Instruments of Desire

The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience

Steve Waksman

  • Runner-Up, 1998 United States Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Book Award

Illustrations

Introduction: Going Electric

Playing with Sound: Charlie Christian, the Electric Guitar and the Swing Era

Pure Tones and Solid Bodies: Les Paul's New Sound

Mister Guitar: Chet Atkins and the Nashville Sound

Racial Distortions: Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry and the Electric Guitar in Black Popular Music

Black Sound, Black Body: Jimi Hendrix, the Electric Guitar and the Meanings of Blackness

Kick Out the Jams! The MC5 and the Politics of Noise

Heavy Music: Cock Rock, Colonialism, and Led Zeppelin

Conclusion: Time Machine

Adventures in Sound: A Guide to Listening

Discography: Selected Recordings

Notes

Credits

Index

  • Cover: Instruments of Desire

Steve Waksman is the 1998 winner of the Ralph Henry Gabriel Dissertation Prize awarded by the American Studies Association. He is Visiting Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Bowling Green University, and is on the editorial board of Popular Music and Society.