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The origins of syncopation in American popular music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2021

David Temperley Open the ORCID record for David Temperley [Opens in a new window]
David Temperley*
Affiliation:
Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs St, Rochester, NY14604, USA
*
E-mail: dtemperley@esm.rochester.edu
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Abstract

The origins of syncopation in 20th-century American popular music have been a source of controversy. I offer a new account of this historical process. I distinguish between second-position syncopation, an accent on the second quarter of a half-note or quarter-note unit, and fourth-position syncopation, an accent on the fourth quarter of such a unit. Unlike second-position syncopation, fourth-position syncopation tends to have an anticipatory character. In an earlier study I presented evidence suggesting British roots for second-position syncopation. in contrast, fourth-position syncopation – the focus of the current study – seems to have had no presence in published 19th-century vocal music, British or American. It first appears in notation in ragtime songs and piano music at the very end of the 19th century; it was also used in recordings by African-American singers before it was widely notated.

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Article
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Popular Music , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 18 - 41
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

References

Agawu, K. 1995. African Rhythm (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)Google Scholar
Berlin, E. 1980. Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press)Google Scholar
Brooks, T. 2005. Liner notes to Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry. Archeophone Records 1005.Google Scholar
Brooks, T., and Spottswood, R. 2004. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890–1919 (Urbana, IL, University of Illinois Press)Google Scholar
Butterfield, M. 2011. ‘Why do jazz musicians swing their eighth notes?’, Music Theory Spectrum, 33, pp. 3–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, R. 2016. ‘A platonic model of funky rhythms’, Music Theory Online, 22/2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darden, R. 2004. People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music (New York, Continuum)Google Scholar
Epstein, D. 1983. ‘A white origin for the black spiritual?: An invalid theory and how it grew’, American Music, 1, pp. 53–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiehrer, T. 1991. ‘From quadrille to stomp: The creole origins of jazz’, Popular Music, 10, pp. 21–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Floyd, S. 1996. The Power of Black Music: Interpreting its History from Africa to the United States (New York, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Floyd, S., and Reisser, M. 1984. ‘The sources and resources of classic ragtime music’, Black Music Research Journal, 4, pp. 22–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, D. 2002. The Rhythm Bible (New York, Alfred)Google Scholar
Gomez, F., Thul, E., and Toussaint, G. 2007. ‘An experimental comparison of formal measures of rhythmic syncopation’, in Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, pp. 101–4Google Scholar
Gridley, M., and Rave, W. 1984. ‘Towards identification of African traits in early jazz’, The Black Perspective in Music, 12, pp. 44–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gushee, L. 1994. ‘The nineteenth-century origins of jazz’, Black Music Research Journal, 14, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamm, C. 1983. Music in the New World (New York, Norton)Google Scholar
Huron, D., and Ommen, A. 2006. ‘An empirical study of syncopation in American popular music, 1890–1939’, Music Theory Spectrum, 28, pp. 211–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyer, V. 2002. ‘Embodied mind, situated cognition, and expressive microtiming in African-American music’, Music Perception, 19, pp. 387–414CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jasen, D., and Tichenor, T. 1978. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History (New York, Seabury Press)Google Scholar
