In the decades following World War II, polka briefly crossed into the musical mainstream and polka records entered the era’s eclectic hit parade. That ended, but as Rick March reminds us in Polka Heartland: Why the Midwest Loves to Polka (Wisconsin Historical Society Press), the concertinas keep playing. Polka began in the 19th century as dance music, sweeping Europe in the 1840s and hitting New York by 1844, where it was embraced across social divides. Polka had no ethnic associations until late in the century, when immigrants from Central Europe arrived who clung to this lively music after it had faded from fashion in America.
By the 1920s, polka was entrenched in Wisconsin ethnic communities with dances throughout the week and bands that drew from Bohemian and Slovenian influences as well as German and Polish sources. Remnants of Milwaukee’s reputation as a polka town remain; several pages are devoted to Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall. March has worked all ends of polka as a scholar, impresario DJ and musician. Polka Heartland is profusely illustrated with archival images as well as contemporary photographs by Milwaukee’s Dick Blau.
Blues Unlimited: Essential Interviews from the Original Blues Magazine (University of Illinois Press), edited by Bill Greensmith, Mike Rowe and Mark Camarigg
In the 1960s blues fandom came into its own outside African American communities, and the magazine Blues Unlimited was at the forefront. Blues Unlimited wasn’t based in New York or Chicago but in the sleepy English town of Bexhill-on-Sea; its editors reached out to blues artists such as James Cotton, Johnny Otis and Albert Collins. Some of the subjects were happy to tell tall tales, but most had fascinating insights into the importance of everything from jukeboxes to church services in the evolution of the blues.
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Early Blues: The First Stars of Blues Guitar (University of Minnesota Press), by Jas Obrecht
Wisconsin turns up often in Early Blues, especially Grafton, the unlikely location of the Paramount Records studio. Several subjects of Jas Obrecht’s study of 1920s blues guitarists—including Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson—recorded for Paramount before it folded in 1932. Blake even spent the last years of his life in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville. Obrecht condenses a great deal of information and recent research into a compact, readable account that balances biography with discography.
Los Lobos: Dream in Blue (University of Texas Press), by Chris Morris
Los Lobos were one of the most remarkable rock bands of any era. Veteran music critic Chris Morris follows them from their origins in East Los Angeles. Born in the Chicano Pride movement and hardened by exposure to the city’s punk scene, they were open to all streams that flowed into rock music and—in the ’90s—“chopping and channeling” their music with “a fresh experimental vigor.” Morris delves into the world of Los Lobos’ influences and “world” is not too large a metaphor. He quotes Tom Waits: “They have so much range. You can trace their influences like the rings of a tree.”
The Man That Got Away: The Life and Songs of Harold Arlen (University of Illinois Press), by Walter Rimler
Harold Arlen emerged as a songwriter just as Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern had set new terms for popular music. George Gershwin called Arlen “the best of us.” The writer of the melancholy yet never despondent “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Stormy Weather” worked analytically and prayerfully, evoking the unconscious as he sat before the piano, according to biographer Walter Rimler. Although working in the marketplace of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, Arlen never doubted that his songs were art.
Michael Jackson FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the King of Pop (Backbeat Books), by Kit O’Toole
With Thriller, Michael Jackson earned the title “King of Pop” by dominating several radio formats simultaneously. Kit O’Toole writes about him as a fan: For her, MJ’s 1983 appearance on “Motown 25” was like The Beatles on Ed Sullivan to an earlier generation. FAQ clears up some old questions (no, Diana Ross did not discover The Jackson 5), traces Jackson’s ascent and eventual wobble as an artist and goes deep into minutiae.
Way Down in Louisiana: Clifton Chenier, Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Music (University of Louisiana Press), by Todd Mouton
Jazz was born in New Orleans, but the outback of that singular patch of America called Louisiana was the birthplace of a French-Indian country music called Cajun and the R&B-influenced sound of zydeco. Todd Mouton wades into those swamps, seeking out the generation of Cajun and zydeco musicians who emerged since the 1980s. Way Down in Louisiana includes engaging interviews with Buckwheat Zydeco, BeauSoleil and of course the King of Zydeco and putative father of the genre, Clifton Chenier.
