How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music
By (Author) Inc National Public Radio
By (author) Alison Fensterstock
Introduction by Ann Powers
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
HarperOne
14th February 2025
24th October 2024
United States
General
Non Fiction
Musicians, singers, bands and groups
Composers and songwriters
Music reviews and criticism
Popular music
History of music
Literary essays
Gender studies: women and girls
General and world history
Social and cultural history
780.82
Hardback
352
Width 178mm, Height 229mm, Spine 31mm
662g
Drawn from NPR Musics acclaimed, groundbreaking series Turning the Tables, the definitive book on the vital role of Women in Musicfrom Beyonc to Odetta, Taylor Swift to Joan Baez, Joan Jett to Dolly Partonfeaturing archival interviews, essays, photographs, and illustrations.
Turning the Tables, launched in 2017, has revolutionized recognition of female artists, whether it be in best album lists or in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music brings this impressive history and fascinating reshaping to the page and includes material draws from more than fifty years of NPRs coverage of great musical heroes and intriguing creators.
This book is a must-have for music fans, songwriters, feminist historians, and those interested in how artists think and work, including:
Joan Baez talking about nonviolence as a musical principle in 1971
Dolly Partons favorite song and the story behind it
Patti Smith describing art as her jealous mistress in 1974
Nina Simone, in 2001, explaining how she developed the edge in her voice as a tool against racism.
Taylor Swift talking about when she had no idea if her musical career might work
Odetta on how shifting from classical music to folk allowed her to express her fury over Jim Crow
This incomparable hardcover volume is a vital record of history destined to become a classic and a great gift for any music fan or creative thinker.
"Essential, definitive reading for anyone who listens to music or cares about women -- which is, in short, everyone. Simply put, I wanted this book not to end." -Sheila Weller, bestselling author of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation. If what neuroscientists tell us is true, that music is a social/emotion-delivery devicetruly a woman's voice, words, rhythms, and melodies are best adapted to express what it feels like to be a human. This welcome book taps us on the back to remind us of the many underappreciated musicians whose work found its way into our own self images. Susan Rogers, legendary producer, neuroscientist, and author of This is What it Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
In July 2017, NPR Music launched Turning the Tablesa groundbreaking, celebratory, and provocative multi-platform series examining the important and equal role women play in popular music. Now in its fifth season, Turning the Tables has reached millions of listeners and is considered one of NPR Musics most successful, critically acclaimed programs. How Women Made Music is the book that continues this vibrant conversation and finally presents women at the center of the discussion about popular music. ANN POWERS has been a music critic for more than thirty years, working for NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and other publications. In the decade she has worked with NPR, she has written extensively on music and culture and appeared regularly on the All Songs Considered podcast and on news shows including All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Her books include a memoir, Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America; Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music; and Piece by Piece with Tori Amos. Powers lives in Nashville.