America and music

It's impossible to talk about American culture without mentioning music. This country is rich in its musical heritage.  The American South, specifically, is responsible for much of what was to be America's musical contribution to the world. At the heart of this contribution is blues music, the format responsible for rock 'n' roll, jazz, soul, and various other forms of music. I could talk about music all day and will include many more posts on the topic.

A friend and I were talking recently about the decline of industrialization and factories in the United States over the past few decades and he said, "the only thing we [Americans] export now is media." While it's an exaggeration and meant to be more of a criticism of the decline of American industrialization, his point is apt and certainly worth thinking about. The use of the word "media", of course, would extend the purpose of this specific post to include films, print, television, news, etc. My purpose here is music, but the point is the same. There is still important, relevant music being made. And issues of globalization/free trade aside (haha), we have a great deal of culture (culture happening today) to celebrate.

This photo is of the Stax Soul Music Museum in Memphis, TN. Memphis is an epicenter of American music. Stax was one of the most important soul music labels in American recording, giving rise to acts such as Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, and Aretha Franklin.

Something to begin with...

Since this blog will focus on American culture past and present, I decided to begin with a little piece of history. I also started with this photo because I happen to have a thing for trolleys. Railways are of course central to the development of American industrialization in the 19th century (more on this later). However, trolleys or streetcars were the primary mode of transportation for many Americans in both big cities and small towns at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. By the 1940s and '50s, automobiles had taken the place of trolleys as Americans' primary method of travel. Therefore, during this period many of the trolley systems were removed from towns and cities because the streets became overcrowded with cars and buses. This particular photo was taken in Memphis, TN, which still retains its trolley system.