This book is the first of three volumes which, individually and no doubt collectively in the future, fulfil a vital role in bringing together a range of sources to further the understanding of the history of live music in Britain and providing provocation for further work in this country and beyond.
The study of live music has proliferated in recent years as a corrective to the dominance of recorded music which has conventionally provided traction for writing the histories of popular genres. Importantly, this book does not ignore recordings, and also, productively in my view, lacks an imperative to argue for the primacy of the ‘live’ or to mourn its supposed (terminal?) decline in the wake of the digital revolution. Instead, the authors seek to develop ‘a proper understanding of the live music business [which] is necessary for a proper understanding of the recorded music business’ (p. ix), recognising that there is a complex and ever-changing symbiotic relationship between the two.
The scope of the book is admirably wide, including DJs who play records ‘for dancers and audiences gathering in public places’ (p. x), examining the vital but yet neglected role of the promoter and considering musicians with professional, semi-professional and amateur status. The focus is on popular music, but this is not to the exclusion of classical and art music where this overlaps. The adoption of a wide notion of ‘the popular’ and recognition of genre distinctions without slavish adherence to them in the structure of the book are important strengths, enabling the authors to address the interdependency of elements in British musical culture which would otherwise be kept separate. The book is also strong on its evaluation of the relationship between British and American musical cultures, including a welcome contextualisation of British jazz within the wider music scene. However, as Andrew Blake argues in The Land without Music, curiously absent from the bibliography, the ‘Anglo-American angle is not the only one’ when telling the story of British popular music (Blake Reference Blake1997, p. 79). I was surprised not to see rather more attention given to the longstanding multiculturalism of British musical life which in this period includes, for example, the popularity of calypso, the entry of ska into the mainstream and the influence of Indian music on popular music and jazz which prefigure the prominence of styles such as reggae and bhangra later in the century.
The book is ambitious in terms of its geographical coverage too, sidestepping an obvious focus on London with a stated interest in live music in Bristol, Glasgow and Sheffield. However, I would have been interested to see the contrasting circumstances and characters of these live music scenes sustained as a focus a little more strongly throughout. The thickly descriptive vignettes of live music activity in these cities in 1962 were interesting in as far as they revealed the potential for further research into live music in specific locations, but for me these needed development and possibly more careful integration to balance the broader historical narrative in the main chapters of the book. Perhaps the significance of these, and the concluding description of the Rolling Stones concert which also seemed oddly disjunct, will become clearer once the other volumes in the series are available.
The book is structured around topics – promoters, state, musicians, do-it-yourself, youth, the recording industry and venues – rather than chronology, which makes for satisfying reading and allows the authors to pursue particular thematic strands across the period. The index is unfortunately limited to names of individuals and groups and some reflection of key themes would have been useful. Particularly interesting was the continuity (albeit struggling in the latter part of the period) of the dance band profession established in the 1920s, which, although influenced by similar ensembles in America, manifests as a peculiarly British phenomenon. The chapter on ‘do-it-yourself’ extends the expected discussion of skiffle to understand this aesthetic as ‘a way of doing music and a way of doing music business’ neatly following on from the consideration of amateurs in the previous chapter on ‘being a musician’. It is not until one delves into the acknowledgements that one discovers that these chapters were written by different authors (Frith and Cloonan, respectively). The four authors should be congratulated for achieving a near seamless synergy in terms of style and argument throughout this volume, especially given its breadth. Clear introductions and conclusions help to draw the multiple threads of each chapter together and the text is eminently readable.
Although the book argues convincingly for 1950 as a point of fracture and therefore the start of the period under consideration, identified with reference to the post-war emergence of a DIY culture, the popularity of recording ‘stars’ and the youth appeal of American dance music, these factors were all present in (at least) embryonic form in the preceding decades. Given the otherwise inclusive approach described above, it seems a shame to adhere to conventional notions of ‘popular music history’ beginning around the mid-century. Notwithstanding James Nott's excellent Music for the People, there is still work to be done to understand the spectrum of British musical activity and factors (not least two World Wars) that shaped it in the first part of the century – it will be up to other scholars to identify the continuities and influences which run into the 1950–1967 period as the team responsible for this volume move forwards through history. This book sets a very high standard for future work and I await further instalments with interest.
