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      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.

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.

An intimate biography of honky-tonk great Faron Young

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

Biography of a country singer, racecar driver, restless seeker

Contains images of music making during the Depression, captured with precision and purpose.

Suddenly Robert Johnson is everywhere. Though the Mississippi bluesman died young and recorded only twenty-nine songs, the legacy, legend, and lore surrounding him continue to grow. This title gives his biography.

Serves as a history of rap music. This book traces the genre's history from its roots in West African bardic traditions, the Jamaican dancehall tradition, and African American vernacular expressions to its permeation of the cultural mainstream as a major tenet of hip-hop lifestyle and culture.

Presents an account of the life and times of Jean Aberbach, the elusive music publishing legend who, with his brother Julian, built one of music history's most powerful popular music publishing companies: Hill and Range Songs. This book weaves an adventure story that demystifies this occupation.

Focuses on the centrality of folksong in the life of Jennie Devlin (1865-1952), a woman who had worked for years as a 'bound-out girl' along the New York-Pennsylvania border. This biography compiles information about the older woman's life and music.

If Elvis Presley was a white man who sang in a predominantly black style, Johnny Ace was a black man who sang in a predominantly white one. This title presents a treatment of this influential performer taking the reader to Beale Street in Memphis and to Houston's Fourth Ward, both vibrant black communities where the music never stopped.

Katherine K. Preston leads the reader on an operatic tour of pre-Civil War America in this cultural study of what was, surprisingly, an almost ubiquitous art form. Her richly detailed examination of itinerant troupes covers orchestral and choral musicians as well as stars, impresarios, business methods, repertories, advertising techniques, itineraries, sizes of companies, and methods of travel.

A musical biography of one of bluegrass's true pioneers

The life and music of a bluegrass pioneer, in his own words