In June, we celebrate Black Music Appreciation month and the influential Black musicians and artists who have brought entertainment to their communities and beyond, and inspired others to make their own art.
Books for Black Music Appreciation Month
By Coll Rowe | May 1 2024 | MusicBlack History
978-0-14-313659-0
A quietly influential force in African American literature and art, Clarence Major makes his Penguin Classics debut with the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of Dirty Bird Blues.
$18.00 US
Feb 08, 2022
Paperback
384 Pages
Penguin Classics
- English > Comparative Literature: American > African American Fiction
- English > Literature > American Literature – 20th Century
- English > Literature > American Literature – African American
- English > Literature > American Literature – Fiction
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > African American Literature
- Music > Music Appreciation > Blues
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An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop
978-1-9848-2515-5
The essential oral history of hip-hop, from its origins on the playgrounds of the Bronx to its reign as the most powerful force in pop culture—from the award-winning journalist behind All the Pieces Matter, the New York Times bestselling oral history of The Wire.
$20.00 US
Oct 03, 2023
Paperback
560 Pages
Crown
- History > Topical History > History of Music
- History > U.S. History > African American
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > African American History
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > African American Studies
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Social Science > American Popular Culture
- Music > Music Appreciation > American
- Music > Music Appreciation > Hip Hop
- Music > Music Appreciation > Music Appreciation
- Music > Music History > 20th Century Music
- Sociology > Social Institutions > Popular Culture
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A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend
978-0-593-31427-2
Bessie Smith is a beautiful genre-bending tribute to the larger-than-life blues singer Bessie Smith. Scotland’s National Poet blends poetry, prose, fiction, and nonfiction to create an entirely unique biography of the Empress of the Blues.
$16.95 US
Sep 28, 2021
Paperback
224 Pages
Vintage
The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe
978-0-8070-1184-3
The essential biography of America's godmother of rock 'n' roll whose exuberant singning and guitar playing captivated audiences and inspired generations of musicians from the 40s to today.
$18.95 US
Jan 31, 2023
Paperback
280 Pages
Beacon Press
A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta
978-0-14-006223-6
In this extraordinary musical and social history, Robert Palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of Chicago’s South Side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation.
$18.00 US
Jul 29, 1982
Paperback
320 Pages
Penguin Books
In Praise of Black Performance
978-1-9848-0120-3
A stirring meditation on Black performance in America from the New York Times bestselling author of Go Ahead in the Rain.
$18.00 US
Mar 08, 2022
Paperback
320 Pages
Random House Trade Paperbacks
The Lesson Continues
978-0-593-08166-2
Grammy Award winner Victor Wooten's inspiring parable of the importance of music and the threats that it faces in today's world.
$17.00 US
Feb 02, 2021
Paperback
368 Pages
Vintage
A Life in Music and Protest
978-0-8070-0289-6
The first in-depth biography of the legendary singer and "Voice of the Civil Rights Movement," who combatted racism and prejudice through her music.
$19.00 US
Apr 13, 2021
Paperback
288 Pages
Beacon Press
The Life and Legend of the "King of the Delta Blues Singers"
978-0-452-27949-0
Peter Guralnick's extended essay about the life of the man and the myth, and of the place and time that produced both, illuminates much of the obscurity around Johnson without forfeiting any of the mystery.
$24.00 US
Aug 01, 1998
Paperback
96 Pages
Plume
A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
978-0-593-13273-9
American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano).
$18.00 US
Feb 14, 2023
Paperback
336 Pages
Roc Lit 101
- History > Topical History > History of Music
- History > Topical History > History of Women
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > African American Studies
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Social Science > American Popular Culture
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Women's and Gender Studies > Race, Class, and Gender
- Interdisciplinary Studies > Women's and Gender Studies > Women and Art
- Music > Music Appreciation > Music Appreciation
- Sociology > Social Institutions > Popular Culture
- See More
A Life in Music
978-1-5247-4907-1
An autobiography of one of the towering figures of contemporary American music and a powerful meditation on history, race, capitalism, and art.
$32.50 US
May 16, 2023
Hardcover
416 Pages
Knopf
Black Poets, Books, and Questions that Grew Me Up
978-0-8070-1272-7
Examines firsthand the lives of legendary Black writers who made a way out of no way to illuminate a road map for budding creators desiring to follow in their footsteps.
$19.95 US
Aug 15, 2023
Paperback
256 Pages
Beacon Press
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