Tell Tchaikovsky the News

by Michael James Roberts

For two decades after rock music emerged in the 1940s, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), the oldest and largest labor union representing professional musicians in the United States and Canada, refused to recognize rock 'n' roll as legitimate music or its performers as skilled musicians. The AFM never actively organized rock 'n' roll musicians, although recruiting them would have been in the union's economic interest.

277 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2014

About the author

Michael James Roberts is Associate Professor of Sociology at San Diego State University.