{"title":"Tantor Media","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"rock-n-roll-a-very-short-introduction","title":"Rock 'n' Roll: A Very Short Introduction","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRock 'n' roll appeared in the 1950s as the high-energy, electrically amplified music of young dancers and listeners, first in the United States and then around the globe, and from the beginning it symbolized more than music. First popularized as a marketing rubric to sell African-American rhythm and blues to white teenagers, it stood for racial integration, sexual freedom, youthful rebellion, and for change and modernity. It was never a single kind of music, and historians disagree about when it began and which artists or records should be included in its canon—but it was always a flashpoint, whether condemned as an assault on cultural standards or hailed as the most exciting movement of the twentieth century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eVery Short Introduction\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e explores the complex musical styles and evolutions of the genre and also examines it as product, symbol, and vehicle of societal change. The introduction seamlessly integrates the genre with elements of 1955-1965's mass influence, including the rise of television and niche radio formats, the civil rights movement, a new concept of \"teenagers\" as a unique age group, and a sexual revolution. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eRock 'n' Roll\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e traces the rise and trajectories of the styles and musicians grouped as rock 'n' roll and their journey to becoming emblems of much more.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tantor Media","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":58591557845323,"sku":null,"price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9780197756744_9d8b6.jpg?v=1790282430"},{"product_id":"the-blues-a-very-short-introduction","title":"The Blues: A Very Short Introduction","description":"\u003cdiv\u003eThis VSI provides a brief history of the blues genre's main movements and most influential artists and gives a sense of the breadth of the blues field. Beginning with the music's roots in African and African-American styles, European folk music, and popular forms such as minstrelsy and ragtime, it traces how blues evolved over the course of the twentieth century as both a discrete genre and a basic ingredient in virtually all American pop styles from jazz to hip-hop.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003ePraised as \"suave, soulful, ebullient\" (Tom Waits) and \"a meticulous researcher, a graceful writer, and a committed contrarian\" (\u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e), Elijah Wald is one of the leading popular music critics of his generation. In \u003cem\u003eThe Blues\u003c\/em\u003e, Wald surveys a genre at the heart of American culture. It is not an easy thing to pin down. As Howlin' Wolf once described it, \"When you ain't got no money and can't pay your house rent and can't buy you no food, you've damn sure got the blues.\" It has been defined by lyrical structure, or as a progression of chords, or as a set of practices reflecting West African \"tonal and rhythmic approaches,\" using a five-note \"blues scale.\" Wald sees blues less as a style than as a broad musical tradition within a constantly evolving pop culture. He traces its roots in work and praise songs, and shows how it was transformed by such professional performers as W. C. Handy, who first popularized the blues a century ago. He follows its evolution from Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith through Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix; identifies the impact of rural field recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and others; explores the role of blues in the development of both country music and jazz; and looks at the popular rhythm and blues trends of the 1940s and 1950s, from the uptown West Coast style of T-Bone Walker to the \"down home\" Chicago sound of Muddy Waters. Wald brings the story up to the present, touching on the effects of blues on American poetry, and its connection to modern styles such as rap. As with all of Oxford's Very Short Introductions, \u003cem\u003eThe Blues\u003c\/em\u003e tells you--with insight, clarity, and wit--everything you need to know to understand this quintessentially American musical genre.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Tantor Media","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":58591617319243,"sku":"R9655-9587","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9780195398939_c912f.jpg?v=1790284135"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/tantor-media.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}