Kenney looks at the history of recorded music from a variety of interesting perspectives in nine chapters. One chapter, for instance, examines the role of women and recorded sound from 1890 to 1930. Another deals with the evolution of foreign and ethnic records. And yet another traces the path from race records to rhythm and blues.

For jazz standards readers and researchers Recorded Music in American Life provides a look behind the scenes of American popular music. In this surprisingly interesting account, author William Kenney examines the interplay between recorded music and the key social, political, and economic forces in the first half of the twentieth century. The general index includes no song titles.

William Howland Kenney is Professor of History and American Studies at Kent State University. He is also a jazz clarinetist and the author of Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, 1904-1930.