America S Polka King Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of America S Polka King book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.
For half a century Frank Yankovic wowed polka fans around the globe with hits such as ?Just Because? and ?The Blue Skirt Waltz.? He traveled the country, sold millions of records, and won the first Polka Grammy. The Cleveland native found fame and fortune beyond his wildest dreams. But behind the happy sounds of the accordion stood a man obsessed with trying to please himself and the ones he loved. With a tumultuous touring schedule that consisted of 200 shows a year, a restless temper and three failed marriages, Yankovic found himself being distanced from reality. Author Bob Dolgan delves into the life of America's Polka king and tells the tale of not only a musician, but of a man struggling for happiness.
Not so long ago, songs by the Andrews Sisters and Lawrence Welk blasted from phonographs, lilted over the radio, and dazzled television viewers across the country. Lending star quality to the ethnic music of Poles, Italians, Slovaks, Jews, and Scandinavians, luminaries like Frankie Yankovic, the Polka King, and "Whoopee John" Wilfart became household names to millions of Americans. In this vivid and engaging book, Victor Greene uncovers a wonderful corner of American social history as he traces the popularization of old-time ethnic music from the turn of the century to the 1960s. Drawing on newspaper clippings, private collections, ethnic societies, photographs, recordings, and interviews with musicians and promoters, Greene chronicles the emergence of a new mass culture that drew heavily on the vivid color, music, and dance of ethnic communities. In this story of American ethnic music, with its countless entertainers performing never-forgotten tunes in hundreds of small cities around the country, Greene revises our notion of how many Americans experienced cultural life. In the polka belt, extending from Connecticut to Nebraska and from Texas up to Minnesota and the Dakotas, not only were polkas, laendlers, schottisches, and waltzes a musical passion, but they shone a scintillating new light on the American cultural landscape. Greene follows the fortunes of groups like the Gold Chain Bohemians, illuminating the development of an important segment of American popular music that fed the craze for international dance music. And even though old-time music declined in the 1960s, overtaken by rock and roll, a new Grammy for the polka was initiated in 1986. In its ebullience and vitality, the genre endures.
Arguably the most important polka practitioner of his generation, reedist/vocalist Jimmy Sturr has won an eye-popping 18 Grammy Awards, and when you hear his exuberant brand of the music that is his heart and soul, you'll understand why. Blending the timeless elements of traditional polka music with hints of country, Cajun, and rock and roll, Sturr's unique sound has taken polka to new heights of accessibility and popularity, and his modernized renditions of polka standards and renditions of rock classics have captured the imagination (and feet) of listeners throughout the world. In his memoir Polka King, you'll meet the man behind the beer barrel. In his lively, oftentimes hilarious literary debut, Jimmy chronicles how a small-town boy from tiny Florida, N.Y., made good, ultimately becoming a respected bandleader, entrepreneur, and Grammy winner with guest appearances on Saturday Night Live. He'll take you into the recording studio and onto the stage, where he's shared the microphone with the likes of Willie Nelson, The Oak Ridge Boys, and Charlie Daniels. Featuring forewords by Willie Nelson, Bobby Vinton, and “Whispering" Bill Anderson, Polka King will introduce the world to a one-of-a-kind artist who has taken one of the world's most beloved musical genres and made it his own.
"Polka Heartland" captures the beat that pulses in the heart of Midwestern culture--the polka--and offers up the fascinating history of how "oompah-pah" came to be the sound of middle America. From the crowded dance tent at Pulaski Polka Days to an off-the-grid Mexican polka dance in small-town Wisconsin, "Polka Heartland" explores the people, places, and history behind the Midwest's favorite music. From polka's surprising origin story as a cutting-edge European fad to an exploration of the modern-day polka scene, author Rick March and photographer Dick Blau take readers on a joyful romp through this beloved, unique, and richly storied genre. "Polka Heartland" describes the artists, venues, instruments, and music-makers who have been pivotal to polka's popularity across the Midwest and offers six full-color photo galleries to immerse readers in today's vibrant polka scene.
Not so long ago, songs by the Andrews Sisters and Lawrence Welk blasted from phonographs, lilted over the radio, and dazzled television viewers across the country. Lending star quality to the ethnic music of Poles, Italians, Slovaks, Jews, and Scandinavians, luminaries like Frankie Yankovic, the Polka King, and "Whoopee John" Wilfart became household names to millions of Americans. In this vivid and engaging book, Victor Greene uncovers a wonderful corner of American social history as he traces the popularization of old-time ethnic music from the turn of the century to the 1960s. Drawing on newspaper clippings, private collections, ethnic societies, photographs, recordings, and interviews with musicians and promoters, Greene chronicles the emergence of a new mass culture that drew heavily on the vivid color, music, and dance of ethnic communities. In this story of American ethnic music, with its countless entertainers performing never-forgotten tunes in hundreds of small cities around the country, Greene revises our notion of how many Americans experienced cultural life. In the polka belt, extending from Connecticut to Nebraska and from Texas up to Minnesota and the Dakotas, not only were polkas, laendlers, schottisches, and waltzes a musical passion, but they shone a scintillating new light on the American cultural landscape. Greene follows the fortunes of groups like the Gold Chain Bohemians, illuminating the development of an important segment of American popular music that fed the craze for international dance music. And even though old-time music declined in the 1960s, overtaken by rock and roll, a new Grammy for the polka was initiated in 1986. In its ebullience and vitality, the genre endures.
Encyclopedia of American Folklife by Simon J Bronner Pdf
American folklife is steeped in world cultures, or invented as new culture, always evolving, yet often practiced as it was created many years or even centuries ago. This fascinating encyclopedia explores the rich and varied cultural traditions of folklife in America - from barn raisings to the Internet, tattoos, and Zydeco - through expressions that include ritual, custom, crafts, architecture, food, clothing, and art. Featuring more than 350 A-Z entries, "Encyclopedia of American Folklife" is wide-ranging and inclusive. Entries cover major cities and urban centers; new and established immigrant groups as well as native Americans; American territories, such as Guam and Samoa; major issues, such as education and intellectual property; and expressions of material culture, such as homes, dress, food, and crafts. This encyclopedia covers notable folklife areas as well as general regional categories. It addresses religious groups (reflecting diversity within groups such as the Amish and the Jews), age groups (both old age and youth gangs), and contemporary folk groups (skateboarders and psychobillies) - placing all of them in the vivid tapestry of folklife in America. In addition, this resource offers useful insights on folklife concepts through entries such as "community and group" and "tradition and culture." The set also features complete indexes in each volume, as well as a bibliography for further research.
Too Bold for the Box Office by Cynthia J. Miller Pdf
Although considered a relatively new genre, the mockumentary has existed nearly as long as filmmaking itself and has become one of the most common forms of film and television comedy today. In order to better understand the larger cultural truths artfully woven into their deception, these works demonstrate just how tenuous and problematic our collective understandings of our social worlds can be. In Too Bold for the Box Office: The Mockumentary from Big Screen to Small, Cynthia J. Miller has assembled essays by scholars and filmmakers who examine this unique cinematic form. Individually, each of these essays looks at a given instance of mockumentary parody and subversion, examining the ways in which each calls into question our assumptions, pleasures, beliefs, and even our senses. Writing about national film, television, and new media traditions as diverse as their backgrounds, this volume’s contributors explore and theorize the workings of mockumentaries, as well as the strategies and motivations of the writers and filmmakers who brought them into being. Reflections by filmmakers Kevin Brownlow (It Happened Here), Christopher Hansen (The Proper Care and Feeding of An American Messiah), and Spencer Schaffner (The Urban Literacy Manifesto) add valued perspective and significantly deepen the discussions found in the volume’s other contributions. This collection of essays on films, television programming, and new media illustrates common threads running across cultures and eras and attempts to answer sweeping existential questions about the nature of social life and the human condition.
The American Midwest by Andrew R. L. Cayton,Richard Sisson,Chris Zacher Pdf
This first-ever encyclopedia of the Midwest seeks to embrace this large and diverse area, to give it voice, and help define its distinctive character. Organized by topic, it encourages readers to reflect upon the region as a whole. Each section moves from the general to the specific, covering broad themes in longer introductory essays, filling in the details in the shorter entries that follow. There are portraits of each of the region's twelve states, followed by entries on society and culture, community and social life, economy and technology, and public life. The book offers a wealth of information about the region's surprising ethnic diversity -- a vast array of foods, languages, styles, religions, and customs -- plus well-informed essays on the region's history, culture and values, and conflicts. A site of ideas and innovations, reforms and revivals, and social and physical extremes, the Midwest emerges as a place of great complexity, signal importance, and continual fascination.
Countless travel books display some aspect or region of America, but USA 101 stitches together a whole crazy quilt of iconic places, events, fairs, and festivals that celebrates our country in all its quirky diversity. Whoever you are, wherever you’re going, whatever you like to do, it’s here somewhere. And if you just stay home and travel armchair-style you’ll still find this guide a vivid, often humorous, always fascinating blend of world-famous and distinctly local places and events that add up to a national portrait. Here are fivescore and one indelibly American destinations, from the Statue of Liberty to the Golden Gate Bridge, from Graceland to Disneyland; perennial sporting rituals like the Army-Navy football game, the Indy 500, the Soap Box Derby, and the Little League World Series; plus dozens more favorite institutions old and new, from Native American powwows to the Miss America Pageant and monster truck rallies. USA 101 features entertaining descriptive narratives—concise, lively sketches that capture each selection’s history and special appeal—as well as detailed practical advice and essential information for visiting. Well seasoned by eclectic, irresistible sidebars, this guide is a panorama of treasured traditions, favorite pastimes, and beloved national possessions that will surprise, amuse, and inform even the most sophisticated traveler.
