SEARCHING FOR OTIS SPANN: THE LIFE & SONGS OF OTIS SPANN CHRISTY DIFELICE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MAGISTERIATE OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY/MUSICOLOGY YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, ONTARIO MARCH 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-38765-8 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-38765-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. •*• Canada SEARCHING FOR OTIS SPANN: THE LIFE & SONGS OF OTIS SPANN by Christy DiFelice By virtue of submitting this document electronically, the author certifies that this is a true electronic equivalent of the copy of the thesis approved by York University for the award of the degree. No alteration of the content has occurred and if there are any minor variation in formatting, they are as a result of the conversion to Adobe Acrobat formation (or similar software application) Examination Committee members: 1. William W. Westcott 2. Michael Coghlan 3. Barry Elmes 4. Marie Rickard (iv) ABSTRACT This project is based on a sample that includes 182 of the 221 songs recorded by Otis Spann and his colleagues between October 1954 and April 1970. It is the goal of this thesis to explore Spann as an important figure in blues history. It is divided into three main sections that focus on Spann's life, songs, and voice. The first main section (Chapter Two) constructs a tentative "true" biography of Otis Spann by comparing (often contradictory) information from existing sources. Chapter Three takes a comparative approach to Spann's music, and analyses his lyric (text) content by grouping available recordings into "blues song forms". This chapter also surveys Spann's lyric repertoire for thematic/poetic content. Chapter Four discusses Spann's changing approach to singing depending on tempo, key, and range. By noting Spann's melodic tendencies, evidence is presented suggesting that he worked from a set of melodic strategies and characteristic phrases. As an addition to this work, this thesis includes a lyrics repertory that contains transcriptions of all 182 obtainable songs sung by Spann and his colleagues between October 1954 and April 1970. It is complete with discographical references. (v) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Words cannot express my deepest gratitude to my advisor William Westcott for his patience, understanding, and conceptual aid with this project. I am much indebted to his knowledge, expertise, critical support, and overall friendship. I would also like to thank my supervisory committee, Professor Michael Coghlan, Professor Barry Elmes, and Professor Marie Rickard, for their time spent evaluating this project. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Professor Matthew Vander Woude, Professor Bob Winner, and Dave Denberg, whose expertise in their particular fields ensured that I was 'on the right track' in the final stages of writing. Also, thank you to Dr. Rob Bowman, Dr. Michael Marcuzzi, Dr. Louise Wrazen, Dr. Renate Wickens, Dr. Denise Nuttall, Dr. Carla Johnston, Cynthia Hawkins (and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir), and the numerous graduate students I met throughout this journey. Your friendships kept me from abandoning my work during the times that I most doubted my own capabilities. I would also like to thank the music department at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for accommodating my requests to ensure that I completed this work by its deadline. Specifically, I would like to acknowledge Loie Fallis, and the "E-Team" - Roberta Smith, Stephanie Zhang, and Heidi Sundwall for taking an interest in, and supporting my academic pursuits. I remain indebted to my friends, who continue support me in all of my endeavours. To Marcia Edwards, Lisa Miller-Blachjman, Linda Morana, Kelly-Anne (vi) Vander Meer, Hannah & Paco Luviano, and Angie Nussey: thank you for being 'friends' in the truest sense of the word. I would like to thank my family for enduring me at my most 'stressed out' periods. Thank you to my grandmother, Florence