Tin Pan Alley
The Center of American Popular Music,
1900-1930
Tin Pan Alley’s influence on popular song
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Progressive:
– Willing to adopt new sounds
– Ex: bringing in ragtime, jazz
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American Dream:
– Wrote about middle-class aspirations, values
– Images of patriotism
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Spread Pop Culture:
– Songs about U.S. pop culture (events,
inventions)
– Versatile, sensational
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ASCAP (American Society of Composers,
Authors, and Publishers)
“At the Telephone,” 1906
Tin Pan Alley and WWI (1914-1918)
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Originally U.S. against involvement
in WWI (1914-1917)
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1917: Tin Pan Alley helps sway
national sentiment: “Go to war to
end war”
– promoted “war spirit”
– Immigrant composers (I. Berlin) wrote
patriotic songs, became soldiers
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Arrangement with Committee on
Public Information
– In exchange for propaganda songs,
paper rations lifted for song publishers
Tin Pan Alley Song Form
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Tin Pan Alley established its importance in pop by developing a simple
formula:
– Write lyrics that convey a single, simple message
– Combine expected with unexpected
– Use a simple 2-part song form
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Verse - Refrain form
– VERSE: sets dramatic context, tells story
– REFRAIN: 4 sections of equal length
A: main melody, chord changes, and lyric pattern (“hook”)
A: new words, repeated chords and melody
B: new words, melody and chords (“bridge”)
A: return to hook with new words
REPEAT!
“My Blue Heaven” (Donaldson and Whiting, 1924)
FORM:
Intro: Cello presents “A” melody to introduce “hook” up front
Verse: 2 short phrases set romantic tone (love makes the world go
round)
Refrain: A section – “hook” end with words “my blue heaven”
A repeat – new lyrics, repeat “my blue heaven”
B “bridge” – new material; heaven becomes clearer: “cozy Recorded by crooner
Gene Austin in 1927
room” (domestic bliss) nature metaphor: “nest”
A repeat, new lyrics
Refrain 2:
A section on cello with “crooning” humming
A repeated
B “bridge” repeated with same lyrics
A with same lyrics
Refrain 3:
A with whistling, humming
A with whistling, humming
B bridge with same words
A last phrase, voice rises at end for finality
“My Blue Heaven” Arrangement
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INSTRUMENTATION:
– Cello gives sense of intimacy, sophistication
– Accompaniment is soft, unobtrusive, tranquil
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SINGING STYLE:
– “crooning,” soft, intimate vocal quality (new and exciting at the
time)
– Never becomes intense
– Humming creates sense of intimacy
– Singing style made possible by electric microphone
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Delicate, sophisticated instrumentation and vocal style compliment
each other and reinforce the song’s message
“My Blue Heaven” Lyrics
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Lyrics reinforce melodic form and arrangement
– “A” section ends with words “my blue heaven”
– Images of tranquility & intimacy match musical sound
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Simple message presented in verse: “Love makes the world go
round”
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Lyrics convey images of privacy, romantic domesticity
– Use of first person: “my blue heaven”
– “a fireplace,” a cozy room with wife and baby
– Combines tranquil images of nature with middle class American Dream:
whippoorwill’s nest = cozy den in the suburbs
“My Blue Heaven” Song History and Social
Context
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By Walter Donaldson (music) and George Whiting (lyrics)
– Donaldson was staff writer for Irving Berlin Music Co. on Tin Pan Alley
– Fought in WWI, returned to write songs that promoted mainstream
American values of privacy, stability, and romance
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Signals a retreat from instability of war & Jazz Age
– Represents mainstream values of romantic and domestic stability
– Draws on cultural value of privacy, acquiring one’s own private space
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Performance style and arrangement is a product of 1920s
technology and musical trends
– Electric microphone allows for soft crooning and quiet instruments
– Relatively short performance reflects recording limitations
“April Showers” (Louis Silvers, 1921)
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Similar form to “My Blue Heaven”
Intro
“hook” taken from refrain
Verse
short, unimportant verse with message
Refrain A
B
A1
C
Though April showers…
And if it’s raining…
And where you see clouds…
So keep on looking…
Refrain Repeated with same words & slight melodic
variation
Outro
orchestra repeats hook
Sheet music for “April Showers”
featuring the singer who made it
famous, Al Jolson
“April Showers,” cont.
