Life Could Be a Dream - by Jerry Wasserman (Paperback)

About the Book

"In the tumultuous decade following World War II, the civil rights movement began transforming Black lives and American society. The era also proved momentous for African American popular music: new record labels, new styles, and exciting new sounds in the form of electrified blues combos, rhythm and blues shouters and balladeers, gospel and doo wop quartets. By the late-1950s, with rock 'n' roll dominating the American soundscape, much of the phenomenal Black music of the postwar decade began to drift into relative obscurity. This book brings a remarkable body of African American music, excluding jazz, back into sharp focus, and explores its connections to the socio-political dreams of Black America during that period of frustrated hopes and great expectations. With close attention to the singers, musicians, and lyrics in hundreds of recordings from 1946 to 1956, it offers for the first time a detailed examination of four musical genres along the blues continuum: blues, rhythm & blues, gospel, and secular harmony (better known as doo wop). Meet the artists and listen to the sounds and themes of Black America in the musically explosive decade before rock 'n' roll." --

Book Synopsis

In the tumultuous decade following World War II, the civil rights movement began transforming Black lives and American society. The era also proved momentous for African American popular music: new record labels, new styles, and exciting new sounds in the form of electrified blues combos, rhythm and blues shouters and balladeers, gospel and doo wop quartets. By the late 1950s, with rock 'n' roll dominating the American soundscape, much of the phenomenal Black music of the postwar decade began to drift into relative obscurity.

This book brings a remarkable body of African American music, excluding jazz, back into sharp focus, and explores its connections to the socio-political dreams of Black America during that period of frustrated hopes and great expectations. With close attention to the singers, musicians, and lyrics in hundreds of recordings from 1946 to 1956, it offers for the first time a detailed examination of four musical genres along the blues continuum: blues, rhythm & blues, gospel, and secular harmony (better known as doo wop). Meet the artists and listen to the sounds and themes of Black America in a musically explosive decade.

Review Quotes

"Both entertaining and informative, Life Could Be a Dream unlocks four genres of postwar Black music. I applaud Jerry Wasserman for detailing the music's rich variety and emotional impact. For anyone who streams music and wants a guided tour of what came before rock & roll and soul music, there is no better book."--Theodore Gracyk, professor of philosophy, Minnesota State University Moorhead, author of Listening to Popular Music Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Led Zeppelin

"Wasserman's Life Could Be a Dream is a clarifying dive into the ofttimes murky waters of post-War African American pop music from blues and r&b to gospel and doo-wop. It provides a gold mine of sources and astute observations including his own and others culled from the work of the best writers, musicians, and chroniclers reaching back decades. Wasserman puts it all in cultural and historic context and along the way names names, spotlights telling exemplars, evocatively describes song, and most important, points readers who want to dig a little deeper in the right directions."--Jerry Zolten, professor emeritus, Penn State University, author of Great God A'Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music

"Wasserman's writing is fleet, compressed, marvellously readable. This is the kind of book you inhale whole, even while darting back and forth to YouTube and Spotify, amazed at the discoveries he has batted your way. Life Could Be a Dream is a five-star introduction to the post-war decade that revolutionized American music."--Adam Gussow, professor of English and Southern Studies, University of Mississippi, author of Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition

About the Author

Jerry Wasserman lives in Vancouver, Canada, where he is emeritus professor of English and Theatre at the University of British Columbia. He has written or edited five books and lectured widely on African American music, including twice at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also an actor with more than 200 film and TV credits.