The Politics of Soul Music
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2005 Soul shakedown: The politics of soul music Melanie Catherine Young University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Young, Melanie Catherine, "Soul shakedown: The politics of soul music" (2005). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1917. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/9hmc-nb38 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SOUL SHAKEDOWN: THE POLITICS OF SOUL MUSIC by Melanie Catherine Young Bachelor of Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1 9 9 9 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Political Science Department of Political Science College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2005 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1435648 Copyright 2006 by Young, Melanie Catherine All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 1435648 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Melanie Catherine Young 2006 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval IJNTV The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas November 18 .20 05 The Thesis prepared by Melanie Catherine Young Entitled Soul Shakedown: The Politics of Soul Music is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science 'nation Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College ExaminatimùCommktee Member hxamination^Qmmittee Member Graduate Collegi F acuity Representative 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Soul Shakedown: The Politics of Soul Music by Melanie Catherine Young Dr. Jerry L. Simich, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Political Science University of Nevada, Las Vegas This thesis demonstrates the value of the 'hegemonic' theory of politics as a basis for the discussion of the importance of commercially popular music in the political socialization process. The theoretical foundations of popular music studies are considered, the existing literature on popular soul music is reviewed, and an analysis of the lyrics of primarily popular soul songs from 1965 to 1975 is presented. The content analysis suggests that the conception of the black man as described by the whites served a hegemonic function in the culture of African-Americans. However, popular soul music lyrics of the 1960s and 1970s vocalized in opposition to this dominant belief system, celebrating the culture of African- Americans through themes of freedom, pride, and power. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.......................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................ V CHAPTER 1 POLITICS AND SOUL M U S I C .........................1 Popular Soul Music is Political Too......................4 The Problem of Defining Soul Music.......................9 The Next Phase...........................................12 CHAPTER 2 A PHILOSOPHICAL SHUFFLE........................14 Popular Music as Passionate Communication.............. 15 Adorno and Gramsci on Popular Music.....................19 CHAPTER 3 REVIEW OF THE EXISTING LITERATURE............. 27 High and Low Culture Discussions........................28 Hegemonic and Counter-Hegemonic Discussions............ 34 CHAPTER 4 THE MOVEMENT AND SOUL WORDS OF FREEDOM, PRIDE, AND POWER...................................... 42 Civil Rights and Popular Soul Music to 1963........... 44 The Movements in Popular Soul Music Lyrics, 1963-1975.. 47 Notes on Popularity and Black/White Markets............ 67 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION..................................... 71 The Song Has Been Sung.................................. 71 APPENDIX ................................................. 77 Table 1: Cashbox Singles and Black Singles Charts Highs and Total Weeks by Artist............................... 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................... 85 DISCOGRAPHY................................................ 94 VITA ...................................................... 106 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The following thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and support of a knowledgeable and patient committee. Their continued confidence granted me the freedom to explore the subject matter, while their insight and suggestions allowed for the development of a broader understanding of music's fundamental political importance in American society. To all of them, I am deeply indebted. I would also like to thank my friends and family, particularly Kent, Holly, and my brother, Robert. Throughout the process, their assistance and love has given me the power to succeed. Finally, I am forever grateful to my mother and father, who have given me opportunities, encouraged me to face challenges, and inspired me to believe and achieve. It is to them that this thesis is dedicated. All efforts have been made to research, and comply with, existing copyright laws. V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 POLITICS AND SOUL MUSIC Popular^ music, as a cultural phenomenon within society, has received increasingly more attention and analysis over the past fifty years by musicologists, ethnomusicologists, and cultural theorists (predominately from the fields of journalism, communications, history, and sociology). Many have written accounts of the historical development and sociopolitical importance of "soul" music from its advent around 1954 through its commercial decline in the 1970s, while political scientists have for the most part remained absent from the discussion.^ ^ For the purposes of this paper, the terms "popular" and "commercial" will be used interchangeably. The issue of nomenclature and the associated debates, however, will be addressed further in Chapters Two and Three. ^ While the definition of soul music has been expanded over time to include artists prior to and following the period from 1954 to 197 5, the term did not become widely used in reference to these vocal styles until the 1960s. Charles Keil, for example, states: "[t]he current concept of soul began to take shape a year or two after the Supreme Court decision of 1954..." Keil, Urban Blues, 165. In the years that followed, the concept entered popular culture, taking hold. This may best be illustrated by Billboard Magazine's change in its use of nomenclature to describe black music during the 1960s. In August of 1969, Rhythm and Blues, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Indeed, political scientists have largely restricted their studies of popular music to more explicit forms of political variables. For example, issues such as the continuing dispute surrounding the free access consumers have to the intellectual property of musicians (their songs) on the Internet tends to be analyzed by political scientists in terms of its political effect in regard to policy or law. The role of the policymaker and that of the music business and musicians might be assessed in terms of the congressional hearings, or further, as these matters relate to judicial law. As a final illustration of this, I would acknowledge the willingness of political scientists to engage in discussions regarding the censorship of music as it relates to the First Amendment right to free speech. Political scientists, to put it simply, have restricted their studies to those overtly political aspects of society. What is largely avoided by political scientists, however, involves the more subtle aspects of society that affect political circumstances and events