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http://accordions.com/news.aspx?d=02-Mar-2012&lang=en&s=5344
http://accordions.com/news.aspx?d=02-Mar-2012&lang=en&s=5344
02-Mar-2012
New Book: ‘Squeeze This!: A Cultural History of the Accordion in America’ – USAby Rob Howard |
 ‘Squeeze This!: A Cultural History of the Accordion in America’, by ethno musicologist and accordion enthusiast Marion Jacobson, traces the evolution of the accordion in the USA, and its cultural significance over the course of the 20th Century. From the introduction of elaborately decorated European models imported onto the American vaudeville stage and the instrument's celebration by ethnic musical communities and mainstream audiences alike, to the accordion-infused pop parodies by ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Jacobson considers the accordion's contradictory status as both an ‘outsider’ instrument and as a major force in popular music in the 20Th Century.‘Squeeze This!’ is the first book-length study of the accordion as a uniquely American musical and cultural phenomenon. The book concentrates on six key moments of transition: the Americanization of the piano accordion, originally produced and marketed by sales-savvy Italian immigrants; the transformation of the accordion in the 1920s from an exotic, expensive vaudeville instrument to a mass-marketable product; the emergence of the accordion craze in the 1930s and 1940s, when a highly organized "accordion industrial complex" cultivated a white, middle-class market; the peak of its popularity in the 1950s, exemplified by Lawrence Welk and Dick Contino; the instrument's marginalization in the 1960s and a brief, ill-fated effort to promote the accordion to teen rock 'n' roll musicians; and the revival beginning in the 1980s of the accordion as a ‘world music’ instrument and a key component for cabaret and burlesque revivals and pop groups such as alternative experimenters ‘They Might Be Giants’ and polka rockers ‘Brave Combo’. Loaded with dozens of images of gorgeous instruments and enthusiastic performers and fans, ‘Squeeze This! A Cultural History of the Accordion in America’ represents the accordion in a wide range of popular and traditional musical styles, revealing the richness and diversity of accordion culture in America. The book is available via Amazon. |