Throughout the course of both the Gayle Wald and Michelle Habell-Pallan readings, I think it is very clear what both authors are setting out to do. They are trying to give proper credit to musicians who were very influential, but have become somewhat forgotten or are not remembered enough for the impact that they had.
However, just because women are not frequently remembered does not mean that they don't have significant influences across genres. What I find very interesting about Wald’s research on Sister Rosetta Thorpe is that she was often thought of as more being influenced by Elvis even though it was much the opposite. She writes of someone who had seen Thorpe in concert and noticed the resemblance between the two of them however’ “this observer had gone on to write that Rosetta Tharpe looked and sounded like a ‘blacked-up Elvis in drag,’ thereby not merely causing offense but getting the narrative of musical influence completely and utterly wrong (Wald 158). I think this goes to show how much of a shame that most of the time women aren’t given the credit for the influence that they truly have.
Another aspect of Rosetta Thorpe that makes her such an influence in rock is in her guitar playing. Women in rock are usually assumed to be only participating in the vocals of a band which shows that from a feminist perspective that women are not confined to one area in music. Meg White is a musician that comes to my mind who was a member of the White Stripe. She plays the drums which is an instrument that women are rarely expected to play in bands. This shows that women are responsible for being just as influential in the instrumental aspect of music that men are and that they are able to do truly groundbreaking things.
The idea of women not receiving enough credit for their influence also reigns true with Alice Bag. We see Habell-Pallan point out that the author behind an article highlighting the punk scene along the West Coast fails to point out the influence that Alice Bag has. “What Gurza had highlighted was the uncomfortable fact that Vexing associated Alice Bag with a new punk scene that emerged after the 1970s Hollywood scene” (Habell-Pallan, 248). This points out that Alice Bag was responsible for influences in punk rock which emerged as a different influence the Hollywood scene. This is certainly coming from a place of misogyny rooted in society that overall does not see women as having the influence that they truly have.
One artist that comes to mind that had just as much influence as her punk counterparts but is much less recognized for it is Joan Jett. You can see this in the fact that Joan Jett was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 which was more than 10 years after other punk groups were inducted like the Ramones and Talking Heads which are punk bands with arguably very similar amounts of influence in modern music. Overall women have just as much of a role in the history of music that men do and deserved to be recognized appropriately for the impact they have
Articles
Gayle Wald, “Rosetta Tharpe and Feminist Unforgetting,” Journal of Women's History, Volume 21, Number 4, Winter 2009, 157-160.
Michelle Habell-Pallán, “ ‘Death to Racism and Punk Rock Revisionism’ in Alice Bag’s Vexing Voice and the Unspeakable Influence of Cancion Ranchera on Hollywood Punk” in Pop When the World Falls Apart.
Music Videos
The White Stripes-Fell in Love with a Girl
Joan Jett-Bad Reputation
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