Jackson-Kent Blues
1970 · Capitol SKAO 436 · Los Angeles, California
- Artist
- Steve Miller Band
- Title
- Jackson-Kent Blues
- Release
- Number 5
- Year
- 1970
- Label
- Capitol # SKAO 436
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Genre
- Rock · Blues Rock
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The psychedelic rock track "Jackson-Kent Blues" (Capitol Records # SKAO-436) by the American group Steve Miller Band is one of the few songs to actually mention the killings of two African-American students at Jackson State College on 15 May 1970. Released on this album only, in July 1970, it reached # 23 in the Billboard chart. (1) Most other songs on this list focused on Kent State - probably an accurate reflection of the media, political, and public attention received at the time, in which greater concern was shown for the white middle-class college students than for the African-Americans attending a community state college. Three African-American students killed earlier in 1968 at South Carolina State College (the "Orangeburg massacre"), during a demonstration against segregation, also received little attention. (2) (3) (4) This song started with the narrator heading to Ohio for a demonstration "against the president's views" - that being a reference to President Nixon. So he tried to complain to his Congressman, who would not answer the phone because he / she was "worried about voters". Then the narrator attacked Nixon's "silent majority", referenced the students killed in…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs
The psychedelic rock track "Jackson-Kent Blues" (Capitol Records # SKAO-436) by the American group Steve Miller Band is one of the few songs to actually mention the killings of two African-American students at Jackson State College on 15 May 1970. Released on this album only, in July 1970, it reached # 23 in the Billboard chart. (1) Most other songs on this list focused on Kent State - probably an accurate reflection of the media, political, and public attention received at the time, in which greater concern was shown for the white middle-class college students than for the African-Americans attending a community state college. Three African-American students killed earlier in 1968 at South Carolina State College (the "Orangeburg massacre"), during a demonstration against segregation, also received little attention. (2) (3) (4) This song started with the narrator heading to Ohio for a demonstration "against the president's views" - that being a reference to President Nixon. So he tried to complain to his Congressman, who would not answer the phone because he / she was "worried about voters". Then the narrator attacked Nixon's "silent majority", referenced the students killed in…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American rock band formed 1966 in San Francisco, California. [Source: Wikipedia]
Themes
In collections
Kent / Jackson State Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs