A&R Pioneers Quotes

“Substitute “Hillbilly” for “Blues” and this regionally inflected nostalgia remains much the same. Bear down on the word “real” in Paramount’s advertising copy, and it is possible to see how recorded roots music, with its claims to authenticity, could help counter a sense of social and cultural dislocation, a deep anxiety about the increasing superficiality and transitory nature of a modern America characterized by disconcerting changes.”
― Brian Ward, A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record

“A&R officials helped fashion and disseminate music that often evoked older, highly romanticized and reassuring visions of a simpler, less frenetic, and more communal past.”
― Brian Ward, A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record

“What’s more, whenever inspiration, taste, marketing, and the economy aligned, they sold enormous quantities of these musical recordings to audiences they helped create. This is their story.”
― Brian Ward, A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record