Ballads and the Addie Graham - Essay Example

Religious songs (spirituals, gospel) were songs created early on by African American Christians in the United States. However, the term religious or spiritual song was used in both white and black communities (Renwick, 2009: pp 44-47).HollersHollers are mainly worked songs most associated with the afro American music and spiritual songs that hollers originated long before the American Civil War (Renwick, 2009: pp1-4).The importance of early origins for American folk ballads and songs The most important aspect of the early origins of American folk ballads is their educational value.

Folk ballads go an extra mile in helping people gain understanding in history while empathizing with other people’s joys, plight experiences and ancestral perspective (Lomax, & Lomax, 1994: pp 58- 66).The importance of community narratives Community narratives are like ID cards they define the identity of a people. Through them people are entertained, educated and organized.The importance of censoring lyrics for collectors and performance to American folk ballads Censoring helped build the right culture while pushing behind what the American society dimmed unwanted behavior like racism.

Through censoring hostile traditional ideology was stack to the past giving room for civilization and modernization.Q2) Describe Addie GrahamAddie Graham her life, her love of music and her singing style, Addie Prater Graham birth is estimated to be before 1900 in the eastern Kentucky mountains. She grew up around music and at the end of it, she herself was a master in singing. Addie’s songs recorded in the 1970s by her grandson Rich Kirby and Barbara Edwards, reflect as far back as the British Isles alongside others created in America as ditties, frolic songs and religious songs in line with the vintage Baptist tradition.

Despite it being against the Baptist tradition to use instruments she went on to learn from a big variety of musical instruments during her childhood. The result was she grew up to become an accomplished singer with a pro-quality style ornamented with Kentucky oral tradition (Kirby, 2011:pp1-12).Addie went on to be married to Amos Graham and was blessed with three children Kirby, (2011:6). She and her family lived in Breathitt County before finally moving to Cynthiana Harrison County. In Cynthiana, she ran a clothing store together with her daughter before finally resting in 1977.

The recording of her first album been a long time traveling by the Appal Record Labe was the bed her recognition this as though she had been singing for very many years. Her songs have gone ahead to be recorded by others like Ginny Hawker, Mike Seeger among others (Appal:1,2,3).