Re: Jewish songwriters

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

You are right.  King was originally Klein.  Virtually all the Brill
Building sonwriters were Jewish.  That this goes unmentioned (they are
all described simply as 'white') in the textbook I use in my history of
rock music class I find unfortunate.  The text, which is fine in many
ways, tends to racialize everything, but merely in terms of black and
white that can be reductive and essentializing, when questions that
probe more deeply into ethnicity, nationality, and culture could be very
interesting.  I spend a lot of time exploring the Jewish roots of
artists who work in 'mainstream' idioms and at the very least have come
to appreciate the size of the Jewish contribution.  I would appreciate
it being better known.

BTW, I enjoyed the article in Reform Judaism and look forward to more.

Git shabes,



Davemh333 (at) aol(dot)com wrote:

> I believe that Goffin and King are Jewish...

--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
Head, Division Of Composition and Music Theory
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


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