A poetic playlist in honor of Maya Angelou
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness,” Maya Angelou is often quoted as saying about her relationship with song. More than a passing affair that some know nothing about. Before she was the world-renowned author, Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Ann Johnson, had another name — Miss Calypso. More than a decade before “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” was published, she performed in San Francisco nightclubs and off-Broadway, eventually recording her first and last album, 1957’s “Miss Calypso.” We asked Dwan Reece, curator of music and performing arts at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, to curate this week’s playlist based on the musical footnotes in Angelou’s career path.
1. “Some Days” — Audra McDonald (Text by James Baldwin, Music by Steve Marzullo)
“Contemporary, friend and ‘brother’ Angelou credits writer James Baldwin as laying the groundwork for her 1969 autobiography, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.'”
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2. “Again” — Janet Jackson
“The poems Janet Jackson recites in the film ‘Poetic Justice’ are Angelou’s. She also makes an appearance in the film.”
3. “You Put It on Me” — B. B. King
“This song was written by Angelou and appeared on the soundtrack for the 1968 film ‘For Love of Ivy.’ ”
4. “I Hope You Dance” — Lee Ann Womack
“Angelou described herself as a country music aficionado and listed Montgomery Gentry, Toby Keith and Reba McEntire as artists she enjoyed listening to. ‘I Hope You Dance’ is one of her favorite songs. She once said she wished she had written it.”
5. “Get By” — Talib Kweli featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z, Mos Def
“Angelou’s legacy is clearly represented in rap and hip hop. In this remix, she and sister musician, Nina Simone, receive a shout-out: ‘Nina Simone’s music is like Michelangelo painted a portrait of Maya Angelou.’ ”
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6. “Mr. Tambourine Man” — Odetta (written by Bob Dylan)
“Bob Dylan and Odetta were two voices that Angelou thought captured America’s spirit and soul. Angelou lauded Dylan’s honesty as an artist, and about Odetta she once said, ‘If only one could be sure that every 50 years a voice and a soul like Odetta’s would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly we would hardly recognize time.’ ”
7. “I’ll Rise” — Ben Harper
Share this articleShare“Another work inspired by Angelou’s poem, ‘And Still I Rise.’ ”
8. “Who All is Here” — Ella Jenkins
“Ella Jenkins, the first lady of children’s folk song, learned this song from Angelou in the 1950s and included it in the 1960 album ‘African-American Folk Rhythms.’ ”
9. Scandal in the Family — Maya Angelou
“From her 1957 album, ‘Miss Calypso.’ ”
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