Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot, 1843-1924 (Paperback)

by David Wondrich (Author) "In late January 1843, Daniel Decatur Emmett hosted an impromptu jam session in his room in Mrs. Brooke's boarding house at 37 Catherine Street, in..." (more)
Key Phrases: nigger blues, recording horn, hot music, New York, New Orleans, Bert Williams (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Hot American music, says Wondrich, has drive and swerve. Drive is the strong rhythmic component that gets the feet stomping. Swerve is the spontaneous bending of tempo, swinging of the beat, and embellishment of the musical line. Beginning with the minstrels who played "Negro" music on stage in blackface in a spirit of parody, Wondrich traces the evolution of hot music into ragtime ("Coon" music, it was called), blues, and jazz. Scottish and Irish music influenced minstrel music, just as Afro-Caribbean music influenced the blues and jazz--the acme of hot music. Unknown rural people and people in the (noncriminal) "Underworld" developed these musical styles, and the "Topworld" embraced this music as it came to reflect on general social conditions. Much later hot music is preserved on sound recordings, which Wondrich references while discussing major performers and composers (a CD containing some of the music will be released simultaneously with the book). Aside from his use of vernacular expletives to express strong opinions, Wondrich provides good guidance as the music gets hotter. Alan Hirsch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A cool book . . . bringing alive the deepest roots of American rock, R&B and rap." -- Discoveries

"A hot book about hot music . . . with a rare ear for its subject." -- Seattle Weekly

"A lovingly written account." -- Esquire

"Appealingly irreverent." -- Chicago Reader

"Entertaining and engaging" -- Library Journal

"Groundbreaking." -- Robert Christgau, The Believer

"Highly logical and entertaining . . . No other author has done a better job of putting all the pieces together." -- The New York Sun

"Music book of the year? Probably Stomp and Swerve." -- Austin American–Statesman

"Saucy." -- The Village Voice

"Wondrich’s own passion is infectious enough to make the reader retrieve the old marching band horn from the attic." -- Shepherd Express

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155652496X
• ISBN-13: 978-1556524967
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #508,932 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bounce!, January 28, 2004

By A Customer

American music didn't get hot suddenly in the 1950's with the arrival of Rock 'n' Roll. It didn't get sexy when Jazz provided the soundtrack to hi-jinx in the back seat of a Model A Ford in the 1920's. American music, with serendipitous blend of African and Celtic influences, has been scaring church folk and turning good girls bad since the 19th century. David Wondrich, with great wit and careful research, tells the quintessentially american story of our funky popular music.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating and annoying, April 30, 2009

By	OTS1927 (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This book was a real disappointment, particularly because it covers some important ground and has, occasionally, some flashes of insight. But it is plagued by such major flaws that I cannot recommend it. The basic premise is outrageously reductive and simplistic, and the author uses this flawed approach as a means to pass judgment sweepingly on all sorts of music and musicians. Underlying his entire argument is the notion that black music and musicians properly belong to the "Underworld," and that anytime they display associations with "Topworld" white mainstream America, it is some kind of artistic and cultural travesty. Like so many of the late 19th and early 20th century figures he derides, this author wants his black musicians to be musically "black," and denigrates anybody and anything else that stands in the way of his offensive viewpoint.

The book is also plagued by flat-out misinformation (William Shakespeare Hays was black, really??), faulty reasoning, shoddy research, cheap shots left and right, and the most annoying, smart-alecky, and off-putting writing style I think I've ever encountered in a non-fiction book. The author uses profanity as if he earns points for slipping it in at every opportunity. Clearly he thinks by doing so he connects himself to the "underworld" characters he so romanticizes. The result, though, is simply obnoxious. His desire to be smugly hip becomes downright offensive at times. After pointing out Irene Castle's frustration at having to work with the "Topworld" music direction of John Philip Sousa instead of her previous bandleader James Reese Europe, the author concludes that "once you've had black, you never go back."

If you want to read a freewheeling and irreverent dissertation on similar subject matter, check out Nick Tosches's "Where Dead Voices Gather," an infinitely better and more rewarding book. For a level-headed, scholarly, and brilliant account of this material, read Tim Brooks's excellent "Lost Sounds."