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Summary
Summary
From the first white performer who painted his face black to Eminem, white America's obsession with black music spans centuries. In Souled American, author Kevin Phinney takes a thoughtful and thought-provoking look at how genres such as rock 'n' roll, jazz, blues, soul, country, and hip-hop emerged through changing social and political times and the dynamic black and white personalities that shaped them. It includes dozens of exclusive celebrity interviews and anecdotes. Equal parts social history and pop culture, the book argues that no form of American music can be described accurately as ethnically pure, and fleshes out the tug-of-war between blacks and whites as they create, recreate, and claim each phase of popular music.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Texas journalist Phinney's first book traces the history of race relations as seen through commingling musical crossovers and a parade of personalities: from Al Jolson to Louis Jordan, Billie Holiday to Bonnie Raitt, Zip Coon to Pat Boone. This comprehensive coverage spans all genres, including blues, country, gospel, jazz, R&B, ragtime, rock and rap. With blackface minstrelsy, "whites opened a portal to their own hidden creative impulses," and Phinney explores this theme as he covers "white men in transparent blackface" (Eminem), "multi-culti chanteuses" (Mariah Carey) and "sepia Sinatras" (Johnny Mathis). Anecdotes abound, and many music history milestones punctuate Phinney's probing critical commentary. Analyzing Nat King Cole's singing style and how it made him "one of the first modern artists to `cross over' from black to white popularity," Phinney recounts how Cole, only months before the premiere of his 1956-1957 NBC television show, was assaulted onstage in Birmingham, Ala., by five white men. Phinney writes with verve and vitality, articulately charting hundreds of black and white intersections in this definitive roadmap to racial rhythms. 45 b&w photos. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A near-encyclopedic study of black influence on American music. Musicians have always borrowed from their forebears, and white musicians have borrowed a hell of a lot from blacks. Not surprisingly, journalist Phinney suggests that this practice reflects institutionalized racism: "more often than not, blacks innovate/create and whites popularize/exploit until, finally, the trend breaks through to mass acceptance." Well, purists may note, blacks borrowed scales from Gypsy and Jewish music for the blues; true, says Phinney, each generation builds upon others, just as Cream invested Skip James's "I'm So Glad" with its own nuance. Yet no one would deny that blacks have been left wanting--in terms of both credit and remuneration--in their contribution to the evolution of music. The author convincingly writes that it was the introduction of rhythm into a once melody-dominated discipline that rests as one of the most significant contributions of blacks to the field. Beginning with ragtime, "rhythm has been gaining ground against melody in popular music until even the most vapid music reaches for a percussive flourish to make it danceable, convey urgency, or create drama." Phinney sharply chronicles a number of musical awakenings: from Billie Holiday to Frank Sinatra to Nat King Cole; Elvis amplifying the blackness, Pat Boone bleaching Little Richard white. A breathtaking amount of material is covered here: the ramifications of ragtime's unusual syncopation, the simple elasticity of the blues, Benny Goodman leaning on Fletcher Henderson, the female trailblazers of rap. And there are plenty of delicious anecdotes, such as the time Stevie Ray Vaughan asked musical idol Albert King to repay the money Vaughan had loaned him. King responded: "Money? Money? Come on now, son. You know you owe me, don't you?" Rip-off artists abound, but others testified to their indebtedness, including the Beatles, the Stones and, for sure, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who never got his money and agreed that that was just fine. Not always pretty, but stirring nonetheless. (45 b&w photos) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
Phinney's light-hearted approach to his subject suggests this book as one for a general readership, but the book's approach is also serious, so it will serve students as well. Tracing the history of music from jazz and pop to rap, the book is comprehensive from the start, and its illustrations are splendid. Not only did Phinney (an Austin-based journalist) search the literature with diligence and critical acumen, he also consulted with a huge number of diverse musicians and scholars, from gospel music specialist Horace Boyer to Ziggy Marley and the most recent hip-hop figures. The scholarship does not hide the passionate credo implicit in the book, as suggested by its ecumenical subtitle. All this is set within relevant social contexts. Excellent index; footnotes in lieu of a bibliography. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates; general readers. D.-R. de Lerma Lawrence University
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. 9 |
| Preface | p. 11 |
| Introduction | p. 17 |
| Chapter 1 Of Massas and Minstrels | p. 24 |
| Chapter 2 Rags to Ragtime | p. 52 |
| Chapter 3 Big Band Theory | p. 86 |
| Chapter 4 When Worlds Collide | p. 126 |
| Chapter 5 River Deep, Mountain High | p. 171 |
| Chapter 6 Time Has Come Today | p. 205 |
| Chapter 7 Play That Funky Music | p. 238 |
| Chapter 8 Controversy | p. 268 |
| Chapter 9 Wigga Wonderland | p. 302 |
| Epilogue | p. 338 |
| Index | p. 344 |
