Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919 (Music in American Life)
by Tim Brooks
List Price:
Our Price: $26.91
You Save: $10.04 (27%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $16.50 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Tim BrooksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-25
ISBN: 025207307X
Number of pages: 656
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Book Reviews of Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919 (Music in American Life)
Book Review: the holy grail of American music research
Summary: 5 Stars
For anyone interested in the pre-1920 recording industry--and especially in the history of the earliest recording artists of color--Lost Sounds is the archaeological dig of your dreams. Immaculately researched, beautifully written, and illustrated with photos, advertisements, and lyrics, it's a big stately volume: the growth of the popular song, the emergence of the mass media and entertailment industries, the appalling state of period race relations, the existentially twisted story of the minstrel show, and the amazing evolution of recording technology are all on readable (and sometimes haunting) display. So are the riveting stories of legendary artists George Washington Johnson (the ex-slave whose "Laughing Song" was used briefly in a recent Xerox ad), Bert Williams (featured in PBS' Broadway documentary series), Charley Case (a vaudeville comic who was rumored to be "passing"), and dozens of others. You'll be moved to comb the local antique shops for cylinders, and to try building your own record-yourself-on-tinfoil kit.
More Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919 (Music in American Life) reviews:
1
1
Summary of Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919 (Music in American Life)
Available in paperback for the first time, this groundbreaking in-depth history of the involvement of African Americans in the early recording industry examines the first three decades of sound recording in the United States, charting the surprising roles black artists played in the period leading up to the Jazz Age and the remarkably wide range of black music and culture they preserved. Applying more than thirty years of scholarship, Tim Brooks identifies key black artists who recorded commercially and provides illuminating biographies for some forty of these audio pioneers. Brooks assesses the careers and recordings of George W. Johnson, Bert Williams, George Walker, Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, W. C. Handy, James Reese Europe, Wilbur Sweatman, Harry T. Burleigh, Roland Hayes, Booker T. Washington, and boxing champion Jack Johnson, as well as a host of lesser-known voices. Many of these pioneers faced a difficult struggle to be heard in an era of rampant discrimination and "the color line," and their stories illuminate the forces - both black and white - that gradually allowed African Americans greater entree into the mainstream American entertainment industry. The book also discusses how many of these historic recordings are withheld from the public today because of stringent U.S. copyright laws. "Lost Sounds" includes Brooks's selected discography of CD reissues, and an appendix by Dick Spottswood describing early recordings by black artists in the Caribbean and South America. Tim Brooks is Executive Vice President of Research at Lifetime Television. He is coauthor of "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows" and "The Columbia Master Book Discography", and the author of "Little Wonder Records: A History and Discography". He is past president of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections and the winner of its Lifetime Achievement Award. Dick Spottswood is a freelance author, broadcaster, and record producer. He is the author of the seven volume reference work, Ethnic Music on Records.History & Criticism Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in History & Criticism Books
KISS and Make-upby Gene Simmons
Crown; Published: 2001-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.98
Price in other shops:
Elvis Presley: A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessionsby Ernst Jorgensen
St Martins Pr; Published: 1998-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $199.99
The Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Coolby Michael Segell
Picador; Published: 2006-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.81
Price in other shops:
Elvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presleyby George Klein, Chuck Crisafulli
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2011-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Bill Evans: How My Heart Singsby Mr. Peter Pettinger
Yale University Press; Published: 1998-08-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $76.30
Microsoundby Curtis Roads
The MIT Press; Published: 2004-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops:
Hip Hop Americaby Nelson George
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops:
A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Albumby Ashley Kahn
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops:
Jazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition)by Mark C. Gridley
Prentice Hall; Published: 2008-01-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $45.99
Price in other shops:
Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garciaby Robert Greenfield
It Books; Published: 2009-02-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.47
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Miles Davis - LIVE in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1Release date: 2011-09-20; Published: 2011-09-20; Music CD
Best price: $24.96
Price in other shops:
The Soundscapeby R. Murray Schafer
Destiny Books; Published: 1993-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops:
Black Music: Harlem Renaissanceby Samuel A. Jr. Floyd
Univ Tennessee Press; Published: 1993-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.85
Price in other shops:
The Middle Years, 1910-1918Release date: 2002-08-15; Music CD
Best price: $13.98
Price in other shops:
Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: BLACK FOLK MUSIC TO THE CIVIL WAR (Music in American Life)by Dena J. Epstein
University of Illinois Press; Published: 2003-08-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops:
Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Musicby Ellen Willis
Univ Of Minnesota Press; Published: 2011-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.01
Price in other shops:
Blues People: Negro Music in White Americaby Leroi Jones
Harper Perennial; Published: 1999-01-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Sound Recording: The Life Story of a Technologyby David L. Morton Jr.
The Johns Hopkins University Press; Published: 2006-04-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops:
A Life in Ragtime: A Biography of James Reese Europeby Reid Badger
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2007-12-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.03
Price in other shops:
Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry 1891-1922Release date: 2005-10-11; Music CD
Best price: $23.83
Price in other shops: