Music Book Review: Hidden in the Mix: The African-American Presence in Country Music by Diane Pecknold

Hidden in the Mix: The African-American Presence in Country Music
by Diane Pecknold (Music 781.642 Hid)

 

There’s been a meme going around recently that lists a number of music genres with origins in black culture: “Blues came from black culture, jazz came from black culture,” rock n roll, funk, soul, disco, hip hop, house, and so on. The country music genre isn’t part of the list, and country is often discussed in terms of having come from folk music origins that trace mostly back to Western Europe.

 

But the truth is more complicated. A good portion of what made country music unique from its European folk counterpart is how it absorbed influences from black musical forms in the United States. Some of these were stylistic — blues music and jazz are obvious influences on country music, for example. Even musical instruments were absorbed from black culture: the banjo is a uniquely African-American invention, developed as a refinement of some West and South African instruments like the kora and the akonting.

 

In Hidden in the Mix, edited by Diane Pecknold, we find a collection of 12 great essays that look at the foundational influence of black music on the development of country music, the continued relationships between later forms of black music like soul and hip hop with more modern styles of country, and the experiences of early African-American country music performers as they navigated musical scenes and eras that were often hostile to their participation. Here we can learn about the history of artists like Arnold Shultz, a guitarist whose style was pivotal to the development of bluegrass music, and Fiddlin’ Bill Livers, known as the last African-American old-time fiddler from Kentucky, who suffered horrible racist attacks in childhood but grew up to be a dynamic entertainer who could bring white and black crowds together.

 

In the early days of the recording industry, we learn about the marketing of so-called “race” and “hillbilly” records, and how there was substantial participation by black artists in the “hillbilly” music of the time. On the more contemporary side of the spectrum, Adam Gussow’s essay “Playing Chicken With the Train” explores the trend of hip hop/country crossover tracks, a phenomenon that has become even more popular in the years just after this book was published, with tunes like the massive Lil Nas X hit “Old Town Road.” All told, this is a great book that presents a solid overview of the black influence on country music between its many well-researched essays. There’s a great bibliography at the back of the book for further reading on the topic, too.

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Segregating Sound: Inventing Folk and Pop Music in the Age of Jim Crow by Karl Hagstrom Miller, or Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South by Charles L. Hughes.)

 

( publisher’s official Hidden in the Mix web site )

 

Recommended by Scott S.
Polley Music Library

 

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