When he emerged from the nightclubs of Greenwich Village, Bob Dylan was often identified as a "protest" singer. As early as 1962, however, Dylan was already protesting the label: "I don't write no protest songs," he told his audience on the night he debuted "Blowin' in the Wind." "Protest" music is largely perceived as an unsubtle art form, a topical brand of songwriting that preaches to the converted. But popular music of all types has long given listeners food for thought. Fifty years before Vietnam, before the United States entered World War I, some of the most popular sheet music in the country featured anti-war tunes. The labor movement of the early decades of the century was fueled by its communal "songbook." The Civil Rights movement was soundtracked not just by the gorgeous melodies of "Strange Fruit" and "A Change Is Gonna Come," but hundreds of other gospel-tinged ballads and blues. In Which Side Are You On?, author James Sullivan delivers a lively anecdotal history of the progressive movements that have shaped the growth of the United States, and the songs that have accompanied and defined them. Covering one hundred years of social conflict and progress across the twentieth century and into the early years of the twenty-first, this book reveals how protest songs have given voice to the needs and challenges of a nation and asked its citizens to take a stand-asking the question "Which side are you on?"

"Liner Notes is, unsurprisingly, as good as its author's songs, with moments of sharp humour alternating with real-life pain, and vivid reflections on love, death, and the whole damn thing. Loudon Wainwright is a true original: not like anyone else, just as he set out to be." Salman Rushdie "An excellent book. 8/10." Uncut Magazine With a career spanning more than four decades, Loudon Wainwright III has established himself as one of the most enduring singer-songwriters who emerged from the late sixties. There is probably no singer songwriter who has so blatantly inserted himself into his songs, about parents, grandparents, children, siblings, and wives. As he puts it in "So Many Songs": It's taken so long to finally see / My songs about you are all about me. The songs can be laugh out loud funny, but they also can cut to the bone. In his memoir, Wainwright continues to emphasize the personal: he details the family history his lyrics have referenced and the fractured relationships in the Wainwright family throughout generations: the alcoholism, the infidelities, the competitiveness -- as well as the closeness, the successes, and the joy. Wainwright reflects on the experiences that have influenced his songwriting, including boarding school, the music business, swimming, macrobiotics, sex, incarceration, and something he calls Sir Walter Raleigh Syndrome. LINER NOTES is very much about being a son -- a status that dominates many of Wainwright's songs. But it is also about being a parent, a brother, and a grandfather. Wainwright's song lyrics are represented throughout the book, amplifying his prose and showing the connections between the songs and real life. He also includes excerpts and selections from his father's brilliant LIFE magazine columns - and, in so doing, re-establishes him as a major essayist of his era. A funny and insightful meditation on family, inspiration, and art, LINER NOTES will thrill fans, readers, and anyone who appreciates the intersection of music and life.

The father of American folk music, Woody Guthrie influenced generations of musicians and fans with his witty journalism and landmark songs, such as This Land Is Your Land. Much has been written about Guthrie, yet nothing communicates who he was so well as the ideas that he set to paper with his own hand. This new biography is accompanied by a significant Guthrie family collection of rare Woody creations, many of which have never been seen before by the public.These letters to family, photos, drawings, and lyrics reveal Woody s budding personality as he grew from a young boy into a man of remarkable strength and character, becoming America s most publicly visible political activist and the legendary musician who influenced Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Ani Di Franco, and so many others.Few people realize that Woody s sister, Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, is alive and well to this day. She and Guthrie authority Guy Logsdon shed light on Woody s early life and what formed his remarkably strong personality, as seen in his many poignant and impassioned letters, such as those reporting the death of his daughter in a New York fire. The considerable influence on Woody s personality of his father Charlie Guthrie can now be traced in private letters and testimonials as Woody moves from his Texas years to roaming the USA, to military service, and to New York, where his national career bloomed as he became an accomplished spokesman.Beyond the plain folksy wit of Woody the journalist and performer, we discover here the intensely intelligent and articulate man whose brilliance for the written word was perhaps overshadowed by his artistry in drawings, paintings, and musical performance. "

