Bluegrass Breakdown: THE MAKING OF THE OLD SOUTHERN SOUND (Music in American Life) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Whoever has seen Bill Monroe up close, on stage, especially in these late years of his career, will remember that he carries himself with a..." (more)
Key Phrases: subdivided rhythm, original bluegrass, bluegrass singing, Bill Monroe, Blue Grass Boys, Earl Scruggs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

ADVANCE PRAISE "Bluegrass Breakdown is a seminal work in its field... Robert Cantwell has had the foresight, the initiative, and the intellectual creativity to create a model for explaining a major force in southern and, indeed, American culture." -- The Journal of Southern History "A thoroughly researched and often brilliant attempt to place bluegrass music into a historical, as well as musicological, cultural, and imaginative context. Bluegrass Breakdown is, without a doubt, the most thought-provoking work on bluegrass -- and its father, Bill Monroe -- I have ever read." -- Jon Hartley Fox, Bluegrass Unlimited

Product Description

Winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, "Bluegrass Breakdown" is an expansive foray into the makings of bluegrass. More than any other book of its kind, it gets to the roots of a uniquely American music that is deeply linked to working-class ideals and romanticism. Robert Cantwell engages the historical background, commercial origins, internal workings, and cultural and social significance of popular, old-time music to provide a unique musicological and sociological perspective. Well versed in the history of the tradition and equally as interested in those who listen to the music as in those who create it, Cantwell links bluegrass to its hillbilly roots in Appalachia and shows how the music was transformed by African American folk traditions, the influence of jazz, ragtime, blues, and country music, and the growth of radio and recording technology.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252071174
• ISBN-13: 978-0252071171
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #421,893 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical Theory Comes to Bluegrass, August 11, 2001

By	Tribe (Toledo, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bluegrass Breakdown (Paperback)

If you hate the dense, sometimes rambling, style of critical theorists, pass up on this. But, if you do enjoy bluegrass, as well as crit lit, this book is an enjoyable analysis of the style. Cantwell can write long, winding paragraphs, but he knows his subject. His analysis parses the style deep into its African roots, while at the same time giving the reader some thorough critical background into old-timey Southern rural music and African-American styles. The negatives from other reviewers are right on, but I happen to like Cantwell's style and have found this book to be an invaluable reference to bluegrass, and a source of inspiration on how to view, not to mention listen to what has been described as "folk music on overdrive."

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Academic psycho-drivel"??, January 11, 2004

By	Amber Turrill (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bluegrass Breakdown (Paperback)

I get the impression from several of the reviews I've read here that the posters frown on the academic study of bluegrass. This book certainly isn't for everyone. No book HAS to please an audience, nor does every book HAVE to be interesting from cover to cover. Cantwell does have a tendency to ramble at some points, but the information contained in this book is still worth the read.

Bluegrass Breakdown is a book for those interested in bluegrass from an ethnomusicological standpoint. Cantwell advances interesting theories regarding the African contribution to bluegrass to how bluegrass is identifiable through its use of the characteristic "high lonesome wail". Cantwell's goal here is clearly to explore cultural attributes and effects of bluegrass, and this is something I believe he does well. If you're looking for a book that's an easy to read, tail-wagging history of bluegrass, go for Cantwell's colleague Neil Rosenberg. Cantwell isn't your man.

Cantwell's writing is purely academic, again a style of writing that isn't for everyone. I don't believe Cantwell goes out of his way to discuss his bluegrass performance merits or intellect here. I found Cantwell's inquiries mostly unbiased and thorough, including those dealing with Bill Monroe. I don't believe Cantwell went out of his way to point out Monroe's 'hypocrisies' on any level, rather he constructed his writing to portray Monroe as a paradox, a 'mystery' man who's very hard to explain in the space of a few pages.

For all his interesting theories, Cantwell loses a star for stereotyping. His description of "Appalachian folk" at the Grand Ole Opry as "plain", "overweight" and "lacking in proper dental hygiene" (the book was published in '86) is annoying. This may be a part of Cantwell's research experience, however it's a cheap shot at a blanket statement about an entire culture of people. I thought good researchers were trained to avoid this kind of writing. Other than that, this book is something definitely worth the read ... particularly if you're up for the challenge.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dense but thought provoking, December 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bluegrass Breakdown (Paperback)

For all its dense prose, Bluegrass Breakdown is _not_ typical academic-ese. Bob Cantwell cares about writing and he cares about bluegrass. He is, in fact, a bluegrass banjoist as well as a college professor. Some readers may find his style too involved for their tastes; others will, as they follow his arguments, come to see in bluegrass much more than they might ever have imagined. I think this is one of the best books written in the past 20 years on the culture of American popular music.