My Daddy Rocks Me
Queer Voice and Desire in the Music of Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21789065 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Metzer (University of British Columbia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-15 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the Society for American Music (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1752-1963 • E-ISSN: 1752-1971 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1752196326101187 |
| OpenAlex | W7166638526 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon was a Black, queer musician active from the 1910s through the 1930s. His work is characterized by captivating transformations of both musical elements and the gender and sexual dimensions of songs. A discussion of his recording of “My Daddy Rocks Me” reveals Jaxon not only reimagining the song but also raising the voice of the sissy character in the blues and presenting queer desire as rapturous and transgressive. While studies of queer aspects of the blues have focused on female musicians like Ma Rainey, this article is the first to examine the music of a queer Black male musician
Blues · Musical · Queer · Queer theory · Sexual relationship · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Music History and Culture · Musicology and Musical Analysis
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |