“[Brooks] writes with obvious knowledge from impeccable research in an engaging and eminently readable style...astonishingly thorough account. For anyone with even the slightest interest in vintage entertainment, this volume should be on your bookshelf as soon as possible.”—<i>For the Record</i>

“<i>The Minstrel Show in Mass Media</i> tells the rest of the story. It tells it completely and succinctly.... At an approachable length, and as riveting as any secret knowledge, it should be included in every syllabus that touches this subject. These are the unvarnished facts”—<i>The Syncopated Times</i>.

 The minstrel show occupies a complex and controversial space in the history of American popular culture. Today considered a shameful relic of America's racist past, it nonetheless offered many black performers of the 19th and early 20th centuries their only opportunity to succeed in a white-dominated entertainment world, where white performers in blackface had by the 1830s established minstrelsy as an enduringly popular national art form.

This book traces the often overlooked history of the "modern" minstrel show through the advent of 20th century mass media--when stars like Al Jolson, Bing Crosby and Mickey Rooney continued a long tradition of affecting black music, dance and theatrical styles for mainly white audiences--to its abrupt end in the 1950s. A companion two-CD reissue of recordings discussed in the book is available from Archeophone Records at www.archeophone.com.

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The minstrel show occupies a controversial space in American popular culture. While it is seen as a relic of America's racist past, it also provided the first vehicle by which African-Americans were able to enter the entertainment world. This book investigates the 20th century history of minstrelsy as it entered the age of mass media.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
1. The Origins of Blackface Minstrelsy
2. The Minstrel Show on Records
3. The Minstrel Show on Radio
4. The Minstrel Show in Motion Pictures
5. The Minstrel Show on Television
6. Epilogue and Conclusions
Appendix 1. Prominent Minstrel Troupes Active after 1890
Appendix 2. Discography of Minstrel Recordings
Appendix 3. Early Recording Artists with Minstrel Experience
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781476676760
Publisert
2019-11-29
Utgiver
McFarland & Co Inc
Vekt
517 gr
Høyde
254 mm
Bredde
178 mm
Dybde
15 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Forfatter

Biografisk notat

Tim Brooks is a retired TV network executive and author of nine books about the history of American media. He has won numerous awards for his work, including an American Book Award and a Grammy Award for a reissue of historical recordings. He lives in Connecticut.