African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
Surveys the origins of rock 'n' roll from the minstrel era to the emergence of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Dispelling common misconceptions, this book 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 until then played only by and for black audiences. Here, Birnbaum argues a more complicated history of rock's evolution from a heady mix of ragtime, boogie-woogie, swing, country music, mainstream pop, and R&B—a melange of genres 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 R&B.
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.