Race, Rock, and Elvis: (Music in American Life)

Observing that young fans of rhythm and blues in the South seemed more inclined than their elders to disregard Jim Crow's long shadow, Race, Rock, and Elvis examines the emergence of rock 'n' roll in a social and regional context. Bertrand connects the music to the larger transformations that were unsettling the post-World War II southern landscape. Specifically, he shows how alienated and anonymous working-class teenage migrants such as Elvis Presley embraced black music and style to create identities within unfamiliar postwar urban settings. Bertrand contends that unprecedented access to African American culture challenged Presley's generation to reassess age-old segregationist stereotypes. In evaluating the results of this intricate process, Bertrand provides a fascinating glimpse into the relationship between popular culture and social change. Michael T. Bertrand is an assistant professor of history at Tennessee State University. A volume in the series Music in American Life

About the Author :
Michael T. Bertrand is an associate professor of history at Tennessee State University.

Review :
Annual Book and Essay Award, Shelby County Historical Commission (Memphis, TN), 2001.

"Bertrand has managed to argue more cogently and with more evidential authority than any previous commentator that the music that Elvis Presley and his rockabilly cousins fashioned in the South in the 1950s represented a serious threat to various national and regional social conventions, particularly those relating to race, class, and gender."--Brian Ward, Journal of American History "Meticulous research and elegant, concise prose. . . . Bertrand has written an insightful book that both deepens our understanding of rock 'n' roll and makes significant contributions to musical studies, Southern history, and the history of the civil rights movement."--Patrick Huber, History "Convincingly argues that the black-and-white character of the sound, as well as Elvis's own persona, helped to relax the rigid color line and thereby fed the fires of the civil rights movement."--Karal Ann Marling, American Historical Review "Thoroughly readable and redemptive. . . . The story of American music is, after all, as complex as the story of the country itself, and yet Betrand covers most bases with impressive ease. His major contribution, however, is a measured assessment of how rock 'n' roll . . . really did change the seemingly unchangeable place of its birth."--John Kelly, The Irish Times "A thoroughly absorbing piece of work."--Keith Briggs, Blues and Rhythm "A major contribution to our knowledge of the cultural importance of early rock 'n' roll."--Craig Morrison, Journal of American Folklore "An ambitious exploration of the relationship between cultural and political change in the South in the crucial years after World War II. This book will encourage everyone to rethink the role played by rock 'n' roll in American life."--Bill Malone, author of Country Music, U.S.A. "Michael Bertrand aims to prove that rock 'n' roll contributed to the success of the civil rights movement by breaking down the generational transmission of traditional southern attitudes toward race. Indeed, as he argues, the attraction for young white southerners of rhythm & blues initially and rock 'n' roll eventually had enormous cultural and political consequences."--James M. Salem, author of The Late Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R&B to Rock 'n' Roll