American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MTV Text & Audio CDs [Paperback] Review

This book is designed to be an introductory college-level text for courses about Popular Music in America.It's good overall, but not great.

The book begins with the initial "split" in America between "Classical" and "Popular" music in the nineteenth century, with minstrel shows and brass band music.The following chapters cover social dance and jazz, Tin Pan Alley, "race" records and "hillbilly" music, swing, postwar era music, Rock `n' Roll, the British Invasion, the 1960s, the 1970s, outside influences on 70s music (reggae, punk, funk, progressive country, etc.), the 1980s and MTV, and the rise of "alternative" music.

There are some great aspects about this textbook.First the prose is well-written, informative, entertaining, and thorough from a social/cultural standpoint.The book does not make any significant omissions, which is not easy considering all the subject matter which must be covered.Also, with two CDs included with the book price, the textbook does provide a good value.This is a nice feature.

I was able to find some serious drawbacks to the book, however.The book seems to focus more on the cultural aspects and less on the musical aspects of each section.The analyses of the musical tracks on the included CDs are too fluffy.It is likely that students will not get enough from the book to understand why the music is so special.Also, while 2 CDs may seem like a lot of music, it is really inadequate to chronicle the history of jazz, blues, musical theater, rock `n' roll, alternative rock, and so on.

There was one minor aspect of the book which also cropped up repeatedly.The authors seemed a little too eager to inject race into every nook and cranny.Obviously, racism is a central issue American popular music and deserves a healthy focus.The book, however, includes racism related not just to singers and performers, but record companies, disc jockeys, and more.I found it extraneous in some parts.

This textbook is very strong, but I would probably recommend And the Beat Goes On by Michael Campbell.With that series, one can order a 5-CD set, and the textbook, while shorter, has more in-depth musical analysis.This textbook is very close in quality overall, and is more up-to-date.

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Product Description:
Coauthored by a music historian and an ethnomusicologist, American Popular Music provides an overview of the major styles of popular music and the evolving relationship between music and American culture from the late 19th century to the early 1990s. Organized historically, the book is unified by several recurrent themes: the development of critical listening skills; the multicultural roots of popular styles; the relationship between music and social identity; the influence of technology on music; and the structure and function of the music industry. Combining a graceful and accessible style with sound research and cultural awareness, American Popular Music identifies, through historical narrative and musical examples, the broad themes and on-going issues in the development of popular style and culture. Lavishly produced and stunningly designed with over 100 illustrations, the book includes numerous boxed inserts and sidebars, biographical sketches, and listening charts and lyrics.

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