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While ballads have been a cornerstone of popular music for decades, M e this is the first book to explore the history and appeal of these treasured t z e songs. David Metzer investigates how and why the styles of ballads have r changed over a period of more than seventy years, offering a definition of The Ballad the genre and discussing the influences of celebrated performers including T h Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. The emotional e in American power of the ballad is strongly linked to the popular mood of the time, B a and consequently songs can tell us much about how events and emotions l la Popular Music were felt and understood in wider culture at specific moments of recent d American history. Tracing both the emotional and stylistic developments of i n the genre from the 1950s to the present day, this lively and engaging volume A From Elvis to Beyoncé is as much a musical history as it is a history of emotional life in America. m e r David Metzer David Metzer is a Professor in the School of Music at the University of i c British Columbia. He has published widely on a range of modern musical a n topics, and is the author of Quotation and Cultural Meaning in Twentieth- P Century Music (Cambridge University Press 2003) and Musical Modernism o p at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge University Press 2009). u l a r M u s i c Printed in the United Kingdom Jacket illustration © Nathan José Kipe THE BALLAD IN AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC Whileballadshavebeenacornerstoneofpopularmusicfordecades, this is the first book to explore the history and appeal of these treasured songs. David Metzer investigates how and why the styles of ballads have changed over a period of more than seventy years, offering a definition of the genre and discussing the influences of celebratedperformersincludingFrankSinatra,ArethaFranklin,and Whitney Houston. The emotional power of the ballad is strongly linkedtothepopularmoodofthetime,andconsequentlysongscan tellusmuchabouthoweventsandemotionswerefeltandunderstood in wider culture at specific moments of recent American history. Tracing both the emotional and stylistic developments of the genre fromthe1950stothepresentday,thislivelyandengagingvolumeisas muchamusicalhistoryasitisahistoryofemotionallifeinAmerica. david metzer is a professor in the School of Music at the UniversityofBritishColumbia.Hehaspublishedwidelyonarange ofmodernmusicaltopics,andistheauthorofQuotationandCultural MeaninginTwentieth-CenturyMusic(Cambridge2003)andMusical ModernismattheTurnoftheTwenty-FirstCentury(Cambridge2009). THE BALLAD IN AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC From Elvis to Beyoncé DAVID METZER UniversityofBritishColumbia,Vancouver UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,ny10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,vic3207,Australia 4843/24,2ndFloor,AnsariRoad,Daryaganj,Delhi–110002,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107161528 doi:10.1017/9781316676400 ©DavidMetzer2017 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2017 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. isbn978-1-107-16152-8Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. To the memory of Michael Fellman Contents Acknowledgments pageviii Introduction:WhatIsaBallad? 1 1 The1950s 32 InterludeI:PatsyCline,“Crazy” 78 2 TheSoulBallad 85 InterludeII:ItStillHurts... 127 3 ThePowerBallad 134 InterludeIII:SarahMcLachlan,“Angel” 168 InterludeIV:HipHopBallads 174 4 IndieBallads 180 InterludeV:IConfess 210 Conclusion:Goodbye 220 SelectBibliography 223 Index 225 vii Acknowledgments Asachild,Icriedsilentlytomyselfinthebackseatofacarwhilelisteningto TerryJacks’recordingof“SeasonsintheSun.”Thatkidwouldhavebeen surprised that he would write a book on ballads, not to mention that he wouldbecomesomethingcalledamusicologist.Yetthemusicologistisin touch with that kid and still gets emotional over ballads. Musicology has providedmewithawayofunderstandingwhyballadshavemovedmeso much. I never, though, wanted my work on ballads to be a musicology secret,astudyproducedforandbestunderstoodbyfellowscholars.Itwas always my goal to write a book that would follow the paths of scholarly researchbutdosoinanaccessibleandengagingwaythatwouldappealto thegeneralreader,thatis,allofuswholoveballads. I would like to thank Cambridge University Press for their support of thisproject.EditorsVickiCooperandKateBretthaveagreedwithmethat abookonwidelylovedsongsshouldreachouttoawideaudience.Tohave twopassionateandshrewdeditorsbehindyouisgoodfortuneforascholar. Before I wrote a page of this book, I was encouraged by my friend Michael Fellman. A Civil War historian, Michael wrote books that attracted both scholarly and general readers. He thought that I could do the same with one about ballads. The challenge was to find the voice to connectwiththatlargeaudience.Michaelcoachedmeindevelopingthat voice,tellingmewhenitgotmuffledinacademicproseandwhenitrung out.ItgrievesmethatMichaelpassedawaybeforeIcompletedthisbook. IwouldhavelovedtohearwhathehadtosayasIworkedaway,letaloneto seehissmilewhenIhandedhimthepublishedcopy.YetIhaveheardhis voice in my head while writing and him telling me to persevere when setbacksarose.Idedicatethisbooktohismemory. Also involved in this book from the outset was Michael’s wife, Santa Aloi,whohasreadallofit.Iwouldliketothankherforherdedicationand ever-insightful advice. My gratitude also goes to my parents for their undying support, especially for a book in which they will know some of viii