African American Secular Music and How it Influenced Later Popular Music

Included in this Spotify playlist are songs from different styles of African American secular music, and then songs that later grew to prominence in popular music throughout the twentieth century that were directly influenced, if not copied, from the songs that were written before them. I included example from the blues, boogie-woogie, and early rock and roll and then gave examples from later soul, rock and motown tunes that were in direct influence from these other artists. For example, the boogie-woogie style demonstrated by Albert Ammons in Boogie Woogie Stomp is mirrored by a similar energy, instrumentation and cadential structure in Little Richard’s hit Tutti Frutti. In the case of Muddy Waters’ Mannish Boy, his guitar riff was actually directly copied by George Thurgood in his song Bad to the Bone, which has unfortunately gained more prominence in pop culture than its original source. This playlist aims to demonstrate how African-American Secular music of the early twentieth century has shaped the direction of popular music as we know it today, wether due credit was given or not.

Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy

Mannish Boy is perhaps one of the most plagarized songs ever written. The grinding guitar riff heard throughout the songs has been copied and covered over and again, with the most prominent being the rendition performed by George Thurgood which has been included into the popular culture lexicon because of its use in movies like Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The song has the entire band, made up of horns, harmonica, guitar bass and drums, following the lead guitar on the main riff, while Muddy Waters gives us a bluesy vocal refrain each time the riff breaks. It is immeditaely recognizable and is almost thought of as the colloquial riff for Rock and Roll.

Fats Domino – Walking to New Orleans

This tune by Fats Domino brings the vocals and piano to the forefront, with the chords being played by Domino while he sings driving the rhythm of the song foward. This is a classic example of a pianist who is also a double threat as a vocalist, there is just a certain intimate quality to listening to a man or woman sing behind a keyboard. This set up featuring the singer and piano player found more success in years to come with songs like Otis Redding’s Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay evoking a similar sound an emotion from the listener. In both example the lyrics are relatable and seem to be deeply felt by the performer.