Krebs, H. 1999. Fantasy Pieces: Metrical Dissonance in the Music of Robert Schumann (New York, Oxford)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, H. 1914. Afro-American Folksongs: A Study in Racial and National Music (New York, Schirmer)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerdahl, F., and Jackendoff, R. 1983. A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (Cambridge, MA, MIT Press)Google Scholar
Locke, D. 1982. ‘Principles of offbeat timing and cross-rhythm in Southern Ewe dance drumming’, Ethnomusicology, 26, pp. 217–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longuet-Higgins, C., and Lee, C. 1984. ‘The rhythmic interpretation of monophonic music’, Music Perception, 1, pp. 424–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manuel, P. 2009. Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean (Philadelphia, PA, Temple University Press)Google Scholar
Nathan, H. 1962. Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy (Norman, OK, University of Oklahoma Press)Google Scholar
Nketia, J.H.K. 1974. The Music of Africa (New York, Norton)Google Scholar
Pressing, J. 1983. ‘Cognitive isomorphisms between pitch and rhythm in World Musics: West Africa, the Balkans, and western tonality’, Studies in Music, 17, pp. 38–61Google Scholar
Randel, D. (ed.) 1986. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press)Google Scholar
Southern, E. 1997. The Music of Black Americans (New York, Norton)Google Scholar
Tagg, P. 1989. ‘Open letter: “black music”, “Afro-American music” and “European music”’, Popular Music, 8, pp. 285–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tan, I., Lustig, E., and Temperley, D. 2019. ‘Anticipatory syncopation in rock: A corpus study’, Music Perception, 36, pp. 353–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, D. 1999. ‘Syncopation in rock: a perceptual perspective’, Popular Music, 18, pp. 19–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, D. 2004. ‘Communicative pressure and the evolution of musical styles’, Music Perception, 21, pp. 313–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, D. 2019. ‘Second-position syncopation in European and American vocal music’, Empirical Musicology Review, 14/1–2, pp. 66–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, N., and Temperley, D. 2011. ‘Music-language correlations and the “Scotch Snap”’, Music Perception, 29, pp. 51–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toussaint, G. 2002. ‘A mathematical analysis of African, Brazilian, and Cuban clave rhythms’, in Proceedings of BRIDGES: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music and Science, pp. 157–68Google Scholar
Traut, D. 2005. ‘“Simply irresistible”: recurring accent patterns as hooks in mainstream 1980s music’, Popular Music, 24, pp. 57–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Merwe, P. 1989. Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music (New York, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Volk, A., & de Haas, W.B. 2013. ‘A corpus-based study on ragtime syncopation’, in Proceedings of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference, pp. 163–8Google Scholar
Waller, A. 2016. ‘Rhythm and flow in hip-hop music: a corpus study’, PhD dissertation (University of Rochester)Google Scholar
Washburne, C. 1997. ‘The clave of jazz: A Caribbean contribution to the rhythmic foundation of an African-American music’, Black Music Research Journal, 17, pp. 59–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waterman, C. 1948. ‘“Hot” rhythm in negro music’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 1, pp. 24–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, W., Ware, C., and Garrison, L. (eds.) 1867. Slave Songs of the United States (New York, A. Simpson)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anonymous. 1872. Jubilee Songs: As Sung by the Singers of Fisk University (New York, Biglow & Main)Google Scholar
Beethoven, L.v. 1862a. Sonata Op. 31 No. 1, in Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, Serie 16: Sonaten für das Pianoforte, Nr. 139, (Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel), pp. 45–68Google Scholar
Beethoven, L.v. 1862b. String Quartet Op. 59 No, 3, in Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, Serie 6: Quartette für 2 Violinen, Bratsche und Violoncell, Ester Band, Nr.44 (Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel), pp. 179–206Google Scholar
Brymn, J. 1900. ‘My little Zulu Babe’ (Chicago, IL,Windsor Music Co.)Google Scholar
