1940s
1970s
20th century
A01=Jacob Smith
african americans
american culture
american home
americana
Author_Jacob Smith
Category=JBCC1
Category=KNT
Category=NHTB
childrens records
classic literature
comedy albums
cultural history
drama
entertainment industry
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
erotica
home life
home therapy
literature recordings
music recordings
nonfiction
phonograph culture
phonograph industry
phonograph sales
phonographs
popular music
postwar america
postwar entertainment
records
social cultural
spoken word
spoken word genres
spoken word lps
women
Product details
- ISBN 9780520267039
- Weight: 499g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 07 Feb 2011
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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From the 1940s to the 1970s, the phonograph industry experienced phenomenal growth, both in sales and in cultural influence. Along with hugely popular music recordings, spoken word LPs served a multitude of functions and assumed an important place in the American home. In this book, Jacob Smith surveys a diverse range of spoken word genres - including readings of classic works of literature and drama, comedy albums, children's records, home therapy kits, even erotica - to illuminate this often overlooked aspect of the postwar entertainment industry and American culture. A viable alternative to mainstream broadcasting, records gave their listeners control over what they could hear at home. Smith shows how the savvy industry used spoken word records to develop markets for children, African Americans, women, and others not well served by radio and television.
Jacob Smith is Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at Northwestern University and is the author of Vocal Tracks: Performance and Sound Media (UC Press).
