Music lovers I need some help for black history month.

Submitted by DonutOwlGaming t3_113qn0u in Music

Hopefully this doesn't break the rules by asking for music but

[Edit²: Holy shit. It's the list that never ends. It goes on and on my friends. How will I even finish this. Ima need a lot of time]

I need some classic black musicians/singers for black history month.

Edit: (this includes varients of)ex: jazz, swing, blues

I already know about the inkspots. I'll create a list as we go. (Let me know if I misunderstand or mistyped)

  • Louis Armstrong

  • The Four Tops

  • Cab Calloway

  • Ella Fitzgerald

  • Scott Joplin

  • John Coltrane

  • Robert Johnson

  • Billie Holiday

  • Sam Cooke

  • Aretha Franklin

  • Ray Charles

  • Stevie Wonder

  • Mahalia Jackson

  • Quincy Jones

  • Wynton Marsalis

  • Muddy Waters

  • Josephine Baker

  • Albert

  • Freddie

  • B.B.

  • The Platters

  • Roberta Flack

  • Prince

  • Wilson Pickett

  • Bill Withers

  • James Brown

  • Little Richard

  • Chuck Berry

  • Smokey Robinson

(Honestly this is just easier to copy and paste[im aware the repeats]) Jimi Hendrix/Miles Davis/Clarence Clemons/Billy Preston/Michael Jackson/Tina Turner/Lionel Ritchie/Rick James/Muddy Waters/Buddy Miles/Al Jarreau/Anita Baker/Diana Ross: any Motown artist/Robert Cray/Stanley Jordan/Billy Cobham/Bo Diddley/Sade/Bob Marley/Sammy Davis Jr./Jay Z/The Mills Brothers/Alicia Keys/Whitney and Thelma Houston/ etc.

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-TheSearcher24- t1_j8roi09 wrote

Ray Charles, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye

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Calinthalus t1_j8rt37m wrote

If you're into guitar, you can't go wrong with the three Kings. Albert, Freddie, and B.B.

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LupinThe8th t1_j8rma6s wrote

  • Louis Armstrong
  • The Four Tops
  • Cab Calloway
  • Ella Fitzgerald
  • Scott Joplin
  • John Coltrane
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[deleted] t1_j8rlsxu wrote

How classic? Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, The Temptations, The Four Tops, etc...

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burymeinmyjewelry t1_j8swh9c wrote

I love Dinah Washington! Her versions of "What A Difference A Day Makes" and "Teach Me Tonight" are my favorites.

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krokus_headhunter t1_j8rno02 wrote

Robert Johnson

Billie Holiday

Sam Cooke

Aretha Franklin

Ray Charles

Stevie Wonder

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[deleted] t1_j8rprl2 wrote

Roberta Flack, Prince, Wilson Pickett, Bill Withers, James Brown, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson …. Like, there are thousands?

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GiganticBlackHole t1_j8rohkd wrote

Maybe you should checkout the interview when Morgan freeman was asked about black history month.

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brain_my_damage_HJS t1_j8rrtmq wrote

Marian Anderson- My Country, Tis of Thee

1st Black artist to perform on the National Mall. The story behind her performance makes for a great history lesson

Ella Fitzgerald (with the Duke Ellington Band)-Take the “A” Train

1st Black artist to win a Grammy.

Otis Redding- (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

Discuss how white rock bands would frequently cover and popularize songs by black artists. Otis blew away the other musicians and almost entirely white audience at the festival by performing some covers of rock songs.

Stevie Wonder- Higher Ground

In 1964 he became the 1st Black artist to win Grammy for Album of the year.

Sugar Hill Gang- Rapper’s Delight

In 1979 their song became the first rap hit.

