Black Popular Music in America: From the Spirituals, Minstrels, and Ragtime to Soul, Disco, and Hip-Hop

Affirming that ""the black-white fusion remains the ineluctable source of the appeal and impact of our popular music,'' Shaw, a composer who also writes on the subject of music, describes the development of that trend primarily from the black perspective. According to the author, this blend or synthesis resulted from the interplay of five black stylesminstrelsy, spirituals, ragtime, jazz and bluesthat were adopted, refined and commercialized by white musicians. He also discusses such adjunct forms as ``coon'' songs, cakewalks, stride piano, British skiffle, blue-eyed soul, heavy metal, reggae, Oreo singing and hip-hop. Because much of this carelessly edited volume reads like a catalogue of composers, musicians and performances, it will probably be more useful as a survey than as a book to read for pleasure. Photos not seen by PW. February 1