Billig, Michael. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2001. 185
pp. $19.95 US. ISBN 0-8156-0705-9 (PB).
[1] This short book explores developments in the world of early rock
n' roll, calling attention to the significant, but frequently overlooked
contributions of Jews. As a sociologist, Michael Billig is sensitive
to the wider context of the burgeoning post-war developments in American
popular music, which means his study of the Jewish presence in this
field is a story about "culture, prejudice and identity" (1). Strange
as it sounds to modern sensitivities, such a book may not have been
well-received in the recent past. Now, however, in a cultural climate
in which "the old prejudices recede and ethnicity becomes something
that can be more easily displayed in public, it is possible to draw
attention to things that previously were only half recognized and
about which it would have been better not to comment too loudly" (14-15).
[2] Contrary to popular perception, Billig argues, Jews were not
only involved with the behind-the-scenes, business side of the developing
rock music industry. Or said another way, there is more to the story
of rock 'n' roll Jews than Brian Epstein's management of the Beatles
(17-18). True, many of those introduced by this book are lesser-known
figures (managers and impresarios, songwriters, and record producers).
But there are also examples of a more public Jewish presence. The
famous disc jockey Alan Freed, for one, helped popularize rock n'
roll, and of course no study on the topic of Jews in music would be
complete without biographical sketches of such luminaries as Bob Dylan,
Paul Simon, Lou Reed, and Leonard Cohen. (The author apologizes early-on
for omissions, making it clear there is no attempt to provide an encyclopedic
listing of Jews involved with the rock music industry.)
[3] Why did Jews find success in the world of rock n' roll? Billig
often returns to this question, observing, for one thing, that since
Jews were often excluded from traditional professions, they were "all
the more ready to plunge into the new opportunities that the establishment
considered beneath their [sic] dignity," like the entertainment
industry (21; cf. 32). Further, rock's (black) blues roots were viewed
with suspicion by (white) mainstream music companies, which used the
term "race music." Jews were ideally suited to orchestrate the fusion
of Southern white country music and Southern black blues that became
rock. Because they did not share the suspicions that ran both ways
between these groups, Jews, "who were distancing themselves from their
own cultural heritage" in an effort to fit into American society,
"could play with the musical heritages of gospel, blues and country
music, moving easily from one to another" (14). And so it was that
many of the companies willing to record early black rhythm and blues
music ("race labels") were owned by Jews (e.g., Chess Records, who
recorded, among others, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters).
For their part, Jewish songwriters had so effectively adapted to the
music industry that their songs were occasionally assumed to be the
work of African American artists (e.g., the histories often overlook
the fact that Elvis' hit "Hound Dog" was written by Jews, not African
Americans [see 42-47]; the composers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
are thoroughly introduced [47-60]).
[4] This is a fine book. The author guides readers behind the familiar
heroes of rock n' roll to trailblazers who helped make their success
possible in the first place. Among conclusions reached, Billig finds
that the contribution of American Jews "has been out of all proportion
to the numbers of Jews in the population at large" (157). What is
more remarkable is the extent to which this story has been ignored.
Michael J. Gilmour
Associate Professor of New Testament, Providence College
Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada
michael.gilmour@prov.ca
