Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Calvin Judkins and Lula Mae Hardaway on May 13, 1950. Since Lula Mae Hardaway gave birth to him a month and a half early, Stevie Wonder was born with a condition called retinopathy of prematurity which made him blind. Even with this disability, Stevie Wonder became a pioneer and trailblazer in the music industry. Stevie Wonder is a much loved American symbol and is an undeniable virtuoso of Rhythm and Blue as well as a prevalent musician when all is said and done. Blind essentially since birth, Wonder’s heighten consciousness of sound helped him make energetic, brilliant music abounding with life and aspiration. When he tended to genuine racial, social, and profound issues, or sand …show more content…
From that point, he developed into a certifiable wonder, mastering the piano, drums, and harmonica all by the age of nine. While performing for some of his companions in 1961, Stevie was discovered by Ronnie White of the Miracles who orchestrated a tryout with Berry Gordy at Motown. Gordy signed Stevie immediately under the new name Little Stevie Wonder and paired him with producer/musician Clarence Paul. Ponder produced his first two albums in 1962: A Tribute to Uncle Ray, which highlighted fronts of Wonder’s saint Ray Charles, and The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, a symphonic jazz collection spotlighting his instrumental aptitudes on piano, harmonica, and arranged percussion. Neither sold well, yet that all changed in 1963 with the live album. The 12-Year-Old genius highlighted another expanded variant of the harmonica instrumental “Fingertips.” Edited for release as a single, “Fingertips, Pt.2” soared to the highest point of both the Pop and Rhythm and Blues charts, on account of Wonder’s overwhelming, young abundance; in the mean time, the 12 year old genius turned into Motown’s first chart topping
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson Ask someone who was one of the first people to break the color barrier in sports and you're almost guaranteed that the answer is Jackie Robinson. Yet almost 40 years earlier there was a black boxer by the name of Jack Johnson, also known as John Arthur Johnson. Most would argue that he was the best heavyweight boxer of his time, having a career record of 79 wins and 8 losses, and being the first black to be the Heavyweight champion of the World. (Jack Johnson (boxer), October 9th, 2006.) Not only was this impressive, but he had to deal with racism and black oppression.
In 1988 Gordy sold Motown Records to MCA and Boston Partners, ending Motown’s era as an independent company. In the post-Gordy era, Motown continued to release hit music by new artists such as Boyz II Men, Johnny Gill, alongside veteran performers like Wonder, Ross, and the
and the people around him. His mother did not even care enough to keep his birth
Hank Williams Jr as we know him was born Hank Randall Williams, born in small town Shreveport, Louisiana, on May 26, 1949. Hank Jr was only three when his father Hank died, but that did not stop his music dream. At just the age of 8 Hank Jr began singing his dad songs on stage. “Williams made his stage debut at the age of 8 and his first appearance at Nashville's famed Grand Ole Opry at age 11. At age 15, Williams had his first Top 5 hit on the country charts. " (http://www.biography.com/) Even though his father was gone, Hank Jr helped carry on his legacy through music. His mother being his biggest supporter, helped him along the way.
Motown of course, stands for more than just historic music. The label and it’s remarkable legacy is a reflection is the hard work of dedicated individuals overcoming incredible obstacles to achieve a great success. Because Detroit, has long been known as the “Motor City”, Gordy in tribute what he felt like was down-home quality of the warm, soulful people he grew up around, used town in place of city. Which gave him the contraction “Motown” and the perfect name for his company and new label “Motown”. A man of vision, drive, talent, and determination, Berry Gordy was also a producer, Innovative entrepreneur, and teacher. The great success of Motown records contributes all the embodies and all the talent he brought out in others. Under his leadership and through determination and support of the family Motown and artist, Gordy forged new grounds
Over and over again critics write about Nina Simone’s power and charisma throughout the Civil Rights Movement. She sang the words of an entire movement, “All I want is equality/ for my sister, my brother, my people, and me./ Yes, you lied to me all these years”(Simone Mississippi). She sang out for her entire race, and with a “smoky- toned” voice, when four young girls were killed in a church bombing (Lewis). She sang “Will my country fall, stand or fall?/ Is it too late for us all?/ And did Martin Luther King just die in vain? (Simone Why?) after the death of MLK. Nina Simone… a singer with many different voices, a singer who denies categorization, a woman who is genre-less to prove a point.
