Music appearing in this episode:
Simon & Garfunkel - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970)
JS Bach - St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 - O Haupt Voll Blut Und Wunden (1727)
Paul Simon - "American Tune" (1973)
The Swan Silvertones - "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" (1959)
Paul Simon - "Loves Me Like a Rock" (1973)
Aretha Franklin - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Live at Fillmore West, San Francisco, February 5, 1971)
There's video of this performance too, though the sound isn’t very good.
Aretha Franklin - "Mary, Don't You Weep" (Live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Los Angeles, January 14, 1972)
I include excerpts of Paul Simon's appearance on the Dick Cavett Show on April 9, 1970.
Read more analysis of Aretha's recording and see a notated transcription here.
Read more about Paul Simon's love of that Bach chorale.
I quote from Kate Heidemann's doctoral dissertation, Hearing Women’s Voices in Popular Song: Analyzing Sound and Identity in Country and Soul.
I also quote from Daphne Brooks' NPR article "Aretha's Bridge."
Eric Lott's book Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class is a tough and necessary read.
Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe
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