It's no secret that many, if not all, British rockers were heavily influenced by the gospel, blues and soul of Black America. Recently, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant made an appearance on the Today Show where he performed and spoke of his musical influences. Not surprisingly, Mr. Plant spoke of his love and admiration for Black music. But surprisingly, he referred to Black music as "spook music.""[British people] didn't really have the musical knowledge as you guys have [in America],....so we tapped as much American 'spook music' as we could -- as much blues -- mixed it up and nobody liked it. But the feeling of freedom was fantastic."
WTH was he thinking? The word spook conjures up scary images of ghosts, witches and a gloomy dark underworld. What exactly is the correlation between 'spook' & Black music. Soulful and inspirational are far more synonymous with Black music than the word 'spook.' I would have to think that this man and many others having been referring to one of the world's greatest gifts as 'spook music' for over forty years. Am I a bit too sensitive and overreacting? Or do I have just cause to be outraged and offended? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comment box.
No comments:
Post a Comment