MODERNISM, REGIONALISM, AND AMERICAN POPULAR SONG Edward P. Comentale Sweet Air Comentale_Text.indd 1 2/19/13 4:11 PM Music in AMericAn Life A list of books in the series appears at the end of this book. Comentale_Text.indd 2 2/19/13 4:11 PM Sweet Air Modernism, Regionalism, and American Popular Song edwArd P. coMentALe University of Illinois Press urbAnA, chicAgo, And sPringfieLd Comentale_Text.indd 3 2/19/13 4:11 PM © 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 c p 5 4 3 2 1 ∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Comentale, Edward P. Sweet air : modernism, regionalism, and American popular song / Edward P. Comentale. pages cm.—(Music in American life) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-252-07892-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-252-03739-9 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Popular music—United States—History and criticism. 2. Popular music—Social aspects—United States—History. I. Title. ML3477.c66 2013 782.421640973—dc23 2012042309 Comentale_Text.indd 4 2/19/13 4:11 PM To Margaret and Fern, darlings both Comentale_Text.indd 5 2/19/13 4:11 PM Comentale_Text.indd 6 2/19/13 4:11 PM Contents List of iLLustrAtions ix AcknowLedgMents xi introduction From a Basement on Long Island to a Mansion on the Hill 1 chAPter one Lord, It Just Won’t Stop! Work and Blues in the Industrial Delta 29 chAPter two Thought I Had Your Heart Forever: Death, Detachment, and the Modernity of Early Country Music 72 chAPter three A Rambling Funny Streak: Woody Guthrie, Revolutionary Folk Song, and the Migrant Art of the Refrain 117 chAPter four Four Elvises: On the Dada Possibilities of Midcentury Rock and Roll and Modern Fan Culture 160 chAPter five ( ) 205 notes 245 index 265 Comentale_Text.indd 7 2/19/13 4:11 PM Comentale_Text.indd 8 2/19/13 4:11 PM Illustrations 1. Paramount “race” record advertisement featuring the Masked Marvel. Chicago Defender, September 1929. 48 2. The milkman tunes in at milking time, circa 1923. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. 107 3 Fountain, Marcel Duchamp, 1917. (ARS) 167 4. Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1957. (MPTVIMAGES.COM) 167 5. With Hidden Noise, Marcel Duchamp, 1916. (ARS) 172 6. The Tour of the Drive, Jacques Lacan, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, originally published in French by Éditions du Seuil and courtesy of Jacques-Alain Miller. 178 7. Evelyn Fraser in Movie Teen Illustrated, 1961. 195 8. Elvis Presley in concert, 1956. Courtesy of Photo Trends / Screen Gems. 198 9. Elvis Presley in concert, 1956. Courtesy of Photo Trends / Screen Gems. 198 10. Elvis reclining against a bed. Courtesy of Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images. 199 11. Buddy Holly and the Crickets Souvenir Programme, 1958. 207 12. Marilyn Diptych, Andy Warhol, 1962. (ARS) 237 13. Buddy Holly plane wreck, February 3, 1959. Courtesy of Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images. 243 Comentale_Text.indd 9 2/19/13 4:11 PM