From Costa Award-shortlisted author Nicholas Bowling comes a tale of adventure, myth and music to make your heart sing ... 'Cast its spell over me from the first page ... it really is my perfect book.' Jasbinder Bilan, author of ASHA & THE SPIRIT BIRD 'Nicholas Bowling is a thrilling writer.' THE TELEGRAPH Oran lives on Little Drum, where music is everything. Every islander has a birth instrument and a life song - and the ancestors, called ghasts, linger to hear the music. But when the Duchess arrives from the mainland bringing orders of silence, she threatens the ghasts' existence, the very soul of the community. When Oran hears of a mythical instrument with the power to manipulate hearts, she brings her ghast best friend, Alick, on a quest to find it, play it, and change the Duchess's mind ... From the author of the Costa Children's Book Award-shortlisted In the Shadow of the Heroes comes a thrilling Celtic-inspired fantasy adventure. The adventure and magic of Neil Gaiman's Stardust with a Hebridean-inspired fantasy setting and lovable characters reminiscent of Pixar's Brave. A story about how music has the power to reveal, to inspire, and to bind people together.

Richly ethnographic and a compelling read, After the Dance, the Drums Are Heavy is a study of carnival, politics, and the musical engagement of ordinary citizens and celebrity musicians in contemporary Haiti. The book explores how the self-declared president of konpa Sweet Micky (Michel Martelly) rose to the nation's highest office while methodically crafting a political product inherently entangled with his musical product. It offers deep historical perspective on the characteristics of carnivalesque verbal play-and the performative skillset of the artist (Sweet Micky) who dominated carnival for more than a decade-including vulgarities and polemics. Yet there has been profound resistance to this brand of politics led by many other high-profile artists, including Matyas and Joj, Brothers Posse, Boukman Eksperyans, and RAM. These groups have each released popular carnival songs that have contributed to the public's discussions on what civic participation and citizenship in Haiti can and should be. Drawing on more than a decade and a half of ethnographic research, Rebecca Dirksen presents an in-depth consideration of politically and socially engaged music and what these expressions mean for the Haitian population in the face of challenging political and economic circumstances. After the Dance, the Drums Are Heavy centers the voices of Haitian musicians and regular citizens by extensively sharing interviews and detailed analyses of musical performance in the context of contemporary events well beyond the musical realm.

(Educational Piano Solo). 24 songs in the Chinese tradition: Crescent Moon * Darkening Sky * Girl's Lament * Hand Drum Song * Jasmine Flower Song * Mountaintop View * Sad, Rainy Day * The Sun Came up Happy * Wedding Veil * and more. Features notes on each piece, exquisite illustrations, and a map of China.

A series of little books of short carefully graded folk tunes beginning with the simplest passages and progressing to more difficult leaps, rhythms, chromatics, and modulations. The later books introduce two-part sight singing.

Wassail songs are part of Welsh folk culture, but what exactly are they? When are they sung? Why? And where do stars and pretty ribbons fit in? This study addresses these questions, identifying and discussing the various forms of winter wassailing found in Wales in times past and present. It focuses specifically on the Welsh poetry written over the centuries at the celebration of several rituals - most particularly at Christmas, the turn of the year, and on Twelfth Night - which served a distinct purpose. The winter wassailing aspired to improve the quality of the earth's fertility in three specific spheres: the productivity of the land, the animal kingdom, and the human race. This volume provides a rich collection of Welsh songs in their original language, translated into English for the first time, and with musical notation. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of these poems and of the society in which they were sung.

This--the performers' edition of the massive New Oxford Book of Carols--is a selection of 120 carols in 173 different settings. The music, which is divided into composed carols and traditional carols, covers nine centuries of Christmas music from around the world. Popular and unknown material is included: the settings are straightforward and each carol is accompanied by a note on historical background. The emphasis is on the fresh approach to the carol, and the editors have cleared away the accretions of years to recapture the original spirit and vigor of the music. Selections from the book are featured on EMI Classic's recordings "The Carol Album," "The Christmas Album," and "Carol Album 2," performed by the Taverner Consort, Choir, and Players under the direction of Andrew Parrott.

(Music Sales America). Enjoy the stunning evocative melodies of the rich Irish tradition with this special set of classical guitar solos, featuring many traditional harp melodies and dance tunes. The book boasts no less than 27 pieces, many of which are suitable for elementary guitar students. However, also featured are several compositions by the 17th century harpist/composer O'Carolan, which are ideal for more advanced guitarists. An accompanying CD of demonstrations perfectly illustrates the music, providing listeners with a useful guide to Irish phrasing and performance.

