About This Book

The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader: Histories and Debates

The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader is a comprehensive textbook designed to delve into the rich history of American popular music. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in understanding the evolution of rock, pop, and soul music from the 1920s to the present day. Written by David Brackett, a renowned Professor of Musicology at McGill University, this fourth edition offers a detailed exploration of the social and cultural issues that have shaped these genres.

Who Uses It?

Primarily, this book is used by students and educators in musicology and related fields at the college and university levels. It's also a valuable resource for anyone interested in making sense of the historical context and cultural debates surrounding popular music. Whether you're a music enthusiast or a scholar, this book provides a unique perspective on the development of American popular music.

History and Editions

The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader has been a trusted resource since its first edition. The fourth edition, published in 2019, has been updated to address user feedback and incorporate the latest research in music history. This edition includes a wide range of primary sources, from classic rock reviews to influential music theory texts, making it an excellent tool for understanding the historical context of popular music.

Author and Other Works

David Brackett is a leading figure in musicology, known for his engaging and insightful writing style. In addition to The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader, Brackett has contributed to various other publications and academic works in the field of music studies. His expertise in music history and cultural analysis makes him an authoritative voice in the discipline.

Detailed Information

ISBNs and Formats

Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780190843588
eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780190843595
eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780190843601
Loose-leaf: ISBN-13: 9780190843618

Publication Details

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: July 17, 2019
Number of Pages: 624
Language: English
Dimensions: 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 inches

Other Editions and Formats

The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader is available in various formats to suit different needs. Here are some additional ISBNs for reference:

eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780190843595
eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780190843601
Loose-leaf: ISBN-13: 9780190843618

This detailed information section provides a quick reference for all the available formats and sources for The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader, making it easier to find and access the book in the preferred format.

