Songster
Encyclopedia
The term "songster" is most often used to denote a wandering musician, usually but not always African American, of the type which first appeared in the late 19th century in the southern United States
. However, the term can generally be applied to either a writer or singer of any type or genre of song.
music. It began soon after the end of slavery and the Reconstruction era in the United States, when African American musicians became able to travel and play music for a living. Black and white musicians shared the same repertoire and thought of themselves as "songsters" rather than "blues" musicians.
Songsters generally performed a wide variety of folk songs, ballads, dance tunes, reels and minstrel songs. Initially, they were often accompanied by non-singing "musicianers", who often played banjo
and fiddle
. Later, as the guitar
became more widely popular, the songsters often accompanied themselves.
Songsters often accompanied medicine show
s, which moved from place to place selling salve
s and elixir
s. As entertainers, songsters had the task of enticing a public, to whom the concoctions were then offered. One published in 1886 by Professor Lorman, “The Great Disease Detective” of Philadelphia. “The Lorman’s Indian Oil Star Specialty SONGSTER” announced on the booklet’s title page that it contained “an entirely new and original collection of Songs now being sung nightly by the members of the above named excellent company, together with all the popular Songs of the day.” Along with ads for Lorman’s full range of medicines, the songster included a cast list introducing an “ever welcome Vocalist and Organist,” a “celebrated Comedian and End Man,” the “Funniest End-Man in the business in his Funny Sayings, Banjo Solos, and popular Songs of the Day,” and the medicine-wagon driver, “admired for his dexterity in handling the Ribbons on the Golden Chariot.” Song lyrics in the booklet include such tunes as “You Can’t Do It, You Know” (music by George Schleiffarth, lyrics by Nat C. Goodwin), “The Letter That Never Came,” (sung by Billy Cronin in the play One of the Bravest . . As these shows declined, and listening to recorded music and dancing in juke joints and honky tonks became more popular, so the older songster style became less fashionable.
Songsters had a notable influence on blues music, which developed from around the turn of the 20th century. However, there was also a change in song styles. Songsters often sang composed songs or traditional ballads, frequently about legendary heroes or characters such as "Frankie and Johnny" and "Stagger Lee". Blues singers, in contrast, tended to invent their own lyrics (or recycle those of others) and develop their own tunes and guitar (or sometimes piano) playing styles, singing of their own lives and shared emotional experiences.
Many of the earliest recordings of what is now referred to as the blues were made by songsters who commanded a much wider repertoire, often extending to popular Tin Pan Alley
songs of the day as well as the "authentic" country blues
. There is a growing view among scholars that the distinction made by experts such as Alan Lomax
between "deep" blues singers and "songsters" is an artificial one, and that in fact most of the leading archetypal blues artists, including Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters
, performed a wide variety of music in public, but recorded only that proportion of their material which was seen by their producers as original or innovative.
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. However, the term can generally be applied to either a writer or singer of any type or genre of song.
Songsters in American culture
The songster tradition both pre-dated and co-existed with bluesBlues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
music. It began soon after the end of slavery and the Reconstruction era in the United States, when African American musicians became able to travel and play music for a living. Black and white musicians shared the same repertoire and thought of themselves as "songsters" rather than "blues" musicians.
Songsters generally performed a wide variety of folk songs, ballads, dance tunes, reels and minstrel songs. Initially, they were often accompanied by non-singing "musicianers", who often played banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
. Later, as the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
became more widely popular, the songsters often accompanied themselves.
