1. Jazz In the Years of World War II
Sounds That Had a Nation Dancing
2. A Look at Popular Culture in a Broad Sense
During the War
Some of the most memorable American popular culture came from the shadowed times of the darkest
war in history. In a way that you would expect from popular culture, though, music themes that were
written exclusively about the war, the majority of the time, went unnoticed, and the songs that were
noticed, did not become very popular. In fact, the only people that seemed to want popular war music
were military and government officials. The government formed two committees to attempt to find a
war theme that would get the adrenaline pumping for the soldiers, the “National Wartime Music
Committee,” and the “Music War Committee.” Both embarrassingly failed in their attempt to do so.
Understandingly, it seemed as if no one, neither soldier nor civilian, wanted to hear depressing songs
about the sad times of war. Most people wanted to get their minds off it as much as possible.
Understanding this, the music industry kept going on with business as usual. Especially during the early
years of the war, the music industry and the movie industry shared an apparent ignorance of the war’s
existence in popular hopes that the war and its horrors would go away if people didn’t think about it .
Some memorable marks of popular culture that are still relevant today came from the years during
World War II, but had nothing to do with the war. In 1939, the American classic, “The Wizard of Oz,”
opened in theaters, and along with it, the unforgettable tune, “Over the Rainbow,” topped the music
charts. A young man named Frank Sinatra was was getting his highly recognized career off of the ground.
Between 1942 and 1944, popular Christmas songs “White Christmas,” ”I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” and
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” were topping the pop charts. And Rodgers and Hammerstein II
were starting off their illustrious careers. In all of these cases, (except for Hammerstein II who aided on a
committee to help find a war theme fit for pop culture,) these artists and pieces of pop culture held no
link to the Second World War. There were some good efforts, but never was there a solid popular war
theme that every American could chant to together.
3. Jazz: The Sounds that Brought a Nation
Closer
It has been argued that the time during World War
II was one of the most united time periods in U.S.
history. While there is a lot of evidence to combat
that idea, there is no doubt that progress in
equality was made during the time period of World
War II for both racial status and gender status. The
state of jazz music in the U.S. during that time
period shows a good representation of that
progress. Jazz was effecting the whole nation, not
just the men on the battlefield, but also the hard
working people within the nation’s borders that had
their own hardships to deal with.
4. Swing Jazz and Its Powerful Influence
On World War II America
During the war, there was no more popular and
more influential form of music than swing. Between
the time that the war took place, swing had
dominated the popular music charts. From its
beginnings, swing, as well as many other jazz forms,
was born in poor and working-class black
neighborhoods. As the style began to evolve and
take shape, it began to gain the attention of the
white community that liked what it was hearing.
White musicians began to adopt it in the later 30s,
and by 1940, it was the most popular style of music
in the whole United States.
5. A Quick Lesson On Black Popular
Music History
In a general sense, African Americans have faced a lot of
hardship due to discrimination in American history. After the
times of slavery, African American opportunity in terms of
making money and having rights was vacant to the point that
for a long time, Black culture would not escape the poor and
working classes. Blacks would find many of their opportunities
taken or even stolen by whites who had the same
qualifications. In terms of the music profession, this was no
different. Black musicians have a history throughout the a
large portion of the 1900s of having lesser opportunities of
promoting their music nationally and/or getting to play with
musicians of similar or better quality. There is even a history
of white musicians recording and/or playing music created
and played by black musicians and getting more popular than
those black musicians because it. (Some of these white
musicians asked for permission while others didn’t.)
6. Popular Swing of the War
By the time that the war had begun, Swing had
reached the height of its popularity, and it had the
United States dancing. Radios and Jukeboxes were
among the premiere entertainment of the day.
Millions of working Americans after a long day at
work were going home and listening to the latest
and most popular swing of the day on their radios.
As well, millions of Americans were going to
restaurants and playing their favorite tracks on a
jukebox.
What really brought the swing era into a whole was
the rise of what were known as the “Big Bands.”
Swing had evolved beyond a few musicians playing
as a band into orchestras with entire sections of
varying instruments creating large, full, and
powerfully dynamic sound. It was the big bands
that were usually creating the most popular swing
tracks.
7. America Shows Steps Toward Equality
Through the Use of Popular Swing
During this era of swing’s peak in popular music, an interesting glimpse
into equality was coming to light. At least in the areas of popular
music, it seemed as though for every big white swing artist and every
big white swing artist that conducted a big band, there was big black
swing artist and a big black swing artist that conducted a big band to
counteract it. The first big swing artist to gain real popularity was Duke
Ellington, a black pianist, composer, and bandleader whose recognition
in the genre would persist for over a decade. Ellington had a slew of
top 10 hits, but most of them would come in the 30s. At the same
time, beyond the conductor, it was not uncommon to see all black
bands, all white bands, or a combination of the two. In that regard,
America did not seem to be nitpicky with race, at least on the surface,
when choosing what swing music it enjoyed listening to. No other
popular music style outside of the jazz subgenres (which included
swing) of this era had this characteristic.
