The Ballad in American Popular Music
eBook - PDF

The Ballad in American Popular Music

From Elvis to Beyoncé

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Ballad in American Popular Music

From Elvis to Beyoncé

Book details
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

While ballads have been a cornerstone of popular music for decades, this is the first book to explore the history and appeal of these treasured songs. David Metzer investigates how and why the styles of ballads have changed over a period of more than seventy years, offering a definition of the genre and discussing the influences of celebrated performers including Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. The emotional power of the ballad is strongly linked to the popular mood of the time, and consequently songs can tell us much about how events and emotions were felt and understood in wider culture at specific moments of recent American history. Tracing both the emotional and stylistic developments of the genre from the 1950s to the present day, this lively and engaging volume is as much a musical history as it is a history of emotional life in America.

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Information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2017
ISBN
9781108515702
Topic
Media & Performing Arts
Subtopic
Music History & Criticism

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half-title page
  3. Title page
  4. Copyright page
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Introduction: What Is a Ballad?
  9. Chapter 1 The 1950s
  10. Interlude I: Patsy Cline, “Crazy”
  11. Chapter 2 The Soul Ballad
  12. Interlude II: It Still Hurts

  13. Chapter 3 The Power Ballad
  14. Interlude III: Sarah McLachlan, “Angel”
  15. Interlude IV: Hip Hop Ballads
  16. Chapter 4 Indie Ballads
  17. Interlude V: I Confess
  18. Conclusion: Goodbye
  19. Select Bibliography
  20. Index