I was chatting with Sammy Price, a pianist/singer who celebrated his 80th birthday the same week he performed at Jaylins. The rest of the musicians that week were all 60 and above, and they were reminiscing about some of the gigs they'd done and people they'd worked with. Sammy told me that in the ‘50s when the music scene exploded the session musicians for most of those hits were black jazz musicians, even for the rock n roll songs, and it was the same for the live shows.
He said that mostly they got ripped off, paid peanuts and treated not so great, but that there was one exception. One star always insisted that any musicians working for him in the studio or live had to be paid well and treated right or he wouldn't perform. Sammy asked me to guess who it might've been? I threw out names such as Elvis, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis and he kept saying no… Eventually, when I couldn’t guess, he told me that it was Frank Sinatra.
Naturally this resulted in all the musicians having enormous respect for Sinatra and it also completely changed my own opinion of him. Up until that point I thought Sinatra was OK, but hearing this story it dawned on me that he had really taken a stand for black musicians at a time when it was not the done thing. He even risked his own career, because he turned down some work when the promoter wouldn’t agree to these terms. I had never realised that Sinatra was so willing to fight for the cause of others and to do what he felt was right, when almost every other major star just turned a blind eye to what was going on and the exploitation of these extremely talented black musicians.
Although performing for Sinatra was an exceptional experience, most of their work was nowhere near as pleasant. In the USA at that time there was segregation between blacks and whites and they were treated with little 10 of the most iconic protest songs from the past century By Tony Winyard Based in London, Tony Winyard has been a DJ for 35 years. He spent 15 years playing in clubs all around the world and also worked in radio for 8 years. He now specialises in mobile wedding entertainment.
Tony is also the host of the popular podcast 'Exceeding Expectations' and is in demand as a speaker and business mentor. respect both in terms of humanity and the money they received for their musical talent. They weren’t allowed to eat with white people, and the accommodation they were provided was often filthy. In the last few years I’ve read the autobiographies and biographies of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Quincy Jones and some other musicians, all of whom tell horrific stories of the treatment they received.
Some of these were quite distressing to read and it constantly made my mind boggle at how humans could treat other humans with such contempt, all because of the amount of pigment they had in their skin. Just as I was about to submit this article to Eddie (sorry for being late Ed!), I listened to a podcast episode from Sam Harris discussing the issues that have been in the media spotlight recently to do with race, policing, crime and the Black Lives Matter movement.
He makes some interesting points, some which have changed my views on a few of these issues. You might not agree with the whole episode (it is almost two hours long) but, if you listen to all of it, it will certainly get you to think about some of the issues and may change your perspective, regardless of what your stance is right now! Just go on to a podcast player and search for ‘Sam Harris - #207 — Can We Pull Back From The Brink?’ . On the issue of racism, he asks the listener to imagine that throughout human history instead of dividing people based on the colour of their skin, we’d instead done it based on the colour of their hair?
Imagine disliking other people because their hair colour was different to yours, or even if their eye colour. The fact that this sounds wholly absurd is very much the point. 99.9% Evelyne Heyer is a professor at the National Museum of Natural History of France. She has studied the scientific evidence around the notion of race, which has resulted in practices ranging from discrimination to extermination of ‘the other’ throughout history.
In Heyer’s findings, the role of education at all social levels, but particularly for the young, is shown to be our best hope of stopping the proliferation of racism and to foster intercultural exchanges. “Races do not exist in the sense we thought in the 19th century, but even if the word ‘race’ is removed, racism will continue to exist. The term ‘race’ has a history, so we need to use this concept, if only to deconstruct it,” Heyer said at a UNESCO round table.
According to the professor, the DNA of all human beings is 99.9% identical. We all are of African origin, dating back 100,000 years. The 0.1% of differences in the genomes of people from across the world suggests that the notion of race is simply not justifiable. “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” Elie Wiesel Billie Holiday: ‘Strange Fruit’ (1939) Originally a poem by a white, Jewish teacher named Abel Meeropol who was a member of the American Communist Party, it was published in 1937. ‘Strange Fruit’ may be the most hard-hitting, graphicallydescriptive protest song ever. Southern trees bear a strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black body swinging in the Southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees...
