Music and Ethnomusicology
American Singers
When Whitney Balliett's American Musicians appeared in the Fall of 1986, the acclaim it received was universal. Leonard Feather, writing in the Los Angeles Times, said “no other writer now living can w ...
A Boy Named Sue
From the smiling, sentimental mothers portrayed in 1930s radio barn dance posters, to the sexual shockwaves generated by Elvis Presley, to the female superstars redefining contemporary country music, ...
Elvis and Gladys
Who on the planet doesn't know that Elvis Presley gave electrifying performances and enthralled millions? Who doesn't know that he was the King of Rock 'n' Roll? But who knows that the King himself lived ...
Trumpet Records
Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Milton, and James Waller-all of these musical powerhouses furthered their recording careers at a little label on once-thriving Farish Street, the historic black ...
Jazz Planet
With contributions by Raúl A. Fernández, Benjamin Givan, Acácio Tadeu de Camargo Piedade, Warren R. Pinckney Jr., Linda F. Williams, Christopher G. Bakriges, Stefano Zenni, S. Frederick Starr, Bruce Johnson, Ch ...
Showman
Long before the recognized birth of ragtime and jazz, such hard-working travelers as Perry George Lowery blew their horns and led their bands throughout America, shaping the sound of modern music while ...
Global Pop, Local Language
Why would a punk band popular only in Indonesia cut songs in no other language than English? If you're rapping in Tanzania and Malawi, where hip hop has a growing audience, what do you rhyme in? Swahili? ...
Bad Boy of Gospel Music
“I messed up,” Calvin Newton lamented, after wasting thirty years and doing time in both state and federal prisons for theft, counterfeiting, and drug violations. “These were years of my life that I could have ...
Jazz and Death
When a jazz hero dies, rumors, speculation, gossip, and legend can muddle the real cause of death.
In this book, Frederick J. Spencer, M.D., conducts an inquest on how jazz greats lived and died pursuing ...
Hank Williams, So Lonesome
Hank Williams (1923–1953) is revered in the top tier of the country music pantheon, and his forlorn ballads are classics in the country songbook. An inspired, natural genius, Williams was the complete c ...