8. The Giants of Swing in the World War
II Era
Swing was already well living its popularity by the time
the war started, but at Swing’s height during World War
II establishment of the unbreakable masters of popular
swing was coming into light. From the early 30s to the
late 30s, it was Duke Ellington and his big band that
were dominating the popular charts. From the
beginning of the war to the end of the war Ellington’s
popularity was still strong, but was slowly being
replaced by the likes of Harry James, Bob Crosby, Benny
Goodman, Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey
(who worked closely with Frank Sinatra), and the
biggest of them all, Glenn Miller. Glenn Miller had more
charted hits throughout World War II than almost all
the other artists just mentioned combined. Sadly, in the
prime of his outstanding career, Miller had disappeared
while flying over the English channel on December 15th,
1944 These are among the artists that transcended
touring and recording and began to write for movies,
theater, and regular radio shows.
Glenn Miller (1904 –
1944)
9. Hard Times Descend upon Working
Jazz Musicians in World War II
Many difficulties, both caused by and not caused by the effects the war, befell upon
jazz musicians during World War II. The main places to have found a jazz band playing
a show during that time period were at a restaurant, a concert hall that doubled as an
eatery, a bar venue, or a dance hall. Due to economic influences during the war,
though, establishments were limited in their hours of business, so finding a time slot
to be able to play had shrunk. Food rations during the war limited how many
customers restaurant businesses received so bands were being hired to play less.
Economic changes in transportation limited gig goers. Frequent blackouts shut down
some venues totally. A twenty percent, “amusement tax” was instilled to raise military
revenue and sought to place an anchor on the foot of venue managers. Also, many
jazz bands found a majority of the work they received in time slots at late night venues
where people went to unwind. A government enforced curfew from midnight until
dawn completely ended ideas of being able to perform then, as well.
If it wasn’t enough to completely desert the amount of places to play and the amount
of people to play for (the amount of work to receive,) the military draft effectively
deserted the amount of members in a band (amount of workers in that business.) The
draft weaned down members of bands big or small, gradually disbanding many bands
totally, making the musicians left in the country scramble for work.
10. Problems Unrelated to War Effects For
Musicians During the War
There were two significant events that took place during the war that
effected all professional musicians, not just musicians in a specific genre.
These events were unrelated to the war, but made the lives of musicians even
more difficult. These effects combined with the effects caused by the war
made for a truly difficult time for the professional musician. The first
stemmed out of a feud between radio stations and a performance rights
organization called ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, and
Producers). ASCAP attempts to keep the rights of the writers who are signed
to them safe from other people who might perform their works without
getting permission from the original writer to do so. Radio stations fought
ASCAP in court in 1939 for asking for a payment for each time a radio station
played a song by one of their writers. ASCAP lost and large radio corporations
decided to form a new performance rights organization in response called
BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated). ASCAP decided to raise fees for all its
artists which, in turn, caused a massive boycott of ASCAP music. Between
February 1940 and December 1941, all music by ASCAP artists (which made
up about eighty percent of music regularly heard on the radio at the time)
were not played on the radio. Popular music’s main form of promotion, at the
time, was dead, and it remained dead until the boycott was lifted.
11. Problems Unrelated to War Effects For
Musicians During the War (Cont.)
The second significant problematic event that took place was when the AFM
(the American Federation of Musicians) hired their new president, James C.
Petrillo, in the summer of 1940. He eventually took strong action, demanding
radio broadcasters pay fees to play music by AFM members. When radio
refused, Petrillo initiated an all-encompassing ban on recording activity for all
AFM members. AFM members (which included an extremely large amount
artists) were not allowed to make any new recordings from then on until his
demands were complied with. Between August of 1942 and September of
1943, the music industry halted. Petrillo allowed old recordings to be played,
but no new ones were allowed to be recorded. Only vocalists, whom the AFM
did not allow membership for found their ways into the studios, and
throughout the time period of the ban, a lot of recorded acapella can be
found. This time period, in a largely general sense, was difficult for all
musicians in the United States, popular or otherwise. Many musicians had
trouble finding places to play and promote themselves, other musicians had
trouble being promoted, and others had trouble finding ways to record.
