The Pop, Rock and Soul Reader

David Brackett is Associate Professor and former Chair of the Department of Music Research in the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. His publications include the book Interpreting Popular Music (2000) and articles and reviews in Popular Music, JAMS, and American Music. Professor Brackett is also a consulting editor for the new edition of AmeriGrove (OUP).

*=New to this edition
Preface:
PART 1. BEFORE 1950
1. Irving Berlin in Tin Pan Alley
* Charles Hamm, from Irving Berlin, Songs from the Melting Pot: The Formative Years, 1907-1914
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: "Der Bingle," "Frankee," and New Forms of Fandom
Bing Crosby (as told to Pete Martin), from Call Me Lucky
* Martha Weinman Lear, "The Bobby Sox Have Wilted, but the Memory Remains Fresh" and Neil McCaffrey, "I Remember Frankee"
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 Robert Johnson, as Told by Johnny Shines
Pete Welding, "Interview with Johnny Shines"
9. From Race Music to Rhythm and Blues: T-Bone Walker
Kevin Sheridan and Peter Sheridan, "T-Bone Walker: Father of the Blues"
10. 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
11. On the Bandstand with Johnny Otis and Wynonie Harris
Johnny Otis, from Upside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue
Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris, "Women Won't Let Me Alone"
12. 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
13. 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
14. Country Music Approaches the Mainstream
Rufus Jarman, "Country Music Goes to Town"
15. Hank Williams on Songwriting
Hank Williams (with Jimmy Rule), from How to Write Folk and Western Music to Sell
16. Rhythm and Blues in the Early 1950s: B.B. King
Arnold Shaw, from Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues
17. "The House That Ruth Brown Built"
Ruth Brown (with Andrew Yule), from Miss Rhythm: The Autobiography of Ruth Brown, Rhythm and Blues Legend
18. Ray Charles, or When Saturday Night Mixed It Up with Sunday Morning
Ray Charles and David Ritz, from Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story
19. Jerry Wexler: A Life in R&B
Jerry Wexler and David Ritz, from Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music
20. 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"
21. Langston Hughes Responds
Langston Hughes, "Highway Robbery Across the Color Line in Rhythm and Blues"
22. From Rhythm and Blues to Rock 'n' Roll: The Songs of Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry, from Chuck Berry: The Autobiography
23. Little Richard: Boldly Going Where No Man Had Gone Before
Charles White, from The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock
24. Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Rockabilly
Elizabeth Kaye, "Sam Phillips Interview"
25. Rock 'n' Roll Meets the Popular Press
New York Times, "Rock-and-Roll Called Communicable Disease"
Time, "Yeh-Heh-Heh-Hes, Baby"
New York Times, "Rock 'n' Roll's Pulse Taken"
Gertrude Samuels, "Why They Rock 'n' Roll--and Should They?"
26. The Chicago Defender Defends Rock 'n' Roll
Rob Roy, "Bias Against Rock 'n' Roll Latest Bombshell in Dixie"
27. 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
28. Brill Building and the Girl Groups
* Charlotte Greig, from Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Girl Groups from the 50s On . . .
29. From Surf to Smile
Brian Wilson (with Todd Gold), from Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story
30. Urban Folk Revival
Gene Bluestein, "Songs of the Silent Generation"
* Time, "Folk Singing: Sybil with Guitar"
31. Bringing It All Back Home: Dylan at Newport
Irwin Silber, "Newport Folk Festival, 1965"
Paul Nelson, "Newport Folk Festival, 1965"
32. "Chaos Is a Friend of Mine"
Nora Ephron and Susan Edmiston, "Bob Dylan Interview"
33. From R&B to Soul
James Baldwin, from The Fire Next Time
Jerry Wexler and David Ritz, from Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music
34. No Town Like Motown
Berry Gordy, from To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown
35. The Godfather of Soul and the Beginnings of Funk
James Brown (with Bruce Tucker), from The Godfather of Soul
36. "The Blues Changes from Day to Day"
Jim Delehant, "Otis Redding Interview"
37. Aretha Franklin Earns Respect
* Phyl Garland, "Aretha Franklin--Sister Soul: Eclipsed Singer Gains New Heights"
38. The Beatles, the "British Invasion," and Cultural Respectability
William Mann, "What Songs the Beatles Sang . . ."
Theodore Strongin, "Musciologically . . ."
39. A Hard Day's Night and Beatlemania
* Barbara Ehrenreich, Elizabeth Hess, and Gloria Jacobs, "Beatlemania: Girls Just Want to Have Fun"
Andrew Sarris, "Bravo Beatles!"
40. England Swings, and the Beatles Evolve on Revolver and Sgt. Pepper
Richard Goldstein, "Pop Eye: On 'Revolver'"
Jack Kroll, "It's Getting Better . . ."
41. The British Art School Blues
Ray Coleman, "Rebels with a Beat"
42. The Stones Versus the Beatles
Ellen Willis, "Records: Rock, Etc.--the Big Ones"
43. If You're Goin' to San Francisco . . .
Ralph J. Gleason, "Dead Like Live Thunder"
44. The Kozmic Blues of Janis Joplin
Nat Hentoff, "We Look at Our Parents and . . ."
