popular music

Songs for Sale: Tin Pan Alley (Excerpt)

by Bob Stanley

American popular music didn't start with Elvis. It emerged when musical fads onstage converged with a new mass market for in-home record players to make song publishing big business. 

Mary Wilson, Co-Founder of the Supremes, Dies at 76

Mary Wilson was sometimes overshadowed by Diana Ross in the popular Motown group, but her peers recognized her contributions to the Supremes and popular music. 

Sun Records, Storied Early Rock Label, Sells Its High-Wattage Catalog

"In the 1950s, Sun Records in Memphis became one of the most dynamic forces in American music, releasing the first recordings by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others, helping define rockabilly and rock ’n’ roll."

When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras

by Claudrena N. Harold

Professor Harold's new book looks at gospel music in the late 20th century and reappraises it as a period of artistic innovation, not of misguided pursuit of commercial or crossover success.