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River & Blues
By DAWNE MASSEY © St. Petersburg Times,
The roots of American music -- blues, jazz, ragtime and rock 'n' roll -- are all melodic tributaries that flow together to become the basis for almost every type of 20th century music created. And the three cities that provided most of the inspiration for these genres are located on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. It is 1,133 river miles from St. Louis to New Orleans. In St. Louis, blues and ragtime fuse before flowing downriver to Memphis, where the rhythm of the blues takes on a new beat, ending with rock 'n' roll. The the river and the music flow through the Delta region, where the musical pace picks up the sounds of blues and jazz. The mighty river slides toward New Orleans, and its almost swampy sounds of sultry jazz. Here's a look at the cities and their musical heritage. St. LouisAt a crossroads of north and south, east and west, St. Louis has absorbed myriad cultures and eccentricities. Rural blacks en route to a more prosperous life stopped over on their way to Chicago, Detroit and other points north. Some stayed, settling just across the river in East St. Louis, Ill. Ike and Tina Turner, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry and Josephine Baker are just a few of the musical legends that have called both sides of the river home. All are now honored on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, along with noted locals Scott Joplin, Henry Townsend, David Sanborn and others. The legendary W.C. Handy even journeyed "up river," settling briefly in St. Louis during the 1890s. He spent time on the riverfront listening to levee workers sing their way through the laborious days. Their melodies sounded a lot like the field hollers he was used to hearing from cotton pickers in the Mississippi Delta. It would be years before Handy would return to Memphis and pen St. Louis Blues, the most popular blues song of all time. In the meantime, he remained in St. Louis performing in taverns and pool halls on Targee Street. Today, the former Targee Street is the site of the Savvis Center, home to the St. Louis Blues NHL hockey team. And the historic riverfront is the venue for live music clubs and restaurants at Laclede's Landing. During the 1904 World's Fair in the city, another new music would find its way out of St. Louis: Scott Joplin popularized ragtime, a heavily syncopated piano-based music. Joplin had published his Maple Leaf Rag in 1899, turning ragtime into a local music craze. He performed and taught in St. Louis from 1900-04, influencing a generation of ragtime and early jazz musicians. Today, the Scott Joplin House offers informative tours and a look at the day-to-day life of a middle class musician in the early 1900s. Memphis
Though ragtime was on its way out by now, Handy still liked the bouncing "rag" rhythm and incorporated a tango-style rhythm into the song's introduction. Today, a statue of the Father of the Blues stands watch on Beale Street in W.C. Handy Performing Arts Park, which has a small amphitheater. During its initial heyday, Beale Street offered just about anything in its gambling halls, honky tonks and brothels. The street thrived between the late 1800s and the Great Depression, when it was filled with the sounds of jug bands and bluesmen from the Mississippi Delta. The sounds of "gut-bucket" blues could be heard on every street corner -- musicians who took their cue from the chants sung by blacks working in the cotton fields. Word spread about the caliber of musicians, and the street was the place to be in town on a Saturday night in the 1940s and '50s. Although the majority of Beale's patrons were black, a local white boy with a funny name was a regular visitor, listening to the bands from the clubs' doorways and pleading with club owners to let him sit in. Elvis Presley soaked up the sights and sounds of Beale and later made them his own blend of rockabilly-blues. By the early '50s, rhythm & blues became a force in the nightclubs of both St. Louis and Memphis. Musicians such as Ike Turner, Louis Jordan, Howlin' Wolf and others filled the niche when Big Band music died. Turner also served as a talent scout for Sam Phillips' soon-to-be-famous Sun Records studio, dividing his time between St. Louis and Memphis. After recruiting a singer for the band, Turner and Phillips concocted what is reputed to be the first rock 'n' roll record, Jackie Brenston's Rocket 88 at Sun Studio. One summer day in 1954, Presley walked in to Sun Studio, eager to hear what his voice would sound like on a recording. Phillips wasn't around that day, so his secretary, Marion Keisker, engineered the session. She liked what she heard and told Phillips about the youngster with the wild clothes. Nothing happened until Presley journeyed back to Sun to make another recording (reportedly because he had lost the original) several months later. That was the beginning of the most popular solo rock singer ever, although most of Presley's vast library of studio work was recorded in Nashville, for RCA. New OrleansDecades earlier, ragtime had resurfaced under a pseudonym further down river. In New Orleans, the sound of brass bands had become extremely popular during the early 