Popular music Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a real treasure trove, full of fascinating stories. It acts as a fine example of academic inquiry that creatively probes hip-hop's practices, providing context for the form's usage across the Eastern Bloc.The authors of this edited volume do not romanticize and heroize the genre by automatically equating it with political opposition, a fate often suffered by rock before. Instead, the book has to be given much credit for presenting a very nuanced picture of hip hop's entanglement—or non-entanglement, for that matter—with politics in this wide stretch of the world, past and present. * The Russian Review *The volume represents a valuable and timely contribution to the study of popular culture in central and eastern Europe. Hip Hop at Europe's Edge will not only appeal to readers interested in contemporary popular culture in central and eastern Europe, but also inspire future research on post-socialism's unique local adaptations of global cultural trends. * The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review *The reviewed book is an important contribution to existing scholarship on hip-hop culture. It enhances the history of hip-hop with knowledge of how the idioms of this genre have been adopted and reincarnated through a prism of east European culture. The value of the book should also be weighed in the context of colonial/post-colonial and communist/post-communist studies. The authors show how hip-hop has served social and political needs during the challenging period of transition from communism to capitalism, and how it continues to help newly-independent nation-states define their new status in Europe.Overall, Hip Hop at Europe's Edge is a notable addition to hip-hop and music scholarship. It is increasingly timely, given current geopolitical affairs. * Notes *All in all, with its interdisciplinary approaches, the volume makes an important step in opening up a hitherto overlooked region for the study of hip hop. It is therefore a highly welcome addition to the growing number of publications making research of hip hop in Europe available in English. * Music and Letters *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction / Adriana Helbig and Milosz MiszczynskiPart 1: Hip Hop, Postsocialism, and Democracy1. Rapping into Power: The Use of Hip Hop in Albanian Politics / Gentian Elezi and Elona Toska2. Nothing Left to Lose: Hip Hop in Bosnia-Herzegovina / Jasmin Mujanović3. Russian Rap in the Era of Vladimir Putin / Philip Ewell4. Rap Music as a Cultural Mediator in Post-Conflict Yugoslavia / Alexandra BaladinaPart 2: Hip Hop and Emerging Market Economies5. Diesel Power: Serbian Hip Hop from the Pleasure of the Privileged to Mass Youth Culture / Goran Musić and Predrag Vukčević6. "The Underground is for Beggars": Slovak Rap at the Center of National Popular Culture / Peter Barrer7. Music, Technology, and Shifts in Popular Culture: Making Hip Hop in e-Estonia / Triin Vallaste8. Wearing Nikes for a Reason: A Critical Analysis of Brand Usage in Polish Rap / Milosz Miszczynski and Przemyslaw TomaszewskiPart 3: Hip Hop on the Margins9. Cosmopolitan Inscriptions? Mimicry, Rap, and Rurbanity in Post-socialist Albania / Nicholas Tochka 10. Violence as Existential Punctuation: Russian Hip Hop in the Age of Late Capitalism / Alexandre Gontchar11. Unmasking Expressions in Turkish Rap/Hip Hop Culture: Contestation and Construction of Alternatıve Identities Through Localizatıon in Arabesk Music / Nuran Erol Işik and Murat Can Basaran12. Hip Hop as a Means of Flight from 'Gypsy Ghetto' in Eastern Europe / Michal Ruzicka, Alena Kajanova, Veronika Zvánovcová, and Tomas Mrhalek13. Rapping the Changes in North-East Siberia: Hip Hop, Urbanization, and Sakha Ethnicity / Aimar Ventsel and Eleanor PeersPart 4: Hip Hop and Global Circulations of Blackness14. La haine et les autres crimes: Ghettocentric Imagery in Serbian Hip Hop Videos / Irena Šentevska 15. The Power of the Words: Discourses of Authenticity in Czech Rap Music / Anna Oravcová16. "Keep it 360": (Re)envisioning The Cultural and Racial Roots of Hip Hop through DJ Rhetoric and Ethnography / Todd CraigList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In Atomic Tunes, Tim and Joanna Smolko have written a long-overdue analysis of Cold War popular music which combines insightful analysis of individual songs and popular musical genres expertly embedded within their political and historical contexts. Their discussions of women's voices, of novelty songs, country and gospel music and other categories are balanced in a way that accommodates many different perspectives, both left wing and right. If you lived through the Cold War or approach it from a historical and musicological perspective, the Smolkos, along with the songs they explore, provide what they call a 'visceral sense of what it was like to live through the Cold War.' A very important work."—Russell Reising, University of Toledo professor emeritus of American culture and Asian studies"Tim and Joanna Smolko's book is a welcome and well-researched study on the role that the Cold War played in American and British popular music. The Smolkos take on topics such as communism and the Red Scare, civil defense, and nuclear fear in a study that places popular and folk music at the center of its contemporary social history in a way no other book has done before. They consider society, politics, race, and place are at the core for understanding the composition and performance of Cold War popular music, from satire to serious. Their book probes the essential questions we likely didn't know we had about the role of music in one of the most fraught eras in world history."—Reba Wissner, author of Music and the Atomic Bomb on American Television, 1950-1969, Columbus State University"In this immaculately researched book, Tim and Joanna Smolko examine how Cold War anxieties shaped songs by an incredibly diverse range of musicians—from earnest folkies and jokey rock 'n' rollers, to long-haired metalheads and political punks. The book's scope and thematic range is impressive, and even the biggest fan of this music will discover new insights—and tunes!—through the authors' in-depth discussions of the musical and social significance of these songs. In addressing a major gap in the burgeoning literature on Cold War-era music-making, Atomic Tunes should be essential reading for historians, musicologists, and fans alike."—Nicholas Tochka, author of Audible States: Socialist Politics and Popular Music in Albania, Head of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music"Richly detailed and meticulously researched, Atomic Tunes provides an invaluable contribution to our understanding of Anglo-American popular music in the Cold War era. The book's sweeping survey of songs, ranging from country and comedy to punk and heavy metal, captures all the vivid anxiety, paranoia, fear, fantasy, and dark humor of this vital period of global history, and makes for an endlessly fascinating read."—Theo Cateforis, author of Are We Not New Wave: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Fine Arts and Music History at Syracuse University"Atomic Tunes is unparalleled as a sweeping inquiry into popular music's response to the Cold War and the arms race. Tim and Joanna Smolko deftly combine social and political history with musical analysis, stressing that the words and music mattered as artists and listeners tried to make sense of an anxious and confusing time in world history."—Steve Waksman, author of This Ain't the Summer of Love: Conflict and Crossover in Heavy Metal and PunkTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Cold War History in Music and Lyrics1. Folk: From Paul Robeson to Bob Dylan2. Folk: Women's Voices3. Country: The Conservative Stance4. Novelty and Comedy Songs: The Cold War as a Big Joke5. Early Rock and Other Styles: Rocking the Bomb6. Mainstream Rock: Bowie, U2, Sting, Billy Joel, and Springsteen7. Hard Rock and Heavy Metal: The Electric Guitar as the Bomb8. Punk Rock: Three Chords and the Apocalypse9. Electronic and New Wave: The Cold War in a Synthesizer10. Wind of Change: The Fall of the Wall and the End of the Cold WarConclusionBibliography, Discography, VideographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewEveryone truly interested in psychedelia or topic theory—or both—will find this book an invaluable addition to their libraries. * Notes *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Delineating Psychedelia: Topic Theory and Popular Music Cultures2. Developments Through 19663. The Later 1960s4. The 1970s5. The 1980s and OnEpilogue: Conclusions and ProspectsAppendix A: The Sample and DiscographyAppendix B: The San Francisco Poster SampleAppendix C: Some Notes on the TranscriptionsList of ReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewEveryone truly interested in psychedelia or topic theory—or both—will find this book an invaluable addition to their libraries. * Notes *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Delineating Psychedelia: Topic Theory and Popular Music Cultures2. Developments Through 19663. The Later 1960s4. The 1970s5. The 1980s and OnEpilogue: Conclusions and ProspectsAppendix A: The Sample and DiscographyAppendix B: The San Francisco Poster SampleAppendix C: Some Notes on the TranscriptionsList of ReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewKamaludeen Mohmed Nasir's important contribution to the field most certainly gives the reader a theoretically insightful and empirically thorough account of the Muslim side of this development. Representing Islam: Hip-Hop of the September 11 Generation is highly recommended to specialized readers interested in Muslim popular culture, religion in general, globalization as well as avid hip-hop heads interested in the global impact of their culture. -- Anders Ackfeldt * CyberOrient *With Representing Islam, [Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir] has produced an important sourcebook on global Muslim hip-hop in all its shades and a valuable sociological study of Muslim youth culture in the post-9/11 world. -- Philipp Bruckmayr * Die Welt des Islams *The book, written in an engaging, accessible language, is a significant contribution to the field of Muslim popular culture and will be a very useful source for students of global hip hop, globalization, youth culture and contemporary Muslim cultural expressions. -- Jeanette S. Jouili * Global Hip Hop Studies *Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir's Representing Islam argues that hip-hop is for the September 11 Muslim generation a route to freedom of expression, looking at how 'young Muslims [. . .] have embraced and appropriated hip-hop music as their anthem in response to the surging Islamophobia following September 11' (p. 2). . . . This is a solid contribution to hip-hop and popular music studies within Muslim culture and beyond. -- Sikelelwa Anita Mashiy * Popular Music *Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir's Representing Islam: Hip-Hop of the September 11 Generation . . . sheds new light on understanding and interpreting the articulation, manifestations, and implications of and about Islam in this globalized and digitalized age. . . . A strategic and critical engagement between the micro and macro persoectives in sociology of Islam, Representing Islam is recommended to all students and researchers interested in Islamic religiosity, Muslim popular cultures, and research design in social hermeneutics approaches -- Martin Jiajun He * American Journal of Islam and Society *Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: Anthem of a Generation1. Songs Rather Than Screams2. Something that is Ours... and still Authentically Islam3. It is... a Problem of Human Rights4. She Reppin' Islam and She Gives it a Meaning5. Enemy of the State6. Keeping it Real... Keeping it Cool...Bibliography

