The Post-War World: G.I. Jive

During the war, international affairs saturated the airwaves, the record industry operated on special orders from Uncle Sam, and Americans savored songs rife with wartime flavor. But by the latter half of 1945, allied forces had prevailed and the end of the war ushered in tremendous change. No longer inundated with Nazis and kamikazes, the nation's agenda turned to demobilization and a peacetime economy, domestic problems both old and new, and musical expressions that were less topical shifts than stylistic evolutions. Amid the many transitions of the post-war, national security remained the constant: Little Boy and Fat Man, the atomic bomb siblings dropped on Japan, made certain of that.

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Explore The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb Study Collection and Teaching Materials at the Truman Museum and Library.

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The thirteen songs presented here come from the 78 rpm, 45 rpm and LP disc collections in the Marr Sound Archives.

Song #1
During their musical tenures in Europe, pianist Mel Powell and drummer Ray McKinley penned "Oranges and Lemons," a composition first introduced during the war by Glenn Miller's AEF Orchestra. An adaptation of Powell's instrumental part resulted in the commercial hit "My Guy's Come Back." In 1945, the revamped song scored top fifteen hits for Dinah Shore and Benny Goodman during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, respectively. The blissful rendition by vocalist Helen Forrest featured here failed to make a comparable splash in the spring of 1946 as many of the enlisted had already returned home; but its belated appearance on record mirrored the sluggish process of demobilization as some Americans still awaited the homecoming of their uniformed loved ones.

Song #2
Like the atomic bomb, the birth of modern jazz evolved during the war to little fanfare, slowly maturing during low profile meetings-of-the-minds, until finally exploding with such an unexpected force on an unsuspecting people. Two New York establishments noted for their sympathetic ear - Minton's Playhouse and Clark Monroe's Uptown House - played host to innovative after-hour jam sessions where the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Kenny Clarke held court. By war's end, the new movement - christened be-bop - had turned the jazz world inside out. Traditionalists scoffed at its harmonic liberties; big band aficionados criticized its individualistic approach; casual listeners complained of its chaotic complexities; but for those who understood, it signaled a giant step forward. The 1945 recording, "4-F Blues," illustrates the dichotomy that be-bop created in the 1940's jazz scene: the measured guitar work of Mike Bryan and the lurid phrasings of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie are balanced by a Don Byas tenor sax solo that bridges the gap between the restraint of big band solos and the improvisational freedom of be-bop. Charlie Parker offers alto sax obbligato throughout, feeling right at home on this record reminiscent of the blues-drenched sound of his native Kansas City.

Song #3, Song #4
Among the many concerns facing Americans after World War II were adequate housing and a possible economic downturn. The flood of returning men and women and the transition back to a peacetime workflow spelled uncertainty for a nation that relied on the wartime economy to shake the remnants of the Great Depression. On a November 1945 recording "Time To Change Your Town," (left-top) blues shouter Wynonie Harris laments, "because the war is over, all the shipyards are closing down"; while country artist Merle Travis observes on a May 1946 record that the new foe is "that terrible enemy sign: No Vacancy." (left-bottom) Any feared post-war depression, however, was quelled when massive public works projects in the following decade - the rapid construction of affordable homes and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, in particular - sustained job opportunities, expanded both city limits and federal commerce, and opened the door for dramatic economic growth during the 1950's.

Song #5
One of the problems presented by World War II was the near abandonment of domestic demons to combat-international ones. Almost instinctively, a rallied nation redirected enemy fire at Axis powers, while the wounds of home-front tribulations such as segregation and racism were left unattended. Despite the invaluable role that ethnic minorities played on the frontlines of battle, the struggle for equality remained an uphill fight for these groups. With the return to peace, Americans now pondered their own fraudulent view of unity and mangled sense of freedom. In 1951, when the Civil Rights Movement was in its infancy, Big Bill Broonzy recorded what is considered one of the rallying cries of the African-American people and a wake-up call to a country snoozing on its near hundred-year-old Emancipation Proclamation: "Black, Brown, and White."

