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Music in American Life series

Music in American Life is a longstanding series, from the University of Illinois Press, that embodies the twin goals of documenting the place of music in American culture and the cultural life that gives rise to particular musical forms. Encompassing the broadest range of music, from classical through all forms of American vernacular music, the series welcomes a variety of approaches to the topic of music in American life, including monographs, biographies, memoirs, reference books, readers, and edited collections.

The list below is not complete. Note that the dates given may not be the original publication date.


Sing a Sad Song, The Life of Hank Williams

Author: Roger M. Williams

Publication date: 1981

University of Illinois Press

"Roger Williams recounts the story of Hank's rise from impoverished Southern roots, his coming of age during and after World War II, his meteoric climb to national acclaim and star status on the Grand Ole Opry, his chronic bouts with alcoholism and the alienation it created in those he loved and sang for, and finally his tragic death at twenty-nine and subsequent emergence as a folk hero. The book also features a thorough discography."

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San Antonio Rose, The Life and Music of Bob Wills

Author: Charles R. Townsend

Publication date: 1986

University of Illinois Press

"Affectionately written by a Texan who responded to the legendary fiddler's magnetism, San Antonio Rose is a meticulous recapturing of Wills and the musical excitement he created. Charles R. Townsend traces Wills's colorful and dynamic life, from his birth into a family of frontier fiddlers (1905), through the development of his career and the poignancy of his last recording session (1973), to his death in 1975. He shows how Wills brought black and white musical traditions together and examines the tremendous impact he had on both popular and country music through the more than 550 selections he recorded and the forty years he and his Texas Playboys performed in dance halls and on radio."

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Git Along, Little Dogies, Songs and Songmakers of the American West

Author: John I. White

Publication date: 1989

University of Illinois Press

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Paul Hindemith in the United States

Author: Luther Noss

Publication date: 1989

University of Illinois Press

"The celebrated composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) was one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century. Noss traces Hindemith's musical career in America, concentrating upon his first three U.S. concert tours and his thirteen-year tenure as a professor, teacher, and performer at Yale University."

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Oh, Didn't He Ramble, The Life Story of Lee Collins

Author: Lee Collins, Mary Collins

Editor: Frank J Gillis, John W Miner

Publication date: 1989

University of Illinois Press

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Discoursing Sweet Music: Brass Bands and Community Life in Turn-of-the-Century Pennsylvania

Author: Kenneth Kreitner

Publication date: 1989

University of Illinois Press

"In Discoursing Sweet Music, Kenneth Kreitner has chronicled five years in the life of community bands in the area surrounding his hometown of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. He relates what the movement was about and shows how important it was, both to the communities in which the bands were active and to the band members themselves."

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Ethnic Music on Records, A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942

Author: Richard K. Spottswood

Publication date: 1990

University of Illinois Press

"This impressive compilation offers a nearly complete listing of sound recordings made by American minority artists prior to mid-1942. Organized by national group or language, the seven-volume set cites primary and secondary titles, composers, participating artists, instrumentation, date and place of recording, master and release numbers, and reissues in all formats. Because of its clear arrangements and indexes, it will be a unique and valuable tool for music and ethnic historians, folklorists, and others."

Vol. 1: Western Europe
Vol. 2: Slavic
Vol. 3: Eastern Europe
Vol. 4: Spanish, Portuguese, Philippines, Basque
Vol. 5: Middle East, Far East, Scandinavian, English Language, American Indian, International
Vol. 6: Artist Index, Title Index
Vol. 7: Record Number Index, Matrix Number Index

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Pickin' on Peachtree: A History of Country Music in Atlanta, Georgia

Author: Wayne W. Daniel

Publication date: 1990

University of Illinois Press

"Pickin' on Peachtree traces Atlanta's emergence in the 1920s as a major force in country recording and radio broadcasting, a position of dominance it enjoyed for some forty years. From Old Time Fiddlers' Conventions and barn dances through the rise of station WSB and other key radio outlets, Wayne Daniel thoroughly documents the consolidation of country music as big business in Atlanta. He also profiles a vast array of performers, radio personalities, and recording moguls who transformed the Peachtree city into the nerve center of early country music."

