Bob Dylan is the most important political singer/songwriter of the 20th Century, and he turns 81 on May 24th, so we had a fantastic discussion with Michael Stewart Foley, one of the preeminent scholars of music and politics and author of “Fresh Fruit and Rotting Vegetables,” about the Dead Kennedys, and “Citizen Cash: The Political Life of Johnny Cash.”
Listen in: https://apple.co/3wF8yTs
*Citizen Cash: The Political Life of Johnny Cash* is a fantastic new book by Michael Stewart Foley, and we sat down and talked to him all about it. This is a must-listen, must-see episode.
Listen in: https://bit.ly/CashGandR
We talked about Cash’s upbringing in the depression and how the New Deal helped his family and led him to develop a “politics of empathy.” We discussed his views on race, and especially his “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” album.
In this episode, we talk about left politics in country music with Prof. Mark Allan Jackson. Country music has a huge popular following and has been closely associated with Republican and socially conservative political forces. Politicians like George Wallace, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan have all appealed to country’s fans to build their political bases. But country music has also had a populist left appeal as well. From Nashville to Bakersfield, CA, country musicians have espoused progressive political positions as well in lyrics and activism.
Listen in: https://bit.ly/LeftCountryGandR
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