Blog Post 1 AFRAM 337

In support of complicating the story...

Something that really stood out to me this week was Maureen Mahon’s piece on Big Mama Thornton. Mahon explains how Thornton was not voiceless typical to other similar artists however, she was stripped of her legacy by being reduced to the “ripped-off African American musician on whose unacknowledged shoulders subsequence generation of rock and rollers stand,” (Mahon, 2011) a narrative over-simplifies Thornton’s extraordinary talent and legacy. This really struck me because I had not considered the ramifications of being known only as an exploited artist. Thornton’s story should also include her profound influence on the sound of R&B and rock as well as her rejection of society’s expectations of traditional femininity (Mahon, 5). It is clear there is an urgent need to rewrite musical history to a include the multi-dimensionalities of artists who are highlighted only for their shortcomings. 

This is truly the mission of the “Women Who Rock” archive project. The creators of the project explain that the archive works to “transform traditional conventional notions of the artifact, pushing the evidentiary assumptions of popular music studies so as to rewrite the story of pop from a feminist, decolonial perspective” (Habell-Pallán, Macklin, and Retman, 2014). The collective illuminates so many artists and their stories making popular music more inclusive, influential, and inspiring. Big Mama Thornton’s legacy can no longer be the posterchild exploited R&B singer but, instead the unapologetic musical powerhouse and who “want[s] everyone to know that I was the one to say ‘You ain’t nothing but a hound dog’” (Mahon, 2011). 

I also want to also include the original version of “Killing Me Softly” by Lori Lieberman and the cover by Roberta Flack. There a clear connection to Willie Mae’s story in that the covers of Lieberman’s song, by Roberta Flack and later the Fugees, were far more popular than her original. However, what I found interesting is that the media pinned Lieberman and Flack as competitors, with Lieberman as the loser. Yet, in interviews Lieberman dismisses that there was tension between the women. This is reminiscent to the way that Thornton was also cast as jealous ripped-off artist. As I said before, it is so important that these women are broken free of the mold that history has put them in. 

Lori Lieberman “Killing Me Softly” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua4n_sTa9f4

Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEbi_YjpA-Y

Maureen Mahon, “Listening for Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton’s Voice: The Sound of Race and Gender Transgressions in Rock and Roll,” Women and Music, Vol. 15, 2011, 1-17. (PDF)

Michelle Habell-Pallán, Angelica Macklin and Sonnet Retman, “Notes on Women Who Rock: Making Scenes, Building Communities: Participatory Research, Community Engagement, and Archival Practice.” NANO (New American Notes Online) special issue, "Digital Humanities, Public Humanities." July 2014. https://nanocrit.com/issues/issue5/notes-women-who-rock-making-scenes-building-communities-participatory-research-community-engagement-and-archival-practice