Instrumentation: Vocals (Rainey), piano… at times, what sound like a kazoo, clarinet and a man on vocal percussion make appearances
Timbre: Very thick, mostly due to Ma Rainey’s rich voice. I’m not quite sure if this piece is homophonic or polyphonic: it sounds like the kazoo provides (some) counterpoint underneath her vocals, but it may just be accompaniment. The piano definitely provides accompahiment. Overall, there is a wealth of sound textures layered in this piece which creates a thick texture. In addition, the lower quality of the sound recording (due to the recording devices of the time), there seems to be a layer of fuzz that further thickens the texture, to the point of being almost muddy-sounding.
Range: Fairly low: Rainey has a lower, huskier-sounding voice. The background instruments stay in fairly medium ranges as well, with not too much variation.
Tempo: Laid-back, perhaps as a representation of the blues genre coming from the South.
Meter: Duple meter (slow march quality to the music)
Volume: Loud throughout the entire piece, with little variation. Rainey belts out the vocals at a consistently loud tempo,
Form: Strophic – Rainey returns to the “prove it on me” strain several times.
(12-bar blues???)
Lyrics: The lyrics of the song revolve around a woman singing about her rowdy tendencies, and how she prefers women to men. The ambiguity of her words leave plenty of room to suspect lesbianism in the lyrics. Rainey talks about how she wears collar and tie, wants to follow one girl (her crush?) everywhere she goes, dislikes men, and how folks says she’s crooked: yet she taunts them to “prove it on me”. The claim that the song represents Rainey herself was surprising to me: O’Brien mentions that she was married to ‘Pa’ Rainey, and makes no mention of potential bisexuality or homosexuality. Yet some people believe that Rainey was, at the very least, bisexual (http://outhistory.org/wiki/Ma_Rainey's_%22Prove_It_On_Me_Blues,%22_1928). While this article’s “evidence” seems a little insubstantial to prove anything, it certainly adds a new aspect of viewing Rainey – as an individual, and as an artist.
Yes, she did compose as well as perform this work, and she was known to be involved with other women. This was acknowledged at the time; what's curious to me is that it is erased in so many texts!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the tempo -- Ma Rainey uses a 'rubato' style, often dragging a little behind the beat (as did Billie Holiday); the tempo, though, is fairly typical for the 'classic blues'.
Nice analysis.