360 PART 3 | FROM WORLD WAR I THROUGH WORLD WAR II
- Summarize the role of communications technology in the development of
country music. - Although western swing has jazz influences, not everyone agrees that it
should be considered a type of jazz. At the same time, Bob Wills insisted that
his music should not be confused with “hillbilly music.” What evidence sup-
ports the argument that western swing is jazz? What evidence supports the
argument that it is country music? - Compare the attitudes and practices of folk song collectors like John and
Alan Lomax with those of A&R men like Ralph Peer. - Compare the relationship between singer, song, and audience in three cases:
(1) an Appalachian ballad singer before the arrival of Olive Dame Campbell
and Cecil Sharp; (2) Leadbelly singing for college students in the Northeast;
and (3) Pete Seeger performing at a leftist political rally. - Review the opening section of chapter 9 in light of the present chapter. Do
you agree or disagree with the following statement, and why? “The urban
folk singers and collectors discarded the distorted ideolog y of Herder and
his followers, but they replaced it with the new distortions of communist
ideolog y.”
FURTHER READING
Cray, Ed. Ramblin’ Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.
George-Warren, Holly. Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2007.
Gioia, Ted. Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized
American Music. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.
Harris, Michael W. The Rise of Gospel Blues: The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban
Church. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Lieberman, Robbie. My Song Is My Weapon: People’s Songs, American Communism, and the
Politics of Culture, 1930–1950. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.
Malone, Bill C. Country Music, U.S.A. 2d rev. [i.e., 3d] ed. Austin: University of Texas Press,
2002.
Nelson, Scott Reynolds. Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Wolfe, Charles, and Kip Lornell. The Life and Legend of Leadbelly. New York: HarperCollins,
1992.FURTHER VIEWING
Times Ain’t Like They Used to Be: Early Rural and Popular American Music, 1928–1935. Sherwin
Dunner and Richard Nevins, producers. DVD. Yazoo, 1992. An antholog y of short
fi lms featuring Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, and other early country, blues, and old-
time musicians.172028_14_332-360_r3_ko.indd 360 23/01/13 8:38 PM