music

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• 1/31/2021
  

  What J-Lo Sang

  by Mark F. Fernandez

  Jennifer Lopez's Inaugural performance showed that Woody Guthrie’s lyric, his notion of an inclusive America, still resonates today as Americans ponder questions of unity.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  1/28/2021
  

  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."

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• 1/31/2021
  

  Lawrence Gellert, Black Musical Protest & White Denial: An Interview With Steven Garabedian

  by Aaron J. Leonard

  Steve Garabedian's new book reexamines the life and work of Lawrence Gellert, a Jewish New Yorker who relocated to the South, recorded African American songs, and clashed with the growing establishment of white folklorists. Is it time to reappraise Gellert's contributions to the preservation of Black musical culture?

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• 1/31/2021
  

  Hidden in Plain Sight: History Teaching Needs to Take Advantage of Art and Material Culture

  by Elizabeth Stice

  "Where there is passion, people will pursue the past. A sneakerhead can tell you about the innovations in Air Jordans over the years and oftentimes quite a bit about the economic and cultural context of each shoe. Art and material culture can lead people to their own study of the past."

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  1/26/2021
  

  Rewinding Jimi Hendrix’s National Anthem

  "Jimi’s Woodstock anthem was both an expression of protest at the obscene violence of a wholly unnecessary war and an affirmation of aspects of the American experiment entirely worth fighting for."

• 
• SOURCE: Deadline
  12/12/2020
  

  Charley Pride Dies: Pioneering Black Country Music Star Was 86

  Charlie Pride was the first Black performer inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is one of three Black members of the Grand Ole Opry. 

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• SOURCE: Nashville Scene
  12/10/2020
  

  New Oral History Project Spotlights Roles of Nashville’s Women Musicians

  Musician and historian Tiffany Minton's new oral history project tackles the stereotype of the Nashville session musician – the backbone of the city's recording industry – as a white guy. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  12/3/2020
  

  ‘Billie’ Review: A Legend, in a Different Light

  A new documentary examines the lives of both the great singer and the filmmaker who died suddenly while working on a documentary of Billie Holliday's life. 

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• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  11/19/2020
  

  The Devil Had Nothing to Do With It

  by Greil Marcus

  The music writer looks at three recent books on the Mississippi blues singer and guitarist Robert Johnson, looking to pull his story out of the realm of myth. 

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• 11/15/2020
  

  Recovering Acts of Progressive Patriotism: Teaching Through Protest Music

  by Matthew Lindaman

  A history professor reflects on a course teaching critical perspectives on patriotism through protest and music that articulates an inclusive and progressive nationalism.

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• SOURCE: LA Progressive
  11/1/2020
  

  Springsteen’s Open Letter to You: Be Well, Age Well

  by Walter G. Moss

  Reflections on the emergence of Bruce Springsteen as a model for aging successfully in a chaotic and dispiriting age. 

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• SOURCE: The Criterion Collection
  10/28/2020
  

  How Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight Created a Sound for Working-Class Black America

  by Mark Anthony Neal

  "Claudine" offered refreshing insight into the humanity of those Black women, their children, and their struggles and joys. And the film’s soundtrack, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips, was a large part of its achievement.

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  10/29/2020
  

  The Long, Lonesome Roads of Jerry Jeff Walker

  Music writer Amanda Petrusich remembers the iconoclastic songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, who died this week at 78. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/15/2020
  

  How to Handle the Hate in America’s Musical Heritage

  A new project updating the famous Anthology of American Folk Music wrestles with the fact that part of the American songbook has been overtly racist. 

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• SOURCE: NPR
  10/8/2020
  

  Throughline: The United States vs. Billie Holiday (audio)

  Billie Holliday's legal problems over drugs were made more difficult by her refusal to stop performing the anti-lynching song "Strange Fruit." 

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  10/7/2020
  

  With His Signature Guitar Style, Eddie Van Halen Changed Rock Music

  by Ken Murray

  A professor of guitar performance explains Eddie Van Halen's innovations in technique, contribution to electric guitar design, and influence across genres including the solo on Michael Jackson's 1983 mega-hit "Beat It"

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/6/2020
  

  Eddie Van Halen, Virtuoso of the Rock Guitar, Dies at 65

  The influential rock guitarist died today at age 65 after a battle with cancer.

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  10/6/2020
  

  Led Zeppelin Victorious in 'Stairway to Heaven' Plagiarism Case

  Representatives of the estate of the late Randy Wolfe, who claimed authorship, said the case nevertheless proved its point that "Led Zeppelin are the greatest art thieves of all time."

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• SOURCE: Seattle Times
  9/18/2020
  

  How Jimi Hendrix, Racism and Grunge Intersect, 50 Years after the Guitarist’s Death

  Although the guitarist made a global impact on rock music, he left a particular legacy for Black musicians in his hometown of Seattle. 

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• 9/20/2020
  

  Woody Guthrie's Communism and "This Land Is Your Land"

  by Aaron J. Leonard

  The author of a new book on the FBI's surveillance of folk musicians argues that Woody Guthrie did join the Communist Party, though he was at odds with leadership over discipline. The affiliation is reflected in the lyrics of his most famous song.