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewKamaludeen Mohmed Nasir's important contribution to the field most certainly gives the reader a theoretically insightful and empirically thorough account of the Muslim side of this development. Representing Islam: Hip-Hop of the September 11 Generation is highly recommended to specialized readers interested in Muslim popular culture, religion in general, globalization as well as avid hip-hop heads interested in the global impact of their culture. -- Anders Ackfeldt * CyberOrient *With Representing Islam, [Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir] has produced an important sourcebook on global Muslim hip-hop in all its shades and a valuable sociological study of Muslim youth culture in the post-9/11 world. -- Philipp Bruckmayr * Die Welt des Islams *The book, written in an engaging, accessible language, is a significant contribution to the field of Muslim popular culture and will be a very useful source for students of global hip hop, globalization, youth culture and contemporary Muslim cultural expressions. -- Jeanette S. Jouili * Global Hip Hop Studies *Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir's Representing Islam argues that hip-hop is for the September 11 Muslim generation a route to freedom of expression, looking at how 'young Muslims [. . .] have embraced and appropriated hip-hop music as their anthem in response to the surging Islamophobia following September 11' (p. 2). . . . This is a solid contribution to hip-hop and popular music studies within Muslim culture and beyond. -- Sikelelwa Anita Mashiy * Popular Music *Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir's Representing Islam: Hip-Hop of the September 11 Generation . . . sheds new light on understanding and interpreting the articulation, manifestations, and implications of and about Islam in this globalized and digitalized age. . . . A strategic and critical engagement between the micro and macro persoectives in sociology of Islam, Representing Islam is recommended to all students and researchers interested in Islamic religiosity, Muslim popular cultures, and research design in social hermeneutics approaches -- Martin Jiajun He * American Journal of Islam and Society *Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: Anthem of a Generation1. Songs Rather Than Screams2. Something that is Ours... and still Authentically Islam3. It is... a Problem of Human Rights4. She Reppin' Islam and She Gives it a Meaning5. Enemy of the State6. Keeping it Real... Keeping it Cool...Bibliography

