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Music and Aesthetic ChoicesCall and ResponseWhen Bearden said he worked out of the tradition of the blues, he emphasized the role of call and recall. His reprise of often-worked themes from his memory—and the often-repeated motifs associated with them—seemed to him like the riffed repetition of a classic blues AAB pattern, in which the second line is a slight alteration of the first.For performers singing without music, repetition gave time to devise the next line. As in Bearden's work it is both evocation of the familiar and a jumping off place for composition. Listen to: Trixie Smith, “Freight Train Blues” I've got the freight train blues, but I'm too darn mean to cry I've got the freight train blues, too darn mean to cry I'm gonna love that man till the day he die There's three trains ready but none ain't goin' my way I said there's three trains ready but none ain't goin' my way But the sun's gonna shine in my backdoor some day |
Romare Bearden, Train Whistle Blues: I, 1964, Laura Grosche and Herb Jackson
Romare Bearden, Train
Whistle Blues: II, 1964, Robert and Faye Davidson, Los Angeles, California
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