Authenticity In Music Essay

American Studies is a difficult but interesting subject to try and understand, especially when looking at a few main themes such as authenticity and the folk. Two great examples that involve these themes are the publication of “Romancing the Folk” by Benjamin Feline and the film “O Brother Where Art thou” which have shown similar but different views on the two key themes, authenticity and the folk. The theme of authenticity within music has been altered by various groups of people as well as the artists themselves, for various different reasons. Another key theme is that of the government and how it has been helping the people to accept cultural differences, especially when you look at music. The analysis of the Lomax’s career in Benjamin Feline’s

book can show how the authenticity of his work can be altered by the public demand. In the film the analysis of The Soggy Bottom Boys shows that there is indeed a “cult of authenticity” that is dominant during its time. The second key concept can be analyzed through the “American Reunion” which is seen in “Romancing the Folk.” It can also be seen in the film through a governor reelection campaign.
Through the Lomax’s work you can see that they tried to bring out the most authentic artists of his time but were altered for various different reasons such as, the public’s demand, middlemen (such as the Lomax’s), and the artists themselves. First let’s start with the definition faithfully resembles an original. Authenticity of music was a big deal during the 1930’s as it was just beginning to rise in the public’s eyes. This was due to a number of different things such as recording industries and radio which were now dominating its time. In the reading it states “In short, they created a cult of authenticity, a thicket of expectations and valuations that American roots musicians and their audiences have been negotiating ever since” (Filene 49). This shows that at the beginning of authentic music there were certain expectations of an artist to belong to that cult but was not always appealing to the entire public. A great example of this is Lead Belly who was discovered by the Lomax’s. He was to play at Camp Unity for Earl Robinson, which he did but did not play the songs that the audience expected him to play which caused uproar. He had a thicket of expectations in which he was supposed to fill and when he did not the public did not enjoy his songs. This is an example how the “cult of authenticity” can be used against such artists. As we move through time artists were asked to make changes to their original style so it would be more pleasing to the public instead of just the cult that they belonged to. This is shown when revivalists said “they warned folk singers not to add popular tunes to their song lists, they encouraged other changes in the singers’ repertoire” (Filene 72). This is when you really start to see artists changing their style for the different folk groups which shows already how authenticity can be altered. Even today you can see that the authenticity of an artist can be changed to become more popular to all folk groups. An example of this is seen in “Romancing the Folk” when Tom Hughes suggests “a singer’s style often was altered in an effort to reach popular audiences” (Filene 72). It is also seen later in the book that even artists were not always completely authentic. “Water’s career, too, depended on being perceived as authentic, but the label in his case proved to be more elastic” (Filene 131). This is not only seen in music in the 1930’s but is true today as you see artists such as Taylor swift switch from country music which was her original genre to pop music which is more enjoyable to the different folk groups. Benjamin Filene’s book has proven that the authenticity can be altered by not only the public’s demand for the different types of folk groups but can also be altered by middlemen or the artists themselves.
The Soggy Bottom Boys of “O Brother Where Art Thou” have proven the “cult of authenticity” that was going on in Mississippi in the 1930’s. First let’s start with the definition of cult which is: a person or thing that is popular or fashionable, especially among a particular section of society. The Soggy bottom boys created this “cult of authenticity” by accident which is exactly what makes their music likeable by the society that they are dealing with throughout the entire movie. The Soggy Bottom boys run into a negro hitch hiker who says “he pays you money to sing into his can” (Coen 22:30) They then go to Wenzy recording where he doesn’t accept negro songs so they make up a song (Man of Constant Sorrow) which becomes a folk song hit instantly. This creates the “cult of authenticity” for the entire movie. The movie shows that the dominance of folk song in Mississippi at this time as the entire soundtrack is all folk music. The importance of the folk however is portrayed perfectly for this time as they did not accept negro music but only white music performed by white artists. The music performed throughout the movie is all string instruments with harmonizing vocals (folk music) which was well liked by folks in the Mississippi area.
The second theme is how the government helped the people to accept cultural differences which closely influenced music. It was huge in America’s past time for the folk to accept cultural change as the times were changing. The main influence on cultural change was the government. We see this in “Romancing the Folk” during the “American Reunion” when the message was “We American’s… take pride in our own regional, ethnic, religious, and family identities, for these give us a sense of self… Being American means bridging differences, not stamping them out” (Filene 181). What this means that is that we should accept cultural differences including music. It also means that we should not stand against one another but shall join in unity, and accept diversity. This was a big message because when looking at the past we were skeptical to accept black performers and wanted them to only perform white music. This was a big message because our traditions and cultures in the past were unacceptable of this. Before this time America government did not want to spend money on the studies of folklore. We need to accept culture change over many years to come still. A great example was stated by Pete Seeger “folk traditions will change as the folks who inhabit this earth change (Filene 194-195). He is saying that when people change so will the traditions and that it is inevitable.
In the film government intervention with the folk is also to promote cultural difference and to accept it. This was important in the South especially during the 1930’s because of the amount of racism going. This was the culture of the community’s during this time however, and in the film it showed what government intervention can do to the folk. Towards the end of the film (Coen 120:00) The Soggy Bottom Boys perform at a governors election campaign and he is furious because he was part of the culture norm of not accepting blacks (The Soggy Bottom Boys guitar player was black). The crowd however loved the performance and tossed the governor out of his own campaign. The rival governor then uses The Soggy Bottom Boys to his advantage and pardons them of their crimes. Even the crowd then was more accepting of the black guitar player. This example signified what the culture norms of the 1930’s of Mississippi were because whites did not accept blacks during this time frame and were actually segregated. This movie also depicted how blacks were treated during this time as the majority of blacks were in the prisons and the ones that were free were being tormented by the KKK which was huge in the Jim Crow south. Thanks to the government’s influence on the folk it has changed the cultural norms to be more acceptable of cultural difference.
Since around the 1930’s we have seen the authenticity of music altered by various people for various reasons as shown in the reading “Romancing the Folk” by Benjamin Filene.

Some of these reasons include: creating a cult of authenticity which was more appealing to the folk rather than the entire public, artists were told to change their style playing so that it was more appealing but don’t add popular songs; artists at later times were then asked to change their style to the popular audiences. Filene has shown that the authenticity of music was altered by various groups of people as the public demands were changing in time itself. In the film “O Brother Where Art thou” it shows the “cult of authenticity.” The reason that this film depicts this is because it takes place in Mississippi in the 1930’s and the style of music that fit their cultural norm was folk music. The second theme of the government helping the public accept differences was important in Filene’s book because times were changing. The big message from the government was that we need to join as one and accept cultural diversity. Also Pete Seeger’s most important message from the book “folk traditions will change as the folks who inhabit this earth change (Filene 194-195). In the film government intervention was needed to accept black band members. This was important because in the 1930’s racism and segregation was present. Overall the folk has changed authenticity of music and government intervention has changed the folk over

time.