History & Criticism, Ethnomusicology, Ethnic, Popular, Composers & Musicians, Popular Culture, Minority Studies, General 

From Jim Crow to Eminem, white culture has been transformedby black music. To be so influenced by the boundlessimagination of a race brought to America in chains setsup a fascinating irony, and Souled American, an ambitiousand comprehensive look at race relations as seen throughthe prism of music, examines that irony fearlessly—withilluminating results. Tracing a direct line from plantation fieldhollers to gangsta rap, author Kevin Phinney explains howblacks and whites exist in a constant tug-of-war as theycreate, re-create, and claim each phase of popular music.Meticulously researched, the book includes dozens of exclusivecelebrity interviews that reveal the day-to-day strugglesand triumphs of sharing the limelight. Unique, intriguing,Souled American should be required reading for everyAmerican interested in music, in history,or in healing our country’s troubledrace relations.• Combines social history and pop cultureto reveal how jazz, blues, soul, country,and hip-hop have developed• Includes interviews with Ray Charles,Willie Nelson, B. B. King, David Byrne,Sly Stone, Donna Summer, Bonnie Raitt,and dozens more• Confronts questions of race and findsmeaningful answers• Ideal for Black History Month - from Amzon