillespie]helped discover the bebop style of popular music. The style contained of fast tempo jazz combined with scat singing. “Scat singing was a phenomenon that came to prominence during this era consisting of several nonsense, but rhythmical syllables strung together to fit with the music.” (Source 9) Dizzy Gillespie was the musician that helped create the Afro-Cuban music trend that took over music’s vast popularity for many years to come. This style of music was different, due to containing both African and Latin influences. Being very unique in the 1940s, because the era contained a lot of musical influence from Swing and Jazz, appealing to many white people, but Dizzy started pulling interest from different races. As the decade transformed Dizzy Gillespie was a big part in expanding America’s musical taste. Dizzy Gillespie was also known for having a bent trumpet, because it produced a unique sound that was distinguishing of his particular sound. [|Bing Crosby]<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">helped to define the music of the 1940s as well as much of the music today. Most famous for his rendition of “White Christmas,” “Crosby was a great musical talent during his day and continued to influence musicians for several decades, including **<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Frank **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> **<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dean Martin **. He was also a prominent entertainer in the field of improving troop morale during the war as he appeared several times to perform for them.” (Source 9) Crosby sang his way through the war, pulling many American’s out of pain, and destruction, setting himself as the country’s most beloved musician. Bing Crosby’s fame traveled with him throughout his life, staying a legend long after his death. Crosby was a guru for so many new coming musicians, as his advice guided so many hopefuls with instilling the idea, “that a performer could be a genuine artist rather than becoming a novelty act.” He opened the door for future artists to have a well-rounded persona with lyrics that had significance, helping to launch many of their careers. During the 1944-1949 eras, he was the largest box office draw in the world and his legacy continues to this day, through Crosby’s children. [|The Dorsey Brothers]<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">were another legendary **<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">big band, which influenced musical styles **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"> in the 1940s. [|Jimmy Dorsey]was an accomplished musician who was talented in playing the clarinet and saxophone. “His orchestra was one of the first musical acts to sell millions of albums containing their performances.” (Source 9) [|Tommy Dorsey]was a very famous jazz trombonist who also led his own orchestra. “His act accounted for over 130 hits on the Billboard Charts and, like Calloway, his orchestra included some of the most popular musicians of the era.” (Source 9) Tommy Dorsey was well known by another accomplishment as well, being the guy that gave Frank Sinatra his start in the entertainment industry. “After World War II, there was a shift in musical tastes in the country and his orchestra disbanded, only to be put back together with his estranged brother to form the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.” (Source 9) The Orchestra started vast amounts of popularity with the public, marking the Dorsey Brothers as the most popular band of brothers in that era. Both men died shortly thereafter unexpectedly, but their legacy continues to be an excellent demonstration of the 1940s musical era. Music started off as sound made from simple objects, such as stones and sticks hitting barrels or banging against bottles. It started off as privileges for the non-wealthy Americans or chore for the black slaves as they had been forced to perform for their masters. However, over time as music transformed and technology strengthened, music became a necessity to living for many Americans. The 1940s was the decade that launched the immense popularity of music, challenged racial barriers between blacks and whites, but more importantly, helped America deal with the Second World War. Music was more then just entertainment; it was a support system that all of America used despite each others differences. This is evident because the beginning of the 40s was tainted by war and economic depression. By the late 40s the country was uplifted by hope and success. One can see the reflection of contemporary social conditions through the popular music of the greatest singers and bands of all time. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Constantia','serif'">
 * <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Cab Calloway **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">was another popular scat **<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">jazz singer **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"> that came to distinction in the 1940s. In fact, [|Cab Calloway] was so advanced in the distinguished field of music he frequently referred to as the “Hi De Ho” guy. “One legend of how scat began tells of how Calloway forgot the words to a song during a performance and started improvising nonsense syllables to fit with the beat of the music. It was well-received by his audience and a new musical style was born.” (Source 9) Calloway’s distinctive baritone voice was an excellent match for his style of jazz music, marking him as one of the most successful big band leaders of the 1940s. “His orchestra included some of the most prominent musicians of the era, including the aforementioned Dizzy Gillespie. Calloway is also synonymous with the [|“Betty Boop] <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">**”** cartoon, because his popular song “[|Minnie the Moocher]” was used as the score for one of the episodes.” (Source 9)