Black History Month Resources  

Explores the relationship between African American popular music and American culture through a review of artists' music.

Designed for an introductory course in African American music, this title focuses on musical genres and styles, moving chronologically from folk traditions to modern forms. A final section discusses the aesthetics of African-American culture and music.

Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop has been a generation-defining global movement. In a post-civil rights era rapidly transformed by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop gave voiceless youths a chance to address these seismic changes, and became a job-making engine and the Esperanto of youth rebellion. Hip-hop crystallized a multiracial generation's worldview, and forever transformed politics and culture. But the epic story of how that happened has never been fully told . . . until now.

Blues is the cornerstone of American popular music, the bedrock of rock and roll. In this extraordinary musical and social history, Robert Palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of Chicago's South Side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation. Palmer tells the story of the blues through the lives of its greatest practitioners: Robert Johnson, who sang of being pursued by the hounds of hell; Muddy Waters, who electrified Delta blues and gave the music its rock beat; Robert Lockwood and Sonny Boy Williamson, who launched the King Biscuit Time radio show and brought blues to the airwaves; and John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner, B. B. King, and many others.

Editors Price, Kernodle, and Maxile provide balanced representation of various individuals, groups and ensembles associated with diverse religious beliefs, political affiliations, and perspectives. Also highlighted are the major record labels, institutions of higher learning, and various cultural venues that have had a tremendous impact on the development and preservation of African American music.

Summary:
"Coverage includes: the whole history of the blues, from its antecedents in African and American types of music to the contemporary styles performed today; artists active throughout the United States and from foreign countries; the business of the blues, including individual record labels active since the prewar era; aspects particular to blues lyrics and music; specific issues such as race or gender as related to the blues; reference lists of blues periodicals, blues newsletters, libraries, and museums"--Publisher's description

If you have an interest in the history of popular music in the United States, particularly the history of R&B, this is an excellent place to begin. Well researched and well written, this book is chock full of insight and information.

Through substantial entries on the chief architects and innovators, Icons of R&B and Soul offers a vibrant overview of impact of R&B and soul in American culture. Numerous significant female performers are profiled.

This masterful exploration of American roots music--country, rockabilly, and the blues--spotlights the artists who created a distinctly American sound, including Ernest Tubb, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard, and Sleepy LaBeef. In incisive portraits based on searching interviews with these legendary performers, Peter Guralnick captures the boundless passion that drove these men to music-making and that kept them determinedly, and sometimes almost desperately, on the road.

220 classic tracks & 64 page deluxe booklet. "The most significant, comprehensive & authoritative Black music compilation ever".

When you hear a Stax record, you know it's a Stax record: the urgent, passionate gospel inflections of the singer; the behind-the-beat horn arrangements; the prominent, pulsating rhythm section. It is the sound of South Memphis in the 1960s. Few labels have such an identifiable sound--or, for that matter, one that's as infectious. This four-disc collection gets right to the heart of the Stax sound, tracing its development from 1960 to 1975 and thus unveiling the development of modern soul music itself. The 98-song selection is wide and deep, with room for both international smashes and obscure curiosities. Disc one covers the best-known hits, but the highlight may be disc four, which is dedicated to incendiary live recordings and is where you can hear Rufus Thomas's "Do the Push and Pull" for more than five glorious minutes and hear Albert King break down his relationship troubles. The middle two discs fill in the gaps with lesser-known gems from famous artists and famous songs by lesser-known artists. Sure, any longtime Stax fan will quibble with a few of the song choices (and omissions), but that just proves how consistently rewarding the Stax output was. With packaging and annotation worthy of such indispensable music, The Stax Story will delight any fan of funk and soul. --Marc Greilsamer