Americanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock ‘n’ Roll (University of Illinois Press), by John Milward

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Americanaland by John Milward

If Americana was born as a slippery marketing handle, the first cousin to that dubious “world music” category, it has since gained firmer ground. In Americanaland, veteran music writer John Milward successfully argues that it’s a genre that draws from country but also from blues, bluegrass and folk while remaining somehow distinct from its many roots. He reminds us that rockabilly was Americana at birth in the Sun Studio, that folk and country were once inextricably intertwined and that rock and country have been in dialogue since the ‘60s.

One of Americanaland’s several strengths is to trace a musical genealogy that began with the 1927 “Bristol Sessions” and the Carter Family’s discovery by the major label that became RCA. Milward quotes J.D. Souther: “I’d been listening to the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Byrds, Poco, Dillard & Clark. Those guys had listened to Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, and those guys had listened to the Louvin Brothers and the Carter Family.”

Americanaland serves as a lucid if incomplete history of rock music. By its nature, it skews heavily toward the rural over the urban. Louis Jordan, Jimi Hendrix and Prince are namechecked in passing, doowop and Funkadelic are ignored. Punk rock is selectively analyzed for nurturing bands—such as X and The Blasters—that reinvented the roots. Don’t look for The Ramones or Talking Heads.

Milward is an astute critic. Yes, Planet Waves really was one of Bob Dylan’s weaker albums, Exile on Main Street was the Stones’ last great LP. And it’s true: smooth and overproduced as they often were, The Eagles recorded some memorable tunes.