DiFelice, who taught me to never start a project unless I intended to see it to completion; my parents, Nancy and Frank DiFelice; my brother, Justin Snikkar; and my uncle, Rod Thomson. Finally, a heartfelt thank you is due to my sister, Sarafina, who continuously attempts to keep me balanced, despite that I relentlessly resist any such notion. Thank you for being my best friend. (vii) TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 SCOPE 4 CHAPTER TWO 20 BIOGRAPHY 20 CHAPTER THREE 53 THE BLUES & SPANN 53 The Blues 53 Blues Form 55 Otis Spann's Blues 58 Blues Song Forms 69 12-bar Blues 69 8-Bar 78 24-bar Stanzas 82 16-bar Stanzas 83 Other 84 BLUES THEMES/POETRY 85 CHAPTER FOUR 95 SPANN'S VOICE 95 CHARACTERISTICS OF SPANN'S APPROACH TO MELODY 99 KEY CHART 102 METRE & TEMPO 105 How METRE & TEMPO AFFECT SPANN'S VOCALS 112 CHAPTER FIVE U7 CONCLUSION & FUTURE STUDY 117 FUTURE PIANO STUDY 120 APPENDIX A: LYRIC TRANSCRIPTIONS 122 LIST OF LYRICS BY CORRESPONDING ALBUM 122 ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF LYRICS 127 LYRIC TRANSCRIPTIONS 131 BIBLIOGRAPHY 299 (viii) TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Albums Surveyed to Collect Material by Otis Spann sorted by Manufacturer's Catalogue Number 6 Figure 2: Albums Contained on Compilation Reissues 8 Figure 3: Black Cat 001 Compared With Tab 58 9 Figure 4: Songs with Vocals 9 Figure 5: List of Instrumental Songs Sorted by Song Title 14 Figure 6: Re-Recorded Songs 15 Figure 7: Summary of Unobtainable Songs 17 Figure 8: "Classic" Blues Stanza 56 Figure 9: Westcott's 12-Bar Paradigm 57 Figure 10: Stanza Type - Organized by Stanza Type, Line Structure, Phrase Structure, and Textual Form 65 Figure 11: Stanza Type - Organized by Stanza Type, Line, and Number of occurencees 67 Figure 12: Alphabetical list of Themes Present in Spann's Work 93 Figure 13: Themes Present in Spann's Work Listed by Frequency 94 Figure 14: Spann's Range 97 Figure 15: "Good Morning Mr. Blues" (Stanza 1) from Good Morning Mr. Blues 99 Figure 16: Vocal Characteristics of Spann 101 Figure 17: Key Distribution of All Songs Sung by Spann 103 Figure 18: Tempo Distribution of all Songs Sung by Spann 105 Figure 19: Tempo Category Very Slow 107 Figure 20: Tempo Category Slow 12/8 108 Figure 21: Tempo Category Bright 109 Figure 22: Tempo Category Fast 110 Figure 23: Tempo Range 1 113 Figure 24: Tempo Range 2 114 Figure 25: Tempo Range 3 115 Figure 26: Tempo Range 4 116 (ix) LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS & MUSICAL SYMBOLS pno. piano gtr. guitar b. bass dr. drums sp. speech (non-melodic) hca. harmonica org. organ ts. tenor saxophone bg. electric bass guitar Indicates possibility Indicates upwards of ghost note/ falloff of note to uncertain that note tip indeterminate pitch £ occurs Indicates downwards falloff of note to Indicates spoken text ^ indeterminate pitch Indicates note is Indicates portamento slightly higher than £ f S ^ pitch Indicates note is 3H Indicates uncertainty slightly lower than i p of accidental P pitch 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Music critics and musicians hail Otis Spann as one of the greatest blues pianists to date. A member of the post-war Chicago school of playing, Spann is credited as having been one of the first major influences on blues musicians, such as Little Johnny Jones and Paul Oscher.1 Moreover, his importance was recognized by rock/blues performers including: Crowbar, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, and Eric Clapton. To further convey the importance of Spann's contribution to blues music, journalist Bill McCulloch, and Barry Lee Pearson, professor of English at Maryland University, list three reasons for Spann's importance in blues history: 1. As an important component in the most powerful blues band ever 2. As a prominent studio session player during the early days of rock and roll and the 'golden age' of Chess Records 3. As a leader who had influenced many musicians from the United States and Europe, thereby bridging the gap between down-home Delta blues and world rock (McCulloch and Pearson 1999: par.