Music is the instrument by which matters of the soul are transmitted. The music of each generation tells a story about what people are experiencing and the events that impact their lives.
America, still in its early stages compared to civilizations like Egypt, Greece, and much of the European and Middle Eastern countries; leaves a legacy of history through the music of its decades.
With the introduction of the first recording devices in the late 1800s, phonographs became readily available to the American public in the late 1920s. After the stock market crash of 1929, an American culture with a silver spoon felt the devastating economic blow to all classes of its people. The lavish lifestyle that many enjoyed during the 1920s came to an abrupt halt after the accident. Through such perilous times, American music would go through some dramatic yet groundbreaking changes that would set the course for American music of the future.
The first half of the decade saw the music of the “ordinary” man rise in popularity. Regional popular music was now available to an entire country thanks to phonograph records. We saw some of the great “blacks” of jazz, blues, and swing emerge in this decade. Black music of that time was called “race” music and was instrumental in ushering in genres like “Country” and “Rock and Roll.” Among some of the vocal icons of this era were Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and many others.
Big band music also grew in popularity during this decade. Many legendary vocalists were introduced to lovers of American song by appearing with Big Band greats such as Benny Goodman, The Dorsey Brothers, Paul Whiteman, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, and Count Basie.
Songs like big Rock Candy Mountain, by Harry McClintock and Brother, can you give me a penny?; by Yip Harburg. Bing Crosby was responsible for the latter being so popular. The song talked about how carefree things used to be, but now men were reduced to handouts and looking for work. The music of the 1930s brought Americans together, because no matter what economic class you were in, the Depression had an impact on you to some degree.
As the decade drew to a close, the music was now dominated by swing. Many were coming out of financial ruin and could see a light at the end of the tunnel.
This allowed people to pursue other activities instead of simply providing food and shelter for their families. Nightclubs and dance halls opened and record sales began to rise again.
The broadcasting industry began to flourish, and new musical stars emerged on the radio and on the big screen. Greats like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Rudy Valle and Nat King Cole were on the scene and “crooned” their way into America’s living rooms.
The lyrics changed from the bluesy wails of the upper part of the decade to the more upbeat, upbeat melodies of the late 1930s. Big Band and Jazz with increased popularity of Swing dominated music charts and dance halls in the second half of the decade. Dancing was the great fashion. The foxtrot, swing, waltz, big apple, and tap were the main dances associated with this era.
The following songs were some of the most popular songs of the 1930s according to the music charts.
1930 stein’s song (University of Maine) – Rudy Vale
1931 Minnie the Moocher – Calloway Cabin
1932 old shanty town -Ted Lewis
1933 the last summary -Guy Lombardo
1934 june in january -Bing Crosby
1935 Cheek with cheek -Fred Astaire
1936 pennies from heaven -Bing Crosby
1937 sweet leilani -Bing Crosby
1938 A-Tisket, A-Tasket -Ella Fitzgerald
1939 Dark purple -Larry Clinton
The stories have been passed down through great-grandparents from this time. Books have been written and pictures have been painted. They all tell the story of a decade of change in America. Resilience and tenacity defeated the demon of the Depression, and Americans re-emerged from a dark time in their young history.
Through the songs of the 1930s, it is possible to understand from the depths of the soul of a nation how a diversified and wounded country dealt with the circumstances of the time. From the ashes of despair rose the birth of new genres of music, as well as talents that have survived the test of time and set the standard for music as we know it today.
More than seventy years later, a new generation is downloading songs sung by the greats of this era. They recognize and celebrate names like Dorsey, Miller, Crosby, Sinatra, Martin, Holiday, Basie, Fitzgerald, Armstrong, and too many to list. His influence not only crossed the barriers of time but also those of distance.
Known and loved around the world, their music has been translated into hundreds of languages. They not only helped unite a country, but in many cases they helped unite a world.