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Chicago Soul

Author: Robert Pruter

Publication date: 1992

University of Illinois Press

"Chicago Soul chronicles the emergence of Chicago soul music out of the city's thriving rhythm-and-blues industry from the late 1950s through the late 1970s. The performers, A&R men, producers, distributors, deejays, studios, and labels that made it all happen take center stage in this first book to document the stunning rise and success of the Windy City as a soul music recording center."

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Voices of the Jazz Age, Profiles of Eight Vintage Jazzmen

Author: Chip Deffaa

Publication date: 1992

University of Illinois Press

"Sam Wooding, Benny Waters, Bix Beiderbecke, Joe Tarto, Bud Freeman, Jimmy McPartland, Freddie Moore and Jabbo Smith: Chip Deffaa has interviewed all but Bix, whose last months we learn about from never-before-published letters to his family."

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America's Music, From the Pilgrims to the Present

Author: Gilbert Chase

Publication date: 1992

University of Illinois Press

"Gilbert Chase/s monumental work remains the definitive account of music in America. First published in 1955 and subsequently translated into French, German and Spanish, America's Music has long been regarded as a classic. This updated third edition is completely rewritten. Here Chase broadens his scope to devote greater attention to jazz, folk music, and popular music, among other topics. Also included are illustrations of many of the musicians and subjects discussed."

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The Stonemans, An Appalachian Family and the Music That Shaped Their Lives

Author: Ivan M. Tribe

Publication date: 1993

University of Illinois Press

"The Stonemans is an eye-opening slice of Americana - a trip through nearly twenty years of country music history following a single family from their native Blue Ridge Mountains to the slums of Washington, D.C., and the glitter of Nashville."

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Transforming Tradition, Folk Music Revivals Examined

Editor: Neil V. Rosenberg

Publication date: 1993

University of Illinois Press

"Transforming Tradition offers the first serious look at folksong revivals, vibrant meldings of popular and folk culture that captured public awareness in the 1950s and 1960s."

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The Crooked Stovepipe: Athapaskan Fiddle Music and Square Dancing in Northeast Alaska and Northwest Canada

Author: Craig Mishler

Publication date: 1993

University of Illinois Press

"Named for a popular local fiddle tune, The Crooked Stovepipe is a rollicking, detailed, first-ever study of the indigenous fiddle music and social dancing enjoyed by the Gwich'in Athapskan Indians and other tribal groups in northeast Alaska, the Yukon, and the northwest territories. Though the music has obvious roots in the British Isles, French Canada, and the American South, the Gwich'in have used it in shaping their own aesthetic, which is apparent in their choice of fiddle tunings, bowing techniques, foot clogging, and a distinctively stratified tune repertoire."

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Barrio Rhythm: Mexican American Music in Los Angeles

Author: Steven Loza

Publication date: 1993

University of Illinois Press

"Drawing from oral histories and other primary sources, as well as from appropriate representative songs, Loza provides a historical overview of the music from the nineteenth century to the present and offers in-depth profiles of nine Mexican-American artists, groups, and entrepreneurs in Southern California from the post-World War II era to the present. His interviews with many of today's most influential barrio musicians, including members of Los Lobos, Eddie Cano, Lalo Guerrero, and Willie Herrón, chronicle the cultural forces active in this complex urban community."

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The Creation of Jazz: Music, Race, and Culture in Urban America

Author: Burton W. Peretti

Publication date: 1994

University of Illinois Press

"This fascinating account of how the racial and cultural dynamics of American cities created the music, life, and business that was jazz is the first comprehensive analysis of the role of jazz in its formative years."

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Goin' to Kansas City

Author: Nathan W. Pearson, Jr.

Publication date: 1994

University of Illinois Press

"This book deals with the origins, history and development of jazz in Kansas City from the early years of this century to the end of World War II. While the rest of America suffered during the Depression, Kansas City prospered under the corrupt but economically stimulating administration of 'Boss' Tom Prendergast. Musicians flocked to the city and a combination of influences, from Texas and Oklahoma, New Orleans, Missouri and the northern states, produced a distinctive style to be heard in the music of Count Basie, Bennie Moten and Andy Kirk among others."