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In Atomic Tunes, Tim and Joanna Smolko have written a long-overdue analysis of Cold War popular music which combines insightful analysis of individual songs and popular musical genres expertly embedded within their political and historical contexts. Their discussions of women's voices, of novelty songs, country and gospel music and other categories are balanced in a way that accommodates many different perspectives, both left wing and right. If you lived through the Cold War or approach it from a historical and musicological perspective, the Smolkos, along with the songs they explore, provide what they call a 'visceral sense of what it was like to live through the Cold War.' A very important work."—Russell Reising, University of Toledo professor emeritus of American culture and Asian studies"Tim and Joanna Smolko's book is a welcome and well-researched study on the role that the Cold War played in American and British popular music. The Smolkos take on topics such as communism and the Red Scare, civil defense, and nuclear fear in a study that places popular and folk music at the center of its contemporary social history in a way no other book has done before. They consider society, politics, race, and place are at the core for understanding the composition and performance of Cold War popular music, from satire to serious. Their book probes the essential questions we likely didn't know we had about the role of music in one of the most fraught eras in world history."—Reba Wissner, author of Music and the Atomic Bomb on American Television, 1950-1969, Columbus State University"In this immaculately researched book, Tim and Joanna Smolko examine how Cold War anxieties shaped songs by an incredibly diverse range of musicians—from earnest folkies and jokey rock 'n' rollers, to long-haired metalheads and political punks. The book's scope and thematic range is impressive, and even the biggest fan of this music will discover new insights—and tunes!—through the authors' in-depth discussions of the musical and social significance of these songs. In addressing a major gap in the burgeoning literature on Cold War-era music-making, Atomic Tunes should be essential reading for historians, musicologists, and fans alike."—Nicholas Tochka, author of Audible States: Socialist Politics and Popular Music in Albania, Head of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music"Richly detailed and meticulously researched, Atomic Tunes provides an invaluable contribution to our understanding of Anglo-American popular music in the Cold War era. The book's sweeping survey of songs, ranging from country and comedy to punk and heavy metal, captures all the vivid anxiety, paranoia, fear, fantasy, and dark humor of this vital period of global history, and makes for an endlessly fascinating read."—Theo Cateforis, author of Are We Not New Wave: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Fine Arts and Music History at Syracuse University"Atomic Tunes is unparalleled as a sweeping inquiry into popular music's response to the Cold War and the arms race. Tim and Joanna Smolko deftly combine social and political history with musical analysis, stressing that the words and music mattered as artists and listeners tried to make sense of an anxious and confusing time in world history."—Steve Waksman, author of This Ain't the Summer of Love: Conflict and Crossover in Heavy Metal and PunkTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Cold War History in Music and Lyrics1. Folk: From Paul Robeson to Bob Dylan2. Folk: Women's Voices3. Country: The Conservative Stance4. Novelty and Comedy Songs: The Cold War as a Big Joke5. Early Rock and Other Styles: Rocking the Bomb6. Mainstream Rock: Bowie, U2, Sting, Billy Joel, and Springsteen7. Hard Rock and Heavy Metal: The Electric Guitar as the Bomb8. Punk Rock: Three Chords and the Apocalypse9. Electronic and New Wave: The Cold War in a Synthesizer10. Wind of Change: The Fall of the Wall and the End of the Cold WarConclusionBibliography, Discography, VideographyIndex

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Book SynopsisExplores the influence of Shakespeare on American musical theatre through analyses of five important productions from 1938 through 1971. This book offers a fresh look at the development of American musical theatre and an understanding of Shakespeare in the modern American context.Trade ReviewDramaturges and directors will appreciate Dash's detailed textual analyses, her extensive research, and her reliance on primary source material, including detailed descriptions of the original productions, all of which would be useful for anyone staging a revival of any of these gems of the American musical theatre.Sept 2012 * Theatre Survey *[Dash] has done an excellent job in giving new insights into Shakespeare and the American musical.Spring/Summer 2010 * The Shakespeare Newsletter *[Dash] has done a superb job of exploring her source materials and provides excellent details on the genesis and development of each musical. Good illustrations, fine documentation, and a bibliography are assets. . . . Recommended.August 2010 * Choice *[Dash] has made a convincing case for seeing Bard-inspired works as vital in the devlopment of the 20th century's 'organic' or integrated musical in which song, dance and multimedia drive the plot. Summer 2010 * CUNY Matters *