Whatever the situation was for each musician, adversity had to be fought by
every musician during this time period. Some made it, and others didn’t.
12. American Culture Suffering Due to Problems
Created in the Music Industry During the War
Beyond the problems created for musicians, American culture
was suffering due to hardships created for working musicians.
Some Americans only escape from the stresses of the war was
through radio, recorded music, and live shows that allowed
people the chance release their stress. American laborers all
had their share of stress be it from unfair work conditions,
economic worries, or maybe even worries of a loved one
fighting over seas. Nightly radio tunes of the time period after
stressful days was, for many, one of only ways of relaxing and
being entertained during the time period. With DJs having
difficulties finding ways to bring full entertainment value to
people at home, especially due to dilemmas having nothing to
due with the war, hardworking listeners were being shorted
what they deserved.
13. Being a Black Jazz Musician in the
World War II Era
Beyond the surface of popular swing music where many artists and players
both black and white seemed to thrive, in the general sense, white musicians
received a lot more recognition. Black musicians in the jazz circuit found it
problematic to find ways to promote themselves beyond their local areas, to
get on to labels, and to find bands that would accept them in a society that
favored whites over blacks. Also, a large problem during the time of World
War II for black musicians was the draft. Black musicians, prime in their
careers, were drafted and had to give up on their career ambitions for a
while. This was no different for white musicians, but all black bands who
relied on each other because they weren’t accepted in the, more numerous,
white bands were torn apart, and the other members, if they didn’t get
drafted, had to scramble to find work. Few opportunities existed for black jazz
artists during the World War II era, but there were outlets that existed in that
of independent labels that were open to experimental music and sought to
capitalize on non-generic styles through creative black musicians. This would
later prove prosperous in the growth of black music, and the acceptance of
black culture.
14. Being a Woman Jazz Musician in the
War World II Era
Women’s culture all over America was finding its way to progress away
from formal discrimination during the World War II era. While the draft
was an unfortunate truth that was on the minds of all men in the U.S.
during the war, it was a tremendous advantage for women. While more
and more men were being sent overseas to fight, it was decreasing the
population of industry workers. Industries had to find workers to keep up
with the war’s production efforts, and a whole population of women,
ready to work, were available. At least for the duration of the war,
women were being accepted into jobs and professions that they had
never been allowed to work in before. In the ways of jazz music,
specifically popular style swing, women were finding their ways into
bands both large and small. Bands made up of all women were becoming
a popular novelty during this time period, some even finding their ways
on to big broadcast radio stations like CBS and NBC. While not all of them
got popular, many of these women groups formed during this time
period in an enthusiastic showing for women’s progress. Unfortunately,
this enthusiasm in women’s culture was short lived. Upon returning at
the end of the war, war veteran men expected their jobs back, and
women were expected to hand them over. Housewives were forced to
revert back to life at home, and women that worked for their own living
had to return to a life of scrambling to find steady work, usually receiving
menial pay. Women’s jazz group popularity fell at the end of the war, and
many women that were in mixed gender bands for the duration of the
war were finding themselves replaced by a male veteran. All and all, this
enthusiasm would not die, but rather be carried on to the Women’s
Rights Movement a couple decades later.
A picture of “Rosie the
Riveter,” a symbol of
women’s empowerment
during the war.
15. Jazz in the Military
While being away from home, men overseas found it difficult,
if not, impossible to remain in touch with American culture.
But, due to many popular jazzmen being enlisted, sometimes,
the music went with it. Some of the popular swing greats like
Artie Shaw, Wayne King, Bob Crosby, and Glenn Miller formed
or joined their own military bands and performed while on
leave or oversea to entertain their comrades.
Also, in 1943, the Office of War Information (OWI) ordered
that music records be shipped overseas for the entertainment
of the troops. Shellac (which was used to make phonographs
at the time) was flimsy and easily breakable, not to mention
that much of America’s supply of shellac was being used by
the military for other purposes at the time. Vinylite, a
precursor to vinyl, was used to create what were known as V-Disks
which were a lot more durable than shellac
phonographs and could handle the rough journey overseas.
This would become the standard recorded music listening
format for all recorded music, both in the U.S. and overseas.
It would persist as the premiere popular format for decades.
Within the 6-year life of this program, 8 million disks were
shipped to men overseas. Military men decided they wanted
to hear only the most popular tunes of the day, so millions of
men overseas were finding themselves listening to and
enjoying the most popular swing of the day.
