Mon 2/22 @ 7PM
While the popular music industry and the charts have long been dominated by men, Black women have been a significant force since the days of Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Memphis Minnie. Female jazz, soul & funk singers set styles from the earliest days of rock & roll. One of Elvis Presley’s first and biggest hits “Hound Dog” was originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton.
And now, with popular music and rock & roll a valid topic for academic study, new books are being written and published. In “Rewriting Rock: New Takes on Black Women in Rock & Pop History,” a talk that’s part of the Rock Hall’s Black History Month program, two authors will discuss their new books. Daphne Brooks authored Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound; Maureen Mahon wrote Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and Roll. They bring welcome attention to the struggles women faced in a field dominated by men in which their contributions were often overlooked.
To listen, go to the Rock Hall’s Facebook page or YouTube channel.
1100 Rock and Roll Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44114