Bibliograph

Roots, radicals and rockers, how skiffle changed the world, Billy Bragg

Type

Label

Roots, radicals and rockers, how skiffle changed the world, Billy Bragg

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 411-414) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Roots, radicals and rockers

Nature of contents

bibliography

Responsibility statement

Billy Bragg

Sub title

how skiffle changed the world

Summary

Roots, Radicals & Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World is the first book to explore this phenomenon in depth - a meticulously researched and joyous account that explains how skiffle sparked a revolution that shaped pop music as we have come to know it. It's a story of jazz pilgrims and blues blowers, Teddy Boys and beatnik girls, coffee-bar bohemians and refugees from the McCarthyite witch-hunts. Billy traces how the guitar came to the forefront of music in the UK and led directly to the British Invasion of the US charts in the 1960s. Emerging from the trad-jazz clubs of the early '50s, skiffle was adopted by kids who growing up during the dreary, post-war rationing years. These were Britain's first teenagers, looking for a music of their own in a pop culture dominated by crooners and mediated by a stuffy BBC. Lonnie Donegan hit the charts in 1956 with a version of 'Rock Island Line' and soon sales of guitars rocketed from 5,000 to 250,000 a year. Like punk rock that would flourish two decades later, skiffle was a do-it-yourself music. All you needed were three guitar chords and you could form a group, with mates playing tea-chest bass and washboard as a rhythm section

Table Of Contents

Machine generated contents note: 1.The Rock Island Line -- 2.Ration Book Jazz -- 3.Blues in Brass -- 4.Pilgrimage to New Orleans -- 5.Back to Basics -- 6.What Kind of Music Are They Playing? -- 7.Stumbling Towards a New Dawn -- 8.The New Edwardians -- 9.The Highbrow of Swing -- 10.Will TV Kill the British Sunday? -- 11.Sunshine on Soho -- 12.Red Scare Refugees -- 13.Skiffle Artificial -- 14.The Adventures of an Irish Hillbilly -- 15.Youth in Revolt -- 16.The People's Music -- 17.Here's Three Chords -- 18.Lonnie Opens the Door -- 19.Going So Fast -- 20.This'll Make You Skiffle -- 21.Country, Bluegrass and Blues -- 22.Expresso Bongo -- 23.For Peace and Harmony -- 24.Skiffle on the Skids -- 25.Maximum R & B -- 26.The British Are Coming

Classification