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That Half-Barbaric Twang, The Banjo in American Popular Culture

Author: Karen Linn

Publication date: 1994

University of Illinois Press

"In this book Karen Linn shows how the banjo - despite design innovations and several modernizing agendas - has failed to escape its image as a half-barbaric instrument symbolic of antimodernism and sentimentalism ..... Her text traces the instrument from its African origins through the 1980s, alternating between themes of urban modernization and rural nostalgia. She examines the banjo fad of bourgeois Northerners during the late nineteenth century, African-American banjo tradition and the commercially popular cultural image of the southern black banjo player, the banjo in ragtime and early jazz, and the white Southerner and mountaineer as banjo player."

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Milton Brown and the Founding of Western Swing

Author: Cary Ginell

Publication date: 1994

University of Illinois Press

"Cary Ginell vividly portrays memorable personalities, stylistic growth, musical rivalry, touring, recording sessions, business practices, and driving determination. Drawing on a rich array of primary resources, including oral histories, family scrapbooks, and newspaper files, he documents Brown's role in creating Western swing."

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Traveling the High Way Home, Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music

Author: John Wright

Publication date: 1995

University of Illinois Press

"Wright's portrait of the man he characterizes as "a national treasure" goes beyond oral history. His detailed introductory chapter describes and evaluates Stanlet's more than forty-year career with his Clinch Mountain Boys. It also reveals how Ralph's life and music developed after the death of his brother, Carter. Twenty-one pictures illustrate Stanley's world, and an appendix covers his prolific recording activity, including 45 albums."

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Never without a Song, The Years and Songs of Jennie Devlin, 1865-1952

Author: Katharine D. Newman

Publication date: 1995

University of Illinois Press

"Never Without a Song focuses on the centrality of folksong in the life of Jennie Devlin, a woman who worked for fourteen years as a "bound-out girl" along the New York-Pennsylvania border and later lived in Philadelphia and Gloucester, New Jersey. Katharine Newman met Devlin in 1936 and compiled information about the older woman's life and music. Half a century later, Newman returned to her collection in retirement-with her own perspective of age. The result is a unique biography of an American working-class woman, told with depth and candor."

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Heartland Excursions, Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music

Author: Bruno Nettl

Publication date: 1995

University of Illinois Press

"In Heartland Excursions, one of today's foremost ethnomusicologists takes the reader along for a delightful, wide-ranging tour of his workplace. Bruno Nettl provides an insightful, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, always pithy ethnography of midwestern university schools of music from a different perspective in each of four chapters, alternating among three distinct voices: the longtime professor, the native informant, and the outside observer, an ethnomusicologist from Mars."

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The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing and Other Songs Cowboys Sing

Author: Guy Logsdon

Publication date: 1995

University of Illinois Press

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My Song Is My Weapon, People's Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture, 1930-50

Author: Robbie Lieberman

Publication date: 1995

University of Illinois Press

Explores the relationship between the U.S. Communist movement and the folk music revival of the 1940s and 1950s.

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Red River Blues, The Blues Tradition in the Southeast

Author: Bruce Bastin

Publication date: 1995

University of Illinois Press

"The complete story of the origins and evolution of the black American blues tradition, drawing extensively on oral history interviews."

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Songprints: The Musical Experience of Five Shoshone Women

Author: Judith Vander

Publication date: 1996

University of Illinois Press

"Songprints, the first book-length exploration of the musical lives of Native American women, describes a century of cultural change and constancy among the Shoshone of Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. Through her conversations with Emily, Angelina, Alberta, Helene, and Lenore, Judith Vander captures the distinct personalities of five generations of Shoshone women as they tell their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes toward their music."

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Tenement Songs, The Popular Music of the Jewish Immigrants

Author: Mark Slobin

Publication date: 1996

University of Illinois Press

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'Twas Only an Irishman's Dream: The Image of Ireland and the Irish in American Popular Song Lyrics, 1800-1920

Author: William H. A. Williams

Publication date: 1996

University of Illinois Press

"The image of the Irish in the United States changed drastically over time, from that of hard-drinking, rioting Paddies to genial, patriotic working-class citizens. In 'Twas Only an Irishman's Dream, William H. A. Williams traces the change in this image through more than 700 pieces of sheet music--popular songs from the stage and for the parlor--to show how Americans' opinions of Ireland and the Irish went practically from one extreme to the other."