Atomic Airwaves and Radioactive Records: The Music of the Cold War

"Seldom if ever has a war ended leaving the victors with such a sense of uncertainty and fear, with such a realization that the future is obscure and that survival is not assured," radio journalist Edward R. Murrow said of the precarious post-war climate. Americans now faced a technology that had ended a war swiftly and surely, but paradoxically, possessed the capacity to start another one on a much larger scale. The atomic age sparked zealous debate, inspired commentary, and political hardball that culminated with a thick cloud of paranoia and propaganda that hovered for decades. The bomb's awesome power mesmerized; its consequences frightened; and its uncharted potential renewed global tensions. As reluctant allies of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union split the spoils of war, emerged as the clear-cut superpowers of the modern world, and vied to outmaneuver the other in the new technological epoch. Whether it was the hush-hush tones of the Manhattan Project or the front-and-center sounds of the music industry, Cold War politics inundated every aspect of life. As the eight songs presented below demonstrate, the "atomic age" had arrived and the surge of records on this topic in post-war America seemed as broad in its musical forms as the bomb's impact zone: jazz, blues, country, folk, gospel, doo-wop, rhythm 'n' blues, and rock 'n' roll entries blanketed the post-war songbook with references to the new age.

Song #6: "Atomic Cocktail." Slim Gaillard Quartette
"It's the drink that you don't pour," claims jazz hipster Slim Gaillard on this December 15, 1945 selection for the Atomic label.

Song #7: "Atomic Bomb Blues." Homer Harris, vocals.
Noted more as an early example of the amplified approach that emerged in the post-war blues scene than for its obvious topical reference, this originally unissued song features Sunnyland Slim on piano and Muddy Waters on guitar. The September 1946 session for Columbia marked the first studio effort for Waters - falling between a handful of field recordings for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's and his legendary debut in 1948 for Aristocrat (later Chess) Records.

Song #8: "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)" Bill Haley and his Comets
The B-side to Haley's 1955 anthem "Rock Around The Clock," this fall-out fantasy came complete with risqué lyrics, haunting guitar licks, and a hypnotic beat - everything you could ask for (or dread) on a rock 'n' roll record from the Cold War era. Seven years later, actress/entertainer Ann-Margaret answered Haley with the gender-bender "Thirteen Men (And Only One Woman in Town)."

Song #9: "Old Man Atom." Sons of the Pioneers, Song #10: "Atom Bomb Baby." The Five Stars
Unearthed for the 1982 documentary Atomic Café, these "atomic platters," from 1947 and 1957 respectively, offer Cold War glimpses of: (1) the "talking blues," a tradition revived by folk icons Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie; and (2) the infectious harmony of the doo-wop style that dominated the airwaves of the late 1950's and early 1960's.

Song #11: "Atom and Evil" Golden Gate Quartet
A moving wartime entry from the Golden Gate Quartet is this June 5, 1946 "atomic a cappella" of biblical proportions!

Song #12: "Atomic Baby" Amos Milburn
The atomic bomb provides the perfect double entendre for this Cold War record, while the jumping pulse found in the grooves illustrates why the rock 'n' roll baby claimed rhythm 'n' blues as one of its parents. Recorded for the Aladdin label in 1950, this sexually-charged side remained in the vaults for years before finally being dropped on American audiences.

Song #13: "Atomic Power" Buchanan Brothers
This catchy hillbilly selection from 1946 meanders through preachy lyrics and a rolling melody, issuing Cold War caveats along the way.

Text by Kelly McEniry, Marr Sound Archives
Digital Audio by Scott Middleton, Marr Sound Archives

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Looking Ahead: The Post-War World

The War's Voices

Winning the Home Front

G.I. Jive

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys

We Interrupt This Program

Now Hear This

G.I. Jive

	Voices of World War II: Experiences From the Front and at Home
	A project in partnership with the Truman Presidential Museum and Library. Audio from the collections of the Marr Sound Archives - Department of Special Collections. Miller Nichols Library - University of Missouri - Kansas City.