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Origins of Rock 'n Roll: Revised Select Bibliography

by Don Mabry

Brown, Charles T. The Art of Rock and Roll (1983).
By a music professor, this book also shows connections between musical styles and society.

Chapple, Steve, and Garofalo, Rene. Rock'n'Roll is Here the Pay: The History and Politics of the Music Industry (1977).
Analysis of why and how rock'n'roll developed within the context of U.S. capitalism.

Cooper, B. Lee. Images of American Society in Popular Music: A Guide to Reflective Teaching (1982).
An indispensable guide to anyone who plans to use the history of popular music in the classroom.

Denisoff, R. Serge. Solid Gold: The Popular Record Industry (1975).

Denisoff, R. Serge. Tarnished Gold: The Record Industry Revisited (1986).

DeRogatis, Jim.  Kaleidoscope Eyes - Psychedelic Rock From the `60s to the `90s (1996) 

Ennis, Phillip H. The Seventh Stream: The Emergence of Rock 'n' Roll in American Popular Music ( 1992).

Escott, Colin. Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll (1991).

Gillett, Charlie, The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 2nd ed. (1986). The best single book on rock'n'roll history.

Gribin, Anthony J.  Doo-wop: The Forgotten Third of Rock 'n' Roll (1992)

Graebner, William, "Teaching the History of Rock'n'Roll," Teaching History, 9:1 (Spring 1984), 2-20.

Guralnick, Peter, Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom (1986). Important for the history of Southern black popular music.

Guralnick, Peter, and Ernst Jorgensen. Elvis Day by Day. (1999)

Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis : The Rise of Elvis Presley (1995)

Hopkins, Jerry, Elvis: A Biography. (1972). Good biography of this influential Mississippi singer and public figure.

Mabry, Donald J., "The Rise and Fall of Ace Records: A Case Study in the Independent Record Business," Business History Review, 64 (Autumn, 1990), 411-450. Important not only for the history of one record company but also for the blues.

Malone, Bill C..  Southern Music, American Music (1979). Important for understanding Southern contributions to popular music, including country music.

Marsh, Dave. Sun Records: An Oral History (Avon Books, 1998)

Nager, Larry. Memphis Beat: The Story of America's Musical Crucible (1998)

Oakley, Giles. The Devil's Music: A History of the Blues (1976). The author is one of the foremost authorities on the history of the blues. This volume is well-illustrated, adding to its value.

Pareles, Jon, and Romanowski,. eds. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (1983). Important reference work.

Rolling Stone. The Rolling Stone Interviews: the 1980s (1989)

Shaw, Arnold. Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues (1978). Important for the early years of rock'n'roll.

Spitz, Bob.  Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival, 1969 (1989)

Tosches, Nick. Unsung Heroes of Rock 'N' Roll : The Birth of Rock in the Wild Years Before Elvis (1999).

Ward, Ed, Stokes, Geoffrey, and Tucker, Ken. Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll (1986).

Revised 4/04