In 1933, Ethel Waters made music history when she sang her bluesy rendition of 'Stormy Weather' at the famous Cotton Club in Harlem. In her autobiography, she wrote: “I sang it from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated." This track is smooth and masterful but hidden in the nuances of her vocal work, you can feel the sounds of her heart breaking. 💔

She obviously struck a chord with the nation, because this song became that year’s most popular record and is now considered one of the greatest, most beloved standards of the jazz era.

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TTDWxfShjwU&pp=0gcJCR4Bo7VqN5tD

In 1932, the Great Depression had reached its peak, with unemployment in the US alone topping out at 24.9%. (Right now in 2025 it’s at 4.4%.)

Amelia Earhart’s triumphant solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean gave the papers some positive news to print, as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt beating out Herbert Hoover for the role of US president.

The big band sound and jazz dominated the music scene, with Cole Porter’s song “Night And Day” sung by Fred Astaire being the biggest hit of the year.

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#ColePorter

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKBJ5gj43I

The Great Depression was in full swing in 1931, with banks around the world falling like dominos. ‘Hoovervilles,’ shantytowns for the homeless and jobless who lost their homes due to foreclosure, sprung up all over the nation, named after the president who took his blood-covered axe to the economy.

With the reality of economic hardship now impossible to deny, blues music became a way for Americans to vent their stress and feel their grief for all they had lost in such a short amount of time.

One of the biggest blues hits of 1931 was the great Skip James performing “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues.” You can really feel the pain and sorrow in his voice. Despite the brilliance of his musicianship, the Depression kept Skip’s music career from taking off, and his record company ended up dropping him and many other deserving musicians. (He got rediscovered in 1964, solidifying his rightful place in music history as one of the blues’s greats.)

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#TheGreatDepression

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pC60xIWKFGM

In 1930, a notable trend happened in American music. The 1929 stock market crash triggered the start of The Great Depression but for some reason, positive songs of resilience and overcoming hardship were among the most popular that year.

Even when the U.S. government made the stupid mistake of passing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised import prices of over 20,000 items (sound familiar?), putting millions more people out of work and aggravating the effects of The Depression, the people still loved the hopeful, happy vibe such joyful songs gave them. Music helped them carry on.

Escapism? Denialism? ‘Toxic positivity?’ Or was it simply the resilience of the American People?

Here’s “Happy Days Are Here Again” by Ben Selvin and the Crooners.

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=waZUb6jqRXk

The year was 1929, when the US stock market crashed hard and the Roaring Twenties came to a screeching halt.

Perhaps no song out there captures the essence of financial and social loss more than the gritty, soulful version of “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out,” recorded by the massively influential Bessie Smith, the ‘Empress of the Blues.’

I can’t tell you how much I love her voice. There’s no way for me to measure it. A true master!

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#1929crash

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e3AwfORXYpQ

When you think of Disney programming, do you think of violence? Animal cruelty? How about chewing tobacco?

Well in 1928, Walt Disney Productions introduced the characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse in their first-ever short feature film with sound, and this film had all of that and more. In fact, the adorable little goody-two-shoes Mickey we all know and love today actually started off as kind of a jerk! But judge for yourselves. 😁

Mickey and Minnie Mouse in “Steamboat Willie” (1928).

(Time Length: 7:38)

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#anime

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I5pG1wbRKOg&pp=ygUQc3RlYW1ib2F0IHdpbGxpZQ%3D%3D

Many music legends have covered Hoagy Carmichael’s epic lovesong “Stardust,” from Louis Armstrong to Sarah Vaughan. (My personal favorite is by Willie Nelson.)

But have you ever listened to the original before? First performed in 1927, the year of the first commercial airline flight (Pan Am) and the invention of the television.

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j2fbOAyNOpM&list=RDj2fbOAyNOpM&start_radio=1&pp=ygUTc3RhcmR1c3QgaG9hZ3kgMTkyN6AHAdIHCQkDCgGHKiGM7w%3D%3D

In 1926 one of Jazz’s would-be greats, Louis Armstrong, was just starting to take off as a hit machine. Here is Louis and His Hot Five showing us a little playful scatting in “Heebie Jeebies.”

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gl6c7FFM5Es

1925 was a big year for my homeland of Alaska, not yet a state at this time. The “Serum Run To Nome” was started for transporting lifesaving medicines via dog sled across the Arctic to ease the diphtheria outbreak on the northwest coast. And Charlie Chaplin released his silent motion picture “Gold Rush.” The flapper trend was in full swing, here at the peak of ‘the roaring twenties,’ and popular music that blended jazz with ragtime was booming.

My favorite song from that era: Gene Austin with “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby.”

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yXV4cRkQdsQ&pp=0gcJCR4Bo7VqN5tD

The holy matrimony of Classical and Jazz that is “Rhapsody In Blue” by George Gershwin is a cornerstone of American music. Imagine an entire society changing because of a single song! “Rhapsody In Blue” has been described as a ‘musical portrait of New York City,’ and with its changing moods and soundscapes, it feels like a journey.

This is the first recording of the song, from 1924, by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra featuring George Gershwin on piano. Enjoy.

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvuUOtHGkk