“Southern trees bear strange fruitBlood on the leaves and blood at the rootBlack bodies swinging in the southern breezeStrange fruit hanging from the poplar trees“ One of the most important songs ever composed and recorded, Abel Meeropol originally wrote “Strange Fruit” as a poem under the pseudonym Lewis Allan. He penned it in 1937 under the name “Bitter Fruit”, after […]
Learn more →On August 16, 2018 Aretha Franklin passed away at 76 years of age, due to pancreatic cancer. Very few artists have had the indelible impact on music that the “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin had. Many of her tunes also expressed a keen understanding of the human condition and her soaring vocals transformed many songs into anthems of empowerment. Here […]
Learn more →Yvonne Staples of the legendary The Staple Singers passed away on April 10, 2018 at the age of 80. The Staple Singers were important in helping to write the soundtrack of the civil rights movement. Their music continues to resonate many decades later. The youngest sibling, Mavis, is still going strong. Here is a small sample of ten of their […]
Learn more →Legendary soul singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples just posted the music video for the title track off of her 2017 album If All I Was Was Black (which was one of the Top 25 Protest Albums of 2017). The powerful video was directed by Zac Manuel. The video deals with the removing of confederate statues and what they […]
Learn more →Music has long been a powerful medium to protest the social injustices faced by humankind. For example, many of the anthems of the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s found their roots in the “negro spirituals” of the 1800s and early 1900s. Right now we will consider a list of 10 civil right protest songs recorded during the […]
Learn more →If Sam Cooke was still alive today, he would be 87 years old. The legendary soul singer is responsible for composing and performing one of the most definitive tunes of the civil rights era, “A Change Is Gonna Come”, from his 1964 album Ain’t That Good News. Sam Cooke was motivated to compose “A Change Is Gonna Come” after listening […]
Learn more →Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929 and he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Considering the inedible impact that the famed civil rights leader had, it should be no surprise that numerous songs have been inspired by him. Here is a list of ten of those tunes. Blues For Martin Luther Kings – Otis Spann (1968) This […]
Learn more →Curtis Mayfield died on December 26, 1999. With The Impressions and his solo work, he established himself as one of the most influential artists in the history of socially conscious music. “New World Order” is the title track from his final studio album, which was released in 1996. Due to the effects of paralysis, Mayfield recorded the vocals while lying […]
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