Cohan, G.M. 1906. ‘You're a Grand Old Flag’ (New York, F.A. Mills)Google Scholar
Cole and Johnson (no first names given). 1899. ‘The Luckiest Coon in Town’ (New York, Howley, Haviland & Co.)Google Scholar
Devere, S. 1888. ‘The Whistling Coon’ (Chicago, IL, William A. Pond & Co.)Google Scholar
Downes, O., and Siegmeister, E. (eds.) 1940. A Treasury of American Song (New York, Howell, Soskin & Co.)Google Scholar
Fenner, T. (ed.) 1886. Cabin and Plantation Songs as Sung by the Hampton Students (New York, G.P. Putnam's & Sons)Google Scholar
Gershwin, G., and Gershwin, I. 1930. ‘I Got Rhythm’ (New York, Warner Brothers)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. ca. 1850 (n.d.). ‘Bamboula – danse des negres’ (Paris, Bureau Central de Musique)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. ca. 1853 (n.d.). ‘Le bananier – chanson negre’ (Boston, MA, Oliver Ditson)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. 1873. ‘Le banjo’ (Boston, MA, Oliver Ditson)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. 1860. ‘Ojos criollos – danse cubaine’ (New York, William Hall & Son)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. ca. 1860 (n.d.). ‘Souvenir de Porto Rico’ (Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne)Google Scholar
Harney, B. 1898. ‘You May Go but this Will Bring you Back’ (New York, F.A. Mills)Google Scholar
Hatton, J., and Fanning, E. (eds.) 1873. Songs of England, vol. 1 (London, Boosey)Google Scholar
Hindley, T. 1886. ‘Patrol comique’ (New York, New York Music Publishing Co.)Google Scholar
Hunter, C. 1899. ‘Tickled to Death’ (Nashville, TN, Frank G. Fite)Google Scholar
Johnson, G. 1894. ‘The Laughing Song’ (New York, Ko-Lar)Google Scholar
Jones, I. 1897. ‘Take your Clothes and Go’ (New York, Jos. W. Stern & Co.)Google Scholar
Joplin, S. 1899. ‘Maple Leaf Rag’ (St Louis, MO, John Stark & Son)Google Scholar
Joplin, S. 1901. ‘The Easy Winners’ (St Louis, MO, Scott Joplin)Google Scholar
Lane, C. 1899. ‘The Man who Leads the Cake Walk’ (New York, Will Rossiter)Google Scholar
Porter, C. 1934. ‘Anything Goes’ (New York, Warner Brothers)Google Scholar
Seibert, T.I., and Newton, E. 1909. ‘Casey Jones’ (Los Angeles, CA, Southern California Music Co.)Google Scholar
Smith, G., and Crosby, W. 1902. ‘Behave, Mister Man, Behave’ (New York, Vandersloot Music Co.)Google Scholar
Suttle, S. 1899. ‘Old Jasper's Cake Walk’ (New York, S. Brainard's Sons Co.)Google Scholar
URLs are provided for recordings made before 1920 and not reissued. YouTube recordings were used only in cases where no other recording was available. All URLs were accessed on 17 December 2019.Google Scholar
Atlee, John, ‘The Whistling Coon’. Berliner 196. 1898. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf6yiEbJ8r4Google Scholar
Deep Purple, ‘Smoke on the Water’, Machine Head. Warner Bros. BS 2607. 1973Google Scholar
Dudley, S.H., ‘The Whistling Coon’. Edison Gold Moulded Record 4012. 1902? http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType&query=cylinder6033Google Scholar
Gaye, Marvin, ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, Every Great Hit of Marvin Gaye. Motown 314 549 517-2. Recorded 1968, reissued 2000Google Scholar
Jackson, Michael,‘Billie Jean’, Thriller. Epic Legacy 88697 17986 2. Recorded 1982, reissued 2008Google Scholar
Johnson, George, ‘The Laughing Song’. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922. Archeophone 1005. Recorded 1894–8, reissued 2005Google Scholar
Johnson, George, ‘The Whistling Coon’. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922. Archeophone 1005. Recorded 1891, reissued 2005Google Scholar
Leachman, Silas, ‘My Little Zulu Babe’. Victor 1127. 1901. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/5394Google Scholar
Murray, Billy, ‘Casey Jones’. Edison Amberol 450. 1910. http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType&query=cylinder1842Google Scholar
Murray, Billy, ‘The Whistling Coon’. Victor matrix B-9495. 1910. https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200009605/B-9495-The_whistling_coonGoogle Scholar
Quinn, Dan, ‘The Band Played On’. Berliner 1961. 1895. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmAEufuYm18Google Scholar
Quinn, Dan, ‘When It's All Going Out and Nothing Coming In’. Columbia 1358. 1903-5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvFOiVQaUHkGoogle Scholar
Shepard, Burt, ‘The Laughing Song’. Zonophone X-42807. 1908. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o7uqCJwUIoGoogle Scholar