Photo of a Vinylite Disk
16. Other Important Jazz Styles During the
War
The two most important jazz styles to evolve out of the war
included Bebop and Rhythm and Blues. Swing during the
1930s to the early 1940s was an immoveable juggernaut in
the world of popular jazz, but by the time that the war had
ended in the later 1940s, it had become stale and overly
genericized in the minds of the U.S.’s popular music listening
public. Many of the big popular swing artists had eventually
been shipped overseas and had to disband from the bands
they led. Upon their returning from the war, their popularity
had faded, their reputations had withered, and forming
groups that would reestablish themselves back into the public
eye had become impossible. Swing was dead, and something
had to replace it.
17. Bebop
The bebop scene was formed in the early 1940s by jazz
innovators trumpeter John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie and
saxophonist Charlie Parker, who got their start in the band of
the famous jazz pianist, Earl Hines. They presented their style in
a small Harlem club that brought in crowds of jazz listeners. As
their style caught on, jazz up-and-comers like Lester Young,
Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Oscar Pettiford, and Charlie
Christian wanted in on it. Bebop was not easily appreciated at
first, and it took a while before it gained any real appreciation
at all. Bebop was a musician’s form of music, and even many
musicians had trouble appreciating it. While it combined swing
and the blues, it also had rhythms and improvised solos that
were sporadic, difficult to follow, and most importantly, difficult
to dance to. Beats that could be danced to made up what made
swing so popular, and even while swing was dying, America still
wanted to be able to dance to the music that it was listening to.
A couple bebop big bands eventually formed and received
moderate recognition, but bebop never fully reached a widely
popular status. Even so, it eventually became, and still is, a
popularly appreciated style in the jazz community.
John Birks “Dizzy”
Gillespie (1917 –
1993)
18. The Birth of Rhythm and Blues
The end of the war also equaled the end of swing as popular as genre. At this time, a
problem faced the jazz community as to what would keep jazz in the popular light.
Bebop, as new and enthusiastic as it was, was difficult to listen and move to; and while
it had its following, America as a whole shied away from it. Rhythm and blues, like
other jazz styles that preceded it, was born during local band sessions and in
independent label studios. Rhythm and blues was first considered a racial form of
music since black artists were the first begin innovating it. Like swing, even though it
was tried to be kept an underground genre due to its discriminatory racial status,
pioneer rhythm and blues artists like Jay McShann and Louis Jordan caught America’s
attention both white and black. Unlike swing, rhythm and blues was new and fresh,
and unlike bebop, it was very danceable. Rhythm and blues had simple patterns but
those patterns were moveable. It was organized, but not genericized. It kept the jazz-like
movability, but the soulfulness of grassroots blues. It was this pioneering time
period that would carry this genre on a journey that’s still recognized, and is still
shelling out new artists to this day. Less than a decade later, it would find itself being
combined with country, another growing popular genre of the time period to form
rock and roll, a genre that would come to define not just American popular music, but
American popular culture as a whole.
19. Conclusion
While the bleak and dark times of war were changing U.S. citizens’ demeanors and lifestyles, the rise of
the popular big bands were keeping them company. American laborers had many troubles and worries
to face throughout the day, and in order to take their minds off them, millions of Americans could turn
on their radios and pull out their record players to listen to the beautiful love songs and driving swing
songs of the day. Even the men overseas were sent records to listen to while nesting in the heat of
battle. African Americans were getting their first hints of being in the popular light in both movies and
music. Many African American musical artists, mostly in the swing genre, were finding themselves being
recognized on the popular charts, and millions of Americans, both black and white, were listening to
and enjoying music made by African Americans. Women were finding themselves to be more and more
prominent to the importance of American progress during World War II, and that sense of importance
would be a benefactor in the progress toward the Women’s Rights Movement. This was no different for
women musicians, who found more opportunities than ever before throughout the war; this carried
down to jazz women who found many opportunities to be in popular big bands. Jazz musicians both in
and not in the popular scene fell upon hard times both due and not due to the effects of war, finding
troubles recording, promoting, and playing. While the end of the war meant the end of an era, and a
return to old standards, America’s boomed economy, due to the benefits that came with being a large
factor in winning the war, meant the dawn of a new era when the traditional ideas of labor were
changing, and a push for more jobs in the Arts was becoming feasible. This would contribute to the rise
and cultivation of popular music that would come with the explosion of rock and roll a decade later.
20. Works Cited
• Young, William H., and Nancy K. Young. Music of
the World War II Era. Westport, CT: Greenwood,
2008. Print.
• Garofalo, Reebee. Rockin' Out: Popular Music in
the USA. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. Print.
• Rosenzweig, Roy, Nelson Lichtenstein, Joshua
Brown, David Jaffee, and Stephen Brier. Who Built
America?: Working People and the Nation's
History. Boston: Beford/St. Martin's, 2008. Print.