The song reminded Holiday of her father, who died at 39 from a fatal lung disorder, after being turned away from a hospital because he was black. She didn't enjoy performing the song as the memories were painful but felt she had to. In her autobiography she said, “It reminds me of how Pop died. But I have to keep singing it, not only because people ask for it, but because 20 years after Pop died, the things that killed him are still happening in the South.” If you haven’t heard the song, I implore you to find a copy and listen to the words she sings.
Bob Dylan: ‘Masters Of War’ (1963) You fasten the triggers For the others to fire Then you set back and watch “Racism is not just about skin colour, but about discrimination against individuals who are physically, culturally, or morally different,” Heyer added. “Our genetic diversity is merely the result of adaptations to environments and our geographical origins” . In the book by Bill Bryson called ‘The Body - A Guide for Occupants’ he recalls, “One of the most memorably unexpected events I experienced in the course of doing this book came in a dissection room at the University of Nottingham Medical School when a professor and surgeon named Ben Ollivere gently incised and peeled back a sliver of skin about a millimetre thick from the arm of a cadaver.
It was so thin as to be translucent. ‘That,’ he said, ‘is where all your skin colour is. That’s all that race is – a sliver of epidermis.’” Biologically, skin colour is just “a reaction to sunlight,” Bryson quotes the anthropologist Nina Jablonski as saying. She adds: “And yet look how many people have been enslaved or hated or lynched or deprived of fundamental rights through history because of the colour of their skin.” Funky Cavemen Music has been a fundamental part of humanity since we evolved into homo sapiens, and music takes many forms, including chants.
Social injustice has been around for many millennia and so using chanting as a form of protest has also been around for that long. For example, were you aware that Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ (based on the Friedrich Schiller poem ‘Ode to Freedom’) addresses the subject of universal brotherhood and opposition to the slavery that existed in many parts of the world at the time it was written? In the days of colonisation and slavery, many slaves created protest songs and these evolved in the 20th century into recorded music.
Folk and blues artists started to raise their voice to shed a light on social injustices. Billie Holiday’s 1939 anti-lynching tune ‘Strange Fruit’ is widely regarded as an important catalyst for the civil rights movement. Folk music has always been closely tied to social issues including artists like the Almanac Singers, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. The ‘60s are often seen as the golden age of protest music and it has evolved ever since.
In the ‘70s soul and punk were often the voice of disenfranchised youth and in recent years we’ve seen a slew of socially-conscious rap music. So here they are, 10 of the top protest songs from the last 80 years: When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion As young people's blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud Dylan became more and more disenfranchised with the USA meddling in other countries such as Cuba and Vietnam, so wrote this protest song that has been covered by many artists since, including Ed Sheeran in 2013.
Sam Cooke: ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ (1964) Days after his funeral in December 1964, the Sam Cooke record ‘Shake’ was released and on the B-side was a track titled ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ . It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die 'Cause I don't know what's up there above the sky It's been a long, a long time coming But I know a change's gonna come, oh, yes, it will The inspiration for this song came from another sixties anthem, Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ .
Peter Guralnick, who wrote the book ‘Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke’ , says that when Sam Cooke first heard that song he “was so carried away with the message, and the fact that a white boy had written it, that ... he was almost ashamed not to have written something like that himself.” James Brown: ‘Say It Loud - I’m Black & I’m Proud’ (1968) The godfather of soul didn’t just write music for dancing, he also penned lyrics in response to the civilrights movement, however his approach was different to most.
Whereas others came at it from the angle of asking for equality, James wanted black people to be proud of who they were. This really changed the approach many took and set the tone for how the movement moved into the 1970s. Some people say we got a lot of malice some say it's a lotta nerve But I say we won't quit movin' until we get what we deserve We've been buked and we've been scorned We've been treated bad talked about as sure as you're born But just as sure as it take two eyes to make a pair, huh!
Brother we can't quit until we get our share The song went to No.10 on the Billboard charts and set the blueprint for funk. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: ‘Ohio’ (1970) A photo of a protester shot and killed by the National Guard enraged Neil Young to write this. Some students were protesting the Vietnam war when the soldiers opened fire. The photo showed protester Mary Vecchio kneeling and distraught over the body of student Jeff Miller trying to take in what had happened.
Gotta get down to it Soldiers are gunning us down Should have been done long ago What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know Gil Scott-Heron: ‘Johannesburg’ (1975) There are SO many songs I could have chosen from Gil Scott-Heron to be included in this list of legendary protest songs. He is perhaps THE most prolific protest writer and you’ll have to excuse my gushing a little now as he is also one of my favourite artists of all time.
