Black popular music in America : from the spirituals, minstrels, and ragtime to soul, disco, and hip-hop / Arnold Shaw.

Author/creator Shaw, Arnold
Format Book
Publication InfoNew York : Schirmer Books ; London : Collier Macmillan, ©1986.
Descriptionxi, 386 pages, 8 pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Subjects

Contents "That great gettin'-up morning" -- "Gentlemen, be seated!" -- "My ragtime baby" -- "Shuffle along" -- "Singin' the blues" -- "Say it while dancing" -- "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" -- "Mama's got the rhythm, Papa's got the blues" -- "Black is beautiful" -- The disco craze -- The contemporary scene.
Abstract This volume presents not only the first comprehensive account of the growth of black popular music, but also that of American popular music, explored from the black perspective. The author believes that popular American music is neither white nor black, but a fusion, and the result of an interplay. Focusing on five key black styles--minstrelsy, spirituals, ragtime, jazz, and the blues, he analyzes their origins and development and their entry into popular white culture. He examines the precise nature of black contribution to American popular music, how the white commercialization of the black original has affected the black style as well as the white, the result of that relationship, and the dialectical character of the change. He concludes with a look at the contemporary scene.
Local noteLittle-251944
General noteIncludes index.
Bibliography noteBibliography and discography: pages 309-374.
LCCN 85024191
ISBN0028723104
ISBN9780028723105