American Popular Music From Minstrelsy to MTV Text & Audio CDs

by Starr, Larry; Waterman, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780195108545
• ISBN10: 019510854X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-31
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The history of American popular music provides crucial insights into the establishment of a distinctively American culture. Authors Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman examine popular music in the United States from its beginnings to the end of the 20th century, furthering our understanding of the relationship between music, culture, and social identity. Using well-chosen examples, insightful, up-to-date commentaries, and an engaging writing style, American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MTV poses such questions as: Why do people make and listen to music? What do they want from it? What does it give them? Numerous listening examples (corresponding to the 2-CD package that accompanies the text) prompt readers to listen closely to popular music and to learn about its history and the people and institutions that have produced it. American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MTV integrates detailed discussions of particular popular songs and recordings with a thoughtful consideration of the broader historical and cultural context. Other distinctive features include a rich illustration program, strong pedagogy including numerous boxed inserts, inclusion of earlier American popular music, and well-organized listening charts with lyrics. Themes such as the multicultural roots of popular styles, the development of musical technology, and the operations and strategies of the music industry unify the text. This book is an ideal text for courses in American Studies, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, and Music. Its accessible style and warm tone will captivate students and other readers, encouraging them to become more critically aware listeners of popular music.

Author Biography

Christopher Watermen is Professor of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA.

Table of Contents

Themes and Streams in American Popular Music

"After the Ball": Popular Music of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

"Catching as the Small-pox": Social Dance and Jazz, 1917-1935

"I Got Rhythm": The Golden Age of Tin Pan Alley Song

"St. Louis Blues": Race Records and Hillbilly Music

"In the Mood": The Swing Era, 1935-1945

"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie": The Postwar Era, 1946-1954

"Rock around the Clock": Rock 'n' Roll, 1954-1959

"Good Vibrations": American Pop and the British Invasion, 1960s

"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag": Country, Soul, Urban Folk, and the Rise of Rock, 1960s

The 1970s: Rock Music and the Popular Mainstream

Outsider's Music: Progressive Country, Reggae, Punk Rock, Funk Music, and Disco, 1970s

The 1980s: Digital Technology, MTV and the Popular Mainstream

"Smells Like Teen Spirit": Hip-Hop, "Alternative" Music, and the Entertainment Business

Conclusion

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.