Rock & Roll in Kennedy’s America: A Cultural History of the Early 1960s

Historian Aquila (Penn State, Erie; Let’s Rock! How 1950s America Created Elvis and the Rock & Roll Craze), former host of NPR’s Rock & Roll America, (where he conducted many of the interviews that inform this book), presents to readers what he contends is the vibrant, innovative, and contextually assorted music scene during the time span of 1959 to 1964. Between the advent of Elvis and the British musical invasion, the output of Motown, folk singers, pop, soul, country, and rhythm and blues artists, quintessentially reflected the features of and served as the cultural background for the Cold War, prosperity, the civil rights movement, and the second wave of feminism. Music molded group identity and highlighted conventional concerns during this time of transition toward the more rebellious later part of the decade. In addition to iconic figures, the book recognizes performers such as Gary “U.S.” Bonds, the Chiffons, and even Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker, whom the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has unaccountably overlooked.