Stairway to paradise : Jews, blacks, and the American music revolution / Ari Katorza.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Katorza, Ari, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Popular music--Jewish influences.

Popular music.

Popular music--African American influences.

United States.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (282 pages)

Place of Publication:

Boston, Massachusetts : De Gruyter, [2021]

Summary:

Stairway to Paradise reveals how American Jewish entrepreneurs, musicians, and performers influenced American popular music from the late nineteenth century till the mid-1960s. From blackface minstrelsy, ragtime, blues, jazz, and Broadway musicals, ending with folk and rock 'n' roll. The book follows the writers and artists' real and imaginative relationship with African-American culture's charisma. Stairway to Paradise discusses the artistic and occasionally ideological dialogue that these artists, writers, and entrepreneurs had with African-American artists and culture. Tracing Jewish immigration to the United States and the entry of Jews into the entertainment and cultural industry, the book allocates extensive space to the charged connection between music and politics as reflected in the Jewish-Black Alliance - both in the struggle for social justice and in the music field. It reveals Jewish success in the music industry and the unique and sometimes problematic relationships that characterized this process, as their dominance in this field became a source of blame for exploiting African-American artistic and human capital. Alongside this, the book shows how black-Jewish cooperation, and its fragile alliance, played a role in the hegemonic conflicts involving American culture during the 20th century. Unintentionally, it influenced the process of decline of the influence of the WASP elite during the 1960s. Stairway to Paradise fuses American history and musicology with cultural studies theories. This inter-disciplinary approach regarding race, class, and ethnicity offers an alternative view of more traditional notions regarding understanding American music's evolution.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: Jokerman - The Black Mask of Al Jolson

Chapter 2: Somewhere over the Rainbow - Jewish Immigration to America and the Struggle for Popular Culture

Chapter 3: I Used to Be Color-Blind - Irving Berlin, the Ragtime Riot and the Jewish Network in Tin Pan Alley

Chapter 4: Someone to Watch Over Me - Jerome Kern, George Gershwin and the Jazz Journey in the Musical Comedy

Chapter 5: It Don't Mean a Thing If you Ain't Got That Swing - Duke Ellington and Irving Mills' Fantasy

Chapter 6: Heaven With You - Jews, The Record Industry and Rock 'n' Roll

Chapter 7: Stand By Me - The Black-Jewish Political Alliance and the Decline of the WASP

Chapter 8: That is Rock 'n Roll! Leiber and Stoller, the White Negro and the Enlargement of America

Chapter 9: Will You Love Me Tomorrow? Carole King, Black Lolitas and the Brill Building's hit factories

Chapter 10: River Deep - Mountain High: Phil Spector, Burt Bacharach and the Ghost on the Second Floor of the Bus

Chapter 11: The Sounds of Silence - Folk, the Blues and the Spirit of Capitalism Between Grossman, Bloomfield and Zimmerman

Chapter 12: Walk On the Wild Side - Jews, Gangsters, and Rock 'n' Roll

Chapter 13: Hard Rain Is Gonna Fall - Popular Music, Hegemonic Rifts, and New American Culture

Epilogue

Bibliography

Index

Author information.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

3-11-072316-6

OCLC:

1273972954