A facsimile edition containing the original collection of 1,850 melodies consisting of airs, jigs, reels, hornpipes, marches, and more for fiddle.

Sixty Country Dance Tunes 1786-1800 is a collection of rediscovered folk tunes, made available for the first time since the end of the eighteenth century. Consultant editor and renowned folk musician Paul Hutchinson has curated this edition, bringing together the following original publications: Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1786 Cahusac's Annual Collection of Twentyfour favorite (sic.) Country Dances for the Year 1800 Twelve Fashionable Country Dances for the Piano Forte or Harp for the Year 1800 These lively dances are presented as simple single-line melodies that appear alongside beautiful images of the original scores, which include the instructions for dancing. This volume provides an unmissable collection of music from an incredibly rich era of England's folk music heritage. It will be of immense value to musicians looking for new repertoire and to those interested in finding out more about the history of music at this time.

This stellar collection contains banjo tab arrangements of 12 bluegrass/folk songs from this Grammy-winning Album of the Year. Includes: Angel Band * The Big Rock Candy Mountain * Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby * Down to the River to Pray * I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow * I Am Weary (Let Me Rest) * I'll Fly Away * In the Highways (I'll Be Somewhere Working for My Lord) * In the Jailhouse Now * Keep on the Sunny Side * and You Are My Sunshine, plus lyrics and a banjo notation legend.

A series of little books of short carefully graded folk tunes beginning with the simplest passages and progressing to more difficult leaps, rhythms, chromatics, and modulations. The later books introduce two-part sight singing.

Using interviews with world-renowned and innovative hip-hop DJs, as well as technology manufacturers that cater to the market/culture, this book reveals stories behind some of the iconic DJ technologies that have helped shape the history and culture of DJing. More importantly, it explores how DJs have impacted the evolution of technology. By looking at the networks of innovation behind DJ technologies, this book problematizes the notion of the individual genius and the concept of invention. Developing a theory of "technocultural synergism," this book attempts to detail the relationship between culture and industry through the manipulation, exchange, and rights associated with intellectual property. While the subject of hip-hop and intellectual property has already been well explored, this is the first time that hip-hop DJs have been conceptualized as intellectual property because of their role in the R&D and branding of DJ products. The book also addresses the impact of digital technology on the democratization of DJ culture, as well as how new digital DJ technology has affected the recorded music market.

Preeminant gamelan performer and scholar Sumarsam explores the concept of hybridity in performance traditions that have developed in the context of Javanese encounters with the West. Javanese Gamelan and the West studies the meaning, forms, and traditions of the Javanese performing arts as they developed and changed through their contact with Western culture. Authored by a gamelan performer, teacher, and scholar, the book traces the adaptations in gamelan art as a result of Western colonialism in nineteenth-century Java, showing how Western musical and dramatic practices were domesticated by Javanese performers creating hybrid Javanese-Western art forms, such as with the introduction of brass bands in gendhing mares court music and West Javanese tanjidor, and Western theatrical idioms in contemporary wayang puppet plays. The book also examines the presentation of Javanese gamelan to the West, detailing performances in World's Fairs and American academia and considering its influence on Western performing arts and musical and performance studies. The end result is a comprehensive treatment of the formation of modern Javanese gamelan and a fascinating look at how an art form dramatizes changes and developments in a culture. Sumarsam is a University Professor of Music at Wesleyan University. He is the author of Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java (University of Chicago Press, 1995) and numerous articles in English and Indonesian. As a gamelan musician and a keenamateur dhalang (puppeteer) of Javanese wayang puppet play, he performs, conducts workshops, and lectures throughout the US, Australia, Europe, and Asia.