Ethnic and Cultural Identity in Music and Song Lyrics by Victor Kennedy Pdf
Ethnic and Cultural Identity in Music and Song Lyrics looks at a variety of popular and folk music from around the world, with examples of British, Slovene, Chinese and American songs, poems and musicals. Charles Taylor says that “it is through story that we find or devise ways of living bearably in time”; one can make the same claim for music. Inexorably tied to time, to the measure of the beat, but freed from time by the polysemous potential of the words, song rapidly becomes “our” song, helping to cement memory and community, to make the past comprehensible and the present bearable. The authors of the fifteen chapters in this volume demonstrate how lyrics set to music can reflect, express and construct collective identities, both traditional and contemporary.
Music around the World [3 volumes] by Andrew R. Martin,Matthew Mihalka Ph.D. Pdf
With entries on topics ranging from non-Western instruments to distinctive rhythms of music from various countries, this one-stop resource on global music also promotes appreciation of other countries and cultural groups. A perfect resource for students and music enthusiasts alike, this expansive three-volume set provides readers with multidisciplinary perspectives on the music of countries and ethnic groups from around the globe. Students will find Music around the World: A Global Encyclopedia accessible and useful in their research, not only for music history and music appreciation classes but also for geography, social studies, language studies, and anthropology. Additionally, general readers will find the books appealing and an invaluable general reference on world music. The volumes cover all world regions, including the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific, promoting a geographic understanding and appreciation of global music. Entries are arranged alphabetically. A preface explains the scope of the set as well as how to use the encyclopedia, followed by a brief history of traditional music and important current influences of music in each particular world region.
"Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history," wrote historian Oscar Handlin. Immigrants and generations of their descendants have defined the American nation from its beginning and continue to provide America's characteristic diversity, representing practically every race, nationality, religion, and ethnic group around the world. Some immigrants came to the New World in search of economic gain. Others were brought in chains. Still others found refuge in America from religious or ethnic persecution. This single-volume encyclopedia includes more than 300 entries, covering multiple aspects of immigration history and policy: * ethnic groups, including census and immigration statistics, major periods of immigration and areas of settlement, predominant religion, and historical background * key immigration legislation, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, Immigration Act of 1990, and Refugee Act of 1980 * terms and concepts, including green card, quota system, citizen, naturalization, picture brides, and nativism * categories of immigrants, including refugees, indentured servants, children, and exiles * immigration stations: Angel Island, Castle Garden, and Ellis Island * religious groups and churches, such as Amish, Huguenots, Muslims, and Eastern Rite churches * further reading lists and cross-references follow each entry An introductory essay provides a cogent overview of the entire scope of the book. More than 150 photographs and illustrations complement the entries. Statistical boxes supplement the articles with key information. A list of immigration, ethnic, and refugee organizations; a guide to further research that includes books, museums, and websites; and a detailed chronology conclude this useful resource for research in American history, ethnic and multicultural studies, and genealogy. Oxford's Student Companions to American History are state-of-the-art references for school and home, specifically designed and written for ages 12 through adult. Each book is a concise but comprehensive A-to-Z guide to a major historical period or theme in U.S. history, with articles on key issues and prominent individuals. The authors--distinguished scholars well-known in their areas of expertise--ensure that the entries are accurate, up-to-date, and accessible. Special features include an introductory section on how to use the book, further reading lists, cross-references, chronology, and full index.
No other instrument has witnessed such a dramatic rise to popularity--and precipitous decline--as the accordion. Squeeze This! is the first history of the piano accordion and the first book-length study of the accordion as a uniquely American musical and cultural phenomenon. Ethnomusicologist and accordion enthusiast Marion Jacobson traces the changing idea of the accordion in the United States and its cultural significance over the course of the twentieth century. From the introduction of elaborately decorated European models imported onto the American vaudeville stage and the instrument's celebration by ethnic musical communities and mainstream audiences alike, to the accordion-infused pop parodies by "Weird Al" Yankovic, Jacobson considers the accordion's contradictory status as both an "outsider" instrument and as a major force in popular music in the twentieth century. Drawing on interviews and archival investigations with instrument builders and retailers, artists and audiences, professionals and amateurs, Squeeze This! explores the piano accordion's role as an instrument of community identity and its varied musical and cultural environments. Jacobson concentrates on six key moments of transition: the Americanization of the piano accordion, originally produced and marketed by sales-savvy Italian immigrants; the transformation of the accordion in the 1920s from an exotic, expensive vaudeville instrument to a mass-marketable product; the emergence of the accordion craze in the 1930s and 1940s, when a highly organized "accordion industrial complex" cultivated a white, middle-class market; the peak of its popularity in the 1950s, exemplified by Lawrence Welk and Dick Contino; the instrument's marginalization in the 1960s and a brief, ill-fated effort to promote the accordion to teen rock 'n' roll musicians; and the revival beginning in the 1980s of the accordion as a "world music instrument" and a key component for cabaret and burlesque revivals and pop groups such as alternative experimenters They Might Be Giants and polka rockers Brave Combo. Loaded with dozens of images of gorgeous instruments and enthusiastic performers and fans, Squeeze This! A Cultural History of the Accordion in America represents the accordion in a wide range of popular and traditional musical styles, revealing the richness and diversity of accordion culture in America.