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Doowop: The Chicago Scene

Author: Robert Pruter

Publication date: 1997

University of Illinois Press

"Pruter foraged sources from fanzines to the Chicago Defender and conducted extensive interviews in cooking up Doowop, which chronicles the careers of such legendary 1950s groups as the Flamingos, the Moonglows, the Spaniels, and the El Dorados, along with virtually every other Chicago doowop group that contributed to that era."

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Pistol Packin' Mama: Aunt Molly Jackson and the Politics of Folksong

Author: Shelly Romalis

Publication date: 1998

University of Illinois Press

"A coal miner's daughter, she grew up in eastern Kentucky, married a miner, and became a midwife, labor activist, and songwriter. Fusing hard experience with rich Appalachian musical tradition, her songs became weapons of struggle .... Shelly Romalis draws upon interviews and archival materials to construct this portrait of an Appalachian woman who remained radical, raucous, proud, poetic, offensive, self-involved, and in spirit the "real" pistol packin' mama of the son."

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Go Cat Go!: Rockabilly Music and Its Makers

Author: Craig Morrison

Publication date: 1999

University of Illinois Press

"This is the first comprehensive overview of rockabilly, beginning with its crystallization as a distinct style in 1954 with Elvis Presley's first release. Presenting the who, what, where, and when of the music, Craig Morrison's lively account will bring back memories of "Blue Suede Shoes," "Be-Bop-A-Lula," Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, and more."

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Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture

Author: William J. Mahar

Publication date: 1999

University of Illinois Press

"The songs, dances, jokes, parodies, spoofs, and skits of blackface groups such as the Virginia Minstrels and Buckley's Serenaders became wildly popular in antebellum America. Behind the Burnt Cork Mask not only explores the racist practices of these entertainers but considers their performances as troubled representations of ethnicity, class, gender, and culture in the nineteenth century."

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Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music

Author: Steven Loza

Publication date: 1999

University of Illinois Press

"Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music is the first in-depth historical, musical, and cultural look at the career and the influence of this giant of Latin music. In this seminal work, Steven Loza brings the man and his music vividly to life through exclusive interviews with Puente and a number of his close associates, including Hilton Ruiz, Ray Santos, Jerry González, Poncho Sanchez, and Joe Conzo, as well as music journalist Max Salazar and former DJ/producer Chico Sesma."

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Mountains of Music, West Virginia Traditional Music from Goldenseal

Author: John Lilly

Publication date: 1999

University of Illinois Press

"The most complete survey to date of the vibrant strands of this music and its colorful practitioners, Mountains of Music delineates a unique culture where music and music making are part of an ancient and treasured heritage. The sly humor, strong faith, clear regional identity, and musical convictions of these performers draw the reader into families and communities bound by music from one generation to another. For devotees as well as newcomers to this infectiously joyous and heartfelt music, Mountains of Music captures the strength of tradition and the spontaneous power of living artistry."

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The Erotic Muse, American Bawdy Songs

Author: Ed Cray

Publication date: 1999

University of Illinois Press

"Extensively revised and including forty more songs than its predecessor, this new edition of The Erotic Muse is a unique scholarly collection of bawdy or forbidden American folksongs. Ed Cray presents the full texts of some 125 songs, with melodies for most of them and detailed annotations for all. His lively commentary places the songs in historical, social, and, where appropriate, psychological context."

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Alice Tully: An Intimate Portrait

Author: Albert Fuller

Publication date: 1999

University of Illinois Press

"Albert Fuller's close friendship with Miss Tully over a period of more than thirty years allows him unique insight into her eventful life and colorful personality. The daughter of a Corning heiress and a state senator, Miss Tully trained as a singer in Europe before turning her love of music toward enlightened philanthropy. Chair of the board of directors for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for nearly twenty-five years, she also served on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and The Juilliard School, and as a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pierpont Morgan Library, and the Museum of Modern Art. For her cultural contributions, New York City awarded her the Handel Medallion, and France conferred on her the three steps of the National Order of Merit as well as the prestigious Legion of Honor. A charming woman whose activities influenced the musical tastes of New York City and the nation, Alice Tully reveals herself here for the first time."