45. Jimi Hendrix and the Electronic Guitar
Bob Dawbarn, "Second Dimension: Jimi Hendrix in Action"
46. Rock Meets the Avant-Garde: Frank Zappa
Sally Kempton, "Zappa and the Mothers: Ugly Can Be Beautiful"
47. Pop/Bubblegum/Monkees
Robert Christgau, from Any Old Way You Choose It: Rock and Other Pop Music, 1967-1973
48. The Aesthetics of Rock
Paul Williams, "Get Off of My Cloud"
Richard Goldstein, "Pop Eye: Evaluating Media"
49. Festivals: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
J.R. Young, "Review of Various Artists, Woodstock"
George Paul Csicsery, "Altamont, California, December 6, 1969"
PART 4. THE 1970s
50. Where Did the Sixties Go?
Lester Bangs, "Of Pop and Pies and Fun"
51. The Sound of Autobiography: Singer-Songwriters, Carole King
* Robert Windeler, "Carole King: 'You Can Get to Know Me through My Music'"
52. Joni Mitchell Journeys Within
Malka, "Joni Mitchell: Self-Portrait of a Superstar"
53. Sly Stone: "The Myth of Staggerlee"
Greil Marcus, from Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music
54. Not-so-"Little" Stevie Wonder
Ben Fong-Torres, "The Formerly Little Stevie Wonder"
55. Parliament Drops the Bomb
W.A. Brower, "George Clinton: Ultimate Liberator of Constipated Notions"
56. Heavy Metal Meets the Counterculture
John Mendelsohn, "Review of Led Zeppelin"
* Ed Kelleher, "Black Sabbath Don't Scare Nobody"
57. Led Zeppelin Speaks!
Dave Schulps, "The Crunge: Jimmy Page Gives a History Lesson"
58. "I Have No Message Whatsoever"
Cameron Crowe, "David Bowie Interview"
59. Rock Me Amadeus
Domenic Milano, "Keith Emerson"
Tim Morse, from Yesstories: Yes in Their Own Words
60. Jazz Fusion
Miles Davis (with Quincy Troupe), from Miles: The Autobiography
61. Get On Up Disco
Andrew Kopkind, "The Dialectic of Disco: Gay Music Goes Straight"
62. Punk: The Sound of Criticism?
James Wolcott, "A Conservative Impulse in the New Rock Underground":
63. Punk Crosses the Atlantic
Caroline Coon,, "Rebels Against the System"
64. Punk to New Wave?
Stephen Holden, "The B-52s' American Graffiti"
65. UK New Wave
Allan Jones, "The Elvis (Costello, That Is) Interview"
PART 5. THE 1980s
66. A "Second British Invasion," MTV, and Other Postmodernist Conundrums
Robert Christgau, "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: The Music Biz on a Joyride"
67. Thriller Begets the "King of Pop"
Greg Tate, "I'm White! What's Wrong with Michael Jackson"
68. Madonna and the Performance of Identity
Camille Paglia, "Venus of the Radio Waves"
Jane Dark, "Madonnica"
69. 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"
70. R&B in the 1980s: To Cross Over or Not to Cross Over?
Nelson George, from The Death of Rhythm and Blues
Steve Perry, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough: The Politics of Crossover"
71. Heavy Metal Thunders On!
J.D. Considine, "Purity and Power--Total, Unswerving Devotion to Heavy Metal Form: Judas Priest and the Scorpions"
72. Metal in the Late Eighties: Glam or Thrash?
Richard Gehr, "Metallica"
73. Postpunk Goes Indie
Al Flipside, "What Is This Thing Called Hardcore?"
74. Indie Brings the Noise
Kim Gordon, "Boys Are Smelly: Sonic Youth Tour Diary, '87"
75. 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"
Time, "Bad Rap"
76. "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"
77. Where Rap and Heavy Metal Converge
Jon Pareles, "There's a New Sound in Pop Music: Bigotry"
PART 6. THE 1990s AND BEYOND
78. Hip-Hop into the 1990s: Gangstas, Fly Girls, and the Big Bling-Bling
J.D. Considine, "Fear of a Rap Planet"
79. Nuthin' but a "G" Thang
Touré, "Snoop Dogg's Gentle Hip Hop Growl"
80. Keeping It a Little Too Real
Sam Gideon Anso and Charles Rappleye, "Rap Sheet"
Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, "Party Over"
Natasha Stovall, "Town Criers"
81. Sample-Mania
Neil Strauss, "Sampling Is (a) Creative or (b) Theft?"
82. Women in Rap
Christopher John Farley, "Hip-Hop Nation"
83. The Beat Goes On
Renee Graham, "Eminem's Old Words Aren't Hip-Hop's Biggest Problem"
84. From Indie to Alternative to . . . Seattle?
Dave DiMartino, "A Seattle Slew"
85. Riot Girl
Bikini Kill, "riot grrrl"
86. Grunge Turns to Scrunge
Eric Weisbard, "Over & Out: Indie Rock Values in the Age of Alternative Million Sellers"
87. A "Postalternative" Icon
Jonathan Van Meter, "The Outer Limits"
88. "We Are the World"?
George Lipsitz, "Immigration and Assimilation: Rai, Reggae, and Bhangramuffin"
89. A Talking Head Writes
David Byrne, "Crossing Music's Borders: I Hate World Music"
90. Genre or Gender? The Resurgence of the Singer-Songwriter
Robert L. Doerschuk, "Tori Amos: Pain for Sale"
91. Public Policy and Pop Music History Collide
Jenny Toomey, "Empire of the Air"
92. Electronica Is in the House
Simon Reynolds, "Historia Electronica Preface"
93. R&B Divas Go Retro
Ann Powers, "The New Conscience of Pop Music"
94. Fighting the Power in a Post-9/11 Mediascape--The Dixie Chicks
* Charles Taylor, "Chicks Against the Machine"
95. The End of History, the Mass-Marketing of Trivia, and a World of Copies without Originals
* Jay Babcock, "The Kids Aren't All Right . . . They're Amazing"
* Sasha Frere-Jones, "1+1+1=1: The New Math of Mashups"
* Further Reading and Discography:
Select Bibliography:
Index: