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25 Feb 00 - 01:04 AM (#184537) Subject: Steve Waksman-cultural historian-guitars From: katlaughing Saw this guy on The News Hour on PBS tonight. Just caught the last couple of minutes, but I found it very interesting and thought you all might, too. Even though his book is about the electric guitar, what I heard and what is in the review of it, below, indicates he gives credit to a lot of folks I've heard you all talk about quite often. Anyway, here's the review I found:
INSTRUMENTS OF DESIRE Instruments of Desire ranges across the history of the electric guitar by focusing on key performers who have shaped the use and meaning of the instrument: Charlie Christian, Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, the MC5, and Led Zeppelin. The book traces two competing ideals for the sound of the instrument: one, focusing on tonal purity, has been favored by musicians seeking to integrate the electric guitar into the existing conventions of pop music; the other, centering on timbral distortion, has been used to challenge popular notions of "acceptable" and "unacceptable" noise. Instruments of Desire reveals how these different approaches to sound also entail different ideas about the place of the body in musical performance, the ways in which music articulates racialized and gendered identities, and the position of popular music in American social and political life. Steve Waksman, a cultural historian, is the 1998 winner of the Ralph Henry Gabriel Dissertation Prize awarded by the American Studies Association. He is visiting assistant professor of History and American Studies at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and is Assistant Editor of the Journal of Popular Music Studies.
January 1999 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches 23 halftones 320 pages ISBN 0-674-00065-X Single world price (listed in US dollars and the pound sterling equivalent): $27.95 / £17.50 cloth Music
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25 Feb 00 - 02:25 PM (#184851) Subject: RE: Steve Waksman-cultural historian-guitars From: katlaughing Well...I thought it was interesting!*BG* |
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25 Feb 00 - 03:52 PM (#184917) Subject: RE: Steve Waksman-cultural historian-guitars From: catspaw49 .....The electric gitar... .......................the skurge of MUSIC!!! ..The.....LAUGH-CAT ...................the skurge of MUDCAT!!!! Heal thysef ... wire up your butt. Well, GG hadn't shown up and I knew he'd want to post on this......How was it? Spaw |
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25 Feb 00 - 04:19 PM (#184932) Subject: RE: Steve Waksman-cultural historian-guitars From: Wesley S I'm afraid I have to politely disagree about the electric guitar. To paraphrase the gun nuts of the world { my brother included } in my opinion - "Electric guitars don't make bad music - people make bad music." One of my more frustrating experiences was to go to a guitar show { with money in my pocket and credit card in my wallet } where I found a wonderful little Martin OM-28V I was interested in purchasing and sat down to play it when a kid a few steps away cranks up { at 11 on the reichter scale } a fender strat and plays "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. The salesman said he couldn't ask the kid to turn it down because he "didn't want to offend the customers". I left. I've heard some amazing and wonderful music from electric guitars but not that day. And not at guitar shows in general. |
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25 Feb 00 - 04:40 PM (#184940) Subject: RE: Steve Waksman-cultural historian-guitars From: katlaughing Oh, Spaw, it was WONDERFUL!! Sheesh, now we won't know if it's him or not!!! And...you'll notice it DID mention Muddy Waters and few others who get talked about here, so there! Yeah, Wesley, I hear ya about those fanatics and loud electric gee-tars. thanks for your comments guys!**BG** kat |
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25 Feb 00 - 06:42 PM (#184987) Subject: RE: Steve Waksman-cultural historian-guitars From: catspaw49 Glad you liked it kat.....I've never bothered learning the fancy html stuff, but the spelling and style seemed pretty good. Spaw |