Chapter 1-5: Introduction to Minstrelsy and Early American Popular Music

Slave South: Enslaved people were traditionally given a day of rest, often Sunday, allowing time for music-making.
Musical Activities: They played piano, violins, danced, and sang. This music was heard by slave masters and surrounding communities.
Early Forms: Sometimes involved "chalk line dances" and featured rhythmically interesting melodies. These energetic, syncopated rhythms later influenced styles like "kittwock" and "ragtime."

Stereotypical Entertainment: Minstrelsy evolved by taking stereotypical behaviors attributed to black Americans and exaggerating them for audience entertainment.
Thomas Rice and Jim Crow: Performer Thomas Rice popularized the "Jim Crow" character, which became an overnight entertainment phenomenon.
- Characters: Featured figures like "Mr. Bones" and "Mr. Tango," who held bones and wore animal skins.
- Performance Style: Performers sang, danced, and acted, often mispronouncing words and misacting to mock black culture.
Cultural Impact: Minstrelsy, dominant for about 80 years, profoundly shaped public perception of black Americans for those who "didn't know" their true culture. The term "Jim Crow" became synonymous with racial segregation.

Prominent Performer: Arguably the biggest individual performer of the 1920s, a white Jewish singer and dancer who performed in blackface.
Serious Performances: Some suggest Jolson's serious (non-silly) songs in blackface helped accustom the American public to seeing blackface performers on stage, potentially making a space for serious black performers, though still within the blackface context.

Background: Grew up in an upper-middle-class family; his parents viewed minstrelsy as "garbage."
Rebellion and Success: As a teenager, Foster saw minstrelsy as rebellious music. He began composing songs for minstrel shows (e.g., "Oh! Susanna"), finding financial success despite his desire to compose "serious music," which offered less monetary reward.
Influence: Foster proved that a composer could make money, paving the way for others.

Marketing Music: A pop music industry requires the ability to sell music. The mid-1800s saw the development of effective marketing methods.
Products:
- Sheet Music: Initially the primary product of the music industry.
- Player Piano Rolls: Later became a product, though less significant than sheet music.
"Tin Pan Alley" Composers: Dozens of composers worked daily in cubicles with pianos, creating new songs.
Meeting Market Needs: Composers wrote songs catering to specific immigrant groups (e.g., Polish, Italian) who desired music reflecting their culture.
Music as News: In an era without widespread newspapers, television, or radio, music served as a critical source of news. Composers wrote songs about current events, from presidential birthdays to new ships, creating a constant stream of "disposable" topical songs.

New Industry: The entertainment industry was a nascent field, often considered a "rogue industry" that "good people don't do" by many established immigrant groups.
Early Dominance: Jewish immigrants were early adopters and integral to the industry's inception.
"Fearless Confidence" Theory (Stuart Ross): It's theorized that cultural upbringing, emphasizing memorization and public recitation (e.g., Hebrew studies), potentially instilled a "fearless confidence" that was perfectly suited for the entertainment world.
Leading Composers: This group produced many influential composers of the era, such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, who came to New York at the same time.