SAY IT LOUD: A CELEBRATION OF BLACK MUSIC IN AMERICA: PURSUING THE DREAM (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary miniseries examining the history of African-American music and musicians.
This episode examines the business end of African-American music through the years. The 1920’s see the proliferation of jazz as an art form, and early African-American musicians of this era see little in the way of monetary compensation for their work. The first phonograph record featuring an African-American singer, Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues,” is produced in order to increase her attendance at public events, as she is paid no royalties. It is not until the mid-1930’s when African-American artists are paid royalties following the rise of stars such as Louis Armstrong, who gains popularity among both African-American and white audiences. The notion of “crossing over” to white audiences is viewed as something of an unpleasant necessity among African-American artists in order to gain access to more lucrative opportunities for their careers. Segregation plays a role in restricting the kinds of audiences available to African-Americans; in one instance Nat King Cole attempts to sing for an integrated audience, but is attacked by several white audience members. Cole becomes something of an “ambassador” in addressing race relations in the music industry, becoming the first African-American to host his own television show, “The Nat King Cole Show;” NBC takes the show off of the air after sponsors express concerns about Cole performing on television alongside white female singers.
The 1940’s and 1950’s see the advent of rhythm & blues and the conceptual origins of rock and roll, both pioneered by African-Americans such as Louis Jordan and Chuck Berry. Young people in particular respond to rock and roll to a great extent. Berry is viewed by the African-American community as a “mercenary” artist who tailored his style in order to appeal to mainstream white audiences. He and his contemporaries understood that white audiences had more economic clout in the music industry and thus would be more lucrative to target. At the same time, white artists such as Pat Boone attempted to mimic African-American musical styles, although they did not experience much success among African-American listeners. These artists were vetted by record companies as being more compatible with their bottom line, and thus would end up making more money and experiencing more success than their African-American contemporaries. African-American songwriters in those days had to give up much of their publishing rights and credits if they wanted their songs to be broadcast. Being shut out of the publishing industry further decreases the monetary opportunities for African-American songwriters.
This situation begins to change in the late 1950’s and 1960’s, when artists like Ray Charles attain enough savvy about the music industry to retain copyrights to their master tapes. Artists such as James Brown also use business acumen to reap greater profits from their music and performances; Brown comes to own his own music enterprises and even other business ventures such as a fast food restaurant chain. During the 1960’s Berry Gordy creates the Motown label, the first such record label specifically for African-American artists. Gordy’s intention is to create “music for everybody,” not just African-American audiences, and the success of Motown proves to be a great inspiration for African-American artists and businesses. Motown introduces new advents to the music production process, such as maintaining a “stable” of writers and producers competing with each other within the organization. Gordy gained a reputation for Motown’s apparently-exploitative contracts, and a number of artists sued Motown for money they felt they were owed.
A number of African-American artists such as Stevie Wonder enjoy an extremely lucrative period in the 1970’s; social changes with regards to equal rights meant that artists are able to exert more leverage with record companies. The exemplar of this newfound economic clout is Michael Jackson, who by the 1980’s enjoys record deals unheard of elsewhere in the music industry, including the famous “Thriller” album. Jackson enjoys the most widespread appeal of any African-American artist, capturing a wide-ranging global audience. Simultaneously, the hip-hop and rap genres develop in inner-city communities, although at first they escape the interest of major record companies. Instead they are distributed by smaller independent record labels who flaunt many of the conventions of the music industry. The 1979 proto-rap record “Rapper’s Delight” enjoys enormous success in these markets, and major companies are slowly convinced of the potential of such genres, such as when Sony purchases Def Jam Records in 1984. Run-DMC’s “Walk this Way” proves to be Def Jam’s breakout hit, and the development of the genre continues into the modern day. Artists enjoy far more autonomy within the industry than in previous eras; this results in very young artists being paid great sums of money, which can overwhelm some of them. As the 21st Century dawns, more African-Americans have control of their own labels, companies, and productions, creating a newfound independence from the prevailing forces of the music industry. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: VH1
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 122158
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Music; TV - Arts documentaries
- SERIES RUN: VH1 - TV miniseries, 2001
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Quincy Jones … Executive Producer
- Richard Foos … Executive Producer
- Fred Graver … Executive Producer
- Lauren Zalaznick … Executive Producer
- Maureen Guthman … Executive Producer
- Joel Simon … Co-Executive Producer
- Albert Spevak … Co-Executive Producer
- Garson Foos … Co-Executive Producer
- Jill Tanner … Co-Executive Producer
- Nanette Burstein … Producer, Writer
- Brett Morgen … Producer
- David Gorman … Associate Producer
- Jordan Roberts … Line Producer
- Nathalie Akiya … Researcher
- David Ritz … Writer
- Herbie Hancock … Interviewee
- Isaac Hayes … Interviewee
- Ahmet Ertegun … Interviewee
- Branford Marsalis … Interviewee
- Al Sharpton … Interviewee
- Natalie Cole … Interviewee
- Brian McKnight … Interviewee
- Nelson George … Interviewee
- Gerald Early … Interviewee
- George Benson … Interviewee
- Ike Turner … Interviewee
- Ice-T … Interviewee
- Millie Jackson … Interviewee
- Kenny Gamble … Interviewee
- B.B. King … Interviewee
- Lou Rawls … Interviewee
- Quincy Jones … Interviewee
- Solomon Burke … Interviewee
- Ray Charles … Interviewee
- Smokey Robinson … Interviewee
- Bobby Taylor … Interviewee
- Lionel Richie … Interviewee
- Gladys Knight … Interviewee
- Jimmy Jam … Interviewee
- Tricia Rose … Interviewee
- Monica Lynch … Interviewee
- LL Cool J … Interviewee
- Puff Daddy … Interviewee
- Tom Silverman … Interviewee
- Russell Simmons … Interviewee
- Rick Rubin … Interviewee
- Antonio Reid … Interviewee
- Clive Davis … Interviewee
- Bill Stephney … Interviewee
- Snoop Dogg … Interviewee
- Wyclef Jean … Interviewee
- Lil' Kim … Interviewee
- Queen Latifah … Interviewee
- Louis Armstrong
- Chuck Berry
- Pat Boone
- James Brown
- Nat King Cole
- Berry Gordy
- Michael Jackson
- Louis Jordan
- Run-DMC
- Mamie Smith
- Stevie Wonder