Songsters often accompanied medicine show
Medicine show
Medicine shows were traveling horse and wagon teams which peddled "miracle cure" medications and other products between various entertainment acts. Their precise origins unknown, medicine shows were common in the 19th century United States...
s, which moved from place to place selling salve
Salve
A salve is a medical ointment used to soothe the head or other body surface. A popular eye medicine known as "Phrygian powder" was one of Laodicea's sources of wealth...
s and elixir
Elixir
An elixir is a clear, sweet-flavored liquid used for medicinal purposes, to be taken orally and intended to cure one's ills. When used as a pharmaceutical preparation, an elixir contains at least one active ingredient designed to be taken orally....
s. As entertainers, songsters had the task of enticing a public, to whom the concoctions were then offered. One published in 1886 by Professor Lorman, “The Great Disease Detective” of Philadelphia. “The Lorman’s Indian Oil Star Specialty SONGSTER” announced on the booklet’s title page that it contained “an entirely new and original collection of Songs now being sung nightly by the members of the above named excellent company, together with all the popular Songs of the day.” Along with ads for Lorman’s full range of medicines, the songster included a cast list introducing an “ever welcome Vocalist and Organist,” a “celebrated Comedian and End Man,” the “Funniest End-Man in the business in his Funny Sayings, Banjo Solos, and popular Songs of the Day,” and the medicine-wagon driver, “admired for his dexterity in handling the Ribbons on the Golden Chariot.” Song lyrics in the booklet include such tunes as “You Can’t Do It, You Know” (music by George Schleiffarth, lyrics by Nat C. Goodwin), “The Letter That Never Came,” (sung by Billy Cronin in the play One of the Bravest . . As these shows declined, and listening to recorded music and dancing in juke joints and honky tonks became more popular, so the older songster style became less fashionable.
Songsters had a notable influence on blues music, which developed from around the turn of the 20th century. However, there was also a change in song styles. Songsters often sang composed songs or traditional ballads, frequently about legendary heroes or characters such as "Frankie and Johnny" and "Stagger Lee". Blues singers, in contrast, tended to invent their own lyrics (or recycle those of others) and develop their own tunes and guitar (or sometimes piano) playing styles, singing of their own lives and shared emotional experiences.
Many of the earliest recordings of what is now referred to as the blues were made by songsters who commanded a much wider repertoire, often extending to popular Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
songs of the day as well as the "authentic" country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
. There is a growing view among scholars that the distinction made by experts such as Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
between "deep" blues singers and "songsters" is an artificial one, and that in fact most of the leading archetypal blues artists, including Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, performed a wide variety of music in public, but recorded only that proportion of their material which was seen by their producers as original or innovative.
Examples of songsters
- Blind BlakeBlind Blake"Blind" Blake was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist.-Biography:...
- Rabbit BrownRabbit BrownRichard "Rabbit" Brown was an American blues guitarist and composer. His music was characterized by a mixture of blues, pop songs, and original topical ballads. He recorded six record sides for Victor Records on May 11, 1927....
- Mississippi John HurtMississippi John HurtJohn Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt was an American country blues singer and guitarist.Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine...
- Papa Charlie JacksonPapa Charlie JacksonPapa Charlie Jackson was an early American bluesman and songster. He played a hybrid banjo guitar and ukulele, his recording career beginning in 1924...
- Jim JacksonJim Jackson (musician)Jim Jackson was an African American blues and hokum singer, songster and guitarist, whose recordings in the late 1920s were popular and influential on later artists.-Career:...
- LeadbellyLeadbellyHuddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
- Furry LewisFurry LewisFurry Lewis was an American country blues guitarist and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis was one of the first of the old-time blues musicians of the 1920s to be brought out of retirement, and given a new lease of recording life, by the folk blues revival of the 1960s.-Life and...
- Mance LipscombMance LipscombMance Lipscomb was an American blues singer, guitarist and songster. Born Beau De Glen Lipscomb near Navasota, Texas, United States, he as a youth took the name of 'Mance' from a friend of his oldest brother Charlie .-Biography:Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 to an ex-slave father from Alabama and...
- Jimmy RogersJimmy RogersJimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
- Cootie StarkCootie StarkCootie Stark was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His best remembered recordings were "Metal Bottoms" and "Sandyland." Stark was known as the 'King of the Piedmont blues.'-Biography:...
- Frank Stokes
- Henry ThomasHenry Thomas (blues musician)Henry Thomas was an American pre-World War II country blues singer, songster and musician. He was often billed as "Ragtime Texas".-Life and career:Thomas was born in Big Sandy, Texas, United States....
- Bob WillsBob WillsJames Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...