Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution: Music and Social Change in America

by Dick Weissman

Overview

(Book). Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution is a comprehensive guide to the relationship between American music and politics. Music expert Dick Weissman opens with the dawn of American history, then moves to the book's key focus: 20th-century music songs by and about Native Americans, African-Americans, women, Spanish-speaking groups, and more. Unprecedented in its approach, the book offers a multidisciplinary discussion that is broad and diverse, and illuminates how social events impact music as well as how music impacts social events. Weissman delves deep, covering everything from current Native American music to "music of hate" racist and neo-Nazi music to the music of the Gulf wars, union songs, patriotic and antiwar songs, and beyond. A powerful tool for professors teaching classes about politics and music and a stimulating, accessible read for all kinds of appreciators, from casual music fans to social science lovers and devout music history buffs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423442837
Publisher:	Backbeat
Publication date:	05/01/2010
Pages:	386
Sales rank:	1,119,620
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

1 Songs of the Immigrants and Songs in American History and Politics 1

Arrival 1

Songs of the Immigrants 2

Songs About the Immigrants 5

The Revolutionary War 7

The Postcolonial Era 9

The War of 1812 10

The Mexican War 11

The Period Before the Civil War 14

The Civil War 15

The Spanish-American War 16

World War I 17

Other Early Political Songs 19

2 Native American Music and Social Issues 21

The Inadvertent Host 21

Conquest and Removal 23

Nineteenth-Century Indian History 28

Indians in the Twentieth Century 33

Traditional Music 39

Twentieth-Century Music 40

Musical Fusions by Various Indian Artists 51

White Commentary on Indians 53

Indian Classical Music 60

The Business of Indian Music and a Look at the Future 61

3 African Americans 63

The Slave Trade 64

Early Music 64

The Development and Evolution of Slavery 68

Religion 68

The Civil War and Its Aftermath 72

The Period of Maximum Oppression: 1880-1914 73

Secular Folk Music 73

Minstrels, Ragtime, and Broadway 75

Birth and Evolution of the Blues 78

White Blues and White Audiences 89

World War II to the Sixties 94

Gospel Music 95

Pop and R&B 97

Motown and Stax Records 98

Soul 101

Jazz 104

Rap 109

Songs by White People About African Americans 123

Race: An Ongoing Issue 128

4 Women's Lives and Songs 131

The Role of Women 131

World War I and Women's Suffrage 135

Between the World Wars 137

The Fifties and Sixties 141

The British Invasion, the 1650 Broadway Songwriters, and Motown 143

Feminism and the Women's Movement 145

Enduring Women's Issues, from the Seventies On 153

Eighties and Nineties Ladies 157

The Nineties and Beyond 161

Women in Jazz 167

Women's Roles in Music 168

Songbook Analysis 169

The Music Industry and Women's Music 170

5 Protest Songs: Music as a Tool for Social Change 171

Joe Hill 174

Songs of the Miners and Textile Workers 175

Conservative Songs 177

Music and the Communist Party 178

The Radical Schools of the Thirties and Black Protest Music 180

The Spanish Civil War and Protest Music 181

Changes in American Life and the Union Movement 182

The Almanac Singers 184

Professional Protest 185

The Hitler-Stalin Peace Pact 186

Alan Lomax and Woody Guthrie 189

Leadbelly 193

Protest Music and Audiences 196

World War II and the Almanacs 197

Pete Seeger and People's Songs 198

Josh White 199

The Red Scares, the Election of 1948, and the End of People's Songs 200

The Weavers 202

The Effects of the Blacklist on Political Music 204

Folk-Pop Crossover 204

The Kingston Trio 205

Music and the Civil Rights Movement 207

Protest Singers of the Sixties 209

Protest Music Today 216

The Future of Protest Music 225

Why Folk Music? Then and Now 226

6 Spanish-Speaking Groups 231

The Southwest 231

Immigration 234

Political Militance 236

Mexican American Music 236

Evolution of Musical Style in Mexican American Music 243

Mexicans in Anglo Music 246

Puerto Rican Life and Music 247

Cuba and the Exodus 249

What's Going On: Chicano Consciousness and Music 253

Ry Cooder 262

7 Rock and Roll 265

Why Rock and Roll? 265

Rock and Roll History 266

"Rock Around the Clock" 269

Elvis and Sun Records 269

Rock and White Supremacy 271

Cover Records 273

"The Sound of Young America" 275

Politics of the Sixties 275

Peace, Love, Flowers, Drugs, and Music 276

Peace, Love, and Disillusionment 279

Disco 279

Punk 280

Hard Core 282

Straight Edge vs. Punk's Underbelly 283

Heavy Metal and Eighties Rock 284

Grunge 286

Jokers in the Deck 288

Mainstream Artists 289

Rage Against the Machine 290

Rock and Roll and Race 291

Women and Rock 293

Rock and Roll Today 294

8 The Music of Hate 295

Anti-African American Music 295

Neo-Nazi Music 297

9 The Two Gulf Wars, 9/11/2001, and Afghanistan 301

The Gulf War of 1991 301

9/11 304

The Second Gulf War 306

Iraq and Vietnam 313

10 Music and Social Change 315

Omissions 315

Music, Celebrity, and the Political Process 316

Situations Where Music Had Influence 318

Can Music Cause Social Change? 321

Bibliography and Discography 323

Index 349