Jane Birkin’s Famous Love (Sex) Song
How the songs of the 1960s and ’70s captured the sexual liberation of women.
Making Music Male
How did record collecting and stereophile culture come to exclude women as consumers and experts?
Tape Heads
The Mellotron, an electronic keyboard of recorded samples, heralded the digital age, and its use in “Strawberry Fields Forever” changed pop music history.
The Flood Behind Bessie Smith’s “Back-Water Blues”
The Mississippi River flood that Smith allegedly memorialized happened weeks after she'd written and released her song. Where was the real “Back Water”?
Loretta Lynn: More than a Great Songwriter
A spokeswoman for white, rural, working-class women, Loretta Lynn used music to articulate the fears, dreams, and anger of women living in a patriarchal society.
Albums: What a Concept!
Long-playing records ushered in the era of the soundtrack, but they also made room for something else—the concept album.
Creating the Musical Canon
When you look at the canon of popular music, who's on the list looks very much like those who made the list.
Thank You, Tweens, for Your Pop Music Icons
Olivia Rodrigo is only the latest star to emerge from the wonderful world of Disney.
The Work of Pioneering Musicologist Eileen Southern
The scholarship of Black music was transformed by Southern's work, and is now being honored by a new initiative.