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DonutOwlGaming OP t1_j8rxw7j wrote

Oo

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WolfOfTheRath t1_j8sj1pa wrote

Nina Simone is a good one too, important on straight black history grounds but she actually also has a song off of her live album, Nuff Said, that features a song performed the day after MLK died called 'Why? The King of Love Is dead'

Also if I was going to play a Stevie Wonder song for black history month, I would play the Black history month Stevie Wonder song, 'Black Man'

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WolfOfTheRath t1_j8sj8st wrote

Also, and not to be captain obvious here, but the Billie Holiday song 'Strange Fruit' is literally about lynchings

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WolfOfTheRath t1_j8sjans wrote

Ooooh, you should also play Gil scott-heron's Whitey on the moon

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I_Am_No_One_123 t1_j8rxlgi wrote

Some off the top of my head not listed:

Jimi Hendrix/Miles Davis/Clarence Clemons/Billy Preston/Michael Jackson/Tina Turner/Lionel Ritchie/Rick James/Muddy Waters/Buddy Miles/Al Jarreau/Anita Baker/Diana Ross: any Motown artist/Robert Cray/Stanley Jordan/Billy Cobham/Bo Diddley/Sade/Bob Marley/Sammy Davis Jr./Jay Z/The Mills Brothers/Alicia Keys/Whitney and Thelma Houston/etc.

FWIW: The list is endless

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kth004 t1_j8sjzzx wrote

  • Florence Price - early 20th century composer who was the first black woman to have her orchestral works premiered by major symphonies
  • Wynton Marsalis along with the whole Marsalis family
  • Troy Andrews (Trombone Shorty)
  • Scott Joplin
  • Jon Batiste and the whole Batiste Family
  • Ornette Coleman
  • Charles Mingus
  • Ma Rainy
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe
  • Nina Simone
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PreviousLife7051 t1_j8rqvkk wrote

Duke Ellington, Count Bassie, Billy Eckstein, Erroll Garner, Ella Fitzgerald, Big Momma Thornton

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uSeeSizeThatChicken t1_j8s19ru wrote

Here's a curve ball for you: "Death"

About 10 years ago a documentary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Band_Called_Death

detailed how 3 black brothers in Detroit helped pioneer punk rock in the 1970s. Their music was thought lost forever until one of the member's kids found it.... yada yada... it became a documentary and the band called Death was credited with having a huge roll in punk music years before punk music existed.

So you got Black blues > rock n roll (Led Zeppelin, Stones, Beatles)

Then you got band called Death > punk rock.

Pretty big deal.

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Soupmother t1_j8s7jsq wrote

Interested in any reggae recommendations? It plays a pretty huge part in music history.

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noannajewsom t1_j8s9emn wrote

Woooof, i second this. Toots&the Maytals, Barrington Levy... Not to mention the greatest, Bob Marley.

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s-multicellular t1_j8s8g0m wrote

The ghost of Lead Belly is looking at you threateningly.

The Ronettes are dancing in the background.

Billie Holiday is making your grandparents cry.

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Ted_Denslow t1_j8saqww wrote

You need some Parliament/Funkadelic on that list. Without those records (and the samples lifted from them), rap never explodes into popular culture in the late 80s/early 90s.

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jessop-bentine t1_j8seltn wrote

Maybe Michael Kiwanuka, Death, Fela Kuti, Taj Mahal, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Lightspeed Champion, MF DOOM. Jah Shakah, Scientist, Barrington Levy, Dillinger, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes ?

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CacophonicAcetate t1_j8sqeop wrote

Otis Redding

Fats Domino

Smiley Lewis

Wilbert Harrison

Lil Ritchard

Phillip Lynott (Frontman/Bassist for Thin Lizzy)

Taj Mahal

Tom Morello

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DaftPump t1_j8uxz8t wrote

Labi Siffre (black 70s British funk). Eminem's My Name Is, is based off part of one of his hits.

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TheeEssFo t1_j8rub2z wrote

Overlooked by some of the other comments:

Mahalia Jackson

Quincy Jones

Wynton Marsalis

Muddy Waters

Josephine Baker -- Singer/dancer who was the first black woman to star in a movie

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HistoricalMud9080 t1_j8rv836 wrote

Modern music is built on the pioneers of Jazz and Blues, most of which were black. The most legendary/influential I can think of is Jimi Hendrix.

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Ok-Call-4805 t1_j8s0pti wrote

Great list so far. Might also want to check out Phyllis Hyman, Melba Moore, the Stylistics, Luther Vandross and Toni Braxton

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quantril t1_j8s3vap wrote

Junior Kimbrough

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Because_I_Cannot t1_j8s4rjm wrote

I don't see Jelly Roll Morton anywhere on the list

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s-multicellular t1_j8s8ox7 wrote

Ali Farka Touré and Miriam Makeba are others that have had a wide influence. In some ways, via other American musicians maybe more than general 'house hold name' status. I thought at first, this is an African American list, but you have Bob Marley so I'd add them.

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Tapiooooca t1_j8sa556 wrote

Charlie 'Bird' Parker

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Yoboi322 t1_j8sablh wrote

Death the punk band 3 black brothers that literally may have invented punk. We’re unknown for years till the early 2000s when their recorded music came to light they’re an amazing group

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FullRollingBoil t1_j8sbf74 wrote

Living Colour

Albert/ BB/Freddie King

Elmore James

Otis Rush

The Platters

Billy Cobham

Art Blakey

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kmsae t1_j8selao wrote

Huddie William Leadbetter aka Lead Belly!!!

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BeachedBottlenose t1_j8sfput wrote

Go back and study the slave workers singing in the fields and how they were messages about escaping via the Underground Railroad. Follow the Drinking Gourd. Then how that turned into jazz and blues and how the MOTHER FUCKING WHITE MA…sorry, how some nice young men helped promote the blues singers’ tunes to create rock and roll. Harlem Renaissance.

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contentedcontent t1_j8si68a wrote

If you want some more recent people I'd recommend Benjamin Clementine and Gregory Porter.

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[deleted] t1_j8sidlh wrote

You could do lists and lists just for jazz, but a bit mover in jazz history was the drummer Kenny Clarke aka Klook. He was one of the first drummers to use the ride for time keeping and basically jump-started bebop drumming by his comping or "dropping bombs".

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[deleted] t1_j8siehw wrote

Grandmaster Flash, Wu Tang Clan.

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sciatic_ t1_j8sjc1l wrote

Etta James is a favorite

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mrkennyrogers t1_j8sjv0z wrote

Junior Kimbrough, Henry Thomas, Lee Dorsey, Tommie Young, Lightnin Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Howlin Wolf, Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Willie McTell, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee :)

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Simplekin77 t1_j8snlt8 wrote

I haven't seen Cannonball Adderley suggested.

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skinnyminnesota t1_j8so0e6 wrote

You're missing Otis Redding and Howlin' Wolf

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ScullysBagel t1_j8srh4w wrote

Nina Simone should be included, and a few of her best songs that touch on Civil Rights and Black heritage are:

Mississippi Goddam

To Be Young, Gifted and Black

Why? (The King of Love is Dead)

Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free

Revolution

Four Women

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cemaphonrd t1_j8srjfa wrote

I haven’t seen anyone mention Mississippi John Hurt or Rev. Gary Davis yet. Most of the fingerpicking guitar style that found its way into folk, rock and country is a direct result of those two teaching their playing style to the Folk Revival crowd in the 60s.

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burymeinmyjewelry t1_j8sxhh4 wrote

Bessie Smith, Sarah Vaughn, Lee Fields. Sharon Jones and the Dapkings are more modern but always worth a listen. Her duet with Lee Fields, "Stranded in Your Love" is awesome.

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Phil330 t1_j8tbhoj wrote

Not well known nationally but look into Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five and the Carolina Cotton Pickers. Both groups were popular on the Chitlin' Circuit and are well worth noting in any history of black music.

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Organic-Landscape599 t1_j8txr6e wrote

Jazz giants Hank Monkey, Art Blakely, Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins....

Good luck!!

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powdered_dognut t1_j8uiel3 wrote

Check out Lee Moses singing California Dreaming, it'll get your attention.

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