FRS 002E —
Sec. 001 —
(2 unit) — CRN 45500 — W 11:00-1:00 pm — Room TBA
American Roots Music — Chicago Blues
Instructor: W. Jeffrey Weidner, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology
& Behavior, Division of Biological Sciences
Description: As a uniquely American art form, blues music has
influenced nearly all kinds of popular music in this country from jazz to rap,
and, as a reflection of American society from its beginnings in the deep south
as "slave music" to the present, the blues provides rich
lyrical commentary
on changing American culture. Many students of the blues consider the kind of
blues played in the clubs and taverns on the south and west sides of post-world
war II Chicago to be the flowering of this music. Chicago blues was literally
brought from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago by a generation leaving
an agrarian
past for the economic opportunities presented in the urban north during the war
years. Chicago blues was a living folk music, played in the local
bars and clubs
by artists who lived in those neighborhoods, combining the lyricism
and introspection
of the country blues from which it came with the rhythmic drive and
emotionalism
that reflected the difficulties and tensions of big city life. In this seminar
we will listen to, consider, and discuss the music of the great Chicago blues
artists from the Eisenhower years to the present. We will use the
biography "Can't
Be Satisfied: The Life And Times Of Muddy Waters" by Robert
Gordon as a source
for our discussion of the culture that produced Chicago blues.
Format: This seminar is intended to provide an
interesting format
for students to learn about Chicago blues, and to consider the
changing American
culture that shaped this great music. It is also intended to sharpen
the student's
writing skills through a written assignment (a short paper). The seminar will
meet in weekly two-hour sessions over the first eight weeks of the Quarter. The
first hour of each class will be devoted to a discussion of selected readings
from the biography of Muddy Waters. During the second hour of each seminar we
will listen to and discuss the music of individual Chicago blues
artists, including
Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Chester Burnette (aka The Howlin' Wolf),
Koko Taylor,
J.B. Lenoir, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter Jacobs, Junior
Wells, Buddy Guy,
Sam Maghid (aka Magic Sam), and Luther Allison. The last class meeting will be
devoted to individual student presentations (based on the paper) and discussion
of each presentation. Students will be expected to actively
participate in class
discussions based on assigned readings. Each student will write a
short (no more
than five page) paper on a topic of his or her choice (with the approval of the
instructor) on a topic relevant to Chicago blues.
Grading:
25% of the final grade will be based on participation in class discussions, 25%
on the oral presentation, and 50% on the paper.
About the Instructor: Professor Weidner is a member
of the faculty
in the Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior of the
Division of Biological
Sciences. His research interests include the physiology and pathophysiology of
lung fluid balance, particularly in birds. His laboratory is currently involved
in an examination of the role of cadherin adhesion proteins in the regulation
pulmonary microvascular permeability in the avian lung. He teaches
undergraduate
courses on systemic physiology and comparative cardiovascular physiology, and
a graduate course on circulatory pathophysiology. He is also coordinator of the
University of Barcelona/UCD collaborative learning project
for physiology.