The trip back in time. Were surrounded in this room by gifts of state that president wilson received. One of the reasons he received so many spectacular gifts, frankly, is first, because he was the First American president to go to europe while he was in office. But secondly, because the world so fervently hoped for him to succeed in the mission he had taken on, of ending the catastrophe that was world war i. I think its hard for us to think now about how shocking world war i was to the people who had to live through it. And so the music of that era, to that time. I think as youll see this afternoon, hearing from michael, a lot of sense of music that existed and the america that existed before the war, and the muse that i can reveals to us the america that came out of that war. Youll see something of a transformation there. Michael lasser is a lecturer, writer, broadcaster, critic, and teacher about american music. Ive written it down, because hes written two books that i want to share
And im not being snotty. It was a different kind of war. The people were not engaged by it. In vietnam, you had some songs, but theyre songs in which two groups are warring with one another. Give peace a chance, and whats the im an oaky from ma skokie. Iraq and afghanistan dont produce a lot of songs. Again, because in a way they were invisible, and in a way, we know about them, were not as a nation engaged in it. We dont have a citizen army anymore. That gets in the way of that. So in world war i, you have a mix. Really, in the middle between the two wars, and it shows. There were songs about mom, and there were songs about sweetie. Soldiers singing im going to pin the medal on the girl i left behind, in world war i. There are other differences between world war i and world war ii, love songs that ill save for a few minutes. But its the mother song that i want to get to. Again, its the idea of staying out of it, delivering a kind of anthem, in the way that the first song is an anthem,
Dillon, we learned blowing in the wind. The answer, my freiend, is blowing in the wind. Pop could literally live it because it was real with him. He would tell us a lot of stories. Between pops and my grandmother, man, those were the best times sitting on the floor listening to stories. But hed sing, if i had a hammer, id hammer in the oh, he was something. Just genius. Just genius. And it was such an honor to meet a man like pete seger. Just like we were invited to blues festivals, we were invited to folk festivals. I didnt understand, i was a young girl. Daddy, these people invited us we would go to the folk festival and all of a sudden we would hear folk songs. I said, well, thats the closest to gospel. Theyre singing truth. Then you look out and you see all these flower children with the flower oh, man, i just loved it. Newport, i would have the best time. Newport this year, newport, rhode island festival in my birthday party. Yeah. [applause] everybody is invited. Everybody is inv
Hes going over there to do his share when alexander takes him ragtime band to france hell capture everyone and take them one by one the ragtime tunes will put the germans in a trans theyll sing hip hip hooray theyll get so excited theyll come over the top two steps back to berlin with a hip and a hop hitler will know when alexander takes his ragtime band to france now, i came in here and rehearsed. So imagine how bad it would be if i hadnt rehearsed. That song obviously comes once weve gone into the war. Let me fill in the pieces broadly, and then as the songs come up, ill place them for you. We get that berlin song called lets all be americans now which comes soon after a group of songs that were in response to a specific incident. That is what really galvanizes american patriotism. What really galvanizes american support for the allies, you know what the event was . The sinking of the lusitania. In the months after the sinking, there are dozens of songs about the sinking of the lusit
Endited. Please welcome mavis staples. And moderating the Panel Discussion today as a catalyst for social change, hes the executive director of the Grammy Museum in los angeles. Noted music authorities, specifically on music in the 1960s, and author of more than a dozen books. His most recent, this land is your land, Woody Guthrie and the journey of an american folk song. Frequent lecturer at the white house and performance at the white house. Please welcome bob santelli. Thank you for doing this, its an honor to have you here. The last time we got a chance to sit like this we were at the white house talking about soul music and the importance of music in the Civil Rights Movement. Yes, we were, and it was around the same time. So its getting to be a habit. Next year at this time ill look for you. The staples singers are generally recognized in Music History as one of the seminole groups of American History, particularly in the post world war ii period. Yourself and sisters and pops, o