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Book SynopsisCanadian progressive rock band Rush was the voice of the suburban middle class. This book assesses the band's impact on popular music and its legacy for legions of fans. It explores the ways in which Rush's critique of suburban life - and its strategies for escape - reflected middle-class aspirations and anxieties.Trade Review"As Chris McDonald correctly points out in Dreaming in Middletown, writing on rock music traditionally has tended to privilege the working class as the ultimate site of authentic expression. It is refreshing to encounter a scholarly book that finally takes up the challenge of interpreting popular music’s meanings in relation to its substantial, yet often neglected, middle class fan base. Deftly interweaving in-depth musical analyses with the insights of sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, and the voices of Rush fans themselves, McDonald has produced a smart, probing, and illuminating scholarly work that deserves a place alongside Susan Fast’s In the Houses of the Holy as one of the best musicological studies of a single rock band." —Theo Cateforis, Syracuse University, editor of The Rock History Reader"McDonald has a lot of interesting points to make about the music, the band, and what was going on in the world surrounding them at the time. Rush fans who are interested in something more in-depth than the normal run of band biographies should at least take a look at this volume." —Goldmine, February 12, 2010"A well-researched, provocative glimpse into one of the most popular, yet oft-overlooked bands in the history of rock." —Theo Cateforis, editor of The Rock History Reader"McDonald makes an important contribution to our understanding of the middle class as a force in North American rock culture, and at the same time offers a pioneering look at one of the most idiosyncratic and influential bands of the past four decades. This book should be welcomed not only by those with an interest in hard and progressive rock, but also by anyone who wishes to understand the role of social class in recent popular culture." —William Echard, Carleton University, author of Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy"If you are the sort who is a Rush freak, a musician, and a fan of academic writing, you'll enjoy this book." —PopMattersTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. "Anywhere But Here": Rush and Suburban Desires for Escape2. "Swimming Against the Stream": Individualism and Middle-Class Subjectivity in Rush3. "The Work of Gifted Hands": Professionalism and Virtuosity in Rush's Style4. "Experience to Extremes": Discipline, Detachment, and Excess in Rush5. "Reflected in Another Pair of Eyes": Representations of Rush Fandom6. "Scoffing at the Wise?": Rush, Rock Criticism, and the MiddlebrowNotesWorks CitedSelected DiscographyIndex

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Book SynopsisPresents information on rhythm from the interrelated fields of music, dance, poetry, rhetoric, and philosophy.Trade Review" ... an extremely valuable resource." Early Keyboard Journal "This is a fascinating, stimulating and challenging book." Music Journal " ... exceptionally thorough job ... quite effective in its blend of wide-ranging research and practical information ..." Continuo "This is a most useful book." Early Music "... belongs on the shelf of anyone seriously interested in Baroque dance and music. Mather and Karns have done a great service by making so much important information easily accessible ..." Dance Research JournalTable of ContentsIntroduction; Prologue: The King's Grand BallPart I: Features of the Dance Rythms 1 Reason and the Passions; 2 Arbeau's Dance Rythms; 3 Dance Rhythms from Early Guitar Sources; 4 Rythmic Movements in Mersenne's and Later Dance Music; 5 The Musical Measure; 6 Correspondence of Melodic and Poetic Rhythms in Lullian Dance Songs; 7 Rhetorial Proportions; 8 Step-units of la belle danse; 9 Symmetrical, Poetic, and Rhetorical Proportions of la belle danse; 10 Tempos and General Affects; 11 Marking the Musical Meter; 12 Lullian Bowing of Dance Rhythms; 13 Forceful Articulation of Lullian Dance Lyrics; 14 Articulation of Dance Rhythms in Concert Pieces; 15 Ornamenting Dance Rhythms; 16 Grouping Unslurred Quick Notes; 17 Summing Up--The Many Apsects of MovementPart II: Rhythmic Characteristics of Fifteen Dance Types 18 Allemandes; 19 Bourrees; 20 Canaries; 21 Chaconnes; 22 Courantes; 23 Folies; 24 Forlanes; 25 Gavottes; 26 Gigues; 27 Loure; 28 Menuets; 29 Passacailles; 30 Passepieds; 31 Rigaudons; 32 SarabandesAppendix: Six Complete Dance Songs

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Book SynopsisIn the 17th century, harmonious sounds were thought to represent the well-ordered body of the obedient subject. This book focuses on the various ways that theatrical music represented disorderly subjects - those who presented either a direct or metaphorical threat to the health of the English kingdom in 17th-century England.Trade ReviewSeventeenth-century England provides an outstanding backdrop for this study, which focuses on theatrical characters generally associated with mental disorder. . . . Opera scholars should find this work helpful, and specialists in gender studies will gain much from Winkler's discussion of stereotypes, role reversals, pathological diagnoses, and so on. . . . Recommended. * Choice *. . . an outstanding contribution to the social and political history of musical theater in London from the age of Shakespeare to the rage for Italian opera in the first decade of the eighteenth century. Vol. 61.1 Spring 2008 -- Linda Phyllis Austern * Northwestern University *. . . In keeping with the instability of the seventeenth-century English stage, Amanda Eubanks Winkler refuses to bind her subversive characters in neat packages. I find her observations of negotiated trends, which do not always fit into tidy theoretical boxes, honest conclusions of an extremely complex period of English cultural life. . . . Whether onstage or within Winkler's text, these unruly characters refuse to be absolutely contained.Vol. 13 2009 -- MEGAN McFadden * Women & Music *[T]he book [is] of great interest to anyone who wishes to explore the complex ways in which the assumptions and expectations of society conditioned the representation and reception of madness and witchcraft in the 17th-century English theatre, and the crucial role music played in this interaction. 37.2 2009 * Early Music *Winkler's book is an outstanding contribution to the social and political history of musical theater in London from the age of Shakespeare to the rage for Italian opera in the first decade of the eighteenth century. * Renaissance Quarterly *Table of ContentsContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TranscriptionsLibrary Sigla1. Music and the Macrocosm: Disorder and History2. "Stay, You Imperfect Speakers, Tell Me More"3. "Remember Me, But Ah, Forget My Fate"4. "O Let Us Howle Some Heavy Note"5. Disorder in the Eighteenth CenturyEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisExplores the work of professional blues musician Lonnie Johnson, demonstrating how his recorded works reveal lyrical and musical themes that call into question critical assumptions about the genre.Trade Review“With an impressive command of primary and secondary literature, including archival materials, The Inconvenient Lonnie Johnson makes an original contribution to the growing body of interdisciplinary scholarly work that seeks to understand music’s connection to politics, society, and ethnicity. Simon’s work is subtle and sophisticated.”—Charles Hersch,author of Jews and Jazz: Improvising Ethnicity“A scrupulously researched, exceedingly well-written, and deeply insightful work of original scholarship. Surprisingly, there is very little written about Johnson; Simon’s book thus fills a giant hole in the literature on American jazz, blues, and popular music from the first part of the twentieth century.”—Andrew Berish,author of Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams: Place, Mobility, and Race in Jazz of the 1930s and ’40s“[A]n engaging and informative read for the hobbyist and novices to the history of blues music.”—Monica F. Ambalal Journal of Jazz Studies

