The Ballad in American Popular Music
From Elvis to Beyoncé

The first book to explore the ballad's history and emotional appeal, surveying seventy years of the genre in modern America.

David Metzer (Author)

9781107161528, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 September 2017

244 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.5 kg

While ballads have been a cornerstone of popular music for decades, this is the first book to explore the history and appeal of these treasured songs. David Metzer investigates how and why the styles of ballads have changed over a period of more than seventy years, offering a definition of the genre and discussing the influences of celebrated performers including Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. The emotional power of the ballad is strongly linked to the popular mood of the time, and consequently songs can tell us much about how events and emotions were felt and understood in wider culture at specific moments of recent American history. Tracing both the emotional and stylistic developments of the genre from the 1950s to the present day, this lively and engaging volume is as much a musical history as it is a history of emotional life in America.

Introduction: what is a ballad?
1. The 1950s
Interlude I: Patsy Cline, 'Crazy'
2. The soul ballad
Interlude II: It still hurts …
3. The power ballad
Interlude III: Sarah McLachlan, 'Angel'
Interlude IV: hip hop ballads
4. Indie ballads
Interlude V: I confess
Conclusion: goodbye
Selected bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Popular culture [JFCA], Rap & Hip-Hop [AVGR], Rock & Pop music [AVGP], Country & Western music [AVGL], 20th century & contemporary classical music [AVGC6], Music: styles & genres [AVG], Music reviews & criticism [AVC], Music [AV], Performance art [AFKP]