songwriting — Bunk History

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Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs & Hidden Histories

Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs & Hidden Histories

From the beginning of the recording industry, many voices have been suppressed and significant cultural history has been lost to prudery and censorship.

by Steve Provizer via Syncopated Times on April 1, 2024

Michael Knott playing guitar

Michael Knott, Who Changed The Course of Christian Rock, Dies at 61

An entire industry wouldn't exist without him, yet few know his name. In his songs, Knott challenged the faithful to examine their faults and hypocrisies.

by Lars Gotrich via NPR on March 14, 2024

Vinyl disc of "Love, Love, Love" by Ted Jarrett

The Black Songwriter Who Took Nashville by Storm

Before Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” won song of the year at the CMAs, hit maker Ted Jarrett’s music topped the country charts.

by Robert M. Marovich via Zócalo Public Square on January 31, 2024

Miles Davis.

Not Not Jazz

When Miles Davis went electric in the late 1960s, he overhauled his thinking about songs, genres, and what it meant to lead a band.

by Ben Ratliff via New York Review of Books on January 13, 2024

A series of headshots of the members of R.E.M..

Was It Cooler Back Then?

A search for the memory of R.E.M. in Athens, Georgia.

by Benjamin Hedin via Oxford American on December 5, 2023

Lou Reed in front of a photography setup.

The Canonization of Lou Reed

In a new biography, the Velvet Underground front man embodies a New York that exists only in memory.

by Jeremy Lybarger via The New Republic on October 17, 2023

Lou Reed, January 1, 1970.

Lou Reed Didn't Want to Be King

Will Hermes's new biography, "Lou Reed: The King of New York," tries—and fails—to pin the rocker down.

by Hannah Gold via The Yale Review on October 16, 2023

Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen .

How the American Suburbs Created Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel

The musical culture of the New York metropolitan area, combined with themes of suburban life, suffuse the legends' music.

by Jim Cullen via Made By History on October 13, 2023

Lou Reed with sunglasses on. A glare reflects off of the sunglasses.

The Least-Known Rock God

A new biography of the Velvet Underground founder, Lou Reed, considers the stark duality of the man and his music.

by Will Hermes via The Atlantic on October 8, 2023

Chuck Berry performing with a guitar.

The Transgressor

RJ Smith’s biography of Chuck Berry examines his subject’s instinct for crossing the line musically, racially, and morally.

by RJ Smith via New York Review of Books on September 28, 2023

Album cover for “Tim,” the "Let It Bleed" edition, by The Replacements.

The Replacements Are Still a Puzzle

The reissue of “Tim” shows both the prescience and the unrealized promise of the beloved band.

by Elizabeth Nelson via The New Yorker on September 21, 2023

An illustration of Lucinda Williams in a storm with debris in the air behind her.

Lucinda Williams and the Idea of Louisiana

An exploration of the family stories, Southern territory, and distortions of memory that Lucinda Williams' songwriting evokes.

by Wyatt Williams via The Bitter Southerner on September 5, 2023

American blues singer and guitarist Leadbelly performs for a room full of people, 1940.

Is the History of American Art a History of Failure?

Sara Marcus’s recent book argues that from the Reconstruction to the AIDS era, a distinct aesthetic formed around defeat in the realm of politics.

by Lynne Feeley via The Nation on July 31, 2023

Henderson Thigpen, Deanie Parker, Bobby Manuel, and Eddie Floyd, the songwriters of Stax.

The Secret Sound of Stax

The rediscovery of demos performed by the songwriters of the legendary Memphis recording studio reveals a hidden history of soul.

by Burkhard Bilger via The New Yorker on May 29, 2023

Little Richard holding his arms out at a performance.

What Little Richard Deserved

The new documentary “I Am Everything” explores the gulf between what Richard accomplished and what he got for it.

by Hanif Abdurraqib via The New Yorker on April 26, 2023

A techno DJ.