Before the war started, a wealthy white man by the name of John Hammond worked to integrate black and white music.1 Since his childhood, he enjoyed the music of numerous black artists, and he wanted to share his love with the rest of America. He used much of his inherited fortune to make this possible. He went against the general opinion of society and his parents, who despised black people. Hammond refused to ignore black artists’ musical abilities because of their color, “I did not revolt against the system, I simply refused to be a part of it.”2 He used his money to organize the most eclectic group of musicians ever assembled, for an integrated audience of his time. Hammond’s efforts made an indelible impact on the music industry. The musicians Hammond introduced in...
Sarah Vaughan, born March 27, 1924, was very talented and everyone knew this. The word was passed along so even those that never went to church knew how gifted she was. The word got around to Newark's Little Jimmy Scott, a jazz singer himself. He remembered the gossip being that Sarah Vaughan could become another Marian Anderson.
Ya Salaam, Kalamu. “It Didn't Jes Grew: The Social and Aesthetic Significance of African American Music.” African American Review 29.2 (1995): 351-375.
He means you don’t have to know music, you have to feel music. He didn’t know a lot about music but he became famous for it. His work has forever put it’s mark on the world for trying to break through the racial boundaries of music in this time period, but very few people can listen to his music and see that he was breaking these racial boundaries or have listen to his speeches and realize this world is not okay in the sense that people are still being racist against people and the kind of music people listen to. people are putting music with race and he decided to combined them.
Whitfield’s early life was like any young child. He was born on May 12, 1940 in New York. During his life as a teenager he frequently spent time at pool halls having been influenced by R&B in his mid teens. Moving on to Whitfield’s late teens his father relocated his family to be closer to his sister ,and to also work for her husband’s family drug store chain. When he was at the age of 19, Whitfield began making an appearance at Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A to get an opportunity to work for an expanding company. The founder Berry Gordy Jr. acknowledges Whitfield’s tenacity and hired him for the quality control department. You can say that this was the start of his career.
Fans and admirers refer to him, commonly as "the Godfather of Soul," "Soul Brother Number One" and "the hardest working man in show business." Michael Jackson cited him as "my greatest inspiration." The GodFather of soul locally known as James Brown was known for his amazing music and dancing talent was Born in Barnwell, South Carolina, on May 3, 1933, into extreme poverty. His parents split when he was very young, and at the age of 4, Brown was sent to Augusta, Georgia. Growing up in abject poverty during the Great Depression, a young Brown worked whatever odd jobs he could find, for literally pennies. He danced for the soldiers at nearby Fort Gordon, picked cotton, washed cars and shined shoes. Brown was kicked out of school by the age 12 because he did not have clothes. He later then went to prison for three years for stealing a car. While in prison he organized and led a prison gospel choir. After he was released from prison two years later he was invited by Bobby Byrd to join his his R&B vocal group, The Gospel Starlighters.
Mississippi is the state that it is today mainly because of the people in Mississippi. Mississippi is known for many things like slavery, cotton, juke joints, food, and other things especially the blues. There were a few people that made Mississippi famous for blues today. Such as Robert Johnson who is from Hazlehurst, Ms he’s one of the most famous Delta Blues musicians. Some call him the Godfather of rock and roll. Some say he sold his sold to the devil at a crossroad in the Delta in exchange for mastery of the guitar. He had the chance to record several records in Texas and he even traveled through Mississippi Delta and Arkansas. By that time he had died but six of his records had been released in the South as “race records”. His death occurred on August 16, 1938, exactly at the age 27 at a crossroad near Greenwood, MS; however, there is not an exactly known reason why or how he died. He was ranked 5th on the Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarist of all time.
Michael Jackson inspired the world with his music, also with the way he dressed, he changed millions of lives with his attitude. Michael Jackson has change the pop chart because no African American artist has ever achieved a high level of success like him. Also he change the way people view music and clothes. Michael Jackson change society by his music, some of his music was to inspired humans to do something about the world. He also help a lot of people, but some of the things he did didn’t make it to the headlines.