« A Grammy Scar. | Main | Library of Congress debuts "National Jukebox." »

A new book out by British rock critic, Dorian Lynskey, takes a little walk through the history of protest songs. Entitled "'33 Revolutions Per Minute," Dwight Garner rampages through his effort in a recent review of it in the New York Times:

One good thing about "33 Revolutions Per Minute," which is subtitled "A History of Protest Songs, From Billie Holiday to Green Day," is that Mr. Lynskey doesn't waste much time shooting bad political songs like fish in a barrel. He's more interested in protest songs -- Holiday's "Strange Fruit," Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s "Ohio," Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come' -- that make the hair on your neck stand up, even decades later.

In songs like these, he writes, "the political content is not an obstacle to greatness, but the source of it." He adds, "They open a door and the world outside rushes in." The song's message, smuggled into the commercial strictures of mass entertainment, is "the grit that makes the pearl."

One issue Lynskey tackles head on: where to begin when flushing out the history of protest songs?

Mr. Lynskey's decision to begin his book with "Strange Fruit," first sung by Holiday in 1939 at age 23 (and written by Abel Meeropol, a Communist), will be controversial among some American songbook geeks. So much came before. But Mr. Lynskey makes a convincing case that prior to "Strange Fruit" protest songs "had nothing to do with mainstream popular music." Rather "they were designed for specific audiences -- picket lines, folk schools, party meetings."

"Strange Fruit," as sung by Holiday, "did not stir the blood; it chilled it," Mr. Lynskey writes. "Up to this point, protest songs functioned as propaganda, but 'Strange Fruit' proved they could be art."

You can find "Strange Fruit" on the CD compilation, "Complete Billie Holiday on Verve."

After Billie Holiday came Sonny Rollins' "Freedom Suite," Max Roach's "We Insist!", and Charlie Mingus' "Fable of Faubus," named after Arkansas' segregationist governor, Orval Faubus. All are mentioned in Lynskey's book.

Sonny is also mentioned in jazz journalist Bob Bernotas' monthly newsletter, where Bob chooses Sonny as this month's artist of the month. He quotes Sonny speaking about his "Freedom Suite" recording:

"Freedom Suite was a very important record for me because it demonstrated that I had a certain social consciousness and showed I could express it through my music. It became the start of an important groundbreaking trend. Among all the other jazz protest albums it was probably the first one."

So, it seems that the protest movement is alive and well! In fact, to prove our point, you can check out this video we made from a recent Tax Day Demonstration in front of Citicorp's headquarters here in New York City (set to the Beatles' "Tax Man"):

In the meantime, go buy Dorian Lynskey's book so you have something to read while you listen to Billie Holiday, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, & Sonny Rollins. Just click on the image below!

Name (required)
Email
Website
Remember personal info? Yes   No
Comments

home | music | democracy | earth | money | projects | about | contact

Site design by Matthew Fries | © 2003-23 Consilience Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Consilience Productions, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
All contributions are fully tax deductible.