Salt of the Earth

This chapter traces the history of the socioeconomic leanings of rock ‘n’ roll, from the poor rural origins of early figures such as Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to the complex mix of hippie idealism and earthy rootedness of the late 1960s, with everyone from the Beatles and the Byrds to the Band and blues rock wrestling with the fraught left-right dynamics of the era. As the boldest era of rock innovation peaked, some performers and listeners began finding a curious sense of tradition within a hitherto experimental genre.

Introduction

The introduction starts with the basic facts and statistics of Nat King Cole’s career, his rather overwhelming string of chart hits that established him as the most popular of all popular singers between Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley, and as one of the greatest pianists in all of jazz. It also talks about how remarkable it is that a pop culture figure who died more than fifty-five years ago is still so relevant as to be referenced in contemporary works like the current Broadway musical Hamilton. As a way of easing readers into Cole’s musical world, two of his most popular numbers are discussed in some detail here: the 1955 hit “A Blossom Fell,” a song that originated in England, and the 1943 “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” which Cole recorded early in his career for Capitol Records, which included it on his first album; it became a career-long perennial and signature song. A further “prelude” talks about the state of jazz and black music in 1930, the year before Cole made his debut and gave his first notable public performance, by focusing on the orchestra of Noble Sissle, then playing Paris, whose orchestra included Nat’s big brother, Eddie Coles, on bass.

4. “Honky-tonkin’”

“Honky-tonkin’” describes new stars, including Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, George Jones, Kitty Wells, and Patsy Cline, as well as a new approach to string band music—bluegrass—and its main creator, Bill Monroe. After World War II, the displacement of people from rural farms to urban factories led to both a wider spread of country music and also a nostalgia for the world left behind. The honky-tonk—a bar featuring either live music or the newly introduced jukebox—became a center of entertainment for men in search of companionship. The chapter also describes the new rockabilly style of the mid-1950s introduced by Elvis Presley.

El rock: de la rebelde autenticidad a la forma-mercancía

El rock and roll nació de los blues en los años cincuenta en los Estados Unidos. A su vez, los blues habían surgido de las work songs, los field hollers y los spirituals que entonaban los esclavos en las plantaciones sureñas para expresar oraciones, lamentos y deseos de libertad mientras se rompían el alma trabajando. A mediados de los cincuenta, Chuck Berry y Little Richard lo inventaron, sin embargo un blanco, Elvis Presley, sería “el Rey” interpretando música negra para un mercado blanco. No obstante, a fines de la década, esta música declinaba en Estados Unidos mientras que en Gran Bretaña nacía, también de los blues, un ritmo trascendente, con estatus de arte que se difundiría por el mundo transformado en mercancía. Sin embargo, el rock and roll supo mantener su autenticidad, su aura.

When Paul Met Artie: The Story of Simon and Garfunkel by G. Neri

Neri, Gregory. When Paul Met Artie: The Story of Simon and Garfunkel. Illustrated by David Litchfield, Candlewick Press, 2018. The legacy of folk-rock duo Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel lives on in When Paul Met Artie: The Story of Simon and Garfunkel, a non-fiction illustrated story/biography. It details the friendship and success shared by two boys from a Jewish neighbourhood in Queens through their passion for music. Opposites in height, confidence, and interests, Paul and Artie are drawn together by each other’s humour, talent, and shared dream of hearing their songs on the radio. This beautiful story celebrates the ups and downs the boys experience through the decades as they draw inspiration from rock legends like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, rockabilly pioneers like Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis, and folk activists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Written in free-form prose, each spread of this book features one large illustration, each titled with a Simon and Garfunkel song name. David Litchfield’s illustrations are almost animated in nature—they are imaginative, complex, and emotionally evocative in their use of perspective, shadow, and colour to convey a mood. Neri’s words are just as artistic, using adjectives such as “cascading,” “rapturous,” “blistering,” and “crooning” to describe the music experienced and created by Paul and Artie. The prose is rich and descriptive, though perhaps better suited to grade five and older due to the advanced vocabulary and the occasionally mature content. This story is one that can be shared between adults who grew up alongside Paul and Artie and children who have yet to hear this timeless story about two Jewish boys rising to stardom. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Emma Ferguson Emma Ferguson is a second-year Master of Library and Information Studies student at the University of Alberta. She is an avid reader when she is not working on school work, and her greatest joys in life include colourful yarn for knitting and weaving, kitschy mugs (preferably full of coffee), and melancholy folk songs.