American Music of the 1930

Over the course of the thirties, American taste in music changed dramatically. In the mainstream it moved from the bland and unchallenging "sweet" sound of Guy Lombardo and the Jazz Age dance bands to the more rhythmically involved horn arrangements of the Swing Era such as Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. Early jazz and blues first heard in the thirties clearly demonstrate the emergence of significant musical forms by great artist like Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson. The second set of songs from the middle of the decade to the end represents the emerging modern forms of American popular music. One can hear the fine-tuning of rhythm and blues in works by Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Cleo Patra Brown. Th

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The record industry and radio grew in strength and also influenced the decade. Historian William Kenney concluded, "…whether consciously or not, almost all citizens found in recorded music a vehicle for carrying musical memories through time and into the present. This was used to entertain and attract people and dramatically increase the sale of records. Many of the great American songwriters and performers felt the pain of this depression, as they struggled to find work. But as theaters on the East Coast worsened with a drop in box office profits accompanying the Depression, much of this talent departed for Hollywood. e swing era is known by recordings of Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Many of these people felt as if they had been torn from their social and cultural roots.

Many Americans were forced to relocate in search of employment after the collapse of the economy.

Hollywood responded to the economic depression that filled the lives of Americans during the Depression by producing films that maintained a self-conscious positive out-look. They moved from rural areas to urban factory towns, from city to city and state to state in search of work. Thanks to the technological innovation of synchronized sound, their desperate pursuit for new opportunities did not last long, as many worked their way into the world of "talking" motion pictures. The 1933 Repeal of Prohibition led to the opening of drinking, which in the mid-thirties would make use of the recently improved technology of the jukebox. This seemed to welcome recorded music as a statement of their cultural experiences and old identities. The carefree lives of Astaire and Rogers on screen helped audiences escape the realities of life, if only for a few short hours, and more importantly provided a set of musical memories that provided hope during those hard times.

Common topics in this essay:
Astaire Rogers, William Kenney, , Repeal Prohibition, War Americans, Bing Crosby, Fletcher Henderson, Artie Shaw, Ginger Rogers, Tommy Dorsey, popular music, musical memories, american popular music, swing era, guy lombardo, recorded music, tommy dorsey, electrical amplification, benny goodman, thirties american, bing crosby,

Approximate Word count = 723
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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