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of Jewishness among the fan base of the band Phish, and how spirituality, ritual, and identity function in the world of rock and roll.Trade Review“Readers of This Is Your Song Too will gain a more nuanced, appreciative understanding of both Jewish and Phish communities, with their deep histories, their varied constituencies, and their rich implications for identity formation—whether readers are insiders to these communities or outsiders looking in with interest.”—Dr. Jnan A. Blau,Associate Professor of Communication Studies, California Polytechnic State UniversityTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsINTRODUCTIONThe People of the Helping Friendly Book Oren Kroll-Zeldin and Ariella Werden-GreenfieldSET 1 “SHARING IN THE GROOVE”: PHISH AND JEWISH CULTURE1. From Summer Camp to Summer Tour: Phish and the Cultivation of Jewish Cultural Identity Oren Kroll-Zeldin2. Performing Jewish Identity and Community Through Phish’s “Avenu Malkenu” Jacob A. Cohen3. “Finest in the Nation”: The Food of Phish and the Jewish Experience Evan S. Benn4. Exploring Jewishness and Queerness on Phish’s Dance Floor Isaac Kandall Slone5. I’ve Been Wading in the Whitest Sea: Reflections on Race, Judaism, and Phish Caroline Rothstein6. “Feeling Weightless in the Sea”: Phish and Overcoming Cancer Benjamin DavidSET 2 GOD ON TOUR: JUDAISM AND THE LIVE PHISH EXPERIENCE7. Beyond “Avenu Malkenu”: Fan Responses to Sacred Music in Phish’s Musical Canon Ariella Werden-Greenfield8. “All Times and Seasons Are the Reasons”: How Phish Brought America to Shul Mike Greenhaus9. “Where the People Come to Pray”: Sacred Pilgrimage and Communal Rejoicing from the Ancient Temple in Jerusalem to YEMSG Jessy Dressin10. “Pull This Timber ‘fore the Sun Go Down”: The Joys and Questions of Shabbat Observance at Phish Josh Fleet11. Phish Jews: Improvisation as Religious Orientation Joshua S. Ladon12. Tour and Torah: Jews and Crews from the Sages of the Gemara to the Ragers on the Rail Noah Munro LehrmanENCORE “ALL THINGS RECONSIDERED”: REFLECTIONS ON PHISH AND JEWISHNESS13. “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” Comes to Phish: An Interview with Shirley Halperin14. Bringing Phish to the Holy Land: An Interview with Rachel Loonin Steinerman15. Blessed by Bass: An Interview with Marc Brownstein16. Becoming the General of Jam: An Interview with Jonathan Schwartz17. Mike’s Corner Reprise: An Interview with Mike GordonAfterword Dean BudnickList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisLong before the world discovered grunge, the Pacific Northwest was already home to a singular music culture. In the late 1950s, locals had codified a distinct offshoot of rockin' R&B, and a surprising number of them would skyrocket to success, including Little Bill and the Bluenotes, the Wailers, Ron Holden, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Kingsmen, Merrilee Rush, and the Sonics. With entertaining accounts gleaned from hundreds of interviews, Peter Blecha tells the story of music in the Pacific Northwest from the 1940s to the 1960s, a golden era that shaped generations of musicians to come. The local R&B scene evolved from the area's vibrant jazz scene, and Blecha illuminates the musical continuum between Ray Charles (who cut his first record in Seattle) and Quincy Jones to the rock 'n' rollers who forged the classic jazz-tinged Northwest Sound. DJs built a teen dance circuit that the authorities didn't like but whose popularity pushed bands to develop crowd-friendly beats. Do-it-yoTrade Review"In a tour de force, Blecha offers all music fans the definitive book about the highly significant but much neglected story of Northwestern U.S. rock." * Library Journal *"[Peter Blecha] adds the voices of Seattle musicians to the story of Northwest Sound." * Seattle Times *"Stomp and Shout finally gives a voice to the musicians, promoters, producers, and entrepreneurs who laid the groundwork for the musical explosions to come." * GRAMMY.com *"In a well-written and wonderfully illustrated narrative chock-full of first-hand accounts, Blecha tells the story of important northwest rockers." * Pacific Northwest Quarterly (PNQ) *

