Right to Rock: The Black Rock Coalition and the Cultural Politics of Race

Maureen Mahon

Published by Duke University Press 2004

Right to Rock

The Black Rock Coalition and the Cultural Politics of Race

Maureen Mahon

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822386131

Overview
Contents

About this book

An account of the Black Rock Coalition, which began in New York in 1985, and its relation to the results of civil rights era integration, and to the larger questions of racialization in the music industry, and American society.

Author / Editor information

Maureen Mahon is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the African American Studies Program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reviews

“In clear, concise, and immensely readable prose, Right to Rock asks important—often uncomfortable but always necessary—questions about the power and limits of racially identified aesthetics in social, artistic, political, and economic contexts. In looking at the triumphs and struggles of rock ’n’ roll bands such as Screaming Headless Torsos, Bad Brains, Living Colour, and Fishbone, Maureen Mahon opens a window on to an American music and culture that has historically sought to disenfranchise, marginalize, and even deny the existence of the vital contributions of African American musical artists from Blind Tom to Me’Shell NdegéOcello. Anyone seeking to understand the ideas behind ‘Black Rock’—whether one hears that phrase as divisive or inclusive—would do well to pick up a copy of Right to Rock and read it.”—Vernon Reid, guitarist, founder of the band Living Colour, and cofounder of the Black Rock Coalition

“Maureen Mahon’s Right to Rock presents a fascinating description of the meaning of rock music for black artists and audiences. Devoted to a form of commercialized leisure for which they are not the target demographic, these committed musicians and listeners write themselves into a story from which they have largely been excluded. Important as a study of a fascinating cultural practice, Right to Rock also makes indispensable contributions to our understanding of larger issues about both the fixity and the fluidity of market categories and social identities.”—George Lipsitz, author of American Studies in a Moment of Danger

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ONE. Reclaiming the Right to Rock Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
TWO. The ‘‘Postliberated Generation’’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
THREE. Saturday Go to Meeting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
FOUR. Black Rock Manifesting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
FIVE. Black Rock Aesthetics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
SIX. Living Colored in the Music Industry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
SEVEN. Media Interventions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
EIGHT. Playing Rock, Playing Roles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204
NINE. Jimi Hendrix Experiences Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
TEN. Until the Levee Breaks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
Discography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Pages
- Main content: 336
Illustrations
- Other: 39 b&w illus.

eBook

Published: June 23, 2004
ISBN: 9780822386131