He blended spoken word, jazz, soul and poetry, resulting in a unique style that could not be copied. He is also considered by many to be the first rapper/MC ever and his lyrics possessed a satirical edge that set them apart from the militant soul of contemporaries such as Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Born in Chicago, Illinois, his mother, Bobbie Scott, was an opera singer who performed with the New York Oratorio Society. His father, Gil Heron, nicknamed ‘The Black Arrow’ , was a Jamaican soccer player in the 1950s and was the first black man to play for Celtic Football Club.
AllMusic's John Bush called him: "one of the most important progenitors of rap music, " stating that, "his aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging song writing skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career.” He wrote amazing insightful lyrics that educated the public about issues such as the civil rights movement, nuclear fallout, alcoholism, politics, apartheid, the hypocrisy of some would-be black revolutionaries, white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents and many other topics.
The opening lyrics of the legendary ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ are: You will not be able to stay home, brother You will not be able to plug in, turn on and drop out You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip out for beer during commercials His 1993 track ‘Message to the Messengers’ was a plea for the new generation of rappers to speak for change rather than perpetuate the current social situation, and to be more articulate and artistic.
Regarding hip hop music in the 1990s, he said in an interview: "They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There's a big difference between putting words over some music and blending those same words into the music. There's not a lot of humour.
They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms, and you don't really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing. " In response to Scott-Heron's death in 2011, Public Enemy's Chuck D stated: "RIP GSH... and we do what we do and how we do because of you" on his Twitter account. As I have already said, there are many of Scott- Heron’s songs I could have chosen for this list, but Johannesburg was the song that informed many people around the world about the horrors of the apartheid system in South Africa and introduced them to Gil Scott-Heron’s work at the same time.
They tell me that our brothers over there Are defyin' the Man We don't know for sure because the news we Get is unreliable, man Well I hate it when the blood starts flowin' But I'm glad to see resistance growin' Somebody tell me what's the word? Tell me brother, have you heard From Johannesburg? The Specials: ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ (1984) Nine years after Johannesburg came one of the danciest protest songs ever. ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ in some ways seemed too upbeat and happy to be a protest song.
However, it became the unofficial anthem for the international anti-apartheid movement. 21 years in captivity Shoes too small to fit his feet His body abused, but his mind is still free You're so blind that you cannot see Free Nelson Mandela The lyrics were an uncompromising, clear political message and the song reached number 6 in the UK charts and became a hit in many other countries around the world, including South Africa. At the time it was released, Mandela had served 20 years in prison and he stayed in for another six years before his release in 1990.
Bruce Springsteen: ‘Born In The USA’ (1984) If ever there was a song that proved most people don’t actually listen to lyrics it was this! Many rednecks lapped up what they believed to be another anthemic fist-pumping rock track glorifying the good ol’ US of A, while having no realisation that the song was deeply critical of the way the country mistreated returning Vietnam veterans. Got in a little hometown jam So they put a rifle in my hand Sent me off to a foreign land To go and kill the yellow man Born in the U.S.A Public Enemy: ‘Fight The Power’ (1989) In the late ‘80s Public Enemy were undoubtedly the biggest hip-hop group around and were equally loved and feared by millions of people.
This was the track they wrote for the Spike Lee movie about racial tension in the States called ‘Do The Right Thing’ . The group appeared to be oblivious to those they upset, and they sure upset a few people who heard these lyrics: ‘Cause I’m black and I’m proud I’m ready and hyped plus I’m amped Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps Kendrick Lamar: ‘Alright’ (2015) One of the most recent big protest songs, ‘Alright’ was prompted by the killing of 12 year-old Tamir Rice by a police officer in November 2014 as he played with a toy gun, and the subsequent decision not to indict the police officer who pulled the trigger.
The Black Lives Matter movement was just starting to take off and this song was adopted by supporters of the cause. Tell 'em all to come and get me Reapin' everything I sow So my karma come in heaven No preliminary hearings on my record I'm a motherf***** gangster In silence for the record, uh Tell the world I know it's too late Boys and girls, I think I gone cray Drown inside my vices all day Won't you please believe when I say This article includes information from some of the following books, all of which I’d recommend to read if you like well-written books that are also educational and entertaining: Dream Boogie - The Triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story by David Ritz Nat King Cole by Daniel Mark Epstein Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones by Quincy Jones Natives by Akala Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari
