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The Resource Before Elvis : the prehistory of rock 'n' roll, Larry Birnbaum

Before Elvis : the prehistory of rock 'n' roll, Larry Birnbaum

Creator
Summary
This work surveys the origins of rock 'n' roll from the minstrel era to the emergence of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Unlike other histories of rock, it offers a far broader and deeper analysis of the influences on rock music. Dispelling common misconceptions, it examines rock's origins in hokum songs and big-band boogies as well as Delta blues, detailing the embrace by white artists of African-American styles long before rock 'n' roll appeared. This study ranges far and wide, highlighting not only the contributions of obscure but key precursors like Hardrock Gunter and Sam Theard but also the influence of celebrity performers like Gene Autry and Ella Fitzgerald. Too often, rock historians treat the genesis of rock 'n' roll as a bolt from the blue, an overnight revolution provoked by the bland pop music that immediately preceded it and created through the white appropriation of music till then played only by and for black audiences. Here the author argues a more complicated history and rock's evolution from a heady mix of ragtime, boogie-woogie, swing, country music, mainstream pop, and rhythm-and-blues, a melange that influenced one another along the way, from the absorption of blues and boogies into jazz and pop to the integration of country and Caribbean music into rhythm-and-blues. This work presents a bold argument about rock's origins
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 463 pages
Contents
  • That's all right : A white man sounds black ; Rock 'n' roll arrives ; The meaning of rock ; The revolution that wasn't
  • The train kept a-rollin' : Stroll on ; Cow-cow boogie ; Johnny B. Goode ; Rolling on
  • One o' them things! : Big Bill ; Handy vs. Morton ; Birth of the blues ; Recording the blues ; Roots of the blues ; Africa, Britain, and vaudeville
  • The rocks : The walking bass ; A dash of hokum ; Big band boogie ; Boogie-woogie fever ; Coda
  • The jumpin' jive : Jump jazz ; The backbeat and the Jitterbug ; Jug bands and hokum ; Scat, jive, and harmony singing ; Big bands and shuffle rhythms ; The blues-jazz nexus ; From hokum to rhythm-and-blues ; Jive ; Big band jump ; Jump, jive, an' wail
  • Get with it : Country origins ; Early country recordings ; Blues and hokum ; Western swing ; Hillbilly boogie ; Country and R & B
  • Good rockin' tonight : R & B is born ; The door opens ; Horn honkers ; String slingers ; Shouters ; Rhythm-and-blues women ; Doo-wop ; The crescent city
  • Rock love : Blue-eyed R & B ; Rock stars ; Mystery women ; Vocal groups ; Caribbean rhythms
Isbn
9780810886285
Instance
Label
Before Elvis : the prehistory of rock 'n' roll
Title
Before Elvis
Title remainder
the prehistory of rock 'n' roll
Statement of responsibility
Larry Birnbaum
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
This work surveys the origins of rock 'n' roll from the minstrel era to the emergence of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Unlike other histories of rock, it offers a far broader and deeper analysis of the influences on rock music. Dispelling common misconceptions, it examines rock's origins in hokum songs and big-band boogies as well as Delta blues, detailing the embrace by white artists of African-American styles long before rock 'n' roll appeared. This study ranges far and wide, highlighting not only the contributions of obscure but key precursors like Hardrock Gunter and Sam Theard but also the influence of celebrity performers like Gene Autry and Ella Fitzgerald. Too often, rock historians treat the genesis of rock 'n' roll as a bolt from the blue, an overnight revolution provoked by the bland pop music that immediately preceded it and created through the white appropriation of music till then played only by and for black audiences. Here the author argues a more complicated history and rock's evolution from a heady mix of ragtime, boogie-woogie, swing, country music, mainstream pop, and rhythm-and-blues, a melange that influenced one another along the way, from the absorption of blues and boogies into jazz and pop to the integration of country and Caribbean music into rhythm-and-blues. This work presents a bold argument about rock's origins
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Birnbaum, Larry
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Popular music
  • Popular music
  • Popular music
  • Rhythm and blues music
  • Rock music
  • Musique populaire
  • Musique populaire
  • Musique populaire
  • Rock (Musique)
  • Popular music
  • Rhythm and blues music
  • Rock music
  • United States
  • Rock 'n' Roll
  • Unterhaltungsmusik
  • USA
Label
Before Elvis : the prehistory of rock 'n' roll, Larry Birnbaum
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
That's all right : A white man sounds black ; Rock 'n' roll arrives ; The meaning of rock ; The revolution that wasn't -- The train kept a-rollin' : Stroll on ; Cow-cow boogie ; Johnny B. Goode ; Rolling on -- One o' them things! : Big Bill ; Handy vs. Morton ; Birth of the blues ; Recording the blues ; Roots of the blues ; Africa, Britain, and vaudeville -- The rocks : The walking bass ; A dash of hokum ; Big band boogie ; Boogie-woogie fever ; Coda -- The jumpin' jive : Jump jazz ; The backbeat and the Jitterbug ; Jug bands and hokum ; Scat, jive, and harmony singing ; Big bands and shuffle rhythms ; The blues-jazz nexus ; From hokum to rhythm-and-blues ; Jive ; Big band jump ; Jump, jive, an' wail -- Get with it : Country origins ; Early country recordings ; Blues and hokum ; Western swing ; Hillbilly boogie ; Country and R & B -- Good rockin' tonight : R & B is born ; The door opens ; Horn honkers ; String slingers ; Shouters ; Rhythm-and-blues women ; Doo-wop ; The crescent city -- Rock love : Blue-eyed R & B ; Rock stars ; Mystery women ; Vocal groups ; Caribbean rhythms
Control code
806456332
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
x, 463 pages
Isbn
9780810886285
Lccn
2012032269
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Note
WorldCat record variable field(s) change: 650
Other control number
40021813441
System control number
(OCoLC)806456332
Label
Before Elvis : the prehistory of rock 'n' roll, Larry Birnbaum
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
That's all right : A white man sounds black ; Rock 'n' roll arrives ; The meaning of rock ; The revolution that wasn't -- The train kept a-rollin' : Stroll on ; Cow-cow boogie ; Johnny B. Goode ; Rolling on -- One o' them things! : Big Bill ; Handy vs. Morton ; Birth of the blues ; Recording the blues ; Roots of the blues ; Africa, Britain, and vaudeville -- The rocks : The walking bass ; A dash of hokum ; Big band boogie ; Boogie-woogie fever ; Coda -- The jumpin' jive : Jump jazz ; The backbeat and the Jitterbug ; Jug bands and hokum ; Scat, jive, and harmony singing ; Big bands and shuffle rhythms ; The blues-jazz nexus ; From hokum to rhythm-and-blues ; Jive ; Big band jump ; Jump, jive, an' wail -- Get with it : Country origins ; Early country recordings ; Blues and hokum ; Western swing ; Hillbilly boogie ; Country and R & B -- Good rockin' tonight : R & B is born ; The door opens ; Horn honkers ; String slingers ; Shouters ; Rhythm-and-blues women ; Doo-wop ; The crescent city -- Rock love : Blue-eyed R & B ; Rock stars ; Mystery women ; Vocal groups ; Caribbean rhythms
Control code
806456332
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
x, 463 pages
Isbn
9780810886285
Lccn
2012032269
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Note
WorldCat record variable field(s) change: 650
Other control number
40021813441
System control number
(OCoLC)806456332

Subject

Genre

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