The Battle Over Techno’s Origins

A museum dedicated to techno music has opened in Frankfurt, Germany, and many genre pioneers feel that Black and queer artists in Detroit have been overlooked.

by T. M. Brown via The New Yorker on April 14, 2023

A Lost Operatic Masterpiece Written By White Men For An All-Black Cast Was Found And Restored

Can it be produced without controversy?

by Fredric Dannen via Billboard on March 27, 2023

Early phonograph.

How the Phonograph Created the 3-Minute Pop Song

And how streaming is changing it again.

by Clive Thompson via Medium on February 25, 2023

Scrapbook style image of Bruce Springsteen, washed in red tones, playing guitar in front of a black-and-white background of an empty landscape

Forty Years of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’

Decades after its release, the haunted highways and haunted characters of the Boss’s largely acoustic masterpiece still haunt the American psyche.

by Elizabeth Nelson via The Ringer on December 14, 2022

Four women looking away from the camera and smiling.

Fairytale

The Pointer Sisters, the Great Migration, and the soul of country.

by Carina del Valle Schorske via Oxford American on December 13, 2022

A portrait of Joe Hill.

Joe Hill Was Killed for Singing Labor’s Song

The labor troubadour Joe Hill was executed by a Utah firing squad for a crime he almost certainly didn’t commit.

by Cal Winslow via Jacobin on November 19, 2022

1901 photograph of Frederick T. Cummins and three Native American men at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. The men’s names, as given by the inscription, are: White Hawk, Left Hand Bear, and Chief Black Heart

Playing Indian: Cummins’ Indian Congress at Coney Island

The Coney Island “Congress,” supposedly captured here in audio, was a conglomeration of counterfeits.

by Kevin Dann via The Public Domain Review on November 2, 2022

Black and white photograph of Loretta Lynn holding a microphone

Personifying a Country Ideal, Loretta Lynn Tackled Sexism Through a Complicated Lens

The singer wasn't a feminist torchbearer, but her music amplified women's issues.

by Amanda Marie Martinez via NPR on October 9, 2022

Photo of Ella May Wiggins' five children.

The 1929 Loray Mill Strike Was a Landmark Working-Class Struggle in the US South

Murdered during the 1929 Loray Mill strike, Ella May Wiggins became a working-class martyr—and a symbol of labor’s fight to democratize the anti-union South.

by Karen Sieber via Jacobin on September 14, 2022

The four members of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

How CCR, “The Boy Scouts of Rock and Roll,” Took California and the Country by Storm

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s unique blend of traditional and progressive sensibilities.

by John Lingan via Literary Hub on August 9, 2022

A 1912 painting by Edward Percy Moran shows Francis Scott Key pointing to the American flag at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

The National Anthem Was a 19th-Century Meme

Like many patriotic songs of its time, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ was created by fitting a popular tune with topical new lyrics.

by Mark Clague via The Wall Street Journal on June 11, 2022

Biggie Smalls posing for the camera, with three friends looking on from behind.

Behind the Scenes of Ready to Die

An intimate look at the creation of an iconic album.

by Justin Tinsley via Literary Hub on May 20, 2022

Crowd at Kentucky Derby

The Complicated Story Behind The Kentucky Derby’s Opening Song

Emily Bingham’s new book explores the roots of the Kentucky Derby’s anthem. It may not be pretty, but it’s important to know.

by Rebecca Gayle Howell via Washington Post on May 3, 2022

Various photos of Dylan.

One Fan’s Search for Seeds of Greatness in Bob Dylan’s Hometown

The iconic songwriter has transcended time and place for 60 years. What should that mean for the rest of us?

by T. M. Shine via Washington Post Magazine on April 18, 2022

Nimrod and His Companions Venerating Fire, by Rudolf von Ems, c. 1400.

Enjoy My Flames

On heavy metal’s fascination with Roman emperors.

by Jeremy Swist via Lapham’s Quarterly on March 23, 2022

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