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MUSC 171: The Social History of Popular Music

Essential Reference

Reference Tools

American song : the complete musical theatre companion / Ken Bloom
Music Ref. ML128 .M78 B6 1996-2001 4 v. (2nd ed.)

Billboard

The international newsweekly of music, video and home entertainment; profiles, commentary, album ratings, feature articles, marketing and reviews. 

The complete encyclopedia of popular music and jazz, 1900-1950 Stauffer Ref. ML102 .P66 K55 4 v. 

Continuum encyclopedia of popular music of the world. Ref. ML102 .P66 C66 11 vols.
:v. 1. Media, industry and society. v. 2. Performance and production. v. 3. Caribbean and Latin America. v. 4. North America. v. 5. Asia and Oceania. v. 6. Africa and the Middle East. v. 7. Europe. v. 8. Genres : North America. v. 9. Genres : Caribbean and Latin America. v. 10. Middle East and North Africa -- v. 11. Genres: Europe.

Encyclopedia of African American music Ref. ML101 .U6 E53 2011 3 vols.

Showcases all facets of African American music, including folk, religious, concert, and popular styles, and its role in American cultural history.
Updated web access of Colin Larkin's 10-volume The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th edition, covering popular music of all genres and periods from 1900 to the present day, including jazz, country, folk, rap, reggae, techno, musicals, and world music, available through Oxford Music Online. Library has 3rd ed. of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Ref. ML102 .P66 G84 1998 8 vols.
Search specific names or topics.
Web access to The Garland encyclopedia of world music, the first encyclopedia devoted to the music of all the world's peoples, with each volume devoted to a single region. Print edition: Ref. ML100 .G16 1997- 10 vols., accompanied by 9 CDs at Circulation Desk (SRCD97-121 v. 1-9).
Updated web access through Oxford Music Online to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Ref. ML100 .N48 2001 29 vols.
 
Joel Whitburn presents the Billboard albums : includes every album that made the Billboard 200 chart : chart data compiled from Billboard's pop album charts, 1956-2005 ML156.4.P6 W45 2006 ref.

Joel Whitburn's Pop hits, 1940-1954 : compiled from Billboard's pop singles charts 1940-1954. Stauffer Ref. ML156.4.P6 W495 1994

Latin music : musicians, genres and themes Ref. ML101.L38 L37 2014 2 vols.

Includes  musical instruments, record cover art, festivals and celebrations, the institution of slavery, feminism, and patriotism. Covers the music, traditions, and history of more than two dozen countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Spain, and Venezuela.

The Literature of rock: II (1979-1983) and III (1984-1990) / Hoffmann and Cooper.
Stauffer Ref. ML128 .R6 H63 1995 2 v.

Popular music since 1955 : a critical guide to the literature Stauffer Ref. ML128 .P63 T39 1985

Covers the business, social and artistic aspects of popular music, forms of popular music, and lives and works of the artists, through the literature between 1955-1984.
 
The Rock song index : essential information on the 7,500 most important songs of rock and roll Stauffer Ref. ML128 .R6 P65 199

Canadian Sources

Encyclopedia of Canadian rock, pop & folk music  Stauffer Ref. ML102 .P66 J13 1994. Canadian resource

A-Z listing of key groups and solo artists in the history of Canadian music from the 1950s-1990s. Includes photos, short biographies and list of singles and LPs or CDs.

Encyclopedia of Music in CanadaCanadian resource

The English and French print versions are now subsumed by The Canadian Encyclopedia and updated online by Historica Canada. These combined sources are still the most authoritative first point of reference for researching the music of Canada.
Search specific topics such as "Neil Young" or the chapter on "Popular music" in general.