Cajun Breakdown

The Emergence of an American-Made Music

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Theory & Criticism, Ethnomusicology, History & Criticism, Reference
Cover of the book Cajun Breakdown by Ryan Andre Brasseaux, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ryan Andre Brasseaux ISBN: 9780190451110
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: June 4, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Ryan Andre Brasseaux
ISBN: 9780190451110
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: June 4, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

In 1946, Harry Choates, a Cajun fiddle virtuoso, changed the course of American musical history when his recording of the so-called Cajun national anthem "Jole Blon" reached number four on the national Billboard charts. Cajun music became part of the American consciousness for the first time thanks to the unprecedented success of this issue, as the French tune crossed cultural, ethnic, racial, and socio-economic boundaries. Country music stars Moon Mullican, Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, and Hank Snow rushed into the studio to record their own interpretations of the waltz-followed years later by Waylon Jennings and Bruce Springsteen. The cross-cultural musical legacy of this plaintive waltz also paved the way for Hank Williams Sr.'s Cajun-influenced hit "Jamabalaya." Choates' "Jole Blon" represents the culmination of a centuries-old dialogue between the Cajun community and the rest of America. Joining into this dialogue is the most thoroughly researched and broadly conceived history of Cajun music yet published, Cajun Breakdown. Furthermore, the book examines the social and cultural roots of Cajun music's development through 1950 by raising broad questions about the ethnic experience in America and nature of indigenous American music. Since its inception, the Cajun community constantly refashioned influences from the American musical landscape despite the pressures of marginalization, denigration, and poverty. European and North American French songs, minstrel tunes, blues, jazz, hillbilly, Tin Pan Alley melodies, and western swing all became part of the Cajun musical equation. The idiom's synthetic nature suggests an extensive and intensive dialogue with popular culture, extinguishing the myth that Cajuns were an isolated folk group astray in the American South. Ryan André Brasseaux's work constitutes a bold and innovative exploration of a forgotten chapter in America's musical odyssey.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1946, Harry Choates, a Cajun fiddle virtuoso, changed the course of American musical history when his recording of the so-called Cajun national anthem "Jole Blon" reached number four on the national Billboard charts. Cajun music became part of the American consciousness for the first time thanks to the unprecedented success of this issue, as the French tune crossed cultural, ethnic, racial, and socio-economic boundaries. Country music stars Moon Mullican, Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, and Hank Snow rushed into the studio to record their own interpretations of the waltz-followed years later by Waylon Jennings and Bruce Springsteen. The cross-cultural musical legacy of this plaintive waltz also paved the way for Hank Williams Sr.'s Cajun-influenced hit "Jamabalaya." Choates' "Jole Blon" represents the culmination of a centuries-old dialogue between the Cajun community and the rest of America. Joining into this dialogue is the most thoroughly researched and broadly conceived history of Cajun music yet published, Cajun Breakdown. Furthermore, the book examines the social and cultural roots of Cajun music's development through 1950 by raising broad questions about the ethnic experience in America and nature of indigenous American music. Since its inception, the Cajun community constantly refashioned influences from the American musical landscape despite the pressures of marginalization, denigration, and poverty. European and North American French songs, minstrel tunes, blues, jazz, hillbilly, Tin Pan Alley melodies, and western swing all became part of the Cajun musical equation. The idiom's synthetic nature suggests an extensive and intensive dialogue with popular culture, extinguishing the myth that Cajuns were an isolated folk group astray in the American South. Ryan André Brasseaux's work constitutes a bold and innovative exploration of a forgotten chapter in America's musical odyssey.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Computational Economics and Finance by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Medea by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Polybius' Histories by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Raising Children by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book An Introduction to the Legal System of the United States, Fourth Edition by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book The Science of Leadership by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Great Expectations by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Sleuthing the Alamo:Davy Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Inhospitable World by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Propaganda 1776 by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Innovations in Psychosocial Interventions and Their Delivery by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Paths to Fulfillment by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book An Empire Divided by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book Trials of Reason by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
Cover of the book I Brought the Ages Home by Ryan Andre Brasseaux
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy