Ed Giza
Ed Giza’s interest in popular music, especially in the blues, comes to the forefront
in his final project, “Everybody Talkin’ ‘Bout a Spoonful: The Blues, from America
to England and Back.” His project traces the changes that this musical genre underwent
in its journey from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago to England and back. His discussion
focuses primarily on the song “Spoonful” and the various incarnations that this song
undergoes during the 1960s in the United States and England. For those less familiar
with this song, Ed included a CD along with his work. Beginning with classical blues
artists like Charley Patton and Muddy Waters, Ed then moves to more mainstream artists
like The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Cream in his exploration of popular culture
and the history of the blues in the twentieth century, particularly the decade of
the 1960s. Ed’s courses in music history, madness and creativity, Modernism, race
and British popular culture contributed crucial information for the completion of
his MALS degree and his final project. Ed’s thorough and insightful analysis of the
period and the music make for fascinating reading that pulls a single thread out of
the complex tapestry of an era and a musical movement of great significance.
