Musi-c-lass

So today was a day of schoolwork. Probably my punishment for all of the sweet stuff I have been doing lately. I woke up and went to Sociology. We talked about music and the relationship of the US and the UK. First, we talked about Jazz and Blues and their growth in the US during the 1920s and 30s. It was called Delta Blue and we listened to a bunch of different examples of it: Bessie Smith, Bukka White, Robert Johnson, and Louis Armstrong. All of them were really good. It's just good music whether it was recorded 70 years ago or not. Plus, it was so influential. We continued on to the Big Band Era and listened to "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller. I played that song in jazz band in high school. While all of this music was being made, very little of it was being brought over to the UK except by people who really wanted it. That all changed during WWII when loads of US soldiers brought themselves and their music over to England. Frank Sinatra was our next stop on the musical tour. He was one of the first "lead singers" ever which made him very influential. We listened to "I've Got You Under My Skin", my favorite Frank song. He played at Royal Albert Hall a bunch of times in the 50s and 60s but always brought his own band because he didn't trust the British musicians.

After Frank, we talked about Chicago Blues which was Blues but had electric guitars and real bands. Our example of this was "Smokestack Lightning" by Howlin' Wolf. Great song. We contrasted that with the Rolling Stones's song "Midnight Rambler" which sounded very familiar. Howlin' Wolf recorded and toured with them in their early years. That really tells the story of the Blues. It started in the US. Then went over to the UK. Which brought it back to the US in a new way. Really cool. The we talked about Elvis for a while and listened to "That's All Right Mama" and "Mystery Train". Elvis was influential because he bridged the gap between the black and white radio. People didn't know what race he was so both types of station played it. Next up was Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio. We listened to "The Train Kept A-Rolling" which was a great song and just insanely popular in the UK. Jimmy Page, the guitarist from Led Zeppelin, fell in love with song and the band played it on their first tour. Finally we talked about the Beatles. We listened to "Love Me Do", their first single. Justin told us that the Beatles recorded 16 albums in their 8 years at Abbey Road. INSANE! That is just incredible. We ended with "Twist and Shout" which was recorded in one take in Abbey Road Studios at 9:30 pm after they had been recording all day. They were super tired but did an AMAZING cover. The video of course is not from that recording but still good. That song alone showed how far British had come in catching up to the established Americans. When people heard this, they knew that music would never be the same after. This was a great class of listening and learning about music. Justin made an astute point. British kids know the history of music and where stuff fits in. Americans kids, like me, usually have no clue.

In Senior Sem, we discussed some business first. We can reserve a locker to store stuff for about £2 per week that we need to store (so £10 for me). That is RIDICULOUSLY cheap. So that was good news. After that we talked about existentialism for a little bit. It is a philosophy that holds that life is meaningless. There are two branches though. One says that life is rational and without meaning and religion is irrational but we need to make that "leap of faith" to make life more meaningful. The other branch grew out of the destruction of WWII and held that life is just plain meaningless and messed up and religion doesn't fix that. People who believed this wrote plays and that were later called Theatre of the Absurd. They thought that life was meaningless and incomprehensible so their plays were too. They felt that language lost it's coherent ability so their plays did. Basically, their plays are weird and messed up just like life. I read a play in this style in ALP in high school called "Rhinoceros". It was weird. So many connections from what I have learned here to what I learned in ALP. Crazy. Anyway, it was a fun class as well.

After class, I read the book I had to write a review on and then set about writing the review. That took up all of my evening. I did take a break and go to the grocery store. I also looked up ferry times and days for when I am traveling in Greece so I know when and where I can go. But that was about it. By the way, the book I reviewed was called Leo the African and was an historical fiction novel about a Moorish guy who travels around the Mediterranean in the 1500s. Pretty good I guess. Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the music!

Toodles!