Please note that you also need to listen to the pieces that accompany the assigned reading in the text. Titles of supplemental required listening are included with the assignments below.
[SW] = 
Starr, Larry, and Christopher Waterman. American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780199859115.
| SES # | TOPICS | READING AND LISTENING ASSIGNMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction and Themes of American Popular Music |
Reading[SW] pp. 1–44. ListeningRodríguez, Gerardo Matos. "La Cumparsita."
Mississippi John Hurt. "Stagger Lee." 1928 / 1965
The Grateful Dead. "Stagger Lee." From: |
| 2–3 | Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Popular Styles |
Reading[SW] pp. 45–72. ListeningJoplin, Scott. "Maple Leaf Rag." From: Harris, Charles K. "After the Ball." From: |
| 4–5 | Dance Music and Tin Pan Alley |
Reading[SW] pp. 73–124. ListeningPorter, Cole. "Too Darn Hot." From: Gershwin, George. "I Got Rhythm." From: Whiteman, Paul. "Whispering." From: Berlin, Irving. "How Deep is the Ocean." From: |
| 6–7 | 1920s & 1930s |
Reading[SW] pp. 125–54. ListeningThe Seniorlites. "Run Mary Run / You Got a Right to the Tree of Life." From: Carter, Maybelle. "Foggy Mountain Top." From: Johnson, Robert. "Crossroads." From: Rodgers, Jimmie. "Waiting for a Train." From: ———. "Dreaming with Tears in My Eyes." From: Patton, Charley. "Tom Rushen Blues." From: Golden Gate Quartet. "The Sun Didn't Shine." From: |
| 8–9 | The Swing Era |
Reading[SW] pp. 155–98. ListeningRoy Acuff & His Crazy Tennesseans. "Great Speckled Bird." From: Sons of the Pioneers. "Cool Water." From: Count Basie. "One O'Clock Jump." From: Machito. "Nague." From: Additional ReadingHarker, Brian. "Louis Armstrong, Eccentric Dance, and the Evolution of Jazz on the Eve of Swing." Journal of the American Musicological Society 61, no. 1 (2008): 67–121. |
| 10 | The Post-War Era, 1946–1954 |
Reading[SW] pp. 199–239. ListeningThe Clarence Ashley Group. "Amazing Grace." From: Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. "The Brakeman's Blues." From: Williams, Hank. "Honky Tonk Blues." From: ———. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. From: ———. "Hey, Good Lookin." From: Sinatra, Frank. "My Funny Valentine." From: ———. "Nice 'N' Easy" From: Wells, Kitty. "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." From: Thompson, Hank. "The Wild Side of Life." From: Brown, Charles. "Black Night." From: Clooney, Rosemary. "Mambo Italiano." From: Cole, Nat King. "Nature Boy." From: |
| 11 | Rock 'n' Roll |
Reading[SW] pp. 240–83. ListeningBo Diddley. "Bo Diddley." From: Big Mama Thornton. "Hound Dog." From: Presley, Elvis. "Hound Dog." From: |
| 12 | Exam 1 | |
| 13–14 | British Invasion |
Reading[SW] pp. 284–321. ListeningThe Crystals. "Uptown." From: The Ronnettes. "Be My Baby." From: The Beatles. "Eleanor Rigby." From: ———. "Yesterday." From: ———. "Please Please Me." From: ———. "A Hard Day's Night." From: |
| 15–16 | American Rock in the 1960s |
Reading[SW] pp. 322–67. ListeningThe Beatles. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." From: ———. "With a Little Help from My Friends." From: ———. "Helter Skelter." From: Charles, Ray. "I Got a Woman." From: Big Brother & The Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin. "Piece of My Heart." From: Dylan, Bob. "All Along the Watchtower." From: ———. "Blowin' in the Wind." From: The Jimi Hendrix Experience. "All Along the Watchtower." From: Cooke, Sam. "You Send Me." From: Love and Let Love. Jazz2jazz, 2012. Track 2. [Listen on YouTube] ———. "A Change is Gonna Come." From: Cream. "Crossroads." From: Additional Reading Zak, Albin J., III. "Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix: Juxtaposition and Transformation "All along the Watchtower"." Journal of the American Musicological Society 57, no. 3 (2004): 599–644. |
| 17 | That 70s Music |
Reading[SW] pp. 368–407. ListeningThe Allman Brothers Band. "Whipping Post." From: The Jackson 5. "Rockin' Robin." From: John, Elton. "Crocodile Rock." From: Wonder, Stevie. "Superstition." From: Led Zeppelin. "Stairway to Heaven." From: The Eagles. "Hotel California." From: Denver, John. "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." From: King, Carole. "It's Too Late." From: Summer, Donna. "Love to Love You Baby." From: Chic. "Good Times." From: White, Barry. "Love Theme." From: |
| 18 | Lecture / demo on DJing | |
| 19 | Outside the Mainstream |
Reading[SW] pp. 408–49. ListeningSly And the Family Stone. "Dance to the Music." From: Funkadelic. "One Nation Under a Groove." From: Van Zandt, Townes. "Poncho and Lefty." From: Talking Heads. "Psycho Killer." From: |
| 20 | The 1980s Into the 90s... |
Reading[SW] pp. 450–90. ListeningJackson, Michael. "Thriller." From: ———. "Billy Jean." From: Queen Latifah. "U.N.I.T.Y." From: Madonna. "Like a Virgin." From: Gabriel, Peter. "Sledgehammer." From: Eurythmics. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." From: Van Halen. "Jump." From: Turner, Tina. "What's Love Got to Do With It?" From: Prince. "When Doves Cry." From: Rogers, Kenny. "Lady." From: |
| 21 | ...And Beyond |
Reading[SW] pp. 491–565. ListeningDead Kennedys. "Holiday in Cambodia." From: Snoop Doggy Dogg. "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" From: k. d. lang and the Reclines. "Nowhere to Stand." From: Radiohead. "Bodysnatchers." From: Public Enemy. "Night of the Living Baseheads." From: Hill, Lauryn. "Doo Wop (That Thing)." From: Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." From: |
| 22 | Exam 2 | |
| 23–26 | Final Project Presentations | |