Musings for Music Lovers

Like many nonfiction books, “Musings for Music Lovers” evolved rather than was created during some burst of genius.  It began as an article for some music friends on an Internet forum;  over time, another subject was addressed, and then another.  These were personal letters and none were published before now.  I had no idea that some day I would sort though them and select the more interesting ones to compile for a book.  I was encouraged to do this by quite a few people, otherwise, it would not have occurred to me.

I am not a musician as much as a historian; in this case the writing is about music history.  We all enjoy music, yet we too often take it for granted and give little thought to where it came from, who composed the tunes or who wrote the lyrics, and yet we will spend hours discussing how to categorize some piece of music.  This is quite a daunting task, even for the more accomplished musicologists.  To listen to music without thinking about the events that were going on around those creative people seriously hampers our understanding of their music.  And we are the poorer for it.

There are many classifications of music; two discussed here are the blues and jazz.  Where American popular (commercial) music came from is also addressed.

Because I am a historian, this book is presented in proper historical context; that is to say, it is in the context of the period being discussed.  Proper terms are used to maintain historical accuracy only.  This musical history could contain information that seems unpleasant to some casual readers.  There is no intention to offend anyone.
The articles are written in the first person to make them less pedantic.