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Zarzuela, Spanish Operetta, American Stage

Author: Janet L. Sturman

Publication date: 2000

University of Illinois Press

"Once the most popular form of Spanish entertainment short of the bullfight, the zarzuela boasts a long history of bridging the categories of classical and popular art. It is neither opera nor serious drama, yet it requires both trained singers and good actors. The content is neither purely folkloric nor high art; it is too popular for some and too classical for others. In Zarzuela, Janet L. Sturman assesses the political as well as the musical significance of this chameleon of music-drama."

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Bitter Music, Collected Journals, Essays, Introductions, and Librettos

Author: Harry Partch

Publication date: 2000

University of Illinois Press

"Now in paper for the first time, Bitter Music is a generous volume of writings by one of the twentieth century's great musical iconoclasts. Rejecting the equal temperament and concert traditions that have dominated western music, Harry Partch adopted the pure intervals of just intonation and devised a 43-tone-to-the-octave scale, which in turn forced him into inventing numerous musical instruments. His compositions realize his ideal of a corporeal music that unites music, dance, and theater. Winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, Bitter Music includes two journals kept by Partch, one while wandering the West Coast during the Depression and the other while hiking the rugged northern California coastline. It also includes essays and discussions by Partch of his own compositions, as well as librettos and scenarios for six major narrative/dramatic compositions."

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Sixties Rock, Garage, Psychedelic, and Other Satisfactions

Author: Michael Hicks

Publication date: 2000

University of Illinois Press

"Unlike their rock 'n' roll predecessors, many rock musicians of the mid-sixties came to consider themselves as artists, as self-conscious makers of a new sonic medium. Sixties Rock offers a provocative look at these artists and their innovations in two pivotal rock genres: garage rock and psychedelic music. Delving into everything from harmony to hardware, Michael Hicks shows what makes this music tick and what made it unique in its time."

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Long Steel Rail, The Railroad in American Folksong

Author: Norm Cohen

Publication date: 2000

University of Illinois Press

"Impeccable scholarship and lavish illustration mark this landmark study of American railroad folksong. Norm Cohen provides a sweeping discussion of the human aspects of railroad history, railroad folklore, and the evolution of the American folksong. The heart of the book is a detailed analysis of eighty-five songs, from "John Henry" and "The Wabash Cannonball" to "Hell-Bound Train" and "Casey Jones," with their music, sources, history, and variations, and discographies. A substantial new introduction updates this edition."

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The Golden Age of Gospel

Author: Horace Clarence Boyer

Photography: Lloyd Yearwood

Publication date: 2000

University of Illinois Press

"Horace Clarence Boyer presents the first definitive history of the vibrant, visceral tradition of black gospel music. Originally published as How Sweet the Sound, this authoritative work is beautifully illustrated with Lloyd Yearwood's arresting photographs of gospel's greatest performers backstage and in the heat of performance. Skillfully blending music history and social context, Boyer traces the development of gospel from its earliest beginnings through the Golden Age (1945-55) and into the 1960s when gospel entered the concert hall."

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Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man

Author: Howard Pollack

Publication date: 2000

University of Illinois Press

"One of America's most beloved and accomplished composers, Aaron Copland played a crucial role in the coming of age of American music. This substantial biography is the first full-length scholarly study of Copland's life and work."

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That Old-Time Rock & Roll, A Chronicle of an Era, 1954-63

Author: Richard Aquila

Publication date: 2000

University of Illinois Press

"Richard Aquila provides an overview of the birth and growth of this pivotal genre and demonstrates early rock's links to both the youth culture and the dominant culture of the Eisenhower/Kennedy era. Year-by-year timelines and a photo essay place the music in historical perspective by illustrating the decade's top news stories, movies, TV shows, fads, and lifestyles. Complementing this topical summary is a concise biographical dictionary that details all the performers who made the charts between 1954 and 1963, along with the label and chart position of each hit. Both a history of the music and a history of the times, That Old-Time Rock & Roll is an outstanding source of information about the charter members of the baby-boom generation. In a new introduction, Aquila discusses how his long-time interest in rock 'n' roll came to fruition and surveys the progress of rock 'n' roll scholarship since his book's original publication."

