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History and R&B: The Soulful Soundtrack to World Events

© Barney Quick

One finds a lot of punditry these days devoted to the observation that American culture is being abruptly and dramatically transformed by the tide of occurrences since September 11. It will be interesting indeed to see how that change manifests itself in specific works in the various arts. Certainly a lot of the entertainment industry’s attempts of the last few weeks to both get back on track and address the new national climate have a hollow ring to them. When something substantive comes along, we will surely recognize it instantly.

What all this does for us is reinforce the notion that cultural development doesn’t happen in a vacuum. People make certain kinds of music, or write certain kinds of plays or novels, or even offer certain kinds of cuisine based on the lay of the land in political, economic, technological and spiritual terms. Bearing this in mind, it might be interesting to remind ourselves how some of our favorite hot platters from the first half-century of rhythm & blues coincided with various world-changing events. A few such pairings are listed below.

1945 – Hitler commits suicide as Allied forces liberate Germany - Japan signs surrender documents on deck of USS Missouri - “Harlem Nocturne” by The Johnny Otis Orchestra - “Driftin’ Blues” by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers with Charles Brown

1948 – birth of modern state of Israel - assassination of Ghandi - Berlin airlift - “Deacon’s Hop” by Big Jay McNeely - “Boogie Chillun” by John Lee Hooker

1949 - communist takeover of China - founding of NATO - “The Hucklebuck” by Paul Williams - “Rock Awhile” by Goree Carter and his Hepcats

1950 - North Korea invades South Korea - China invades Tibet - anti-apartheid riots in Johannesburg - “Pink Champagne” by Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers - “Please Send Me Someone To Love” by Percy Mayfield

1956 – Egypt’s Nasser seizes Suez Canal - Soviet crackdown on Hungary uprising - “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley - “Since I Met You Baby” by Ivory Joe Hunter

1962 - Cuban missile crisis - independence of Jamaica and Uganda - “Do You Love Me” by The Contours - “You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover” by Bo Diddley - “Green Onions” by Booker T and The MGs

1964 - Gulf of Tonkin resolution; first U.S. – North Vietnam skirmishes - Arafat’s takeover of Fatah, an Arab guerrilla group - “Dancing in the Streets” by Martha Reeves and the

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