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary collection of lyrics from rap's first thirty years, a showcase of poetic depth and diversityTrade Review“This landmark work chronicles an earth-shattering movement with deep roots.”—New York Times Book Review“The Anthology of Rap is among the best books of its kind ever published.”—Dan Chiasson, New York Review of Books“For the reader who’s really interested in modern poetics a profitable week or three could be spent sitting with The Anthology of Rap.”—Will Self, Times (UK)“The authors have built a poignant collection of rhythm and rhyme. . . . For hard-core hip-hop heads, this book confirms what we have always known: that some of the most innovative writing hails from the imagination of the rapper.”—Idris Goodwin, Boston Globe“As ambitious and intelligent as anyone might want, and more enjoyable than anyone might think. . . . If you want to hear how the latter part of the twentieth century sounded, you can’t do better than this book.”—Kevin Young, Bookforum“Intelligent and authentic. . . . Written for both the hip-hop head and the uninitiated.”—James Johnson, Philadelphia Inquirer“An important contribution to this highly contested lyrical culture.”—David Barnes, Times Literary Supplement“A chronology of rap that highlights significant figures in its short history and offers a window into how rappers harmonize the world through a distinct form of self-expression.”—Library Journal“Reading The Anthology of Rap, which covers everything from Afrika Bambaataa to Young Jeezy, it’s hard not to appreciate rap’s astounding love of words, of the way they fit together and play off each other, and of how meaning can be layered upon meaning to get at a deeper truth. Which sounds an awful lot like poetry.”—Joshua Ostroff, Globe and Mail“The eye-opening essay by [Henry Louis] Gates . . . provides deep historical context for rap; it alone makes the book worth owning.”—Slate“Bradley and DuBois succeed in lucidly explaining how societal shifts have been reflected in rap lyrics. . . . This book is a fitting tribute to a genre not far short of its fortieth anniversary and which was once dismissed as a passing fad.”—Geoff St Louis, Time Out“Groundbreaking. . . . It makes the history, development and variety of the genre plain to see in vivid detail.”—Bernadine Evaristo, The Independent“An extraordinary collection of lyrics showcasing rap’s poetic depth and diversity.”—Bookseller’s Buyer’s Guide“A perfect primer for newcomers.”—The IndependentHonorable mention in the Compilations/Anthologies category of the 2010 New England Book Festival, given by the JM Northern Media family of festivals“An essential contribution to our living literary tradition. . . . This groundbreaking anthology masterfully assembles part of a new vanguard of American poetry.”—from the Foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. “What you hold in your hands is more than a book. This is a culture. This is hip-hop. . . . This book offers a view of rap in full, from the root to the fruit.”—from the Afterword by Common “Every great literature deserves a great anthology. Rap finally has its own.”—from the Afterword by Chuck D “From the Sing Song cadence of the slave preachers to the emotional bravery of Tupac Shakur to the clarity of Queen Latifah . . . for all the hearts and heads and voices who have still to be heard: We Now Have an Encyclopedia. Good for us. Much needed. Much needed.”—Nikki Giovanni“The Anthology of Rap is an instant classic. It brings together the lyric poetry of some of the greatest artists of our time. Hip Hop is here to stay and rap lives forever—on the stage and now on the page!”—Cornel West“These Rappers’ lyrics love. Cut. Curse. Fight. Teach. Play. Pray. Testify. They bring us the pace of sound. The swiftness of sound. The discordant way of looking at the world of sound. The Blackness of sound. The new bebopic beat of sound. These are word sorcerers who love language and hablar sin bastón (speak without a crutch).”—Sonia Sanchez“This monumental encyclopedia of rhymes is great for hip-hop newbies or longtime fans, lyric lovers and poetry devotees. It’s an invaluable reference on hip-hop history spanning from Afrika Bambaataa to Kanye West.”—Touré“Some readers of poetry still wonder where the rhymes went. One answer is they left the ends of the lines and went inside the poem. But rhyme also strongly re-emerges in rap. Whatever the stakes or the messages contained in this monumental volume, the like-sounds that used to be the engine of English poetry drive and power these energetic lyrics.”—Billy Collins

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Book SynopsisA funny, fierce, and uninhibited musical chronicle of the convulsive recent past, from one of our finest cultural criticsTrade Review“Mr. Marcus is a world-class cultural spelunker . . . More Real Life Rock [is] a one-of-a-kind guide to rock music’s resonance in every aspect of our lives.”—David Kirby, Wall Street Journal “For decades, Greil Marcus has attempted to define the whole of American culture as his life’s work. From hip-hop to opera, from outer space to political unrest, from black to white, from a thousand years ago until tomorrow. This collection of essays, critiques, questions, and revelations shows how far a brilliant, active, open and observant mind can go toward understanding an amalgamated culture that has never understood itself.”—Walter Mosley“This new collection of Marcus’ long-running column continues his role as a great chronicler of the highways and byways of American culture. This book feels like reading the diary of a friend who had noticed things I’d missed and seen deeper into what I‘d noticed.”—Morgan Neville“The world is moving so fast that some days it feels impossible to stop, listen and look. In ten years, fifty years, or tomorrow, Greil Marcus’s Real Life Rock Top 10 will be there for you, pointing the way to things you missed, but even better, opening doors to new ways of thinking about everything you thought you knew.”—Stephanie Zacharek“Marcus’ enthusiasm is contagious; he doesn’t only share his knowledge, he wants you to go out and experience it firsthand. This record of short reviews and previews reads like a poetry volume and connects the dots between so many contemporary subjects.”—Christian Marclay“Marcus brings an acute, intellectually dexterous, aesthetically and politically informed attention to the music in question. These essays are an astounding contribution to both music and cultural history.”—Thomas Lutz, Los Angeles Review of Books

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Book SynopsisSuperbly researched and vividly written, The Devil''s Music is one of the only books to trace the rise and development of the blues both in relation to other forms of black music and in the context of American social history as experienced by African Americans. From its roots in the turn-of-the-century honky-tonks of New Orleans and the barrelhouses and plantations of the Mississippi Delta to modern legends such as John Lee Hooker and B. B. King, the blues comes alive here through accounts by the blues musicians themselves and those who knew them. Throughout this wide-ranging and fascinating book, Giles Oakley describes the texture of the life that made the blues possible, and the changing attitudes toward the music. The Devil''s Music is a wholehearted and loving examination of one of America''s most powerful traditions.Table of ContentsPart One * Slavery * Nigger Minstrels and Coon Songs * From Emancipation to Segregation * From Minstrels to Ragtime * Early New Orleans Jazz and Blues * Work and Song * W.C. Handy Part Two * Charley Patton * Henry Thomas Ragtime Texas * Lead Belly * The Barrelhouse Circuit and the Piney Woods * Migration Part Three * Crazy Blues * Showbiz Blues I: The Tent Shows * Ma Rainey * Showbiz Blues II: The Theatres * Bessie Smith * Womens Blues Part Four * The Men Start Recording * Field Recordings * Atlanta * Memphis Part Five * The Depression * City Blues * Blues in St. Louis * Blues in Chicago * The Rural South * Blues in the South Part Six * Post-war Blues * The End of an Era * Say it Loud Part Seven * Dealing with the DevilInto the Nineties * Blues as Heritage * Blues Down HomeThe New South * The Malaco Story * New SouthNew Blues * Gonna Be Some Changes Made * Chicago Blues Today * The Strong Persuaders

