History and Development of Chicano Music in the United States - Research Paper Example

History and Development of Chicano Music in United s and History and Development of Chicano Music in United States Introduction Most documents on history and the development of Chicanos were written in 1990s. Information available gives an account of its development in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries respectively. More contemporary works refute the Anglo-dominated interpretations of Western history and respective states, especially California and Texas. The recent developments also commit an already established literature on the Mexican history and the Spanish-Mexican borderlands. In totality, they indicate that Mexico’s far north was not behind, age-old or monolithic but an important part of the Mexican Society1. The tremendous developments of the field can be owed in part to the increasing focus among academic leaders on the Mexican experience in the far north. Increasing complication and sophistication represents the interests, learning and participation of professionals in various sub-disciplines of history and in relevant areas of arts and social sciences such as political science, literature and culture. In agreement with the Chicano historical literature of the 20th century, today’s researches and works are highly inclined towards California and Texas2. Despite the Puerto Rican and the Latino crossing out of the very epistemology of Anglo-America, despite the inconsequential and negative reflection of Puerto Ricans in films, they have immensely taken part in including Mexican and Chicano room in the organization of Latino identities in United States, and majorly Hollywood. In that respect, the example of Jennifer Lopez’s representation of Selena, as debated in Frances Aparino’s amazing work, is the most popular and classic example of a distinct situation3. A flip through the earliest editions of I am Joaqui’n, the heroic poem of 1967 by Gonzales, can increase our understanding of the social history of that foundational paper of Latino thought. At the same time, it provides us with the opportunity to look back at the blossoming moment of Chicano identification debate. Outside the Mexican and Latin American group in United States, not much is often talked about the thriving music in Texas. Over time, Chicano Music has been gaining prominence in Texas and beyond, as it gets widely welcomed, culminating in an industry explosion. Literature Review Chicano music has its roots in Texas. During this period of time, Mariachi, the popular music of old Mexico, was the form of sound listened and enjoyed among the Chicano group of United States. Chicanos, known to have Mexican descent, live in United States4. As a people, they have a form of music which is distinct from their Mexican counterparts. They are the descendants of Mexican citizens, who were considered the off springs of the indigenous people of Anahuac, African slaves and the Spanish people who lived in that region5. The evolution and politics of the Chicano music can be traced back to the civilization of the Americas. Music still forms an integral part of their culture. The earliest sounds of music were drawn from nature, constituting the fauna and flora. The animal kingdom is rich with the panoply of sounds coming from several species. For instance, the music drawn from nature can take the form of the ocean roar and strong blowing of the winds through the thick trees. The earliest sounds that constituted music was also drawn from the purring of cats, trumpeting of elephants, chirping birds and pounding of hoofs6. In the Chicano language, Olmee means resident of the land of rubber. The existence of Olmee people dates back to the pre-Christian times. They are estimated to have existed 1200 years before Christianity. Their civilization blossomed in Tabasco and Veracruz, which form part of the modern-day Mexico. They occupied the eastern side of the gulf coast of Mexico, basically the region of Yucatan peninsula, down to the western Costa Rica and central Honduras. The earliest civilization documented in America began 2000B.C in this region, where the Olmec people inhabited. Presently, the remnants of the Olmec culture can be viewed in several archeological zones in Mexico7. The Mexican encyclopedia has attempted to develop a representation of murals and figures of the Olmec culture. In one of the remarkable murals, a group of Olmec musicians carrying their musical instruments is portrayed, while another depicts a solitary figure blowing a conch. A closer look at these representations shows a woman standing along the shores of what is presently referred to as Cancun. She stares at the vastness of the ocean as the sun sets behind her. In her right hand is a caracal, which she uses to send a signal to the village to come and assist the seamen offload the backbreaking seafood. In this contest, the sound produced by the conch was not meant for entertainment, but for functional purposes. The Olmec therefore used such instruments for communication. In the Olmec culture, the sound of the caracal communicated various things in terms of danger, emergency, location, ceremonial events, or the start of a religious festival. As time passed, the Olmecs realized that sea shells