Re: [tuning] Digest Number 3936

> Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2006 14:41:29 -0000
> From: "Aaron Wolf" <backfromthesilo@yahoo.com>
> > > As far as Mills Brothers, I don't know what to say exactly. It may not be
> strict barbershop, but they are much closer to barbershop tradition,
> and have a lot in common with barbershop.
>

It's more than a lot in common. John Mills Sr. was in fact, a real singing barber with a barbershop in Ohio. He sang with the Four Kings of Harmony, a barbershop quartet by any definition of the term. His four sons started out in the thirties, and always included a number of traditional barbershop pieces in their concert repertoire. Their 1949 double record of barbershop standards is unorthodox by SPEBSQSA criterion -- light accompaniment, humming, solo verses etc. -- but that orthodoxy was not yet formulated. That "orthodoxy", is in fact, a late 20th century performing style, and it's useful to hear it as such.

The greater distinctions that have to be noted are that the Mills Brothers were professionals, and as professionals, they never viewed the music they made in terms of static criteria (which would not have made much sense in a professional context anyways -- they had to keep up with a marketplace and keep on renewing a market identity). But it also has to be said that the Mills brothers were African-American, and the SPEBSQSA, although integrated in some parts of the country (New York City, for example, where La Guardia was an enthusiastic barbershopper), was segregated, when not white-only in much of the country, consistantly tried, as an institution, to define the genre in terms that inevitably distanced it from African-American roots and practice. Early rhythm and blues and doo-wop arts often cited the Mills brothers and other close harmony groups as influences. The contemporary SPEBSQSA singers and a cappella R&B singers are equally legitimate successors to the same tradition.

While there will surely always be enthusiasts for a narrowly defined musical genre, there are close harmony singing traditions outside of the official and bureaucratic SPEBSQSA world, from African-American traditions to collegiate singing groups, and they ought not be left out of the discussion if the picture is to be complete.

DJW

> SPEBSQSA ... consistantly tried, as an institution, to
> define the genre in terms that inevitably distanced it
> from African-American roots and practice.

What is the evidence for this?

> While there will surely always be enthusiasts for a narrowly
> defined musical genre, there are close harmony singing
> traditions outside of the official and bureaucratic SPEBSQSA
> world, from African-American traditions to collegiate singing
> groups, and they ought not be left out of the discussion if
> the picture is to be complete.

Very true, but at the end of the day there's nothing like
SPEBSQSA barbershop. I think it's safe to say it's a bit
more than a "performing style" on top of African American
music. The last time this thread came around, you used the
Golden Gate quartet as an example of the pre-SPEBSQSA art.
But their music has little in common with the SPEBSQSA
variety.

-Carl

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Carl Lumma" <clumma@...> wrote:
>
> > SPEBSQSA ... consistantly tried, as an institution, to
> > define the genre in terms that inevitably distanced it
> > from African-American roots and practice.
>
> What is the evidence for this?
>
> > While there will surely always be enthusiasts for a narrowly
> > defined musical genre, there are close harmony singing
> > traditions outside of the official and bureaucratic SPEBSQSA
> > world, from African-American traditions to collegiate singing
> > groups, and they ought not be left out of the discussion if
> > the picture is to be complete.
>
> Very true, but at the end of the day there's nothing like
> SPEBSQSA barbershop. I think it's safe to say it's a bit
> more than a "performing style" on top of African American
> music. The last time this thread came around, you used the
> Golden Gate quartet as an example of the pre-SPEBSQSA art.
> But their music has little in common with the SPEBSQSA
> variety.
>
> -Carl
>

I missed where the first post about this was, but it is VERY clear
that the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly SPEBSQSA) is pehaps
glad to emphasize the african-american tradition this comes from.
There are many in the society today who stretch the definition by
trying new arrangements and different music. There are many who
are working to incorporate older forms and learn more about the
pre-society form of the art. It is all still clearly distinct from many
other related styles.

The issue is this: when the society formed, it was indeed a whites-
only society, and this is a terrible historic fact, that, none-the-less
is on par with just about any other organization that age in this
country, including many churches, sports teams, restaurants...
SPEBSQSA wasn't exactly extreme or particularly racist compared
to the rest of the country. Today, the society laments that this fact
of our history is the reason we have lost some of the african-
american tradition. Simply put, without a "preservation" society,
black barbershop singing died out, as all of it could have without
a society to "preserve" it. But there was no attempt to eliminate it.

Anyway, Jim Henry of the Gas House Gang did his PhD dissertation
on "The African-American Origins of Barbershop Harmony." Today,
it is a welcome fact of our understanding of the musical history.

-Aaron

> I missed where the first post about this was, but it is VERY clear
> that the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly SPEBSQSA) is pehaps
> glad to emphasize the african-american tradition this comes from.
> There are many in the society today who stretch the definition by
> trying new arrangements and different music. There are many who
> are working to incorporate older forms and learn more about the
> pre-society form of the art. It is all still clearly distinct
> from many other related styles.
>
> The issue is this: when the society formed, it was indeed a
> whites-only society, and this is a terrible historic fact, that,
> none-the-less is on par with just about any other organization
> that age in this country, including many churches, sports teams,
> restaurants... SPEBSQSA wasn't exactly extreme or particularly
> racist compared to the rest of the country. Today, the society
> laments that this fact of our history is the reason we have lost
> some of the african-american tradition. Simply put, without
> a "preservation" society, black barbershop singing died out, as
> all of it could have without a society to "preserve" it. But
> there was no attempt to eliminate it.
>
> Anyway, Jim Henry of the Gas House Gang did his PhD dissertation
> on "The African-American Origins of Barbershop Harmony." Today,
> it is a welcome fact of our understanding of the musical history.
>
> -Aaron

I agree completely, except perhaps with the penultimate
sentence of the penultimate paragraph. I'm not sure how much
of the SPEBSQSA style existed before SPEBSQSA... the P is,
I think, a bit of a misnomer. But I could be totally wrong.

-Carl