Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound

by Robert Cantwell

Bluegrass Breakdown  is an expansive foray into the makings of bluegrass. More than any other book of its kind, it gets to the roots of a uniquely American music that is deeply linked to working-class ideals and romanticism.  Robert Cantwell engages the historical background, commercial origins, internal workings, and cultural and social significance of popular, old-time music to provide a unique musicological and sociological perspective. Well-versed in the history of the tradition and equally as interested in those who listen to the music as in those who create it, Cantwell links bluegrass to its hillbilly roots in Appalachia and shows how the music was transformed by African American folk traditions, the influence of jazz, ragtime, blues, and country music, and the growth of radio and recording technology.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1984

About the author

Robert Emmett Cantwell, American author and critic.

Reviews

[Zach Fulbright · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining examination of bluegrass music and culture for the non-scholar. If you are interested in bluegrass music and culture of music making in the Appalachian South, this book is worth picking up.

If you are an academic or scholar in music studies... remember this book is from the perspective of a folklorist, more interested in music as culture than an actual analysis of music.

At any rate, this book is highly entertaining for what it is, and certainly worth looking at.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how a deep, intelligent take on something can shed light in other places.
Cantwell's Bluegrass Breakdown is a fascinating look at Bill Monroe and how he created not only "the old Southern sound", a.k.a. bluegrass, but also the very idea of "the old Southern sound." As such it is not only about music, but also about the influence of history and individuals upon the creation of culture, the business of music, and by extension so many other relevant topics including race and class.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in any type of popular music, but it's especially relevant to country music.
I first read this book in the 1990s, but when I picked it up recently I was blown away all over again.

[University of Chicago Magazine]

Robert Cantwell, AM'67
Author

From our pages (Spring/86): "This book won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor award for 1985."

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though a dated book, it provides a good history of bluegrass music.