of different shapes and sizes made differing sounds, and that the location of the lips on the hollow part would generate a variety of pitches. They also learnt that the strength of the breath forced into the hollow tip changed the sound produced. As years passed, the Olmecs began to accompany the conch with other sound instruments. Further, they discovered that rotten and fallen logs produced sounds when hit, beaten or trampled on8. The Olmecs began to make musical instruments from logs cut from the Yucatan jungle by carrying them to their villages and boring holes through them. The rudimentary drums produced sounds which would be in harmony with the sound produced by the conch. Later, they learnt to bore wider holes and make thinner enclosure of the wooden holes. They would then cover the holes with deer skin to produce a drum. As a result, the American drum was produced. It is during this period of time that their ceremonies would be accompanied by drumbeats and sweet musical sounds. From then on, their music began to take another role, entertainment9. The cultural civilization of the Olmec people paved way for the emergence of the Mayan people. This occurred approximately 1200 years before the European adoption of the Gregorian calendar. It is worth noting that these people had long created their calendar without including the leap year adjustments made nowadays. Moreover, even before the Hindu mathematicians introduced the concept of zero, the Maya had already put the concept into use in their computational, mathematical and astronomical studies. This people occupied what is today known as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala10. Hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus alighted in Latin America, various indigenous ethnic groups inhabited these set of islands at different periods of time. For instance, the Ciboney and the Siboney people lived in Bahamas and Jamaica. Later, the Arawak would occupy the entire Caribbean region. The Spanish arrival in the region led to the wiping out of these people and the introduction of the African slaves by the Spanish and Portuguese. With time, the Spanish and Portuguese started acquiring elements of their cultural practices, especially music, from both the Caribbean natives and African slaves. From this brief history, it is clear that the music that we hear today in Texas is a blending of indigenous and religious music. The indigenous groups of people occupying Texas also had rudimentary musical apparatus made up of drums, rattles, bones and flutes. They widely reserved their music for ceremonies and cultural festivals. Over a period of time, the Spanish conquerors made their way into Texas. Missionaries established their bases as the military men who accompanied them conquered the regions surrounding Texas. A lot of performances and musical arrangements were employed by missionaries to spread Christianity into the region. This included Mexican Shepherd’s play, Los Pastores as well as the dance of Los Matachines11. In 1821, Mexico got independence from Spain, culminating in the introduction of a new form of music. This was necessitated by the secularization of the mission system, giving rise to the haciendas. In turn, the haciendas brought with them feasts, weddings, funerals which had to be accompanied by music. The fandango style of dance then emerged. After the Mexican revolution, some refugees made up their minds never to go back to Mexico. Some decided to invest in US, including Ignacio Lozano, who founded La Prensa, a Spanish newspaper in Texas. This newspaper had Mundo Artistico and Social, featuring entertainment articles covering Mexican talents in music, theatre, film and dance12. The Mexican revolution also brought with it songs that came across the Rio Grande with the people. The most celebrated of such songs include La Cucaracha and Rancho Grande. At the turn of the 20th century, writer and photojournalist Charles F. Lummis came up with a compilation of 340 recordings of Mexican Folk music. They were previously recorded on wax cylinders but were later transferred to magnetic tapes. Collected and reserved in the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, they are believed to be the first sound recordings of Mexican American folk songs in the state of California. Below is an example of a popular Chicano folk song13. “ A La Rueda de San Miguei” “The Ring of San Miguel” A Larueda de San Miguel To the ring of San Miguel, San Miguel San Miguel Todos traen su copa de miel All have their cup of honey A lo maduro, a lo maduro Let it ripe, let it ripe, let Que se voltie turn around [name of child] de brunno [name of child] as a donkey In 1923, lyrics of fourteen Chicano songs from the Lummi collection were aired and published in Spanish Songs of Old California. Most of these songs were among the very songs that were sung years back in Texas and other the southwestern region. Lummis was one of the first British observers ready to preserve prejudices against Mexican culture and features. He enthusiastically recorded the cultural practices of a group of people inaccurately understood by foreigners. As years passed, the advent of radio and phonograph rendered the wax cylinders obsolete. Music production firms such as Brunswick, Columbia