Boogaloo : the quintessence of American popular music / Arthur Kempton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kempton, Arthur, 1949-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Music--History and criticism.

African Americans.

African Americans--Music.

African American musicians.

Popular music--United States--History and criticism.

Popular music.

United States.

Physical Description:

xiv, 498 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2003]

Summary:

Boogaloo: of course, a popular dance of the late sixties, but really the synonym of choice for soul music or rhythm and blues among the cognoscenti; the word sweetly conjures the miscegenetic essence of American culture.)

A stylish and profound scholar of African-American popular culture, among other accomplishments, Arthur Kempton gives us a book that, in form and substance, is unlike any other. To tell the story of black Americans in the 20th century, he deftly interweaves in "Boogaloo" five narrative strands by turns, his contrapuntal themes being the lives and times of Thomas Dorsey, "the Father of Gospel Music": Sam Cooke, perhaps the greatest soul singer ever; Berry Gordy, creator of Motown and popular music entrepreneur par excellence; funk visionary George Clinton; and the "slim shady" triumph of hip-hop.

Engaging and sharp, "Boogaloo" offers a refreshing, cliche-free perspective on the relationship between blacks and whites in the Formation of a common American culture.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [465]-468) and index.

ISBN:

0375406123

OCLC:

50694975