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JOLSON’S SINGING STYLE:
– Loud, theatrical, exaggerated
– Developed for vaudeville & Broadway
– Necessary for acoustic recording
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INSTRUMENTATION:
– Accompanied by “sweet” dance orchestra
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SIMPLE hook, SIMPLE message
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LYRICS:
– Hook ends with title: “April showers”
– Optimistic, reassuring message:
• “every cloud has a silver lining”
• “hard work brings success”
Vaudeville and film star Al
Jolson recorded “April
Showers” in 1921.
– Images of birds, nature as positive result of spring rains
• makes philosophy seem “natural”: “It’s only natural – see,
it happens in nature!”
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ARTIST HISTORY:
“April Showers,” cont.
– Russian immigrant, grew up in NYC
tenements
– Famous as blackface vaudeville comedian
– Performed “coon” songs in blackface
– Performance style: exaggerated,
dominating “stage presence”
– Style made him perfect for early recordings
– Promoted himself as all-around entertainer
• Comedian, singer, dancer
– Took advantage of every kind of media
technology
• Sheetmusic, stage, recordings, radio, film
•
STANCE:
– Public image made him likeable,
authoritative
– His stature makes his “advice” legit
Al Jolson pictured in blackface in 1927
for his role in The Jazz Singer
“Makin’ Whoopee”
SONG HISTORY:
• Written by Walter Donaldson (also wrote “My Blue Heaven”)
for Ziegfield Follies on Broadway in 1928
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Standard: continues to be recorded today (Rod Stewart, Elton
John, Cindy Lauper, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald)
Appeared in movies, Broadway, recordings, dance versions
SOCIAL CONTEXT:
• Dance bands integrating jazz arrangements into Tin Pan Alley
song form
• Crooners
• Post-war fun-loving public questioning middle-class values of
marriage and family
STANCE:
• Bing Crosby is smart, sophisticated, modern crooner
• Conveyed through jazz band backing, sarcastic, slang-filled
lyrics, intimate singing style
Sung by Bing Crosby,
accompanied by the Paul
Whiteman Orchestra
“Makin’ Whoopee”: ARRANGEMENT
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Big dance orchestra
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Form:
– Instrumental intro AABA refrain
– Short quote of “Here Comes the Bride”
– Verse: short, brings main message: “funny take on marriage”/advice about
marriage
– Refrain: A
lead singer with syncopated call/response
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•
•
A
B
A
new words
bridge sung by crooning male chorus (contrast)
lead singer with call/response
– Refrain repeated twice by orchestra (no more vocals)
• Includes clarinet and trumpet solos (jazz influence)
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Rhythm:
– swinging, syncopated rhythm for dancing; strong emphasis on 2, 4
– Interlocking, call/response vocals
“Makin’ Whoopee”: LYRICS
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•
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Uses slang
Makes fun of domesticity with a warning about marriage “trap”
Uses repetition (song title in refrain) and short riffs
A
Another bride
Another June
Another sunny
Honeymoon
Another season
Another reason
For makin' whoopee.
B
Picture a little love-nest,
Down where the roses cling,
Picture the same sweet lovenest,
Think what a year can bring.
A
A lot of shoes
A lot of rice
The groom is nervous
He answers twice
It's really killin'
That he's so willin'
to make whoopee!
A
He's washing dishes
And baby clothes
He's so ambitious
He even sews
But don't forget, folks
That's what you get, folks,
for makin' whoopee!