Books in the Music in American Life series

Uncovering the hidden histories of iconic American folksongs

Reading between the lines of southern gospel music

In this full-length study of Henry Cowell, the author shows how the maverick composer, writer, teacher, and performer built his career on the intellectual and aesthetic foundations of his parents, community, and teachers-and exemplified the essence of bohemian California. This work focuses on Cowell's formative and most prolific years.

      Meet Aunt Molly Jackson (1880-1960), one of American folklore''s most         fascinating characters.       A coal miner''s daughter, she grew up in eastern Kentucky, married a miner,         and became a midwife, labor activist, and songwriter. Fusing hard experience         with rich Appalachian musical tradition, her songs became weapons of struggle.       In 1931, at age fifty, she was "discovered" and brought north,         sponsored and befriended by an illustrious circle of left-wing intellectuals         and musicians, including Theodore Dreiser, Alan Lomax, and Charles Seeger         and his son Pete. Along with Sarah Ogan Gunning, Jim Garland (two of Aunt         Molly''s half-siblings), Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and other folk musicians,         she served as a cultural broker, linking the rural working poor to big-city         left-wing activism.       Shelly Romalis draws upon interviews and archival materials to construct         this portrait of an Appalachian woman who remained radical, raucous, proud,         poetic, offensive, self-involved, and in spirit the "real" pistol         packin'' mama of the song.       "Mr. Coal operator call me anything you please, blue, green, or         red, I aim to see to it that these Kentucky coalminers will not dig your         coal while their little children are crying and dying for milk and bread."                 -- Aunt Molly Jackson         

Tells the unknown story of the business behind the bands that became an industry.

Features the history of the involvement of African Americans in the early recording industry and examines the first three decades of sound recording in the United States, charting the surprising roles black artists played in the period leading up to the Jazz Age and the remarkably wide range of black music and culture they preserved.

Shows the witty and vividly humorous side of Hindemith's personality.

Like rock n' roll, bluegrass exploded out of a post-World War II atmosphere in which more Americans opened their ears to more different kinds of music than ever before. This title capture the story of this dynamic and beloved music.

Details the musical life of a superstar of film scoring, from The Pink Panther to "Moon River"