Ahem. Where are we, and when? 1467. France. Though the of courtly love have been around for over 300 years … Totz jois li deu humeliar e tota ricors obezir, Midons, per son bel acuillir e per son dous plazent esgar… Page That song is over 300 old, even now. Joyfully, I set myself to love, by William the 9th of Aquitaine. William the Troubadour they called him. I like the idea of all these songs about pure romance … music today is just so crude! Actually, a lot of William’s songs would have the “explicit lyrics” label even today. He was fond of … … Boasting about his exploits … in one song he pretended to be mute, so two ladies would think he couldn’t reveal their secrets. Then … Made Snoop Dogg look like a choirboy. Enough!!! Ok, so our generation didn’t invent dirty lyrics. Is that the point of this trip? I’d say that we’re looking at a culture war … Hmm … … And music is one of the battlegrounds. The early Church didn’t agree with the ideas of courtly love. Yet the troubadour thought love for his Lady made him nobler. It wasn’t just temptation to sin … Page These guys take their dates to church! That’s Molinet’s Oroison a Nostre Dame – The Prayer to Our Lady. This must be the performance. It is beautiful! Haunting … The thing is, the first and last lines of each verse are actually taken from popular songs … secular songs.
Page That’s Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm. The chord sequence became such a standard progression in jazz that it’s called “The Rhythm Changes.” Who wrote songs based on those chords? Who didn’t? There’s Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington … the chords were the base. And no one thought that Gershwin was entitled to royalties … … Or control. See what they are building …? A new tune be put on top – contrafact, we call it – and then the musicians would layer improvisation on that … quoting fragments from other songs in solos, referring back to other musicians … Louis Gates calls it “signifyin’” – showing you know your place in the tradition, but showing your virtuosity, too. But I thought you said they didn’t always like it when others borrowed from them? Page Sometimes they didn’t! When Gillespie’s Dizzy Crawl was recorded by Count Basie as Rock-a-Bye Basie, Dizzy was quite upset. “I didn’t copyright it; it was a head arrangement … anytime you write something, copyright it or look out … a lotta tunes got stolen by the bandleaders too that way. I probably did it myself a couple of times, but not completely ….” Nowadays if recorded it, or wrote it down, it would be copyrighted automatically. That’s great. And you say the same if all those musicians started claiming copyright infringement for each solo …? “… But at the same time, ‘you can’t steal a gift.’ ” Let’s change the subject! What was the audience like for these songs? Page That was the enormous change. Patronage gave us music designed for the cathedral and the court …
CHARLEY PATTON CARR “MEAN MISTREATER MAMA” KIND HEARTED BLUES ROBERT JOHNSON THE BLUES LINE Page He actually was the crossroads … “HELLHOUND ON MY LINE MOUNTAIN RORY BLOCK MANY OTHERS “I BELIEVE I’LL DUST MY BROOM” LINE YARDBIRDS ZZ TOP BEN HARPER MANY OTHERS “LOVE IN VAIN” LINE ROLLING STONES MANY OTHERS “WALKIN’ LINE GRATEFUL DEAD JOHNNY WINTER LOVE GODS “TRAVELLING RIVERSIDE BLUES” LINE LED ZEPPELIN MANY OTHERS “CROSSROADS LINE CREAM LYNYRD SKYNYRD JOHN MAYER MANY OTHERS “KIND HEARTED WOMAN BLUES” LINE