Music and the Road : Essays on the Interplay of Music and the Popular Culture of the American Road

Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul Simon-these familiar figures have written road music for half a century and continue to remain highly-regarded artists. But there is so much more to say about road music. This book fills a glaring hole in scholarship about the road and music. In a collection of 13 essays, Music and the Road explores the origins of road music in the blues, country-western, and rock 'n' roll; the themes of adventure, freedom, mobility, camaraderie, and love, and much more in this music; the mystique and reality of touring as an important part of getting away from home, creating community among performers, and building audiences across the country from the 1930s to the present; and the contribution of music to popular road films such as Bonnie and Clyde , Easy Rider , Thelma and Louise , and O n the Road . Chapter 1. Introduction / Gordon E. Slethaug -- Chapter 2. The semiotics of the road / Gordon E. Slethaug -- Chapter 3. Easy riders and hard roads in the early recorded blues / Steven Knepper and James Tuten -- Chapter 4. Easy street on mud tires: The "heartland" and the frontier of the road in country music / Virginia Shay -- Chapter 5. The tour bus and the road / Anaia Shaw -- Chapter 6. Band on the ruins: Meditations on music and motion / Warren Leming -- Chapter 7. "All that road going": Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, and The Beach Boys'Smile / Dale Carter -- Chapter 8. "Happiness is the road": Bob Dylan / Susan Kuyper -- Chapter 9. "Apology and forgiveness got no place here at all": On the road to Washington D.C. with Bruce Springsteen / Chad Wriglesworth -- Chapter 10. "But people are strangers": Lyric narratives and ethics on Paul Simon's roads / Alexander Hollenberg -- Chapter 11. Gender is over: Transgender narrative homecomings, punk music, and the road / Evelyn Deshane --Chapter 12. Knowing the score: Road movie soundtracks and cinematic verities / Kurt Jacobsen -- Chapter 13. Conclusion: "The miracle of serendipity" / Gordon E. Slethaug -- Works cited -- Index Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul Simon-these familiar figures have written road music for half a century and continue to remain highly-regarded artists. But there is so much more to say about road music. This book fills a glaring hole in scholarship about the road and music. In a collection of 13 essays, Music and the Road explores the origins of road music in the blues, country-western, and rock 'n' roll; the themes of adventure, freedom, mobility, camaraderie, and love, and much more; the contribution of music to popular road films such as Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider, Thelma and Louise, and On the Road; and the mystique and reality of touring as an important part of getting away from home, creating community among performers, and building audiences across the country from the '30s to the present. Book jacket Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. The semiotics of the road 3. Easy riders and hard roads in the early recorded blues 4. Easy street on mud tires: The “heartland” and the frontier of the road in country music 5. The tour bus and the road 6. Band on the ruins: Meditations on music and motion 7. “All that road going”: Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, and The Beach Boys’ Smile 8. “Happiness is the road”: Bob Dylan 9. “Apology and forgiveness got no place here at all”: On the road to Washington D.C. with Bruce Springsteen 10. “But people are strangers”: Lyric narratives and ethics on Paul Simon’s roads 11. Gender is over: Transgender narrative homecomings, punk music, and the road 12. Knowing the score: Road movie soundtracks and cinematic verities 13. Conclusion: “The miracle of serendipity” Works cited Index