LIBRARY PURCHASES: Rock Music in American Culture: The Sounds of Revolution

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FROM THE PREFACE

"In the years following World War II, something vital and original was born in the restive caldron of American culture. Its mother was the diverse population of descendants of former slaves struggling to survive in a hostile social and political atmosphere. Its
father was the equally diverse and primarily rural underclass of disposed Whites striving to avoid poverty. Its infant voice came from the fields of the old south and the hills of Appalachia. It was a plaintive voice yet it yearned for something better, often only a better hereafter. As it matured and sought its own future in the towns and cities further up the Mississippi and in the rapidly industrializing megalopolis of the east coast, it found new ways of expressing its voice. It also found a way to harmonize the uneasy juxtaposition of attitudes and feelings of it parents. At that moment the voice of this vital and original something came fully into its own. It was insistent, loud and bawdy and it finally had a name. It was rock and roll.

There have been numerous, worthy accounts written about the history and character of this music, but little if anything has been done to understand it as a phenomenon. Such an understanding requires certain conceptual tools in order to avoid merely blathering off the top of one's head. And there are many tools available. The ones I've used are those I encountered throughout the various stages of my academic career. And I think they work exceptionally well. The result is an analysis from-for better or worse-a varied philosophical perspective. Not everyone will agree that the tools I've used are appropriate, and not everyone will agree with my overall assessment. That is to be expected and even encouraged. My goal is not to convince anyone of the absolute truth of my
analysis-there is no such thing. My goal to provide a clear and coherent understanding of how I see this phenomenon as well as what I see. So it is a subjective appraisal, as all such appraisals are, whether or not they are acknowledged as such. It's how I see the phenomenon of rock music in American culture, and I see it as the varied sounds of revolution"