A Boy Named Sue: Gender And Country Music (American Made Music Series)

Rating:
Summary: Country Music Fans, Gender Matters!
Review: I understand that "A Boy Named Sue" is a famous country song. It's even mentioned in the film "Swingers." However, I thought this book would be mostly about gender deviancy or noncomformity, like in Moe Bandy's hit "Where's the Dress?" Still, this was a strong mix of gender studies and cultural studies and I was not disappointed.

This anthology has female and male authors. It analyzes femininity and masculinity in the country genre. Still, it's mostly women's studies. Most authors discuss how female country artists faced and still face double standards that their male peers never have to consider. Like strong cultural studies, this book tries to look at all aspects of art, from production, reception, visuality, and of course to album sells.

Most progressive thinkers have abandoned the idea that identity categories stand alone. The authors here do a great job in juggling multiple balls. Besides gender, class and region are brought up often, and to a small amount so is sexuality. Race is somewhat invisible here. But to the contributors' credit, they analyze the whiteness of the industry and make a point of mentioning that several country artists are of mixed Native American ancestry.

Just as academics try to discuss masculinities, rather than masculinity, this book could have had country musicS in its title, rather than country music in the singular form. The difference between female and male artists is stressed. Further, the Nashville Sound is differentiated from other forms. It's brought up that some artists styled themselves as "Western" rather than "Southern." The book ends with an analysis of a country offshoot called alt.country.

I was surprised to see that a Southern press was publishing books with Southern academics about a Southern genre that is quite comparable to what is being published on the Coasts. The last essays are easier to read than the first, but I think the chapters are set up chronologically. I think many will find the most interesting and useful chapters to be those on the icons, Patsy Cline and Elvis.

This book will reminds many of the cultural studies on rap. Talk of authenticity, developing a regional sound, sexism within the industry, and image counting as much as, if not more than, the music itself comes up often in hip-hop literature. I am sure that a student could write a solid A paper comparing this book to "Black Noise" or other scholarly work on rap.

I am indifferent to country music. Besides I live in a Blue State. Still, I enjoyed this work. The contributors should be commended.

Rating:
Summary: A fine timeline of evolutionary events and perspectives
Review: What is the underlying story behind Johnny Cash's famous "Boy Named Sue" song? A Boy Named Sue: Gender And Country Music isn't just a survey of one song; it examines the entire issues of gender in country music as a whole, providing scholarly essays contributing to the first book-length effort to examine how gender conventions have structured country music. A chronological arrangement provides a fine timeline of evolutionary events and perspectives making A Boy Named Sue a useful and recommended addition to American Popular Music History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.