I guess busking has existed in many societies, but that's hardly making a living, and certainly not middle class.
Weddings, funerals and birthdays, that's where i see community contribution, not full time professionals. Perhaps community contribution involving a little side income, but chances are, in pre-recording days, not even that. Not much other entertainment possibilities to spend your Sunday on other than being part of the band.
(it's funny how middle class is often portaied as a modern achievement, when the past is so full of examples of population that isn't the ruling elite, but economically still far above another layer of dropouts that would just move from opportunity to opportunity until an early death, at least unless they end up at some form of monastery)
> Weddings, funerals and birthdays, that's where i see community contribution, not full time professionals.
These were definitely professionals and these events were seen as important. Even if you was poor, you threw money on it. People in the past had ears just like we do. The amateur singing after 5th beer is fun for singers, but not fun for anyone else.
> Not much other entertainment possibilities to spend your Sunday on other than being part of the band.
They had plenty of opportunities, we did not invented fun. All generations before us had fun. Socializing and drinking would be the easy straightforward one. Listening to a professional band as you drink and chat.
I like how you're turning the article around a bit. So many voices you hear these days are saying thing like, "My father was a [x]. I've been an [x] all my life. Since [y] it's been harder than ever to make a living. I've always looked up to successful [x]s as more able or refined in some way, but now I have stratification on the brain and I start to think that those [x]s are taking too big a piece of the pie, and they should give me some."
If you approached a club owner in 1960 and said "Look, you don't have to hire a band. I'll set you up with one of those open reel mag tape gizmos and you can spend $300 on a tape library and spend hours nursing it." They'd look at you and reply "That's a crazy joke. I'll hire a band."
Then in 1990 the club owner doesn't even participate in the music, and expects the bartender to keep the CD/cassette deck loaded. Or they play the radio. In 1960 that would result in jibes about the club owner promoting the radio station. In 1990 it just happens and goes unnoticed.
The problem is there has never really been a mass expectation of original live music in all these drinking-places. There has only been a social demand that music be present, which can be fulfilled in so many other ways now. It's sad that it can be stated in such a simple way that is an assault to the ego.
But it probably helps if you can allude to society changing in undesirable ways despite your best efforts, class struggles, or bad government.
That stopped when we started to play from record.