Country Music: A Cultural and Stylistic History

by Jocelyn R. Neal

A vibrant introduction to a quintessential American art form, Country A Cultural and Stylistic History is the first undergraduate textbook that focuses solely on country music.

Written by an experienced teacher and renowned scholar of the genre, it offers a coherent narrative that explains country music, its origins, its development, and its meaning from the first commercial recordings of the 1920s up to the present. It highlights significant performers, songs, and
institutions in country music. It also considers key social, political, and musical issues that span many decades of evolution within the genre.

Each part of Country Music opens with an introduction that provides a broad sense of the trends, context, and significant elements of country music during a specific period. Each chapter offers three essential features within the

* Artist Profiles provide a close look at important figures in the history of country music, from country stars to songwriters to industry personnel
* Listening Guides connect specific recordings to the ideas presented in each chapter; end-of-chapter playlists offer suggestions for further listening
* Boxed essays offer in-depth explorations of topics in seven history, musical style, the music business, culture, technology, songwriting, and issues of identity

Country Music concludes with three helpful appendices on song form, country music instruments, and finding the recordings.

A companion website at www.oup.com/us/neal offers chapter summaries, questions for review, and web links.

Offering a thorough overview of a core part of American culture, this compelling and accessible book is ideal as the main text for Country Music courses and as a supplement for courses in American Music and American Popular Music.

Genres: Music

530 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2012

Reviews

[Autumn Halfpenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marking this as finished even though I didn’t read the last 27 pages (the appendix). It’s unusual for me to enjoy school textbooks, but this one was very engaging and I enjoyed learning about the beginning of country music until today, learning about artists I’m familiar with. I thought it was especially funny that it included “Thug Story” as an example of a country hip hop crossover, since this is a more niche example. Overall, favorite textbook I’ve read and first one I’ve been able to get through without giving up and relying solely on notes from class :)

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot on the history of country music.