In 1845, at the tender age of 20, this Baltimore native was among the first African-American women to be published. Born free to free parents, when they perished Frances was left to be raised by her aunt and uncle. Her uncle, the Rev. William J. Watkins, Sr. was a minister and founder of a school. His influence on Frances (especially the religious aspects) would appear in her works for the rest of her life.
Forced to leave school to work at age 13, Frances was a seamstress for a local family that ran a bookstore. While she tended to the children and mended the clothes, Frances educated herself on how to write from the works on their shelves. At 26, Frances left for Columbus, OH to teach domestic science. Since she was able to write, Frances had been composing poetry. As early as 1839, her poems started appearing in abolitionist journals.
By 1845, Frances published her first book, "Autumn Leaves" or "Forest Leaves." Copies of this collection were thought to be forever lost until poetry scholar Johanna Ortner found a pamphlet stored away in the archives of the Maryland Historical Society. While not an original pressing, the discovery of these poems finally cemented her connection to Phyllis Wheatley, Ann Plato, and Harriet Jacobs.
Her best-known surviving work is 1854's "Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects." These writings made Frances well-known in abolitionist circles paving the way for her to gain popularity on the lecture circuit. With an introduction from the famous William Lloyd Garrison, "Poems" would be reprinted nearly 20 times and distributed throughout the nascent nation.
When you read the scanned copy available at Harvard University online, you can see that Frances knew that short poems with exclamations and interrogative statements were the best way to be heard. In addition to this, while following the classical Greek method of stanzas, Frances kept her rhyme schemes and line lengths easy for everyone to read.
"Eliza Harris" was written in response to another great abolitionist work of the day, Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." In her poem, Frances lets us first be struck by the beauty of the words on the page ("Like a fawn from the arrow, startled and wild,") only to reveal that this is a mother "bearing a child" on the run. As it continues, Frances wants us to see her as completely courageous and dead set on giving her child a better life at any cost. As Eliza eludes being pursued over treacherous terrain in the bitter cold, Frances constantly reminds us that this mother's love can conquer everything.
"Ethiopia" hearkens back to her education of her childhood from her minister uncle. Alluding to Psalms 68:31 ("Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God," Frances is both her possible vision of Heaven and a reassertion that belief in the Almighty is a ballast against those continuing to engage in worldly pursuits that have drifted into the realm of law.
Frances' poems and prose continue to carry a matronly/motherly theme. However, her imposition of logic often uses implication to arouse new paths of thought. For instance, even as a mother writing, it is common for her to suggest that children are not born to her (or any mothers) unless they are first free. Therefore at the nexus of her religious education, classical readings, and abolitionist life, Frances uses every available chance in her poetry to lead your train of thought to appeal for change.
Frances would be the most popular and read African-American poet for the next 30 years. Her 1859 short story "The Two Offers" would make her the first to publish a short story. In 1892, at age 67, her work "Iola Leroy" would become the first novel published by an African-American woman. In steering her philosophy toward what would be known as "the social novel" and drawing inspiration from a Mississippi court proceeding, Frances wrote about passing, miscegenation, temperance, and Women's suffrage. Despite early pressings being met with praise, "Iola Leroy" quickly fell out of favor and lay unpublished again from 1895 until 1971.
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Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
NEW MUSIC This Week
USHER - Coming Home [RUST SWIRL LP/CD](Vydia/ Gamma) • Aside from his lengthy career and positioning as a multi-hyphenate, Usher's first album in eight years is a smart play. Not one who needs to warm up to the new world of gurgling skittering beat R&B or play to the older audiences who crave nostalgia, Usher tones down to plant his voice into seductive grooves ("Ruin" feat. Pheelz,) while using the clout with newer artists like Summer Walker, 21 Savage, and Latto to give wind to the old-school grooves. "Coming Home" never seems desperate to fit in (ahem Justin Timberlake) and content to function as a continuation of his storied career. Did we mention he is the halftime entertainment at the Super Bowl?
DECLAN MCKENNA - What Happened To The Beach? [YELLOW LP/CD](Tomplicated/Q Prime/ADA) • After being hailed as a mature songwriter ten years ago at 16, UK star Declan McKenna has taken the all-too-familiar to stardom. While it is understandable that an up-and-coming singer/songwriter might not want to swerve around comparisons to billion-streamers like Ed Sheeran ("Elevator Hum") and Harry Styles ("Mulholland's Dinner and Wine,") The Bowie-meets-Bon Iver acoustic intimacy of "Slipping Through My Fingers" and even the very British Idles gone Pop shake of "Nothing Works" (especially when the chorus shakes off the production) show the true promise of being himself.
THE DEAD SOUTH - Chains & Stakes [LP/CD](Six Shooter/Thirty Tigers/The Orchard) • This Saskatchewan-based old-time Country/Blurgrass outfit has so much mileage out of the TV/movie placement of "In Hell, I'll Be In Good Company" that is it nice to see them return with their first original music after four years. Like fellow (true) Country-man Colter Wall, The Dead South are purest when they say so much with so little. They hit the Bluegrass harmonies and speed on "20 Mile Jump" and get gritty on "Tiny Wooden Box." The latter reveals their true secret weapon - they know how to use mood for the verse and as the fuse to set off an explosive, melodic chorus. To their credit, "Chains & Stakes" again finds The Dead South not swiping licks from Appalachian-born Folk, but smartly carrying us all the way back to its roots in Ireland, Scotland, and yup...Canada.
