Copyright by John F. Cline 2012 The Dissertation Committee for John F. Cline Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Permanent Underground: Radical Sounds and Social Formations in 20th Century American Musicking Committee: Mark C. Smith, Supervisor Steven Hoelscher Randolph Lewis Karl Hagstrom Miller Shirley Thompson Permanent Underground: Radical Sounds and Social Formations in 20th Century American Musicking by John F. Cline, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2012 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my mother and father, Gary and Linda Cline. Without their generous hearts, tolerant ears, and (occasionally) open pocketbooks, I would have never made it this far, in any endeavor. A second, related dedication goes out to my siblings, Nicholas and Elizabeth. We all get the help we need when we need it most, don’t we? Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor, Mark Smith. Even though we don’t necessarily work on the same kinds of topics, I’ve always appreciated his patient advice. I’m sure he’d be loath to use the word “wisdom,” but his open mind combined with ample, sometimes non-academic experience provided reassurances when they were needed most. Following closely on Mark’s heels is Karl Miller. Although not technically my supervisor, his generosity with his time and his always valuable (if sometimes painful) feedback during the dissertation writing process was absolutely essential to the development of the project, especially while Mark was abroad on a Fulbright. We don’t always agree philosophically, but I cannot imagine what my work would be like without the tempering fire of his intellect when applied to my ideas. Plus, he’s a great guy to just talk to about music with…an often-welcome respite from our otherwise intense discussions. I hope that my future work can match the standard he sets. Much thanks also goes out to the other three members of my committee: Randy Lewis, Steve Hoelscher, and Shirley Thompson. I’ve really enjoyed working with Steve over the years, in multiple capacities. Randy and Shirley were latecomers to the committee, but their feedback in the defense was always poignant—of course. Randy and I had several productive conversations about this project, even before his involvement was official. Shirley, a veteran of my oral exam committee, brought the same level of razor-sharp insight to the defense that I’d come to expect from our very difficult “Theory” exam reading list. I’d also like to thank Tom Schatz and Elizabeth Engelhardt, two former committee members who provided a lot of help in the early stages of writing and only departed the committee because the project changed direction v away from their areas of expertise. Finally, I owe an enormous debt to Ella Schwartz, my bureaucratic Magellan. I would never have made it through graduate school without her aid, in matters both trivial and panic inducing. Outside of the faculty and staff at UT, the two people who’ve been my most important sounding boards over the years are my very close friend Jeannette Vaught and my brother Nick. Jeannette has patiently listened to my ideas in their rambling, formative state for years. I’m glad some of them started to make sense to her when she finally read them in written form. She’s also always been there when I needed help, from psychologically rough patches to the tedium of formatting. Nick has a very different kind of musical knowledge than I do, but an unquestionably greater talent. He’s helped guide me through technical concepts and given me the kind of feedback that only a composer could. Listening to his development as an artist is awe-inspiring, and I hope that the musicological dimension to our relationship has been mutually beneficial; I know it has been from my end. I love you both. A shout-out has to go to Dan Plunkett, Blake Carlisle, and Jacob Green at End of an Ear. You guys definitely take my money, but you’ve given back a lot more than just records. Last but not least, I want to thank all of my friends, and colleagues in Austin and further afield. These are the people that have helped me get through the day, even if I only get to see some of them all-too-infrequently these days. Although I’m sure that I’ll forget someone, they include: Tim Shaw, Shawn Sebastian, Andrew Lytle, Jon Mowers, Luther Moss, John Olson, Patrick Walter, Amy Kirkman, Katherine Whitworth, Rob Latham, Tom Lutz, Ben Fagan, Eric Lott, Cindi Katz, Sean Cashbaugh, Carly Kocurek, Andy Jones, Tony Fassi, Andrew Busch, Renee Searfoss, Caroline O’Connor, Christy Moore, Jackie Smith, Jason Mellard, Andrea Woody Mellard, Stephanie Kolberg, Gavin vi Benke, Ellen Cunningham-Krupa, Kirsten Ronald, Brendan Gaughen, Nick Muntean, Steve Marshall, Jim Cox, Rob Weiner, Trent Johnson, Cait Weber, and Valeri Nichols- Keller. Extra love and gratitude goes to my aunt and uncle, Paula and Jack Harms, whose frequent flier miles got me to a lot of conferences. And finally, thanks to all my students over the years, especially the ones who took “The Global Power of the Funk.” You were my guinea pigs for a lot of the ideas in this dissertation; I hope you got something of value from them. You were all great, and I think I’ll be well satisfied with my life if I can be involved with more people like you over the course of my career. vii Permanent Underground: Radical Sounds and Social Formations in 20th Century American Musicking John F. Cline, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Mark C. Smith Musical labor entered a new phase of alienation following the advent of recording technology in the late 19th century. Whereas prior to recording musicians had a relatively direct relationship with their audience—the sum of the two groups constituting “musicking”—sound reproduction created a spatial and temporal dislocation between them. Most narratives of American popular music trace out a particular genre formation, and relate it to the culture from whence it emerged. By contrast, this dissertation begins from the point where musicking began to disengage from commodification, both at the level of social formation and of the creation of sound itself. Drawing on anthropologist Pierre Clastres’ notion of “Anti-State” modes of organization and cultural critic Ivan Illich’s concept of “conviviality,” or a human-centered rather than mass production- oriented use of tools—in this case musical instruments both handmade and modified— each chapter of this project tackles a different dimension of the quest for autonomous musicking, or a “permanent underground.” Chapter 1 examines the organizational principles that have run in parallel to the bureaucratic, capitalist manifestation of a “music industry” in the 20th century. Beginning with a critique of either/or fallacy of the opposition posited between “modernism” and “nostalgia,” the reminder of the chapter viii demonstrates the reconciliation between these two aesthetic and political positions; topics include the seizure of public space by itinerant blues musicians in the rural-industrial prewar South, the self-released recordings of gospel artists after WWII, the formation of experimental jazz collectives in the 1960s, and the relationship between psychedelic music and cults/communes in the 1960s. Chapter 2 critiques the function of genre in musicking as means to a reproducible sonic commodity, and argues for “noise” as an aesthetic intervention that disrupts the saleable nature of music—a political act in itself. Chapter 3 suggests several strategies for achieving “noise.” These include the re- purposing of industrial machines as musical instruments, the incorporation of foreign musical traditions, and the use of collage as a formal principle. The final chapter profiles six collectives that have emerged since the late 1960s that adhere to the aesthetic and political values established throughout this dissertation. ix Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................... xiv Introduction: Between the Bookshelf and the Turntable .........................................1 Theoretical Models .........................................................................................9 A Note on the Contents of this Dissertation .................................................33 Chapter 1: An Originary Narrative .......................................................................37 Introduction ...................................................................................................37 Part 1: Irreconcilable Differences, or, Two Philosophies ............................43 “I Killed Jameson With My …” ..........................................................43 Part 2: Anthropop: Survivals, transmissions, and transmutations ................54 Part 3: Ancient to the future: black music in the postwar period ..................89 Major-Minors ..............................................................................98 Mom and Pop and the Hustler on the Corner, Too ...................100 Ridin’ the Circuit ......................................................................104 Made to Order ...........................................................................106 The Influence of the Inimitable .................................................112