The Roots of Texas Music. (original) (raw)

I purchased this gem of a book at a used bookstore over the holidays. What a find! Anyone fascinated with Texas music should add this anthology to their library. This collection, skillfully edited by two academics, Clayton (Hardin-Simmons University) and Specht (McMurry University), consists of nine chapters.

The editors have recruited some of the state's premier music historians for this project, including Gary Hartman, Dave Oliphant, and Roger Wood. In the volume's lead essay, Dr. Hartman asserts, "The roots of Texas music run deep. Although some people may think of Texas music as mainly 'country,' the music of Texas and the American Southwest is as diverse and distinctive as the many different groups who have lived in the region over the past several centuries."

Articles in this compilation include "Chicano Music: Evolution and Politics to 1950," "Roots of Classical Music in Texas: The German Contribution," "Early Texas Bluesmen," "Czech and Polish Music in Texas before World War II," and "Black Creoles and the Evolution of Zydeco in Southeast Texas: The Beginnings to 1950." Other essays examine jazz, country, and religious music. Such noted Lone Star-born musicians as Tex Ritter (Panola County), Cindy Walker (Mart), Mance Lipscomb (near Navasota), Hot Lips Page (Dallas), Ernest Tubb (Crisp), Gene Autry (Tioga), Lightning Hopkins (Centerville), Buck Owens (Sherman), Lydia Mendoza (Houston), and Bob Wills (near Kosse) populate this study.

The Roots of Texas Music will appeal to fans of pop culture, especially those interested in the history of music in the Lone Star State.

Dr. Kirk Bane,
Book Review Editor,
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