The Beatles. ‘Do You Want to Know a Secret’, Please Please Me. Parlophone PMC 1202. 1963Google Scholar
The Beatles. ‘A Hard Day's Night’, A Hard Day's Night. Parlophone CDP 7 46437 2. 1964Google Scholar
The Police. ‘Message In a Bottle’. Reggatta de Blanc. A&M SP-4792. 1979Google Scholar
Tuskegee Institute Singers. ‘Go Down Moses’. Victor 17688. 1914. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/78Google Scholar
Williams, Bert, and Walker, George, ‘My Little Zulu Babe’. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922. Archeophone 1005. Recorded 1901, reissued 2005Google Scholar
Williams, Bert, Walker, George, and Weldon Johnson, James, ‘All Going Out and Nothing Coming In’. Victor 994. 1901. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/6817Google Scholar
Agawu, K. 1995. African Rhythm (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)Google Scholar
Berlin, E. 1980. Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press)Google Scholar
Brooks, T. 2005. Liner notes to Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry. Archeophone Records 1005.Google Scholar
Brooks, T., and Spottswood, R. 2004. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890–1919 (Urbana, IL, University of Illinois Press)Google Scholar
Butterfield, M. 2011. ‘Why do jazz musicians swing their eighth notes?’, Music Theory Spectrum, 33, pp. 3–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, R. 2016. ‘A platonic model of funky rhythms’, Music Theory Online, 22/2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darden, R. 2004. People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music (New York, Continuum)Google Scholar
Epstein, D. 1983. ‘A white origin for the black spiritual?: An invalid theory and how it grew’, American Music, 1, pp. 53–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiehrer, T. 1991. ‘From quadrille to stomp: The creole origins of jazz’, Popular Music, 10, pp. 21–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Floyd, S. 1996. The Power of Black Music: Interpreting its History from Africa to the United States (New York, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Floyd, S., and Reisser, M. 1984. ‘The sources and resources of classic ragtime music’, Black Music Research Journal, 4, pp. 22–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, D. 2002. The Rhythm Bible (New York, Alfred)Google Scholar
Gomez, F., Thul, E., and Toussaint, G. 2007. ‘An experimental comparison of formal measures of rhythmic syncopation’, in Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, pp. 101–4Google Scholar
Gridley, M., and Rave, W. 1984. ‘Towards identification of African traits in early jazz’, The Black Perspective in Music, 12, pp. 44–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gushee, L. 1994. ‘The nineteenth-century origins of jazz’, Black Music Research Journal, 14, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamm, C. 1983. Music in the New World (New York, Norton)Google Scholar
Huron, D., and Ommen, A. 2006. ‘An empirical study of syncopation in American popular music, 1890–1939’, Music Theory Spectrum, 28, pp. 211–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyer, V. 2002. ‘Embodied mind, situated cognition, and expressive microtiming in African-American music’, Music Perception, 19, pp. 387–414CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jasen, D., and Tichenor, T. 1978. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History (New York, Seabury Press)Google Scholar
Krebs, H. 1999. Fantasy Pieces: Metrical Dissonance in the Music of Robert Schumann (New York, Oxford)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, H. 1914. Afro-American Folksongs: A Study in Racial and National Music (New York, Schirmer)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerdahl, F., and Jackendoff, R. 1983. A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (Cambridge, MA, MIT Press)Google Scholar
Locke, D. 1982. ‘Principles of offbeat timing and cross-rhythm in Southern Ewe dance drumming’, Ethnomusicology, 26, pp. 217–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longuet-Higgins, C., and Lee, C. 1984. ‘The rhythmic interpretation of monophonic music’, Music Perception, 1, pp. 424–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manuel, P. 2009. Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean (Philadelphia, PA, Temple University Press)Google Scholar
