1930s
1960s
1970s
20th century
A01=Peter La Chapelle
america
american music
Author_Peter La Chapelle
Category=AVLP
Category=JBCC1
country music
country music scene
cultural history
cultural politics
depression era
dust bowl migration
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_music
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
great depression
hillbilly
identity
los angeles
mass media
mass migration
merle haggard
migrant musicians
migration
music and culture
music historians
music history
new deal
oklahoma
political history
regional history
southern california
united states
us history
woody guthrie
Product details
- ISBN 9780520248892
- Weight: 499g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 03 Apr 2007
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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"Proud to Be an Okie" brings to life the influential country music scene that flourished in and around Los Angeles from the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s to the early 1970s. The first work to fully illuminate the political and cultural aspects of this intriguing story, the book takes us from Woody Guthrie's radical hillbilly show on Depression-era radio to Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" in the late 1960s. It explores how these migrant musicians and their audiences came to gain a sense of identity through music and mass media, to embrace the New Deal, and to celebrate African American and Mexican American musical influences before turning toward a more conservative outlook. What emerges is a clear picture of how important Southern California was to country music and how country music helped shape the politics and culture of Southern California and of the nation.
Peter La Chapelle is Assistant Professor of History at Nevada State College in Henderson, Nevada.
