Elijah Wald Libri

Exploring the vibrant world of global music, this book highlights leading performers and their diverse influences on American culture. It showcases how immigrants use music to unite their communities while examining the contributions of renowned artists from five continents. Through interviews and profiles, it offers insights into the evolving landscape of world music and its significance in a globalizing society. This work appeals to both ethnomusicologists and casual listeners who appreciate the rich tapestry of international sounds.

The life of blues legend Robert Johnson becomes the centerpiece for this innovative look at what many consider to be America's deepest and most influential music genre. Pivotal are the questions surrounding why Johnson was ignored by the core black audience of his time yet now celebrated as the greatest figure in blues history. Trying to separate myth from reality, biographer Elijah Wald studies the blues from the inside -- not only examining recordings but also the recollections of the musicians themselves, the African-American press, as well as examining original research. What emerges is a new appreciation for the blues and the movement of its artists from the shadows of the 1930s Mississippi Delta to the mainstream venues frequented by today's loyal blues fans.

How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll is an alternative history of American music that, instead of recycling the familiar cliches of jazz and rock, looks at what people were playing, hearing and dancing to over the course of the 20th century, using a wealth of original research, curious quotations, and an irreverent fascination with the oft-despised commercial mainstream.

The life of blues legend Robert Johnson becomes the centerpiece for this innovative look at what many consider to be America's deepest and most influential music genre. Pivotal are the questions surrounding why Johnson was ignored by the core black audience of his time yet now celebrated as the greatest figure in blues history.Trying to separate myth from reality, biographer Elijah Wald studies the blues from the inside -- not only examining recordings but also the recollections of the musicians themselves, the African-American press, as well as examining original research. What emerges is a new appreciation for the blues and the movement of its artists from the shadows of the 1930s Mississippi Delta to the mainstream venues frequented by today's loyal blues fans.

From the upbeat West Coast style of T-Bone Walker to the 'down home' Chicago sound of Muddy Waters, Elijah Wald brings the story up to the present, touching on the effects of blues on American poetry, and its connection to modern styles such as rap

One of the music world's pre-eminent critics takes a fresh and much-needed look at the day Dylan 'went electric' at the Newport Folk Festival, timed to coincide with the event's fiftieth anniversary. Elijah Wald explores the cultural, political and historical context of this seminal event that embodies the transformative decade that was the sixties

The narrative follows a South Carolina native who, after serving as a "lead boy" for blind blues musicians, rose to fame in New York during the early 1930s. He played a pivotal role in popularizing folk-blues among white audiences in the 1940s and became known for his powerful Civil Rights anthems, earning the admiration of the Roosevelts. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence, he dominated New York's nightlife and broke barriers as the first black singer-guitarist to perform in Hollywood films and on Broadway.

A game which could inspire raucous laughter or escalate to violence, the dozens provided a wellspring of rhymes, attitude, and raw humor that has influenced pop musicians from Jelly Roll Morton and Robert Johnson to Tupac Shakur and Jay Z. Wald explores the depth of the dozens' roots, looking at mother-insulting and verbal combat from Greenland to the sources of the Niger, and shows its breadth of influence in the writings of Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston; the comedy of Richard Pryor and George Carlin; the dark humor of the blues; the hip slang and competitive jamming of jazz; and most recently in the improvisatory battling of rap.

How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll is an alternative history of American music that, instead of recycling the familiar clichés of jazz and rock, looks at what people were playing, hearing and dancing to throughout the course of the 20th century, using a wealth of original research, curious quotations, and an irreverent fascination with the oft-despised commercial mainstream.