The author explores the role of British narratives of masculinity and power in the postwar era that contributed to the creation of a British blues network of young, white, mostly middle-class British men who consumed and appropriated African American blues. He describes how and why they formed a social network in the late 1950s and early 1960s and emulated the blues by forming their own bands, and how they used the tropes, vocabulary, and mythology of the blues to create a new form of pop music. He focuses on Jeff Beck, Eric Burdon, Eric Clapton, Ray Davies, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Rod Stewart, Pete Townshend, and Steve Winwood, describing the political, social, and cultural context; the processes of transmission and reception of American blues and R&B; why the blues appealed to young British men; how British enthusiasts formed homosocial bonds based on their consumption of blues music and how this helped transform the British blues into British blues-rock; and key musical developments. Annotation ©2018 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com) - (Book News)
An exciting new examination of how African-American blues music was emulated and used by white British musicians in the late 1950s and early 1960s
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Chicago Distribution Center)
Beginning in the late 1950s, an influential cadre of young, white, mostly middle-class British men were consuming and appropriating African-American blues music, using blues tropes in their own music and creating a network of admirers and emulators that spanned the Atlantic. This cross-fertilization helped create a commercially successful rock idiom that gave rise to some of the most famous British groups of the era, including The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, and Led Zeppelin. What empowered these white, middle-class British men to identify with and claim aspects of the musical idiom of African-American blues musicians? The British Blues Network examines the role of British narratives of masculinity and power in the postwar era of decolonization and national decline that contributed to the creation of this network, and how its members used the tropes, vocabulary, and mythology of African-American blues traditions to forge their own musical identities.
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Chicago Distribution Center)
Beginning in the late 1950s, an influential cadre of young, white, mostly middle-class British men were consuming and appropriating African-American blues music, using blues tropes in their own music and creating a network of admirers and emulators t - (
Chicago Distribution Center)
Author Biography
Andrew Kellett is Associate Professor of History at Harford Community College and Adjunct Instructor at the University of Maryland.
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Chicago Distribution Center)
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