MADI DIAZ - Weird Faith [OPAQUE GREEN LP/CD] (ANTI/AMPED) • Madi Diaz has shown her songwriting skills on her previous albums, but 2021's "History of A Feeling" was the first to show maturation. While that is a key to growth in craft, Diaz is at her best when using her songs as a mirror to reflect her life. She has a big fan in Kacey Musgraves who lends her angelic coo as the complement to Diaz on the ballad "Don't Do Me Good." However, the sing-song chorus is a real selling point here. It is "Everything Almost" that quietly approaches Diaz's best song yet. While it does stray a little too close to Boygenius in production style, Diaz's second verse is so completely original that all is forgiven. Most songwriters would lose focus trying to string disparate images from a dream together (and even more crowning a line with a cursing baby.) Diaz's voice handles it all like a pro steering the dream of any couple into dreaming of her lost parents and ending with her father's sage advice "You can have everything but not all the time."
BRITTANY HOWARD - What Now [YELLOW LP/CD](Island) • As Howard makes her solo move to a major label, "What Now" (so far) is indicative that her identity crisis is continuing. With a voice as emotive and dexterous as hers, Howard can shoehorn herself into nearly anything. However, "Jaime" came with a built-in meaning (and sadly did not age well with the main exception of the soulful "Stay High.") So, left to theorize, a booming dance-beat led song with her multi-tracked voice in all directions like "Red Flags" wants to follow the implications of simple Seventies Soul down a futuristic road. Yet, it is still surprisingly light considering the heft of her production with Grammy-winner Shawn Everett. Everett's presence is a welcome return as he guided the masterful "Sound and Color" into the stars. However, Howard's writing is simply too light. "Prove It To You" bravely wants to be a club hit, but lacks any real lyrical direction. This leaves this album's "Stay High," the futuristic Soul of the title cut to carry the weight. At least over the tough beats of Nate Smith, Howard is able to communicate her confusion, switching stances from one line to the next. Here is hoping "What Now" continues to march along these shifting sands.
GLASS BEACH - Plastic Death [LP/CD])(Run For Cover) • On one of the best new albums of 2024, the Seattle Indie Rockers throw their Emo-based Rock back to Prog textures and revive the emotional thrust of The Dismemberment Plan. The songs of "Plastic Death" are purposely compositionally challenging, but they never compromise their vision in trying to make their pieced-together songs fit into a cohesive sequence on the album. So, as a result, every song comes out of nowhere and does not rest until it has extracted everything it can out of you while listening. Their harmonies are lush, even outlasting the millions of time changes. "Motions" is ridiculously catchy in both that Emo-single way and its Broadway-ish showiness. However, when it peaks - the thrill is almost metallic. "Plastic Death" is outstanding and may just revive an interest in Pop-based Prog-ish Indie Rock.
REISSUES THIS WEEK
EMINEM - Marshall Mathers 2 - 10th Anniversary [4LP](Aftermath/ Interscope/UMe) • Before Eminem made a somewhat hasty exit from Hip-Hop, he left this sequel to his third album as his statement. Working with a cadre of great producers and beatmakers, Eminem leaned on his two closest collaborators Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin to make an album that would win his sixth Best Rap Album Grammy and go 4x Platinum. As always, a good Hip-Hop album takes a long time to assemble, so for this special edition, bonus songs have been gathered ("Don'f Front" feat. Buckshot) and the instrumentals are presented for the first time.
MAZZY STAR - So Tonight That I Might See [PURPLE SMOKE LP/CD] (Capitol/Thinkindie) • In the Alternative goldrush of the early Nineties, somehow the hazy, laconic, almost druggy slow Rock of Mazzy Star found its way to Capitol Records. The late David Roback of the underrated Rain Parade and his discovery Hope Sandoval had produced one album of Velvet Underground-esque dark beauties in 1990's "She Hangs Brightly." A hit in the UK, the album even produced a modest (for a struggling indie label at the time) single out of Slapp Happy's "Blue Flower." However, this album really was not reflective of Sandoval's writing. "So Tonight" would be the first complete collaboration between Roback and Sandoval. Despite a poor start after its release in 1993, the single "Fade Into You" slowly gathered enough steam to be deemed worthy of making a second video for MTV in 1994. When this new clip became a hit, radio around the world followed. By Summer 1994, audiences found their way into the rest of an album that dared to mix Folk, Country, Psychedelia, and Classic Rock. After nearly ten years of toiling away in the Paisley Underground, Mazzy Star took all the mystery, mysticism, and melodicism to commercial success as both a Top 40 album and almost hit (#44.) From here on out, any female singing in a dusky haze would be compared to Sandoval, and "Fade Into You" continues to slowly climb the list of the best singles of all time.
