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Souled American: How Black Music Transformed White Culture

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From Jim Crow to Eminem, white culture has been transformed

by black music. To be so influenced by the boundless

imagination of a race brought to America in chains sets

up a fascinating irony, and Souled American, an ambitious

and comprehensive look at race relations as seen through

the prism of music, examines that irony fearlessly — with

illuminating results. Tracing a direct line from plantation field

hollers to gangsta rap, author Kevin Phinney explains how

blacks and whites exist in a constant tug-of-war as they

create, re-create, and claim each phase of popular music.

Meticulously researched, the book includes dozens of exclusive

celebrity interviews that reveal the day-to-day struggles

and triumphs of sharing the limelight. Unique, intriguing,

Souled American should be required reading for every

American interested in music, in history,

or in healing our country’s troubled

race relations.

• Combines social history and pop culture

to 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 finds

meaningful answers

• Ideal for Black History Month