Nathan, H. 1962. Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy (Norman, OK, University of Oklahoma Press)Google Scholar
Nketia, J.H.K. 1974. The Music of Africa (New York, Norton)Google Scholar
Pressing, J. 1983. ‘Cognitive isomorphisms between pitch and rhythm in World Musics: West Africa, the Balkans, and western tonality’, Studies in Music, 17, pp. 38–61Google Scholar
Randel, D. (ed.) 1986. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press)Google Scholar
Southern, E. 1997. The Music of Black Americans (New York, Norton)Google Scholar
Tagg, P. 1989. ‘Open letter: “black music”, “Afro-American music” and “European music”’, Popular Music, 8, pp. 285–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tan, I., Lustig, E., and Temperley, D. 2019. ‘Anticipatory syncopation in rock: A corpus study’, Music Perception, 36, pp. 353–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, D. 1999. ‘Syncopation in rock: a perceptual perspective’, Popular Music, 18, pp. 19–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, D. 2004. ‘Communicative pressure and the evolution of musical styles’, Music Perception, 21, pp. 313–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, D. 2019. ‘Second-position syncopation in European and American vocal music’, Empirical Musicology Review, 14/1–2, pp. 66–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temperley, N., and Temperley, D. 2011. ‘Music-language correlations and the “Scotch Snap”’, Music Perception, 29, pp. 51–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toussaint, G. 2002. ‘A mathematical analysis of African, Brazilian, and Cuban clave rhythms’, in Proceedings of BRIDGES: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music and Science, pp. 157–68Google Scholar
Traut, D. 2005. ‘“Simply irresistible”: recurring accent patterns as hooks in mainstream 1980s music’, Popular Music, 24, pp. 57–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Merwe, P. 1989. Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music (New York, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Volk, A., & de Haas, W.B. 2013. ‘A corpus-based study on ragtime syncopation’, in Proceedings of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference, pp. 163–8Google Scholar
Waller, A. 2016. ‘Rhythm and flow in hip-hop music: a corpus study’, PhD dissertation (University of Rochester)Google Scholar
Washburne, C. 1997. ‘The clave of jazz: A Caribbean contribution to the rhythmic foundation of an African-American music’, Black Music Research Journal, 17, pp. 59–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waterman, C. 1948. ‘“Hot” rhythm in negro music’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 1, pp. 24–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, W., Ware, C., and Garrison, L. (eds.) 1867. Slave Songs of the United States (New York, A. Simpson)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anonymous. 1872. Jubilee Songs: As Sung by the Singers of Fisk University (New York, Biglow & Main)Google Scholar
Beethoven, L.v. 1862a. Sonata Op. 31 No. 1, in Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, Serie 16: Sonaten für das Pianoforte, Nr. 139, (Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel), pp. 45–68Google Scholar
Beethoven, L.v. 1862b. String Quartet Op. 59 No, 3, in Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, Serie 6: Quartette für 2 Violinen, Bratsche und Violoncell, Ester Band, Nr.44 (Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel), pp. 179–206Google Scholar
Brymn, J. 1900. ‘My little Zulu Babe’ (Chicago, IL,Windsor Music Co.)Google Scholar
Cohan, G.M. 1906. ‘You're a Grand Old Flag’ (New York, F.A. Mills)Google Scholar
Cole and Johnson (no first names given). 1899. ‘The Luckiest Coon in Town’ (New York, Howley, Haviland & Co.)Google Scholar
Devere, S. 1888. ‘The Whistling Coon’ (Chicago, IL, William A. Pond & Co.)Google Scholar
Downes, O., and Siegmeister, E. (eds.) 1940. A Treasury of American Song (New York, Howell, Soskin & Co.)Google Scholar
Fenner, T. (ed.) 1886. Cabin and Plantation Songs as Sung by the Hampton Students (New York, G.P. Putnam's & Sons)Google Scholar
Gershwin, G., and Gershwin, I. 1930. ‘I Got Rhythm’ (New York, Warner Brothers)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. ca. 1850 (n.d.). ‘Bamboula – danse des negres’ (Paris, Bureau Central de Musique)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. ca. 1853 (n.d.). ‘Le bananier – chanson negre’ (Boston, MA, Oliver Ditson)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. 1873. ‘Le banjo’ (Boston, MA, Oliver Ditson)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. 1860. ‘Ojos criollos – danse cubaine’ (New York, William Hall & Son)Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. ca. 1860 (n.d.). ‘Souvenir de Porto Rico’ (Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne)Google Scholar
Harney, B. 1898. ‘You May Go but this Will Bring you Back’ (New York, F.A. Mills)Google Scholar
Hatton, J., and Fanning, E. (eds.) 1873. Songs of England, vol. 1 (London, Boosey)Google Scholar
Hindley, T. 1886. ‘Patrol comique’ (New York, New York Music Publishing Co.)Google Scholar
Hunter, C. 1899. ‘Tickled to Death’ (Nashville, TN, Frank G. Fite)Google Scholar
Johnson, G. 1894. ‘The Laughing Song’ (New York, Ko-Lar)Google Scholar
Jones, I. 1897. ‘Take your Clothes and Go’ (New York, Jos. W. Stern & Co.)Google Scholar
Joplin, S. 1899. ‘Maple Leaf Rag’ (St Louis, MO, John Stark & Son)Google Scholar
Joplin, S. 1901. ‘The Easy Winners’ (St Louis, MO, Scott Joplin)Google Scholar
Lane, C. 1899. ‘The Man who Leads the Cake Walk’ (New York, Will Rossiter)Google Scholar
Porter, C. 1934. ‘Anything Goes’ (New York, Warner Brothers)Google Scholar
Seibert, T.I., and Newton, E. 1909. ‘Casey Jones’ (Los Angeles, CA, Southern California Music Co.)Google Scholar
Smith, G., and Crosby, W. 1902. ‘Behave, Mister Man, Behave’ (New York, Vandersloot Music Co.)Google Scholar
Suttle, S. 1899. ‘Old Jasper's Cake Walk’ (New York, S. Brainard's Sons Co.)Google Scholar
URLs are provided for recordings made before 1920 and not reissued. YouTube recordings were used only in cases where no other recording was available. All URLs were accessed on 17 December 2019.Google Scholar
Atlee, John, ‘The Whistling Coon’. Berliner 196. 1898. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf6yiEbJ8r4Google Scholar
Deep Purple, ‘Smoke on the Water’, Machine Head. Warner Bros. BS 2607. 1973Google Scholar
Dudley, S.H., ‘The Whistling Coon’. Edison Gold Moulded Record 4012. 1902? http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType&query=cylinder6033Google Scholar
Gaye, Marvin, ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, Every Great Hit of Marvin Gaye. Motown 314 549 517-2. Recorded 1968, reissued 2000Google Scholar
Jackson, Michael,‘Billie Jean’, Thriller. Epic Legacy 88697 17986 2. Recorded 1982, reissued 2008Google Scholar
Johnson, George, ‘The Laughing Song’. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922. Archeophone 1005. Recorded 1894–8, reissued 2005Google Scholar
Johnson, George, ‘The Whistling Coon’. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922. Archeophone 1005. Recorded 1891, reissued 2005Google Scholar
Leachman, Silas, ‘My Little Zulu Babe’. Victor 1127. 1901. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/5394Google Scholar
Murray, Billy, ‘Casey Jones’. Edison Amberol 450. 1910. http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType&query=cylinder1842Google Scholar
Murray, Billy, ‘The Whistling Coon’. Victor matrix B-9495. 1910. https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200009605/B-9495-The_whistling_coonGoogle Scholar
Quinn, Dan, ‘The Band Played On’. Berliner 1961. 1895. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmAEufuYm18Google Scholar
Quinn, Dan, ‘When It's All Going Out and Nothing Coming In’. Columbia 1358. 1903-5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvFOiVQaUHkGoogle Scholar
Shepard, Burt, ‘The Laughing Song’. Zonophone X-42807. 1908. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o7uqCJwUIoGoogle Scholar
The Beatles. ‘Do You Want to Know a Secret’, Please Please Me. Parlophone PMC 1202. 1963Google Scholar
The Beatles. ‘A Hard Day's Night’, A Hard Day's Night. Parlophone CDP 7 46437 2. 1964Google Scholar
The Police. ‘Message In a Bottle’. Reggatta de Blanc. A&M SP-4792. 1979Google Scholar
Tuskegee Institute Singers. ‘Go Down Moses’. Victor 17688. 1914. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/78Google Scholar
Williams, Bert, and Walker, George, ‘My Little Zulu Babe’. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922. Archeophone 1005. Recorded 1901, reissued 2005Google Scholar
Williams, Bert, Walker, George, and Weldon Johnson, James, ‘All Going Out and Nothing Coming In’. Victor 994. 1901. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/6817Google Scholar