Random House, Inc.
From Jim Crow to Eminem, white culture has been transformed
by black music. To be so influenced by the boundless
imagination of a race brought to America in chains sets
up a fascinating irony, and Souled American, an ambitious
and comprehensive look at race relations as seen through
the prism of music, examines that irony fearlessly—with
illuminating results. Tracing a direct line from plantation field
hollers to gangsta rap, author Kevin Phinney explains how
blacks and whites exist in a constant tug-of-war as they
create, re-create, and claim each phase of popular music.
Meticulously researched, the book includes dozens of exclusive
celebrity interviews that reveal the day-to-day struggles
and triumphs of sharing the limelight. Unique, intriguing,
Souled American should be required reading for every
American interested in music, in history,
or in healing our country’s troubled
race relations.



• Combines social history and pop culture
to reveal how jazz, blues, soul, country,
and hip-hop have developed


• Includes interviews with Ray Charles,
Willie Nelson, B. B. King, David Byrne,
Sly Stone, Donna Summer, Bonnie Raitt,
and dozens more


• Confronts questions of race and finds
meaningful answers


• Ideal for Black History Month

Baker & Taylor
An in-depth look at how white culture has been influenced by the boundless imagination of a race brought to America in chains offers an ambitious and comprehensive look at race relations as seen through the prism of music, with illuminating results.

Book News
This book, which began as a newspaper series in the 1980s for the Austin American-Statesman (and uses quotes from some of those interviews), examines how black music foundations spawned the melding of black and white cultures to create country, hip hop, blues, rock `n' roll, and jazz. It begins with music of the seventeenth century; discusses minstrels, ragtime, spirituals, the roots of jazz, blues, and big bands; describes the convergence of styles and cultures into rock `n' roll; recounts the 1960s, Motown, and funk; and traces the MTV era, rap, and hip hop of the 1990s. Phinney is a journalist who has written about music, film, theater, and pop culture. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Baker
& Taylor
An in-depth look at how white culture has been influenced by the imagination of a race brought to America in chains offers an ambitious and comprehensive look at race relations as seen through the prism of music.