The phrase "popular music revolution" may instantly bring to mind such twentieth-century musical movements as jazz and rock 'n' roll. In Sounds of the Metropolis, however, Derek Scott argues that the first popular music revolution actually occurred in the nineteenth century, illustrating how a distinct group of popular styles first began to assert their independence and values. He explains the popular music revolution as driven by social changes and the incorporation of music into a system of capitalist enterprise, which ultimately resulted in a polarization between musical entertainment (or "commercial" music) and "serious" art. He focuses on the key genres and styles that precipitated musical change at that time, and that continued to have an impact upon popular music in the next century. By the end of the nineteenth century, popular music could no longer be viewed as watered down or more easily assimilated art music; it had its own characteristic techniques, forms, and devices. As Scott shows, "popular" refers here, for the first time, not only to the music's reception, but also to the presence of these specific features of style. The shift in meaning of "popular" provided critics with tools to condemn music that bore the signs of the popular-which they regarded as fashionable and facile, rather than progressive and serious. A fresh and persuasive consideration of the genesis of popular music on its own terms, Sounds of the Metropolis breaks new ground in the study of music, cultural sociology, and history.

“An illustrated history of good old-fashioned entertainment from names like Tessie O’Shea, George Formby, and the early days of Bruce Forsyth.” —Yours As one of the richest sources of diversion for the people of Britain between the end of the First World War and the 1960s, the variety theater emerged from the embers of music hall, a vulgar and rambunctious entertainment that had held the working classes in thrall since the 1840s. Music hall bosses decided they would do better business if a man going to theaters on his own could take his wife and children with him, knowing they would see or hear nothing that would scandalize them. So variety, a gentler, less red-blooded entertainment was gradually established. At the top of the profession were Gracie Fields, a peerless singer and comedienne, and Max Miller, a comic who was renowned for being risqué, but who, in fact, never cracked a dirty joke. They were supported by acts that matched the word variety: ventriloquists, drag artists, animal acts, acrobats, jugglers, magicians and many more. But the variety theater was constantly under threat, first from revue, then radio, the cinema, girlie shows, the birth of rock ’n’ roll and finally television. By the end of the 1950s, the variety business seemed to have given up, but the recent and extraordinary popularity of talent shows on television has proved the public appetite is still there. Variety could be about to start all over again. “A priceless record of the people who entertained several generations between the wars and, for a brief time, after WWII . . . thoroughly entertaining.” —Books Monthly

Part of the ancient Appalachians and just a few miles up the road from a massive metropolitan area, the Catskills have been home to the variety of people who have made the history of the New World. The songs collected here reflect this history. They are songs of rafting and lumbering, war and railroads, prison and hard times, and nonsense and drinking. And they are songs of love—tragic love, thwarted love, foolish love—and sometimes even true love. Collecting the songs began in 1941 when educator Norman Studer and composer Herbert Haufrecht led a group of young people on folklore trips through the mountains. The distinguished musician Norman Cazden continued the collection, adding his research and scholarship. The book is the cumulative work of these three colleagues. Useful as an annotated archive of regional lore, Folk Songs of the Catskills traces roots to early Scottish, Irish, Welsh, English, and American sources. Both texts and musical structure are compared to other traditional songs. Extended search for tune relatives is directed towards tracing the known use of each tune strain, whether in variants with similar texts or quite different texts. Some of the Catskill versions of tunes have not been found elsewhere, and others are rarely encountered. Whether related to others or unique to the Catskills, the commentary on the songs in this collection contributes to a more general theory of the nature of traditional tunes and their transformation. The late composer/musicologist and university professor, Norman Cazden, worked meticulously over a period of many years to trace traditional melodies and texts. Both Cazden and fellow composer Herbert Haufrecht were music directors of Camp Woodland, a unique summer school in the Catskill Mountains which acquainted students with the folklore of this musically rich region. The late Norman Studer, one of the founders and for many years the director of Camp Woodland, was also an ardent folklorist who spent much of his life in the hills and hollows of the Catskills looking for folksingers and yarnspinners. Together, these devoted scholars have created a work that is as enjoyable as it is rare.

Notes and Sources to Folk Songs of the Catskills, also published by the State University of New York Press, is the companion volume to Folk Songs of the Catskills. It contains extensive reference notes that exemplify and support detailed citations in the commentary preceding each song. The book also includes a comprehensive list of sources, including books, broadsides or pocket songsters, disc recordings, music publications, periodicals, tape archives, and other miscellaneous material, as well as information on variants, adaptations, comments or references, texts, and tunes. These notes are designed to provide succinct reference information.

Thomas Balinger Autoharp Songbook 60 All Time Favorites 60 popular songs arranged for easy autoharp. Aimed at the beginning player each song has chord symbols plus strumming tablature to get you playing as fast as possible. There are no advanced melody arrangements or complicated fingerpicking techniques to master, just easy strumming patterns to help you develop your feel for the instrument. All songs can be played on 15 button models as well as 21 button models. Complete with sections on tuning your autoharp, playing position, and basic playing technique. Chord diagrams for guitar, ukulele, mandolin and dulcimer included so you can have your friends join in and double the fun! Songs: 1. A beautiful life 2. Acres of clams 3. All the good times are past and gone 4. Amazing grace 5. Auld lang syne 6. Aura Lee 7. Banks of Sacramento 8. Banks of the Ohio 9. Barbara Allen 10. Beautiful brown eyes 11. Bound for the Rio Grande 12. Buffalo gals 13. Bury me beneath the willow 14. Careless love 15. Carry me back to old Virginny 16. Cindy 17. Clementine 18. Colorado trail 19. Cotton-eyed Joe 20. Don't this road look rough and rocky 21. Down by the riverside 22. Down in the valley 23. Foggy mountain top 24. Give me that old time religion 25. Go, tell it on the mountain 26. Greensleeves 27. Hard times come again no more 28. He's got the whole world in his hands 29. Home on the range 30. Home! Sweet home 31. House of the Rising Sun 32. Jesse James 33. Joshua fit the battle of Jericho 34. Kum ba yah 35. Morning has broken 36. My Bonnie lies over the ocean 37. My home's across the smoky mountains 38. Oh! Susanna 39. Old folks at home 40. Old MacDonald 41. On top of Old Smokey 42. Over the river and through the woods 43. Red river valley 44. Roll in my sweet baby's arms 45. Scarborough fair 46. She'll be coming round the mountain 47. Shortnin' bread 48. Swing low, sweet chariot 49. The last rose of summer 50. The streets of Laredo 51. The Wabash Cannon Ball 52. The wild rover 53. The yellow rose of Texas 54. Tom Dooley 55. Way down the old plank road 56. We wish you a Merry Christmas 57. When the saints go marchin' in 58. Wildwood flower 59. Will the circle be unbroken 60. Yankee Doodle