Instead of simply seeing the world of black music as a reflection of a mass struggle raging elsewhere, Ward argues that Rhythm and Blues, and the recording and broadcasting industries with which it was linked, formed a crucial public arena for battles over civil rights, racial identities, and black economic empowerment. Combining unrivalled archival research with extensive oral testimony, Ward examines the contributions of artists and entrepreneurs like Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Berry Gordy to the organized black struggle, explaining what they did for the Movement and -- just as important -- why they and most of their peers failed to do more. In the process, he analyses the ways in which various groups, from the SCLC to the Black Panthers, tried -- with very mixed results -- to use Rhythm and Blues and the politics of celebrity to further their cause. He also examines the role that black-oriented radio played in promoting both Rhythm and Blues and the Movement, and unravels the intricate connections between the sexual politics of the music and the development of the black freedom struggle.

This richly textured study of some of the most important music and complex political events in America since World WarII challenges the belief that white consumption of black music necessarily helped eradicate racial prejudice. Indeed, Ward argues that the popularity of Rhythm and Blues among white listeners sometimes only reinforced racial stereotypes, while noting how black artists actually manipulated those stereotypes to increase their white audiences. Ultimately, Ward shows how the music both reflected and affected shifting perceptions of community, empowerment, identity, and gender relations in America during the civil rights and black power eras.

"Ward brings passion and an encyclopedic knowledge of R&B to bear in his account of Brown vs. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, and the ebb and flow of economic and political clout within the Black community.... A densely textured and fascinating study". -- Susan McClary, author of Feminine Endings

"A highly original and imaginative history connecting African American popular music with corresponding developments in the Black freedom struggle.... Ward is particularly adept in his use of sources, combining a creative rendering of discography with ample use of archival material.... Ward forces the reader to think about the civil rights and Black power movements in new ways and offers keen insights for measuring the impact of the African American freedom struggle on both Black and white Americans". -- Steven Lawson, Stanford University