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Book SynopsisThe Beach Boys have been rolling, like the tide their great songs evoke, for more than thirty years, reaching professional peaks and tragic personal depths. In this electrifying account Steven Gaines reveals the gothic tale of violence, addiction, greed, genius, madness, and rock''n'' roll behind the wholesome, surf-and-sun image. Through candid interviews with close friends, family, and the Beach Boys themselves, Heroes and Villains portrays and evaluates all those who propelled the California myth, and the group who sang about it, into worldwide prominence: Murry Wilson, the corrosive father who abused them as children and exploited them as adults Dennis Wilson, who explored every avenue of excess (including welcoming the entire Manson family into his home) to his inevitable self-destruction the Wilsons'' cousin, frontman Mike Love, whose devotion to eastern religion could not quell his violent temper the wives (more than ten), mistresses, managers, and producers who consumed hugeTrade ReviewWinner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for best Pop Music Book.

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Book Synopsis***A FINALIST FOR THE 2025 SOUTHERN BOOK PRIZE*** THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF THE THRIVING AND INFLUENTIAL ROCK SCENE IN CHAPEL HILL, WHICH GAVE THE WORLD ARTISTS LIKE BEN FOLDS FIVE, SUPERCHUNK, AND SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS North Carolina has always produced extraordinary music of every description. But the indie rock boom of the late 1980s and early ’90s brought the state most fully into the public consciousness, while the subsequent post-grunge free-for-all bestowed its greatest commercial successes. In addition to the creation of legacy label Merge Records and a slate of excellent indie bands like Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, and Polvo, this was the decade when other North Carolina artists broke Billboard ’s Top 200 and sold millions of records—several million of which were issued by another indie label based in Carrboro, Chapel Hill’s smaller next-door neighbor. It’s time to take a closer look at exactly what happened.A Really Strange and Wonderful Time features a representative cross section of what was being created in and around Chapel Hill between 1989 and 1999. In addition to the aforementioned indie bands, it documents—through firsthand accounts—other local notables like Ben Folds Five, Dillon Fence, Flat Duo Jets, Small, Southern Culture on the Skids, The Veldt, and Whiskeytown. At the same time, it describes the nurturing infrastructure which engendered and encouraged this marvelous diversity. In essence, A Really Strange and Wonderful Time is proof of the genius of community.

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Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestselling author of Dylan Goes Electric! follows Jelly Roll Morton on a journey through the hidden worlds and forbidden songs of early blues and jazz. In Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories, Elijah Wald takes readers on a journey into the hidden and censored world of early blues and jazz, guided by the legendary New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton. Morton became nationally famous as a composer and bandleader in the 1920s, but got his start twenty years earlier, entertaining customers in the city’s famous bordellos and singing rough blues in Gulf Coast honky-tonks. He recorded an oral history of that time in 1938, but the most distinctive songs were hidden away for over fifty years, because the language and themes were as wild and raunchy as anything in gangsta rap.  Those songs inspired Wald to explore how much other history had been locked away and censored, and this book is the result of that quest. Full of previously unpublished lyrics and stories, it paints a new and surprising picture of the dawn of American popular music, when jazz and blues were still the private, after-hours music of the Black 'sporting world.' It gives new insight into familiar figures like Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong, and introduces forgotten characters like Ready Money, the New Orleans sex worker and pickpocket who ended up owning one of the largest Black hotels on the West Coast. Revelatory and fascinating, these songs and stories provide an alternate view of Black culture at the turn of the twentieth century, when a new generation was shaping lives their parents could not have imagined and art that transformed popular culture around the world—the birth of a joyous, angry, desperate, loving, and ferociously funny tradition that resurfaced in hip-hop and continues to inspire young artists in a new millennium.  

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Book Synopsis Get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Megadeth’s iconic record, Rust in Peace, from the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist.When Rust in Peace was released in 1990, the future of Megadeth was uncertain. Fresh off their performance at the record-breaking Monsters of Rock festival, and with knockout new albums from Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica dominating the charts, the pressure to produce a standout statement record was higher than ever. In Rust in Peace: The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece, the band's lead vocalist and guitarist, Dave Mustaine, gives readers a never-before-seen glimpse into the artistry and insanity that went into making the band's most iconic record. He recounts the arduous task of hiring the band and supporting cast, of managing egos and extracurriculars during the album's ensuing success, and succumbing to the pressures of fame and fortune—which eventually forced the band to break up. And yet, Megadeth's demise was just the beginning; the birth pangs of the record were nothing compared to what came next. Alcohol, drugs, sex, money, power, property, prestige, the lies fed to the band by the industry—and the lies they told each other-threatened to eat away at the band's bond like rust, devouring it until only the music survived. Featuring a foreword by Slash

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Book SynopsisBeast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin is the first-ever biography of the iconic John Bonham, considered by many to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) rock drummer of all time. Bonham first learned to play the drums at the age of five, and despite never taking formal lessons, began drumming for local bands immediately upon graduating from secondary school. By the late 1960s, Bonham was looking for a more solid gig in order to provide his growing family with a more regular income. Meanwhile, following the dissolution of the popular blues rock band The Yardbirds, lead guitarist Jimmy Page sought the company of new bandmates to help him record an album and tour Scandinavia as the New Yardbirds. A few months later, Bonham was recruited to join the band who would eventually become known as Led Zeppelin-and before the year was out, Bonham and his three bandmates would become the richest rock band in the world.In their first year, Led Zeppelin released two

