Michael Broyles shows how three key decades-the 1840s, the 1920s and the 1950s-shaped America's musical future. In each, new styles of music combined with emerging technologies, from the locomotive to the transistor radio, to have lasting impact on our cultural landscape. All too often, these new developments revealed racial fault lines running through the business of music in an echo of American society as a whole. Through the music of each decade we see the social, cultural and political fabric of the time. A variety of characters serve as focal points for each chapter, including the original Jim Crow, a colourful Hungarian dancing master named Gabriel De Korponay, "Empress of the Blues" Bessie Smith, and the singer Johnnie Ray, whom Tony Bennett called "the father of rock 'n' roll." Their stories, and many others, animate this fascinating look at how American music became what it is today.

About the Author
Michael Broyles holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and is professor of musicology at Florida State University. He was formerly the music critic for the Baltimore Sun and is a past president of the Society for American Music. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

Reviews
"Broyles serves a highly digestible history, showing in lively detail how eclectic inventiveness has defined American culture." -- Preston Lauterbach - The Wall Street Journal



Book Information
ISBN 9780393634204
Author Michael Broyles
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 723g
Dimensions(mm) 239mm * 160mm * 38mm