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The Late Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R&B to Rock 'n' Roll

Author: James M. Salem

Publication date: 2001

University of Illinois Press

"This first comprehensive treatment of an enigmatic, captivating, and influential performer takes the reader to Beale Street in Memphis and to Houston's Fourth Ward, both vibrant black communities where the music never stopped. Following key players in these two hotspots, James Salem constructs a multifaceted portrait of postwar rhythm and blues, when American popular music (and society) was still clearly segregated."

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Opera on the Road: Traveling Opera Troupes in the United States, 1825-60

Author: Katherine K. Preston

Publication date: 2001

University of Illinois Press

"Katherine K. Preston leads the reader on an operatic tour of pre-Civil War America in this cultural study of what was, surprisingly, an almost ubiquitous art form. Her richly detailed examination of itinerant troupes covers orchestral and choral musicians as well as stars, impresarios, business methods, repertories, advertising techniques, itineraries, sizes of companies, and methods of travel."

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The Sound of the Dove, Singing in Appalachian Primitive Baptist Churches

Author: Beverly Bush Patterson

Publication date: 2001

University of Illinois Press

"In The Sound of the Dove, Beverly Bush Patterson explores one of the oldest traditions of American religious folksong: unaccompanied congregational singing in Appalachian Primitive Baptist churches. Using interviews, field observations, historical research, song transcriptions, and musical analysis, Patterson explores the dynamic relationship between singing and theology in these churches, the genesis of their musical practices, and the unexpectedly significant role of women in their conservative congregations."

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Louis Prima

Author: Garry Boulard

Publication date: 2002

University of Illinois Press

"This is the first paperback edition of the only biography of Louis Prima, one of the most underrated jazz musicians and entertainers of the twentieth century .... Nudging Prima's legacy into the limelight the musician deserved, Garry Boulard nimbly explores Prima's ability to maintain a lifelong career, his knack for self-promotion, and how the cities in which he lived and performed - New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas - uniquely and indelibly informed his style. In a new preface, the author considers how the resurgence of big band and swing music in the late 1990s catapulted Prima and his music back into the public eye."

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Bound for America: Three British Composers

Author: Nicholas Temperley

Publication date: 2003

University of Illinois Press

"In Bound for America, Nicholas Temperley documents the lives, careers, and music of three British composers who emigrated from England in mid-career and became leaders in the musical life of the American Federal era. William Selby of London and Boston (1738-98), Rayner Taylor of London and Philadelphia (1745-1825), and George K. Jackson of London, New York, and Boston (1757-1822) were among the first trained professional composers to make their home in America and are generally regarded as pioneers in the building of an art-music tradition in the New World that reflected the esteemed classical music of Europe."

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The Bluegrass Reader

Editor: Thomas Goldsmith

Publication date: 2004

University of Illinois Press

"In The Bluegrass Reader, Thomas Goldsmith joins his insights as a journalist with a lifetime of experience in bluegrass to capture the full story of this beloved American music. Inspired by the question "What articles about bluegrass would you want to have with you on a desert island?" he assembled a delicious, fun-to-read collection that brings together a wide range of the very best in bluegrass writing."

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That Toddlin' Town: Chicago's White Dance Bands and Orchestras, 1900-1950

Author: Charles A. Sengstock, Jr.

Publication date: 2004

University of Illinois Press

" “As a center for jazz and blues, vaudeville, and a budding recording industry, Chicago and its environs probably spawned more nationally recognized dance bands than any other city in the United States in the 1920s and 30s. While ample attention has been paid to their black counterparts, Charles A. Sengstock Jr.'s That Toddlin' Town looks at the history of the white dance bands, theater orchestras, radio studio ensembles and night club bands. Sengstock examines these bands not only in terms of the music they played but also in the context of the venues in which they played and Chicago's volatile economic and social climate. Viewing the bands as an economic system, he analyzes them as businesses with all the usual pressures brought on by ambition, personality clashes, and the overriding need to serve clients."

