Parallels of Musical Appropriation in Mumbo Jumbo and Reality
Ishmal Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo parallels reality in multiple ways. One of the most prominent examples of this is the stealing and appropriation of music from Black culture. In the novel, Moses steals Jethro’s music and attempts to play it off as his own. After hearing of Jethro the Midianite, “who could still play the sounds of the spirit and had a legendary instrument that sounded like an orchestra and knew all the ‘old songs’,” Moses is intrigued and sets out to visit him (Reed 176). Over the next few months, Moses learns all of Jethro’s songs and writes everything down, even marrying his daughter, Zipporah, to obtain the words. Eventually, Moses travels to Egypt and announces that he will give a concert, which consists of the music he learned from Jethro. The only change he makes is that it will be a “dignified concert,” meaning that there will be no “savage dancing” (Reed 182). In this, Moses not only steals Jethro’s music and attempts to perform it as his own, but he also strips it of its cultural meaning, appropriating it for Atonist use.
The theme of stealing music in Mumbo Jumbo can be compared to the real world, using the example of the song “Hound Dog”. In 1952, “Hound Dog” was recorded by Big Mama Thornton, a Black singer and songwriter. Representing a woman’s rejection of a man, the blues song became Thornton’s hit record, selling over 500,000 copies. Despite this, the best-known version of the song is the 1956 recording by Elvis Presley. In comparison, his version sold around 10 million copies globally and topped the US pop, country, and R&B charts in 1956, eventually being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988. Additionally, Elvis used rewritten lyrics that changed their meaning from Thornton’s original metaphor for an exploitative man to a song about a literal dog. "Hound Dog" is just one of many songs that were created by Black artists, then repackaged and popularized by a white artist who received all the credit.
Moses and Elvis are similar in that they both appropriated music from Black artists and attempted to perform it as their own, thereby stripping the music of its original meaning. Notably, there is one key difference between the two. In the real world, Elvis’s rendition of “Hound Dog” becomes far more popular and recognized than Big Mama Thornton’s version. However, in the novel, Moses doesn’t receive the same recognition and accolades. Instead, the concert-goers hate his performance. When Moses plays Jethro’s songs, they are described as sounding “flat, weak, deprived of the lowdown rhythms that Jethro had brought to them.” Further, when Moses begins to sing, Reed writes, “his voice sounded feigned, his mimic of Jethro’s dialect phony” (Reed 183). The ears of the people begin to bleed, and some of them even charge the stage. It is only when the Osirians start playing their own music that the people relax and begin to dance.
This entire scene effectively makes a fool out of Moses. Instead of being celebrated and revered like he expected, he is hated. Through this reversal, Reed offers a contrast to what typically plays out when a white person steals a Black artist’s music, envisioning a world where appropriation is not blindly accepted.
Hi Lena! I really liked your points on the similarities and differences on Moses and Elvis Presley. I agree that it is interesting that Reed makes Moses's rendition of Jethro's songs and music very unpopular among the audience. I think Reed is trying to make a point with that detail that often, these "covers" (like Hound Dog!) are really watered down versions of the original, more alive version.
ReplyDeleteHi Lena!! What an interesting comparison between the novel and the real world! I think the similarities and differences you listed are completely valid. I feel like Moses's failure is significant beyond black music (and cultural) appropriation. His faithless imitation harms his audiences receiving the inauthentic music, as seen in their bleeding ears. I think it really shows how cultural theft harms both the side being stolen from and the ones receiving it.
ReplyDeleteNice blog Lena! I found the comparison you made between Moses and Elvis really interesting. I like how you show Reed's portrayal of Moses stealing Jethro's musics, and the parallels to appropriation of black art in real life, except for the part where Moses fails. I agree with emphasizing Moses's failure because ties will with the idea that Reed's world is one where appropriation is rejected.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you chose to go deep on the Moses narrative in _Mumbo Jumbo_, because it's one of my favorite aspects of chapters 52, but it's hard to really dig into it in class discussion without losing sight of the bigger picture being presented in those chapters. But this portrait of Moses as the first "rock star" has so many stark parallels to the actual history of American music in the twentieth century, it's truly central to the novel's narrative. Jethro in so many ways is coded as a kind of Delta Blues musician, and in addition to Elvis, Moses and his stadium concert evokes the British (and white American) musicians in the 1960s and 1970s who were taking songs from artists like Robert Johnson (who never sold any significant number of records and who died in poverty and obscurity) and turning them into bombastic electric-guitar-driven hard rock (Led Zeppelin comes to mind as one possible analog to Moses on stage, with his fake accent and electrified instrument making everyone's ears bleed). When Moses derisively tosses "a couple bucks" at Jethro to cover "copyright," the analogy is unmistakable--among everything else in this crazy chapter, Reed has us thinking deeply about the parallels between Moses and Eric Clapton.
ReplyDeleteHi Lena. I found your comparison between Moses and Elvis very interesting. I liked how you highlighted the appropriation of Black culture while mentioning the portrayal of Moses. I really liked your overall comparisons and differences throughout your post.
ReplyDeleteReally good blog post Lena! I can tell that you have a really deep understanding of aspects in chapter 52 that are often looked over. It's really interesting to connect Moses to Elvis because unexpectedly enables the reader to understand the scene even more. SUPER JOB LENA!!
ReplyDeleteHello Lena!! I think a key component differentiating Moses and Elvis is awareness. The people in the book knew what the authentic version of the music was, and they then had a reference to call Moses's work as inferior. I think Elvis's story is much more buried, and most people don't know that there's a more authentic version out there; all they know is Elvis's rendition stripped of real meaning and nuance. In my own experience, I hadn't fully understood the intricacies that make imitation apparent in frequently appropriated genres such as r&b and hip-hop until years later once I heard the artists who pioneered those genres. There's something about hearing the source material that solidifies its authenticity and arguable superiority that would cause such a visceral reaction observed in the book. Great post!!
ReplyDeleteHi Lena!! I really like this post about the comparison of Moses and Elvis. It was mentioned in class discussion for a little bit, but I liked how you expanded on the differences between the two copying black artists music and the outcomes. I think you brought in a meaningful point of view in, writing about how inauthentic version of songs seem to only harm those who partake in listening or playing it, from the immediate backlash Moses received and the crowd's ears bleeding. Thanks for this insightful post!
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