UCLA Extension Course Gets in Tune With Black Music

Len Chandler’s great ambition had seemed to him a reasonable enough goal. His plans were to teach a class that explored the influence of black musicians on American music.

After all, Chandler’s whole life had been immersed in it. His father was a jazz musician, and Chandler had established a career as a folk singer by the 1960s, recording a pair of solo albums for Columbia Records with producer John Hammond.

So when UCLA Extension accepted his course idea into its 1992 curriculum, Chandler didn’t expect his research to require much time. “But after three or four weeks of reading, I hadn’t even gotten to 1900 yet,” he said.

“I found so many levels; I unraveled so many stories and little intrigues that I was totally unaware of.”

Chandler, 56, quickly understood that a nine-week course could never include a detailed study of the influence of black musicians on jazz, gospel, folk, blues and rock. The class, now titled “Rhythm & Blues: The Impact of Black Music Today,” was finally refocused to include only pop music since the 1950s.

It’s an era Chandler knows well because he grew up in Akron, Ohio, listening to deejay Alan Freed spin records by such rock pioneers as Bo Diddley and Little Richard. “Frankly, even by focusing on that, I’ll only be concentrating on the people who made the greatest contribution,” he said.

Fittingly, both Diddley and Richard are among a series of guest speakers scheduled to appear at Chandler’s Wednesday night classes, which begin Jan. 29. Tuition is $255.

“There’s nothing like talking to the real people and the real creators,” Chandler said.

Discussions will center on “what their lives were like, what their contributions were and what their struggles were,” said Chandler, who with songwriter John Braheny created the long-running Tuesday night Los Angeles Songwriter Showcases, sponsored by BMI.

Other likely guest speakers, he said, include musicians Willie Dixon, Hank Ballard and Johnny Otis, and music journalist Nelson George, author of the books “The Death of Rhythm & Blues” and “Where Did Our Love Go?”

Chandler said his course will look beyond the creative process and study how a variety of business interests affected the careers of many black artists from the earliest days of rock and rhythm and blues. Very often, he said, these interests helped guide the creative process “in order to maximize the financial impact, and forever altered the direction of the music.”

Many artists suffered from poor advice, which distorted their music and alienated fans, Chandler said. As an illustration, the class will chart the career of singer Jackie Wilson, whose athletic stage presence and such hits as “Baby Workout” and “Lonely Teardrops” led to success by the late 1950s.

“He ended up in the small clubs,” Chandler said of Wilson’s attempt to reach a more mainstream crowd. “He had everything that it took to be an amazing superstar. But he ruined his career by trying to court the crossover audience.”

At the moment, Chandler is listening to taped interviews with such key musical figures as singer Dinah Washington and Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun.

The tapes document the important early days of rock and R & B, when it already seemed to break down certain racial barriers. “A lot of white kids would start coming back to those dances, where it was mostly a black audience, with black performers.”

The music of black Americans, Chandler said, “even influenced people like George Gershwin, without question. It has permeated through all of our styles, and the impact has not stopped at the borders of the United States.”

Ironically, he added, new racial boundaries have since been erected within the music industry, where black artists are generally relegated into the categories of jazz and R & B. Black musicians are rarely found on rock radio.

“If you don’t fit the R & B format, you are dead because of this racism in the industry,” Chandler said.

SCHOOL’S IN: Rock music veteran Kenny Kerner returns to UCLA Extension with his course, “On the Cutting Edge of the Contemporary Music Scene: The Musician in Los Angeles,” beginning Tuesday.

As in last year’s version, the class is designed to help guide musicians through the frustrations of a new career on the local rock club scene. Kerner, senior editor for Music Connection magazine, will conduct discussions on performance, promotion, management and other topics.

The 7 p.m. classes, which will often feature working music professionals as guest speakers, meet weekly. The fee is $295.