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Come Hither to Go Yonder: Playing Bluegrass with Bill Monroe

Author: Bob Black

Publication date: 2005

University of Illinois Press

"While other work on Bill Monroe has been written from a historical point of view, Come Hither to Go Yonder is told from the perspective of a musician who was actually there. Filled with observations made from the unique vantage point of a man who has traveled and performed extensively with the master, this book is Bob Black's personal memoir about the profound influence that Monroe exerted on the musicians who have carried on the bluegrass tradition in the wake of his 1996 death."

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American Opera

Author: Elise K. Kirk

Publication date: 2005

University of Illinois Press

"With this generous, accessible overview newly in paperback, Elise K. Kirk provides a vital history of one of America's liveliest arts. A treasure trove of information on a substantial, heretofore neglected repertoire, American Opera sketches musical traits and provides plot summaries, descriptions of sets and stagings, and biographical details about performers, composers, and librettists for more than one hundred American operas, many of which have received unjustifiably scant attention since their premieres."

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The Bill Monroe Reader

Editor: Tom Ewing

Publication date: 2006

University of Illinois Press

"Lively, heartfelt, and informative, The Bill Monroe Reader is a fitting tribute to the man and the musician who transformed the traditional music of western Kentucky into an international sensation. In this eclectic and richly illustrated reader, former Blue Grass Boy Tom Ewing gathers the most significant and illuminating of the many articles that have been written about Monroe. Through the writings of nearly sixty observers, interviewers, admirers, folklorists, and other scholars, along with Ewing's own astute commentary, The Bill Monroe Reader offers a multifaceted view of one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century."

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Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians

Author: Virginia Waring

Publication date: 2007

University of Illinois Press

"Virginia Waring, his wife of thirty years, chronicles both his many achievements and his shortcomings with candor and affection in Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians. Her gracefully written biography traces Waring's childhood in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, his rise to fame as a band-leader, development and promotion of the Waring Blendor, leadership of Shawnee Press, concert tours, radio and television programs, and his legacy of the highest possible standards in music as in life."

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Gone To The Country: The New Lost City Ramblers & The Folk Music Revival

Author: Ray Allen

Publication date: 2010

University of Illinois Press

"Gone to the Country chronicles the life and music of the New Lost City Ramblers, a trio of city-bred musicians who helped pioneer the resurgence of southern roots music during the folk revival of the late 1950s and 1960s."

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Crowe On The Banjo: The Music Life of J.D. Crowe

Author: Marty Godbey

Publication date: 2011

University of Illinois Press

"In this first biography of legendary banjoist J. D. Crowe, Marty Godbey charts the life and career of one of bluegrass's most important innovators. Born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, Crowe picked up the banjo when he was thirteen years old, inspired by a Flatt & Scruggs performance at the Kentucky Barn Dance. Godbey relates the long, distinguished career that followed, as Crowe performed and recorded both solo and as part of such varied ensembles as Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys, the all-acoustic Kentucky Mountain Boys, and the revolutionary New South, who created an adventurously eclectic brand of bluegrass by merging rock and country music influences with traditional forms."

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Henry Mancini: Reinventing Film Music

Author: John Caps

Publication date: 2012

University of Illinois Press

"Henry Mancini: Reinventing Film Music describes how the composer served as a bridge between the Big Band period of World War II and the impatient eclecticism of the Baby Boomer generation, between the grand formal orchestral film scores of the past and a modern American minimalist approach. Mancini's sound seemed to capture the bright, confident, welcoming voice of the middle class's new efficient life: interested in pop songs and jazz, in movie and television, in outreach politics but also conventional stay-at-home comforts. As John Caps shows, Mancini easily combined it all in his music."

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Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins

Author: Diane Diekman

Publication date: 2012

University of Illinois Press

"Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins is the first biography of this legendary country music artist and NASCAR driver who scored sixteen number-one hits and two Grammy awards .... Drawing from personal interviews and in-depth research, biographer Diane Diekman explains how Robbins saw himself as a drifter, a man always searching for self-fulfillment and inner peace."

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Then Sings My Soul: The Culture of Southern Gospel Music

Author: Douglas Harrison

Publication date: 2012

University of Illinois Press

"In this ambitious book on southern gospel music, Douglas Harrison re-examines the music's historical emergence and its function as a modern cultural phenomenon."

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Last updated August 2013