African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
The definitive group biography of the Wailers—Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston—chronicling their rise to fame and power and offering a portrait of a seminal group during a period of exuberant cultural evolution. Over one dramatic decade, a trio of Trenchtown R&B crooners swapped their 1960s Brylcreem hairdos and two-tone suits for 1970s battle fatigues and dreadlocks to become the Wailers—one of the most influential groups in popular music. A history of the band is presented from their upbringing in the brutal slums of Kingston to their first recordings and then international superstardom. It is argued that these reggae stars offered three models for black men in the second half of the 20th century: accommodate and succeed (Marley), fight and die (Tosh), or retreat and live (Livingston). The author meets with Rastafarian elders, Obeah men, and other folk authorities as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of Jamaica's famously impenetrable culture and to offer a sophisticated understanding of Jamaican politics, heritage, race, and religion.
In the 20th century jazz most of the time cannot be separated from definitions of African-American identity, American culture, Caribbean culture, and to some extent European culture. Jazz served as the metaphor for race-related differences, but also as a means to overcome these. Some of those basic premises, by which the consideration of the musicians and their music shows their cultural and historical significance within the Atlantic area, are discussed., unedited non–English abstract received by RILM] Im 20. Jahrhundert war Jazz die meiste Zeit nicht von Definitionen afroamerikanischer Identität, amerikanischer Kultur, karibischer Kultur und teilweise auch europäischer Kultur zu trennen. Jazz diente hierbei als Metapher für rassenbedingte Unterschiede, aber auch als Mittel, diese zu überwinden. Der Aufsatz thematisiert einige jener grundlegenden Prämissen, durch die die Betrachtung der Musiker und ihrer Musik auch deren kulturgeschichtliche Signifikanz innerhalb des atlantischen Raumes aufzeigt.