Contrary to popular belief, the roots of American country music do not lie solely on southern farms or in mountain hollows. Rather, much of this music recorded before World War II emerged from the bustling cities and towns of the Piedmont South. No group contributed more to the commercialization of early country music than southern factory workers. In Linthead Stomp, Patrick Huber explores the origins and development of this music in the Piedmont's mill villages.
Huber offers vivid portraits of a colorful cast of Piedmont millhand musicians, including Fiddlin' John Carson, Charlie Poole, Dave McCarn, and the Dixon Brothers, and considers the impact that urban living, industrial work, and mass culture had on their lives and music. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including rare 78-rpm recordings and unpublished interviews, Huber reveals how the country music recorded between 1922 and 1942 was just as modern as the jazz music of the same era. Linthead Stomp celebrates the Piedmont millhand fiddlers, guitarists, and banjo pickers who combined the collective memories of the rural countryside with the upheavals of urban-industrial life to create a distinctive American music that spoke to the changing realities of the twentieth-century South.
Contrary to popular belief, the roots of American country music do not lie solely on southern farms or in mountain hollows. Rather, much of this music recorded before World War II emerged from the bustling cities and towns of the Piedmont South. No group contributed more to the commercialization of early country music than southern factory workers. In Linthead Stomp, Patrick Huber explores the origins and development of this music in the Piedmont's mill villages.
Huber offers vivid portraits of a colorful cast of Piedmont millhand musicians, including Fiddlin' John Carson, Charlie Poole, Dave McCarn, and the Dixon Brothers, and considers the impact that urban living, industrial work, and mass culture had on their lives and music. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including rare 78-rpm recordings and unpublished interviews, Huber reveals how the country music recorded between 1922 and 1942 was just as modern as the jazz music of the same era. Linthead Stomp celebrates the Piedmont millhand fiddlers, guitarists, and banjo pickers who combined the collective memories of the rural countryside with the upheavals of urban-industrial life to create a distinctive American music that spoke to the changing realities of the twentieth-century South.
Patrick Huber is professor of history at Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA, and the author or editor of five books, including The Hank Williams Reader.
"A fascinating history of Piedmont textile workers and their role
in the development of country music. . . . Opens a window on a new
view of country music. Recommended."--CHOICE
"A new, canny take on Old, Weird America, this colorful, contrarian
book does much to dispel a spate of antediluvian tropes, musical
and otherwise."--The Atlantic
"A splendid book . . . One of its principle achievements, due to
its author's subtle but insistent writing, is to encourage the
seeking out of [the performers'] work. Huber provides a very useful
discography, rightly flagging up the sterling work done by labels
such as Document, County and Bear Family in the dissemination of
early country music recordings."--Journal of Popular Music
"Compelling. . . . An excellent first foray into an important but
often overlooked chapter in the history of American popular
music."--Studies in American Culture
"Huber's reverential and enlightening descriptions of country
music's pioneers leave readers yearning for their actual
recordings. Fortunately, an appended discography and directory of
other early hillbilly musicians direct readers to more
foot-stomping tunes.."--Our State
"In this groundbreaking study of the derivation of hillbilly music
. . . Huber comprehensively explores the working-class origins and
early development of the idiom. . . . Four colorful biographical
chapters . . . form the meat of the book. . . . A fascinating
glimpse into some hitherto unexplored territory."--Sing Out!
"Interesting and evocative. . . . Lays out squarely the early
history of the hillbilly-music industry. . . .
Informative."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
"Should be a part of any book collection, particularly for Huber's
focus on the Southern industrial relations that made the music
possible."--West Virginia History
"Well-researched, carefully argued, and beautifully written. . . .
An impressive contribution to our understanding that country music
was not born in some pristine corner of America, untouched by the
winds of change. . . . A splendid account of [country music's]
development in the vital crucible of the Piedmont South."--American
Historical Review
"With respect and passion, Huber puts . . . pioneering artists in
well-deserved perspective, gracefully illuminating the birth of an
American art form."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
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