and Decca began to commercialize the musical culture of the Mexicans in the Southwest and California14. Towards the end of 1920s, the Sinfonolas Jukebox, a Spanish-language broadcast media was introduced in sprees and restaurants, thus spreading the Mexican musical tradition allover United States. Famous songs during the 1920s and 30s focused on the negative Mexican experiences in the United States15. A case in point is El Lavaptos, written and sung by Jesus Onsorio. It detailed a Mexican migrant’s travails at seeking employment opportunities in the United States. The song was recorded in 1930 by various musical performers, such as Manuel Camacho on Victor, Chaves Y Lugo on Columbia and Los Hermanos Banuelos on Brunswick16. In mid 1950s, many radio stations emerged along the borders. This included the XEXO in Nuevo Laredo and XEG in Monterrey. Millions of people now began to listen to the sweet Chicano music aired by these radio stations. As a counter to the blossoming Chicano pattern, the American middle class resorted to the high orchestra sounds being copied by celebrities like Betto Villas and Isidro Lopez. This high ton music later included cojunto sounds17. The young Rock and Roll Bands of Chicano barred from crossing over to English music by discrimination and prejudice resorted to mixing the Chicano music with the big band sound and rock and roll18. It is from such arrangements that people like Suzzy Ozuna and Reno Bops made it to the American bandstand. The latter group turned out to be the present epitome of the Modern Chicano Sounds, La Onda. What became the unofficial Chicano national Anthem is their rendition of Las nubs in 1960s19. Research Findings Having gone through a brief history and developments of Chicano Music in the United States, there are some notable factors which resulted to its growth and development. The Chicano Music that we see today is by far different from the original ones in style, form and purpose. In terms of culture, the Music has undergone a series of cultural ramifications which make it different from the Mexican one. It has undergone a series of cultural changes20. People who live in the present-day Mexico detest their fellow citizens who moved to the United States in search of opportunities, terming them as pochos, meaning culturally deprived. That is their attitude towards the Chicano songs. Having an understanding of origin and development of Chicano music gives the listeners the knowledge of what motivated its growth, as well as an explanation of how it went through these cultural alterations. It is clear from the literature review that the early forms of Chicano music were never meant for entertainment but to remind the Mexicans living in United States the plights that they went through during the Mexican Revolution. Other songs give an account of the series of massive deportations and migration and repatriation of the Mexicans living in United States. El Lavaplatos composed by Jesus Osorio is a case in point. Finally, the forefathers of the Latino, who are the Olmecs and the Maya, came up with the musical pattern that Chicano developed from, for the purposes of observing serious events. Indeed, from the civilization of the Maya people till the Mexican Revolution, these songs were never composed or played for entertainment but for heralding religious, cultural and other serious events deemed as important for the wellbeing of the entire community. Thereafter, the entertaining Chicano music that we enjoy today took an entertaining perspective when such serious events like Independence of Mexico and the introduction of the hacienda system began to take shape in Texas and Mexico. Conclusion From what we have seen, there is little, if any, of British contributions to the developments of Chicano Music, as depicted by literary works generated in early 1990s. We can also deduce that Chicano music is as old as humanity. Its development can be traced back to the Mayan civilization as well as the Olmec cultural practices. No one interested in developing scholarly approaches to understanding this musical movement should overlook such aspects. Further, we cannot study or appreciate this form of music without linking it to the socio-political context of the Mexican group of people. References Clayton, Lawrence, and Joe W. Spetch. The Roots of Texas Music. Texas: Texas & M University Press, 2003. http://www.books.google.com Herrera-Sobek, Maria. Chicano Folklore: A Handbook. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006. http://www.books.google.com Perez, Daniel Enrique. Rethinking Chicana/o and Latina/o Popular Culture. New York: Macmillan, 2009. http://www.books.google.com Saldivar, Ramon. Chicano Narrative: The Dialects of Difference. London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1990. http://www.books.google.com Torres-Saillant. “Political Roots of Chicano Discourse.” Latino Studies 4, (2006):452-464. http://www.ebscohost.com Valdes, Dennis N. “The Spanish-Mexican Borderlands and Chicano History.” Latin America Research Review 35, no.1 (2000) 256. http://www.ebscohost.com Zimmerman, Marc. “Erasure, Imposition and Crossover of Puerto Ricans and Chicanos in US Film and Music Culture.” Latino Studies 1, no.1 (2003): 115-122. http://www.palgrave- journals.com/lst Read More