Oh, Didn't They Ramble : Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Menconi, David, author.

Contributor:

Plant, Robert.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rounder Records (Firm)--History.

Rounder Records (Firm).

Sound recording industry--United States--History.

Sound recording industry.

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

Folk music.

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

Popular music.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (221 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2023.

Summary:

"What is American roots music? Any definition must account for a kaleidoscope of genres from bluegrass to blues, western swing to jazz, soul and gospel to rock and reggae, Cajun to Celtic. It must encompass the work of artists as diverse as Alice Gerrard and Alison Krauss, George Thorogood and Sun Ra, Bela Fleck and Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, the Blake Babies and Billy Strings. What do all these artists and music styles have in common? The answer is a record label born in the wake of the American folk revival and 1960s movement politics, formed around the eclectic tastes and audacious ideals of three recent college grads who lived, listened, and worked together. The answer is Rounder Records. For more than fifty years, Rounder has been the world's leading label for folk music of all kinds. David Menconi's book is the label's definitive history, drawing on previously untapped archives and extensive interviews with artists, Rounder staff, and founders Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin. Rounder's founders blended ingenuity and independence with serendipity and an unfailing belief in the small-d democratic power of music to connect and inspire people, forging creative partnerships that resulted in one of the most eclectic and creative catalogs in the history of recorded music. Placing Rounder in the company of similarly influential labels like Stax, Motown, and Blue Note, this story is destined to delight anyone who cares about the place of music in American culture"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Praise for Oh, Didn't They Ramble

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Foreword

Preface: April 1972 (and 1973)

Chapter 1. Beginnings

Chapter 2. On The Road

Chapter 3. Records and Manifestos

Chapter 4. Back Home in Sulphur Springs

Chapter 5. Ol' Number 0044

Chapter 6. Bad to the Bone

Chapter 7. More Money, More Problems

Chapter 8. Quiet Girls

Chapter 9. The Final Fourth Rounder

Chapter 10. O Brother (and Sister), Where Art Thou?

Chapter 11. Raising Sand, and the Roof

Chapter 12. Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

Epilogue: September 29, 2016

Acknowledgments

Selected Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9798890862532

9781469675015

1469675013

OCLC:

1402810621