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Sacred Steel: Inside an African American Steel Guitar Tradition, by Robert L. Stone
$24.95 Original price was: $24.95.$18.00Current price is: $18.00.
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Description
Paperback book 320pp.
In this book Robert L. Stone follows the sound of steel guitar into the music-driven Pentecostal worship of two related churches: the House of God and the Church of the Living God. A rare outsider who has gained the trust of members and musicians inside the church Stone uses nearly two decades of research interviews and fieldwork to tell the story of a vibrant musical tradition that straddles sacred and secular contexts.
Most often identified with country and western bands, steel guitar is almost unheard of in African American churches–except for the House of God and the Church of the Living God, where it has been part of worship since the 1930s. Sacred Steel traces the tradition through four generations of musicians and in some two hundred churches extending across the country from Florida to California Michigan to Alabama. Presenting detailed portraits of musical pioneers such as brothers Troman and Willie Eason, and contemporary masters such as Chuck Campbell, Glenn Lee and Robert Randolph, Stone expertly outlines the fundamental tensions between sacred steel musicians and church hierarchy.
In this thorough analysis of the tradition Stone explores the function of the music in church meetings and its effect on the congregations. He also examines recent developments such as the growing number of female performers the commercial appeal of the music and younger musicians’ controversial move of the music from the church to secular contexts.
“[Stone] paints compelling portraits of many of the genre’s major figures.”–Living Blues
“Stone’s book is a bit like that revelatory moment when you hear a new kind of sound and it seems to ignite the air around you. He has done something special not only for the artists whose lives and history he has chronicled but for those of us previously unaware of this important tradition of African American music.”–Popmatters
“Easy-to-read yet scholarly examination of this arrestingly unique sacred music tradition.”–Sing Out!
“Breaks much new ground and underscores the critical role that fieldwork plays in documenting our vernacular music traditions in the twenty-first century.”–Journal of American Folklore
“A pioneering work on the emergence development and current status of a vital but long overlooked tradition. Students of African American music folklore and ethnomusicology will find Sacred Steel both enlightening and engaging.”–Scott Barretta, music historian and former editor of Living Blues
magazine
“This book honors the legacy of the men who paved my musical path. All of us in the Sacred Steel brotherhood owe Bob a debt of gratitude for documenting our musical tradition.”–Robert Randolph
Additional information
Weight | 2 lbs |
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Dimensions | 9 × 7 × 1 in |
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“[Stone] paints compelling portraits of many of the genre’s major figures.”–Living Blues