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Book SynopsisThe definitive biography of Creedence Clearwater Revival, exploring the band's legendary rise to fame and how their music embodied the cultural landscape of the late '60s and early '70sFrom 1969 to 1971, as the United States convulsed with political upheaval and transformative social movements, no band was bigger than Creedence Clearwater Revival. They managed a two-year barrage of top-10 singles and LPs that doubled as an ubiquitous soundtrack to one of the most volatile periods in modern American history, and they remain a staple of classic rock radio and films about the era. Yet despite their enduring popularity, no book has ever sought to understand Creedence in conversation with their time. A Song for Everyone finally tells that story: the thirteen-year saga of an unassuming suburban quartet's journey through the wilds of 1960s pop, and their slow accrual of a sound and ethos that were almost mystically aligned with the concerns of decade's end. Starting in middle school, these Californian friends and brothers cut a working-class path through the most expansive decade in American music, playing R&B, country, and rock 'n' roll under a variety of names as each of those genres expanded and evolved. When they finally synthesized those styles under a new name in 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival became instantly epochal, then fell apart under the weight of personal grievances that dated back to adolescence. As musicians and as men, they embodied the contradictions and difficulties of their time, and those dimensions of their career have never been explored until now.Drawing on wide-ranging research into the social and musical developments of 1959-1972, extensive original interviews with surviving Creedence members and associates, and unpublished memoirs from people who knew the group closely, A Song for Everyone is the definitive account of a legendary and still-beloved American band. At the same time, it is also a cultural history of those same years—from Elvis to Altamont, Eisenhower to Watergate—seen through the eyes of four men who encapsulated them in song for all time, told by one of the rising figures in contemporary music writing.

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Book SynopsisCultural criticism and pop culture history intertwine in this important book, which dissects how hip hop has sidelined Black women's identity and emotional well-being. A “ride-or-die chick” is a woman who holds down her family and community. She’s your girl that you can call up in the middle of the night to bail you out of jail, and you know she’ll show up and won’t ask any questions. Her ride-or-die trope becomes a problem when she does it indiscriminately. She does anything for her family, friends, and significant other, even at the cost of her own well-being. “No” is not in her vocabulary. Her self-worth is connected to how much labor she can provide for others. She goes above and beyond for everyone in every aspect of her life—work, family, church, even if it’s not reciprocated, and doesn’t require it to be because she’s a “strong Black woman” and everyone’s favorite ride-or-die chick. To her, love should be earned, and there’s no limit to what she’ll do for it.   In this book, author, adjunct professor of sociology, and former therapist Shanita Hubbard disrupts the ride-or-die complex and argues that this way of life has left Black women exhausted, overworked, overlooked, and feeling depleted. She suggests that Black women are susceptible to this mentality because it’s normalized in our culture. It rings loud in your favorite hip-hop songs, and it even shows up in the most important relationship you will ever have—the one with yourself.   Compassionate, candid, hard-hitting, and  100 percent unapologetic, Ride or Die melds Hubbard’s entertaining conversations with her Black girlfriends and her personal experiences as a redeemed ride-or-die chick and a former “captain of the build-a-brother team” to fervently dismantle cultural norms that require Black women to take care of everyone but themselves.  Ride or Die urges you to expel the myth that your self-worth is connected to how much labor you provide others and guides you toward healing. Using hip hop as a backdrop to explore norms that are harmful to Black women, Hubbard shows the ways you may be unknowingly perpetuating this harm within your relationships. This book is an urgent call for you to pull the plug on the ride-or-die chick.  

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Book SynopsisTwo decades after the Sex Pistols and the Ramones birthed punk music into the world, their artistic heirs burst onto the scene and changed the genre forever. While the punk originators remained underground favorites and were slow burns commercially, their heirs shattered commercial expectations for the genre. In 1994, Green Day and The Offspring each released their third albums, and the results were astounding. Green Day''s Dookie went on to sell more than 15 million copies and The Offspring''s Smash remains the all-time bestselling album released on an independent label. The times had changed, and so had the music.While many books, articles, and documentaries focus on the rise of punk in the ''70s, few spend any substantial time on its resurgence in the ''90s. Smash! will be the first to do so, detailing the circumstances surrounding the shift in ''90s music culture away from grunge and legitimizing what many first-generation punks regard as post-punk, new wave, and

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Book SynopsisA tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia''s death in 1995The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him. When Garcia passed away suddenly in August of 1995, the remaining band members experienced full crises of confidence and identity. So long defined by Garcia''s vision for the group, the surviving Core Four, as they came to be called, were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would leave the iconic band in shambles. Wrestling with how best to define their living legacy, the band made many attempts at restructuring, but it would take twenty years before relationships were mended enough for the Grateful Dead as fans remembered them to once again take the stage.Acclaimed music journalist and New York Timesbestselling author Joel Selvi

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Book SynopsisA tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia''s death in 1995The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him. When Garcia passed away suddenly in August of 1995, the remaining band members experienced full crises of confidence and identity. So long defined by Garcia''s vision for the group, the surviving ''Core Four,'' as they came to be called, were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would leave the iconic band in shambles. Wrestling with how best to define their living legacy, the band made many attempts at restructuring, but it would take twenty years before relationships were mended enough for the Grateful Dead as fans remembered them to once again take the stage.Acclaimed music journalist and New York Times bestselling author Joel Selvin was there for much of the

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Book SynopsisAs is the case with so many musicians, the life of Warren Zevon was blessed with talent and opportunity yet also beset by tragedy and setbacks. Raised mostly by his mother with an occasional cameo from his gangster father, Warren had an affinity and talent for music at an early age. Taking to the piano and guitar almost instantly, he began imitating and soon creating songs at every opportunity. After an impromptu performance in the right place at the right time, a record deal landed on the lap of a teenager who was eager to set out on his own and make a name for himself. But of course, where fame is concerned, things are never quite so simple.Drawing on original interviews with those closest to Zevon, including Crystal Zevon, Jackson Browne, Mitch Albom, Danny Goldberg, Barney Hoskyns, and Merle Ginsberg, Nothing''s Bad Luck tells the story of one of rock''s greatest talents. Journalist C.M. Kushins not only examines Zevon''s troubled personal life and sophisticated,

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