The Rose & the Briar
Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad
New York : W.W. Norton, [2005]
Format: Book
Edition: First edition.
Description: viii, 406 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Praised by Robbie Robertson of The Band as "a classic & a ticket to ride," The Rose & the Briar assembles an astonishing group of writers and artists: Paul Muldoon, Stanley Crouch, R. Crumb, Jon Langford of the Mekons, Sharyn McCrumb, Luc Sante, Joyce Carol Oates, Dave Marsh, and more than a dozen other novelists, essayists, performers, and critics; to explore the ineffable power of the American ballad. From "Barbara Allen" through "The Wreck of the Old 97" to contemporary ballads by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, The Rose & the Briar is, as Geoffrey O'Brien hailed in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, "a book full of internal echoes and provocative coincidences," featuring "historical investigation, shamanistic trance-journey, memoir, novella and cartoon," where "names and costumes change, soldiers become cowboys, demon lovers become backwoods murderer; the voices are unmistakably distinct but they share a common ground."
Contents:
"Barbara Allen" / Dave Marsh -- "The water is wide" / Ann Powers -- "Pretty Polly" / Rennie Sparks -- Music, when soft voices die / Sharyn McCrumb -- Naomie Wise, 1807 / Anna Domino -- John Brown's body / S. Vowell -- "When you go a courtin'" / R. Crumb -- Little Maggie: a mystery / Joyce Carol Oates -- We did them wrong: the ballad of Frankie and Albert / Cecil Brown -- The sad song of Delia Green and Cooney Houston / Sean Wilentz -- Destiny in my right hand: "The wreck of old 97" and "Dead man's curve" / David Thomas -- I thought I heard Buddy Bolden say / Luc Sante -- "See Willy fly by" and "The cuckoo" / Jon Langford -- Mariachi reverie / Paul Berman -- "The foggy, foggy dew" / John Rockwell -- "Come Sunday" / Stanley Crouch -- "El Paso" / James Miller -- "Trial of Mary Maguire" / Ed Ward -- Love, lore, celebrity, and dead babies: Dolly Parton's "Down from Dover" / Eric Weisbard -- "Sail away" and "Louisiana 1927" / Steve Erickson -- Dancing with Dylan / Wendy Lesser -- "Nebraska" / Howard Hampton -- "Blackwatertown" / Paul Muldoon -- Envoi / Greil Marcus.
Subjects:
Ballads, English -- United States -- History and criticism.
Death in music.
Love songs -- United States -- History and criticism.
Liberty -- Songs and music -- History and criticism.
Ballads, English -- United States -- History and criticism.
Death in music.
Love songs -- United States -- History and criticism.
Liberty -- Songs and music -- History and criticism.
ISBN:
0393059545
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
PERFORMING ARTS Music Popular Ros | Main (Downtown) | Second Level, Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes discography.
Includes discography.