Revolutions in American Music: Three Decades That Changed a Country and Its Sounds

American popular music is always evolving, but Broyles (musicology, Florida State Univ.; Beethoven in America) argues that there were three pivotal decades in which popular music particularly influenced developments in technology and civil rights in the United States. The 1840s saw the frenzy for polka and its faster rhythms, the arrival of European classical music divested of the church, and the massive popularity of minstrelsy, a song and dance combination performed by white musicians as a denigrating parody of Black culture. The 1920s ushered in radio—broadcasting the music of Louis Armstrong, the Grand Ole Opry, and Aaron Copland to millions—and the phonograph, which preserved musical performances for posterity and gave rise to the jukebox. The 1950s introduced television and recording tape, which allowed the preservation of live broadcasts and led to the ascension of Elvis Presley and the mainstream breakthroughs of Black artists such as Little Richard. Post-1955, there was a white backlash against the supposed vulgarity of rock music, with clear elements of racism embedded in the protests, Broyles argues. His book breathes life into popular music’s stylistic and technological innovators (T.D. Rice; Philo Farnsworth), alongside better-known musicians, to create a true sense of historical perspective.