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.