American Epic, Allison McGourty
American Epic, Allison McGourty
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

American Epic
When Music Gave America Her Voice

Author: Allison McGourty, Elijah Wald, Bernard MacMahon

Narrator: Mike Chamberlain

Unabridged: 5 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/02/2017


Synopsis

The companion book to the groundbreaking PBS and BBC documentary series celebrating the pioneers and artists of American roots music—blues, gospel, folk, Cajun, Appalachian, Hawaiian, Native American—without which there would be no jazz, rock, country R&B, or hip hop today.

In the 1920s and 1930s, as radio took over the pop music business, record companies were forced to leave their studios in major cities in search of new styles and markets. Ranging the mountains, prairies, rural villages, and urban ghettos of America, they discovered a wealth of unexpected talent—farmers, laborers, and ethnic minorities playing styles that blended the intertwining strands of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Fortunately, thanks to the continuing efforts of cultural detectives and record devotees, the stories of America's earliest musicians can finally be told.

Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty spent years traveling around the US in search of recollections of those musical pioneers. Their fascinating account, written with the assistance of Elijah Wald, continues the journey of the series and features additional stories.

About Allison McGourty

Allison McGourty is a writer and producer, known for American Epic: The Big Bang, The Big Bang, and Out of the Many, the One.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul

American Epic is a documentary series about the first time folk and blues was recorded; also a 5 cd box set of 1920s recordings; also a cd of modern versions of this stuff; also a book. Phew! And it’s a very nice book and once I’ve saved up my money I will investigate the other stuff. American Epic d......more

Goodreads review by Brandon

Interesting book about a forgotten chapter in American musical history. During the 1920's as radio became more commonplace in American homes it threatened the fledgling record industry, so in response the record companies sent out a group of men to find new talent that could be recorded and sold to......more

Just incredible history. I saw the PBS documentary and needed the book,the book was special because of the photos,and closer feel for the words-interviews by the artists. There's something different about hearing what they said vs reading it. I think it has more impact for me at least. I only wish t......more

I've been reading this while listening to the soundtrack of the documentary. It's like being transported back into a different world where most people rarely went 25 miles away from their birthplace, when suddenly the whole world becomes open to you. But this world is from the 1920's while we're in......more

Goodreads review by Dominic

If you are a fan of music and the origins of varius music genres, I highly recommend you watch the PBS series American Epic and then read this book. It is a great companion to the series and explains much of the history of each artist and the background on the recordings you will see in the PBS segm......more