Re: [Harp-L] Plagiarism According to Muddy Waters and Jonathan Lethem

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

I think the issue here is Variations on a Theme.

Classical musians used to take a famous musical theme and write variations, 
musical decorations, or an improvisation on the basic form. This was considered 
high art. The musician who could sit down at the keyboard and play variations 
on a theme by Bach (or whoever) off the top of his head was considered a true 
virtuoso. Some of these variations were printed up.

They key to these improvisations or variations was that while they were 
recognizable as coming from the theme by Bach they were also recognized as a new 
work of art.

Today's jazz (since its inception) that focuses on improvisation is 
considered one of American's original art forms.

The difference between plagiarism and improvisation/variation is the 
plagiarism is clearly identifiable as still (mostly) the original work -- not 
something based on improvisation based on the chord changes.

So Muddy basically put new words to old wine. 


The Harper's article (worth the read) deals almost exclusively with literary 
influences and copying with very little to do with the blues. The difference 
between most of the literary examples in the article is that they were 
influenced by works but not DIRECT copies, as is the case in the blues tunes, and, 
frequently, lyrics.

Somebody said were only about eight tunes for all blues. I believe it. But 
what makes the blues so fascinating is that while the form is so limiting (like 
a sonnet) you marvel at what can be done despite the limitations of the form.

Like I said in my PSA when I was a day sponsor for the WDET-Detroit public 
radio more than a decade ago: "A day without the blues is like a day without 
sunshine."

Phil Lloyd





In a message dated 7/1/07 7:35:56 PM, roger.boyce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> I Have extracted a paragraph below - which quotes Muddy Waters - in an
> interview with Alan Lomax, from Jonathan Lethem's splendid article ( in the
> Jan. 2007 Harpers Magazine / online ) entitled - The ecstacy of influence: A
> Plagiarism. Lethems article makes for entertaining reading and comes
> complete with a sucker-punch-surprise-of-an-ending which puts the whole
> notion of creativity & plagiarism in a fresh light.
> 
> Begin extracted Quote -
> 
> The Ecstasy of Influence:
> by Jonathan Lethem
> 〓In 1941, on his front porch, Muddy Waters recorded a song for the
> folklorist Alan Lomax. After singing the song, which he told Lomax was
> entitled 〓Country Blues,〓 Waters described how he came to write it. 〓I made
> it on about the eighth of October '38,〓 Waters said. 〓I was fixin' a
> puncture on a car. I had been mistreated by a girl. I just felt blue, and
> the song fell into my mind and it come to me just like that and I started
> singing.〓
> 
> Then Lomax, who knew of the Robert Johnson recording called 〓Walkin' Blues,〓
> 
> asked Waters if there were any other songs that used the same tune. 〓There's
> been some blues played like that,〓 Waters replied. 〓This song comes from 
> the
> cotton field and a boy once put a record outRobert Johnson. He put it out
> as named ŒWalkin' Blues.' I heard the tune before I heard it on the record.
> I learned it from Son House.〓
> 
> In nearly one breath, Waters offers five accounts: his own active
> authorship: he 〓made it〓 on a specific date. Then the 〓passive〓 
> explanation:
> 〓it come to me just like that.〓 After Lomax raises the question of
> influence, Waters, without shame, misgivings, or trepidation, says that he
> heard a version by Johnson, but that his mentor, Son House, taught it to
> him. In the middle of that complex genealogy, Waters declares that 〓this
> song comes from the cotton field.〓
> End Quote
> 
> My mother came from the cotton fields ( daughter of a share-cropper ) and
> sang songs ( on her own and in bands ) she learned from black and white
> folks she knew there. The first song I ever sang, by myself in my crib,
> turned out later to be a Leadbelly tune. Much later I would hear the
> melodies and lyric variations of songs -I sang with my Mother - on the radio
> in newer popular country, blues, rock-and-roll, pop and jazz tunes.
> 
> I am now a painter and an educator in the arts. I tell my students that the
> creative field is an area of human endeavor where theft ( i.e. Influence, to
> one degree or another ) is not just sanctioned but encouraged and crucial in
> the manufacture of 'new' culture.
> Respectfully Yours
> Roger 'Wader" Boyce
> Expatriate American thief, living in Christchurch, New Zealand
> 
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