America's Musical Pulse Popular Music in Twentieth-Century Society

Subjects:

• Popular Culture » Popular Music
• Popular Culture » Popular Culture (General)

Reviews:

• The book is ambitious in its coverage of musical genres and time periods--some essays begin with turn-of-the-century issues; and styles such as ragtime and tin pan alley are examined in addition to strong sections on jazz, blues, rock and country. For such a wide scope and purpose, this book succeeds admirably. . . . I do recommend this book highly. It is very readable, will work well in the classroom and--because of its scope--can also serve as a helpful reference and review for pop music/culture scholars.
  —Popular Music and Society

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction: The Importance of Music to People by Rudolf E. Radocy
• Politics
• Popular Music as Politics and Protest by Jerome Rodnitzky
• "Blues What I Am:" Blues Consciousness and Social Protest by Fred J. Hay
• Proud to Be an American: Patriotism in Country Music by Melton A. McLaurin
• "Still Boy Meets Girl Stuff:" Popular Music and War by Jeffrey C. Livingston
• Class
• Social and Geographic Characteristics of Country Music by James E. Akenson
• The Music of the Dispossessed: The Rise of the Blues by William Barlow
• Emerging from America's Underside: The Black Musician from Ragtime to Jazz by Burton W. Peretti
• Race, Class, and Ethnicity among Swing Musicians by Kenneth J. Bindas
• Rock and Roll and the Working Class by James R. McDonald
• Rock is Youth/Youth is Rock by Deena Weinstein
• Economics
• Music as a Commodity: Effect and Influence by Scott J. Hammond
• The Development of Tin Pan Alley by Craig H. Roell
• Small Business and the Recording Industry by Martin Laforse
• The Business of Popular Music: A Short History by Patrick R. Parsons
• Taking Care of Business: The Commercialization of Rock Music by George M. Plasketes
• Race
• The African-American Contribution to Jazz by William Howland Kenney, III
• The Day Hank Williams Died: Cultural Collisions in Country Music by Nolan Porterfield
• Swing and Segregation by Charles Nanry
• The Role and Image of African-Americans in Rock and Roll by Charles R. Warner
• Gender
• Equal Time: A Historical Overview of Women in Jazz by Linda Dahl
• Women and Country Music by Karen Saucier Lundy
• One Voice: The Legacy of Women Singers in Popular Music by Therese L. Lueck
• Lyrical Sexism in Popular Music: A Quantitative Examination by Virginia W. Cooper
• Social Context
• The Ragtime Controversy by David Joyner
• Debating with Beethoven: Understanding the Fear of Early Jazz by Kathy J. Ogren
• Sounds of Seduction: Sex and Alcohol in Country Music Lyrics by Charles Jaret and Jacqueline Boles
• The Homogenization of Early Rock and Roll by Richard Aquila
• Conclusion: Impact of Popular Music in Society by John Orman
• Index