I've Always Kept a Unicorn tells the story of Sandy Denny, one of the greatest British singers of her time and the first female singer-songwriter to produce a substantial and enduring body of original songs. Sandy Denny laid down the marker for folk-rock when she joined Fairport Convention in 1968, but her music went far beyond this during the seventies. After leaving Fairport she formed Fotheringay, whose influential eponymous album was released in 1970, before collaborating on a historic one-off recording with Led Zeppelin - the only other vocalist to record with Zeppelin in their entire career - and releasing four solo albums across the course of the decade. Her tragic and untimely death came in 1978. Sandy emerged from the folk scene of the sixties - a world of larger-than-life characters such as Alex Campbell, Jackson C. Frank, Anne Briggs and Australian singer Trevor Lucas, whom she married in 1973. Their story is at the core of Sandy's later life and work, and is told with the assistance of more than sixty of her friends, fellow musicians and contemporaries, one of whom, to paraphrase McCartney on Lennon, observed that she sang like an angel but was no angel.

Country Music: A Very Short Introduction presents a compelling overview of the music and its impact on American culture. Country music has long been a marker of American identity; from our popular culture to our politics, it has provided a soundtrack to our national life. While traditionally associated with the working class, country's appeal is far broader than any other popular music style. While this music rose from the people, it is also a product of the popular music industry, and the way the music has been marketed to its audience is a key part of its story. Key artists, songs, and musical styles are highlighted that are either touchstones for a particular social event (such as Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man," which produced both a positive and negative backlash as a marker of women's roles in society at the beginning of the liberation movement) or that encompass broader trends in the industry (for example, Jimmie Rodgers' "T for Texas" was an early example of the appropriation of black musical forms by white artists to market them to a mainstream audience). While pursuing a basically chronological outline, the book is structured around certain recurring themes (such as rural vs. urban; tradition vs. innovation; male vs. female; white vs. black) that have been documented through the work of country artists from the minstrel era to today. Truly the voice of the people, country music expresses both deep patriotism as well as a healthy skepticism towards the powers that dominate American society. Country Music: A Very Short Introduction illuminates this rich tradition and assesses its legacy in American popular music culture.

An brilliant introductory course in the art of playing the Bodhran, covering all the basic techniques needed to accompany traditional Irish and other music. Ideal for beginners, this illustrated booklet is crammed with useful features, diagrams and examples. Also included is a demonstration CD that shows all the techniques that are discussed in the book.

Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula provides a pioneering overview of folk and traditional urban music, along with dance and rituals, of Saudi Arabia and the Upper Gulf States of Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. The nineteen chapters introduce variegated regions and subcultures and their rich and dynamic musical arts, many of which heretofore have been unknown beyond local communities. The book contains insightful descriptions of genres, instruments, poetry, and performance practices of the desert heartland (Najd), the Arabian/Persian Gulf shores, the great western cities including Makkah and Medinah, the southwestern mountains, and the hot Red Sea coast. Musical customs of distinctive groups such as Bedouin, seafarers, and regional women are explored. The book is packaged with downloadable resources and almost 200 images including a full color photo essay, numerous music transcriptions, a glossary with over 400 specialized terms, and original Arabic script alongside key words to assist with further research. This book provides a much-needed introduction and organizational structure for the diverse and complex musical arts of the region.

This fabulous book contains the complete lyrics for 100 old favourites from the huge reserve of Irish party songs. It includes many traditional favourites and popular classics. The shape and style of the book means that it is perfect as a gog-bag reference, but the collection will appeal to anyone who enjoys joining in at a sing-song and karaoke sessions, or even a quiet croon in the bathroom.

While Western medicine has conventionally separated music, science, and religion into distinct entities, traditional cultures throughout the world have always viewed music as a bridge that connects the physical with the spiritual. Now, as people in even the most technologically advanced nations across the globe struggle with obtaining affordable and reliable healthcare coverage, more and more people are turning to these ancient cultural practices of ICAM healing (integrative, complementary, and alternative medicine).
With Beyond the Roof of the World, Dr. Benjamin D. Koen unearths the Western separation of healing from spiritual and musical practices as a culturally determined phenomenon, and proves the relevance of medical ethnomusicology in light of the globally spreading ICAM healing practices. Using the culture found within the towering Pamir Mountains of Badakhshan Tajikistan, in a place poetically known as the Roof of the World, as the paradigm of ICAM healing, Koen shows spirituality and musicality to be intimately intertwined with one's physical life, health and healing. For the first time, Koen bridges the widespread gap between ethnomusicology and music therapy. Koen's extensive research and emersion into the Badakhstan culture provides the reader with an "insider" perspective while maintaining an "observer's" view, as he infuses the text with relevant scholarship.