Reflections on "John Henry": ethical issues in singing performance

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

Volumn 67, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 173-180

  Bicknell, Jeanette ^a  

^a CARLETON UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 65849346894     PISSN: 00218529     EISSN: 15406245     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6245.2009.01346.x     Document Type: Article

References (17)

1. Laurence Thomas, "Moral Deference," The Philosophical Forum 24 (1992-93): 233-250.
2. On this see Daniel Jacobson, "In Praise of Immoral Art," Philosophical Topics 25 (1997): 155-199, The topic of ironic performances of songs raises special difficulties that I cannot pursue here.
3. For an exception to the general neglect that such music receives, and a discussion of several examples, see Philip Alperson and Noël Carroll, "Music, Mind, and Morality: Arousing the Body Politic," Journal of Aesthetic Education 42 (2008): 1-15.
4. On the ontological "thinness" of some traditional music, see Stephen Davies, Musical Works and Performances (Oxford University Press, 2001).
5. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/elections/bushtext071000. htm (accessed January 12, 2008).
6. Thomas, "Moral Deference," p. 247.
7. See Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. James W. Ellington (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2001), pp. 31-33.
8. Scott Reynolds Nelson, Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry: The Untold Story of an American Legend (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 172. I have relied on this book for information about the history of the song and the use of the "John Henry" image.
9. Nelson, Steel Drivin' Man, p. 2.
10. "Modern-Day John Henry Dies Trying to Out-Spreadsheet Excel 11.0," The Onion. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/modern-day- john-henry-dies-trying (accessed December 20, 2007).
11. See Michèle Lamont, The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration (Harvard University Press, 2000).
12. Belafonte makes this clear in his interview with Michael Eldridge in Transition 92, http://www.transitionmagazine.com/articles/remains.htm (accessed June 6, 2008).
13. The interview was reprinted in Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004, ed. Mickey Hart (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2004).
14. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (Sony, 2006). Liner notes by Bruce Springsteen.
15. This is the approach taken by Joel Rudinow in his very influential article, "Race, Ethnicity, Expressive Authenticity: Can White People Sing the Blues?" The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 52 (1994): 127-137.
16. On such issues see Lee B. Brown, "Marsalis and Baraka: An Essay in Comparative Cultural Discourse," Popular Music 23 (2004): 241-255;
17. Mike Daley, "'Why Do Whites Sing Black?' The Blues, Whiteness, and Early Histories of Rock," Popular Music and Society 26 (2003): 161-167.