"Salty Dog"
Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 10:04 PM Mississippi John Hurts “Salty Dog” (Okeh 1928) song, as we all should know, is a typical Delta style country Blues song. This “Pre-war” era song shows some of the themes that were popular to sing about in the south. This particular one makes little sense but what I can take away from this song is that it talks about how God made women so irresistible. He mentions one particular woman who is in fact another man’s woman who he was caught with. Taking the theme aside, his voice is what makes the song stand out. The chorus is a pretty catchy tune that gets stuck in your head, which is in fact intended. He sings it in an almost comical way. The audience can tell that he is not being serious by the way the pitches go fast and slow and up and down.
What makes this song “popular” would be the catchy tune that it encompasses. This is what the Delta style Blues is all about. It takes a steady rhythm, which in this song is the one string steady tune, with sliding, and then it’s mixed together with memorable lyrics and a powerful voice. This memorable, yet arguably repetitive, type of music is what makes a song like “Salty Dog” and other Delta Blues songs part of popular culture. They are no longer in the category of folk music because it reaches the masses outside of their community. The outside masses can get a taste of what music is like in the south, however, authentic music is held in higher regards than any old person who can play the type of music just as well. Authentic music to them means that the lyrics has come directly from the mouths of those unlucky individuals who have lived through the ordeal of heartache. This is the paradox of authentic popular music. The individuals outside of the south think they are experiencing the diasporic essence of what it means to be a down-on-your-luck African-American but in reality the versions that do become popular are songs that the masses are more familiar with and can sing along to, which may no longer be “authentic”.
Noemi Villalpando
OttoKoivunen
I truly enjoy your interpretation of the lyrics and how they try to appeal to the masses that don’t quite know the feelings that made the song what it is. I agree that many listening to this music outside of the south think they are “experiencing the diasporic essence of what it means to be a down-on-your-luck African-American”, which probably made them feel more multicultural and included in this musical revolution.
With respect to the musical quality of the song, I agree that it has a simple catchy tune, but I do think that the guitar is more of a Piedmont style than Delta blues. The only distinction would be that the bass of the guitar is accompanying the higher tones, instead of the guitar playing one simple tune.
Reader Comments (2)
Hi, Noemi,
Mississippi John Hurt plays Piedmont style as opposed to Delta Blues style. Notice the use of finger picking as opposed to strumming. Of particular note is that the guitar functions in both the bass and the treble.
I agree that the song is comical, but is that really just a result of the pitches being fast and slow, up and down? What else might characterize the song as comical? Perhaps timbre or texture?
Why do you think there is necessarily a paradox of authentic and popular? Are there no examples of compatibility between the two? What specifically precludes authentic music from capturing the imaginations of the populace?
--Andrew
Hello, students,
As per Ben's instructions, I've divided the posts in this topic into groups. The divisions aren't perfect, but it seems like you would be interesting in discussing the aspects of culture and diaspora that has informed these songs.
How do you hear the affects of diaspora in these songs? What about these songs do you think made them popular? Is it some sort of shared American sentiment, or are they just great for dancing? How do you feel they reflected the culture of the day, and how do you feel the culture of the day reflected back onto the songs? Let's get a discussion going, and don't be afraid to argue. Just keep it respectful.
Here are a couple of posts you should look at:
Noemi thinks the popularity stems from a catchy tune. Well, there are lots of catchy tunes that have fallen out of favor in popular culture, right? So how did these catchy tunes capture the mind of the public?
http://benleedscarson.com/charlie-patton-blind-willie/2009/10/10/salty-dog.html
Benjamin thinks that at least "Stack O'Lee" is accessible to modern day listeners. Why is that? What does it take for a song to become popular, and how can that popularity transcend generations?
http://benleedscarson.com/charlie-patton-blind-willie/that-bad-man.html
--Andrew