An Introduction to America’s Music

CHAPTER 19 | SOUL, FUNK, AND DISCO IN THE 1970s 477

percussion and background vocals signal the song’s modernity. The deft combi-

nation of musical and lyrical elements evokes a simpler time while presenting a

traditional moral lesson in the expressive language of 1970s mainstream country.

SOUL, FUNK, AND DISCO IN THE 1970s

African American popular music in the early 1970s underwent transformations

similar to those in rock and country music. In all popular genres, to varying

degrees, artistic and critical weight shifted from the single to the album; individ-

ual songs tended to be longer than the once-standard three minutes and to com-

bine greater formal complexity with more stylistic variety; lyrics tended to stress

political engagement, spiritual questioning, or personal confession; and concert

spectacle and blockbuster album promotion formed a synergistic bond. Sev-

eral black artists active in the 1960s continued to fl ourish as they adjusted to the

new commercial and artistic climate, while new artists appeared on the scene,

advancing established genres of soul and funk and creating a new genre: disco.

Listen & Refl ect

1. What musical features connect this song to earlier country songs such as “Can the Circle
   Be Unbroken” (LG 11.2), and which ones distinguish it as a product of the 1970s?


2. Some listeners may argue that the song is marred aesthetically by its nonstandard
   English, weak rhymes, and other literary imperfections; others might argue that they con-
   tribute positively to the song’s air of rural simplicity and authenticity. What do you think?
   What are some others genres in which nonstandard English might be an asset, not a fault?


3. Compare the subject matter and musical treatment of this song and “Mama Tried”
   (LG 18.4). Do you fi nd one song more convincing than the other? Why? How is your
   response affected by knowledge that Merle Haggard did not serve life without parole, but
   that Dolly Parton’s story is, as far as we can determine, factually accurate (the coat she
   sings about is on display at Dollywood, her theme park in eastern Tennessee)?

timing section text comments

2:31 chorus But they didn't understand

it...

20 bars (9 + 11): Parton alters the fi rst lines of

the chorus lyric to deliver the moral of the story,

with help from the backup singers and organ.

On the last word (“me,” 2:54) the tonic chord is

delayed by inserting a subdominant chord. The

resulting plagal cadence (IV–I), especially when

played by organ, evokes the “Amen” cadence

that ends a Protestant hymn.

CD 4.1 Listening Guide 19.2 “Coat of Many Colors” DOLLY PARTON

172028_19_468-494_r3_sd.indd 477 23/01/13 11:05 AM