1900s, with the local musicians putting their own spin on the "ragged" rhythms, "jazzing" them up a notch. Piano players such as Jelly Roll Morton perfected the new approach, and his style translated to other keyboardists throughout Storyville, the city's famed collection of barrooms and brothels, where musicians could always earn a few dollars. (Today, Storyville is a decidedly more "family-friendly" entertainment complex on Bourbon Street.) Cornet player Buddy Bolden took this "swinging" rhythm to the streets, as he and other musicians performed in the black social organizations' marching bands. Nick LaRocca and his Original Dixieland Jazz band are credited with recording the first jazz record, Livery Stable Blues, in 1917. This musical form's popularity continued to evolve, and by the end of World War I, Louis Armstrong was moving jazz to the next level, with recognized bands playing indoors, for whites and blacks, north and south. Music is as much a part of death as it is life in Louisiana. Brass bands, playing hymns, spirituals or Dixieland jazz, send off musicians and music lovers in grand style during jazz funerals. During the march to the cemetery, the bands -- mostly of brass instruments and bass drums -- play dirges behind the hearse. After the body is laid to rest, the band celebrates the deceased's soul moving to heaven by playing up-tempo tunes for the mourners' journey back from the grave site. Like the mighty Mississippi itself, which transports people, goods and ideas to new destinations, American music took roots in this region, and each of the diverse genres helped create the next. How could this one vast region be responsible for teaching the world how to dance? Must be something in that water. - Dawn Massey is a freelancer writer who lives in St. Louis. If you goSt. Louis
Scott Joplin Home is at 2658 Delmar; there is a $2 admission fee. Call (314) 340-5790. Missouri History Museum is showing, through February, "Miles: A Miles Davis Retrospective." The museum is at Lindell and Skinker boulevards; call (314) 746-4599. Blueberry Hill is a funky restaurant and bar filled with memorabilia from the 1950s, '60s and '70s. The Elvis Room and the Duck Room host local and national bands. 6504 Delmar; call (314) 727-0880. For more information on St. Louis, go to www.explorestlouis.com. MemphisBeale Street Entertainment District starts about Beale and Second streets. It is three blocks of music clubs, related shops and restaurants. W.C. Handy Performing Arts Park frequently offers outdoor music. The park is at the corner of Beale and Third streets. Sun Studio, 706 Union Ave., is considered one of the birthplaces of rock 'n' roll. Admission to tour the building is $8.50. Call toll-free 1-800-441-6249. Graceland, 3734 Elvis Presley Blvd., is where Elvis lived and died. There are different tour options, but the Platinum tour ($22) includes the house, his airplanes and an automobile museum. Call toll-free 1-800-238-2000. B.B. King's Blues Club, 143 Beale St., features nationally known blues artists, including B.B. himself. Admission prices vary; call (901) 524-5464. Memphis Rock n' Soul Museum, 145 Lt. George W. Lee Ave., features an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian. It includes information and artifacts from STAX and Hi records, and it traces Memphis' contributions to soul, blues and rock. Admission is $6; call (901) 543-0800. For general information on the city, call (901) 543-5333, or go to www.memphistravel.com. New OrleansStoryville District, 125 Bourbon St., features two stages of New Orleans jazz during four live shows daily. There is no admission fee. Call (504) 410-1000. Old U.S. Mint, 400 Esplanade, maintains a permanent exhibit on "New Orleans Jazz" and other displays that detail the city's rich traditions. Admission is $5; it is closed Mondays. Call (504) 568-6993. The legendary French Quarter, an entertainment, hotel and residential district, can often be bawdy or crowded with drunks. Nonetheless, a nighttime visit is a must. It is bordered by Canal, Rampart, Esplanade and N Peters streets and boasts fine restaurants, music clubs, shops and hotels. Tipitina's, Uptown, may be the granddaddy of all the city's live music clubs -- and it is one of the best, with room for dancing. It is at 501 Napoleon Ave., which is a cab ride from the Quarter. Call (504) 895-8477 for the calendar of performers and any cover changes. Mid-City Rock n' Bowl, 4133 S Carrollton Ave., is different: Visitors can bowl a few frames while listening to live zydeco and blues performances. Call (504) 482-3133. For more information, call toll-free 1-800-672-6124, or go to www.neworleanscvb.com. FOR MORE INFORMATION: For a free America's Music Corridor information packet and itinerary, call the St. Louis Visitors Information Line at 1-800-916-0040.
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From the Times Travel page
From the AP |
St. Louis Walk of Fame, in the 6500 block of Delmar, honors more than 90 St. Louis musicians, authors, actors and scientists with brass stars and informational plaques. Call (314) 727-7827. Laclede's Landing is cobblestone streets and riverfront warehouses that have been converted into music clubs, restaurants and shops. Start at 801 N Second St.; call (314) 241-5875.