*=New to this Edition
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART 1. BEFORE 1950
1. Irving Berlin in Tin Pan Alley
Charles Hamm,"Irving Berlin and the Crucible of God"
2. Technology, the Dawn of Modern Popular Music, and the "King of Jazz"
Paul Whiteman and Mary Margaret McBride," On Wax"
3. Big Band Swing Music: Race and Power in the Music Business
Marvin Freedman," Black Music's on Top; White Jazz Stagnant"
Irving Kolodin," The Dance Band Business: A Study in Black and White"
4. Solo Pop Singers and New Forms of Fandom
Martha Weinman Lear, "The Bobby Sox Have Wilted, but the Memory Remains Fresh"
5. Hillbilly and Race Music
Kyle Crichton, "Thar's Gold in Them Hillbillies"
6. Blues People and the Classic Blues
LeRoi Jones, from Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music that Developed from It
7. The Empress of the Blues
Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff, from Hear Me Talkin' to Ya: The Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It
8. At the Crossroads with Son House
Jerry Gilbert, "Son House (Part 1): Living King of the Delta"
9. Jumpin' the Blues with Louis Jordan
Down Beat, "Bands Dug by the Beat: Louis Jordan"
Arnold Shaw, from Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues
10. On the Bandstand with Johnny Otis
Johnny Otis, from Upside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue
11. The Producers Answer Back: The Emergence of the "Indie" Record Company
Bill Simon, "Indies' Surprise Survival: Small Labels' Ingenuity and Skill Pay Off"
Arnold Shaw, from Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues
12. Country Music as Folk Music, Country Music as Novelty
Billboard, "American Folk Tunes: Cowboy and Hillbilly Tunes and Tunesters"
Newsweek, "Corn of Plenty"
PART 2. THE 1950s
13. Country Music Approaches the Mainstream
Rufus Jarman, "Country Music Goes to Town"
14. Rhythm and Blues in the Early 1950s: B. B. King
Arnold Shaw, from Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues
15. "The House that Ruth Brown Built"
Ruth Brown (with Andrew Yule), from Miss Rhythm: The Autobiography of Ruth Brown, Rhythm and Blues Legend
16. Ray Charles, or, When Saturday Night Mixed It Up with Sunday Morning
Ray Charles and David Ritz, from Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story
17. Jerry Wexler: A Life in R&B
Jerry Wexler and David Ritz, from Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music
18. The Growing Threat of Rhythm and Blues
Variety, "Top Names Now Singing the Blues as Newcomers Roll on R&B Tide"
Variety, "A Warning to the Music Business"
19. From Rhythm and Blues to Rock 'n' Roll: The Songs of Chuck Berry
Norman Jopling, "Chuck Berry: Rock Lives!"
20. Little Richard: Boldly Going Where No Man Had Gone Before
Charles White, from The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock
21. Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Rockabilly
Elizabeth Kaye, "Sam Phillips Interview"
22. Rock 'n' Roll Meets the Popular Press
23. The Chicago Defender Defends Rock 'n' Roll
Rob Roy, "Bias Against 'Rock 'n' Roll' Latest Bombshell in Dixie"
24. The Music Industry Fight Against Rock 'n' Roll: Dick Clark's Teen-Pop Empire and the Payola Scandal
Peter Bunzel, "Music Biz Goes Round and Round: It Comes Out Clarkola"
New York Age, "Mr. Clark and Colored Payola"
PART 3. THE 1960s
25. The Brill Building and the Girl Groups
Charlotte Greig, from Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Girl Groups from the 50s On . . .
26. From Surf to Smile
Richard Cromelin, "Interview with Brian Wilson"
27. Urban Folk Revival
Gene Bluestein, "Songs of the Silent Generation"
Time, "Folk Singing: Sibyl with Guitar"
28. Bringing It All Back Home: Dylan at Newport
Irwin Silber, "Newport Folk Festival, 1965"
Paul Nelson, "Newport Folk Festival, 1965"
29. "For a Man to Be At Ease, He Must Not Tell All He Knows, Nor Say All He Sees"
John Cohen and Happy Traum, "An Interview with Bob Dylan'"
30. From R&B to Soul
Jerry Wexler and David Ritz, from Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music
31. No Town Like Motown
Harvey Kubernik, "Berry Gordy: A Conversation with Mr. Motown"
32. The Godfather of Soul and the Beginnings of Funk
James Brown (with Bruce Tucker), from The Godfather of Soul
33. "The Blues Changes from Day to Day"
Jim Delehant, "Otis Redding Interview"
34. Aretha Franklin Earns Respect
Phyl Garland, "Aretha Franklin--'Sister Soul': Eclipsed Singer Gains New Heights"
35. The Beatles, the "British Invasion," and Cultural Respectability
William Mann, "What Songs the Beatles Sang . . ."
Theodore Strongin, "Musicologically . . ."
36. A Hard Day's Night and Beatlemania
Andrew Sarris, "Bravo Beatles!"
Barbara Ehrenreich, et al., "Beatlemania: Girls Just Want to Have Fun"
37. Two Takes on Sergeant Pepper
* Tom Philips, "Review of Sergeant Pepper: The Album as Art Form"
* Richard Goldstein, "I Blew My Cool through the New York Times"
38. The British Art School Blues
* Giorgio Gomelsky, "The Rolling Stones Stake a Claim in the R&B Race".
39. The Stones versus the Beatles
Ellen Willis, "Records: Rock, Etc.--The Big Ones"
40. If You're Goin' to San Francisco . . .
Ralph J. Gleason, "Dead Like Live Thunder"
41. The Kozmic Blues of Janis Joplin
Nat Hentoff, "We Look at Our Parents and . . ."
42. Jimi Hendrix and the Electronic Guitar
Bob Dawbarn, "Second Dimension: Jimi Hendrix in Action"
43. Rock Meets the Avant-Garde: Frank Zappa
Sally Kempton, "Zappa and the Mothers: Ugly Can Be Beautiful"
* 44. Festivals: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
* Mike Jahn, Recollected in Tranquility: Woodstock"
PART 4. THE 1970s
* 45. Where Did the Sixties Go?
* Lester Bangs, "Of Pop and Pies and Fun"
46. The Sound of Autobiography: Singer-Songwriters, Carole King
Robert Windeler, "Carole King: 'You Can Get to Know Me Through My Music'"
47. Joni Mitchell: The Power of Insight
Penny Valentine, "Joni Mitchell: An Interview (Part 1)"
48. Sly Stone: "The Myth of Staggerlee"
Greil Marcus, from Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music
49. Not-So-"Little" Stevie Wonder
* Chris Welch, "Stevie Wonder: 'Hah--the boy is getting MILITANT! You get back to 'Fingertips' now!'"
50. Parliament Drops the Bomb
W. A. Brower," George Clinton: Ultimate Liberator of Constipated Notions"
51. Heavy Metal Meets the Counterculture
John Mendelsohn, "Review of Led Zeppelin"
Ed Kelleher, "Black Sabbath Don't Scare Nobody"
52. Led Zeppelin Speaks!
Dave Schulps, "The Crunge: Jimmy Page Gives a History Lesson"
53. "I Have No Message Whatsoever"
Cameron Crowe, "David Bowie Interview"
54. Rock Me Amadeus
Tim Morse, from Yesstories: Yes in Their Own Words
55. The Global Phenomenon of Reggae
Robert Hilburn, "Third-World Theme of Bob Marley"
56. Get On Up Disco
Andrew Kopkind, "The Dialectic of Disco: Gay Music Goes Straight"
57. Punk: The Sound of Criticism?
James Wolcott, "A Conservative Impulse in the New Rock Underground"
* 58. The Punk Rimbaud
Robin Katz, "Patti Smith: Poetry in Motion"
59. Punk Crosses the Atlantic
Caroline Coon, "Rebels Against the System"
60. Punk to New Wave?
Stephen Holden, "The B-52s' American Graffiti"
PART 5. THE 1980s
* 61. A "Second British Invasion," MTV, and other Postmodernist Conundrums
* Robert Christgau, " Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: The Music Biz on a Joyride"
62. Thriller Begets the "King of Pop"
Greg Tate, "I'm White! What's Wrong with Michael Jackson"
Daryl Easlea, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough: Bruce Swedien Remembers the Times with Michael Jackson"
63. Madonna and the Performance of Identity
Camille Paglia, "Venus of the Radio Waves"
64. Bruce Springsteen--Reborn in the USA
David Marsh, "Little Egypt from Asbury Park--and Bruce Springsteen Don't Crawl on His Belly, Neither"
Simon Frith, "The Real Thing--Bruce Springsteen"
65. R&B in the 1980s: To Cross Over or Not to Cross Over?
Nelson George, from The Death of Rhythm and Blues
66. Heavy Metal Thunders On!
J. D. Considine, "Purity and Power--Total, Unswerving Devotion to Heavy Metal Form: Judas Priest and the Scorpions"
67. Metal in the Late Eighties: Glam or Thrash?
Richard Gehr, "Metallica"
68. Parents Want to Know: Heavy Metal, the PMRC, and the Public Debate over Decency
Record Labeling: Hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, 99th Congress, September 19, 1985
69. Postpunk Goes Indie
Al Flipside, "What Is This Thing Called Hardcore?"
* 70. Indie Brings the Noise
* Kim Gordon, "Boys Are Smelly: Sonic Youth Tour Diary, '87"
71. Hip-Hop, Don't Stop
Robert Ford, Jr., "B-Beats Bombarding Bronx: Mobile DJ Starts Something with Oldie R&B Disks"
Robert Ford, Jr., "Jive Talking N.Y. DJs Rapping Away in Black Discos"
72. "The Music Is a Mirror"
Harry Allen, "Hip Hop Madness: From Def Jams to Cold Lampin', Rap Is Our Music"
Carol Cooper, "Girls Ain't Nothin' but Trouble"
73. Where Rap and Heavy Metal Converge
Jon Pareles, "There's a New Sound in Pop Music: Bigotry"
PART 6. THE 1990s
74. Hip-Hop into the 1990s
J. D. Considine, "Fear of a Rap Planet"
75. Nuthin' but a "G" Thang
Touré, "Snoop Dogg's Gentle Hip Hop Growl"
76. Keeping It a Little Too Real
Sam Gideon Anso and Charles Rappleye, "Rap Sheet"
Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, "Party Over"
Natasha Stovall, "Town Criers"
77. Women in Rap
Christopher John Farley, "Hip-Hop Nation"
78. From Indie to Alternative to . . . Seattle?
* Grant Alden, "Grunge Makes Good"
* 79. Riot Girl
* "riot grrrl"
80. Grunge Turns to Scrunge
Eric Weisbard, "Over and Out: Indie Rock Values in the Age of Alternative Million Sellers"
81. "We Are the World"?
George Lipsitz, "Immigration and Assimilation: Rai, Reggae, and Bhangramuffin"
* 82. Genre or Gender?
* Carla DeSantis, "Lilith Fair: If You Want to See a Show, Put on a Festival--Sarah McLachlan Takes the Girls on the Road," Rockrgrl, July 1997
83. Electronica Is in the House
Simon Reynolds, "Historia Electronica Preface"
84. R&B Divas Go Retro
Ann Powers, "The New Conscience of Pop Music"
PART 7. THE 21ST CENTURY
85. Country in the Post-Urban Cowboy Era
Mark Cooper, "Garth Brooks: Meet Nashville's New Breed Of Generously Stetsoned Crooner"
Charles Taylor, "Chicks Against the Machine"
86. New Adventures in Mediation
Joshua Clover, "Jukebox Culture: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Boy Band"
Nina C. Ayoub, "Idol Pursuits"
87. The End of History and the Mass-Marketing of Trivia
Jay Babcock, "The Kids Aren't Alright . . . They're Amazing"
* 88. A World of Copies without Originals
* Testimony of Mr. Lars Ulrich, Member and Co-founder of Metallica (Senate Judiciary Committee on Downloading Music on the Internet, July 11, 2000)
* John Seabrook, "Revenue Streams"
* Joe Coscarelli, "Riding an Online Craze to the Top"
* 89. Political Engagement and African American Popular Music in the 21st Century
* Zandria F. Robinson, "How Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' Exposes the Inner Lives of Black Women"
* Aisha Harris, "Has Kendrick Lamar Recorded the New Black National Anthem?" Singing "Alright" in a Summer of Protest, Despair, and Hope
* 90. EDM Grooves Onward
* Simon Reynolds, "How Rave Music Conquered America."
Select Bibliography
Index