One of the most innovative and ambitious books to appear on the civil rights and black power movements in America, Just My Soul Responding also offers a major challenge to conventional histories of contemporary black and popular music. Brian Ward explores in detail the previously neglected relationship between Rhythm and Blues, black consciousness, and race relations within the context of the ongoing struggle for black freedom and equality in the United States. 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 War II 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.

Brian Ward is Associate Professor of History, University of Florida. He is coeditor of The Making of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement (1996).

"Awe inspiring. Elegantly organized and written with ironic humor. It belongs in the library of any serious student of black music."—Living Blues

"One of the boldest and most authoritative books ever written on post-World War II black music and its relation to larger social and political issues. . . Ward’s mastery of the subject and his monumental research result in a more complex and fascinating study of the relation of black music in the fifties and sixties to American politics and popular culture than we have ever had before."—Journal of Southern History

"Ward offers much that is fresh. There is sharp critical writing about the Clovers at the beginning of his story and Parliament-Funkadelic at the end. An account that is even-handed and common-sensical but also committed and felt. An uncommonly comprehensive introduction to the formative decades of black rock-and-roll."—New York Times Book Review

"Rich on insight, example, anecdote and the psychotic."—Vox Magazine

"Should remain in demand for a long time as an excellent source of reference to the rise of black music in America."—Black Perspectives

"Scholarly but never dull, Brian Ward plots the evolving tensions, sexuality and spirituality which have made black music a consistently vital force. Fascinating."—The Big Issue

"A work of profound depth."—Memphis Flyer

"[Ward] uses so much new and original material that everyone can learn a great deal from this book."—Bookmarks

"Ward significantly expands the discussions in Arnold Shaw’s Honkers and Shouters and Peter Guralnick’s Sweet Soul Music, and all studies of the civil rights and black power movements. Highly recommended."—Choice

"The first book to take an in-depth look at the links between rhythm and blues and the struggle for racial justice. . . a seriously weighty tome, but one leavened with exotic tidbits."—GQ Magazine

"Ward’s sweeping and extremely accessible examination offers some marvellous insights into the connections between rhythm and blues and the civil rights movement."—Times Literary Supplement

"Lucid and elegant. A substantial, thought provoking and rewarding book that sets out its well lighted and handsomely appointed stall to challenge many of the accepted ‘truths’ of the story of the music and the Movement."—Blues and Rhythm

"One of the finest books yet on Black music. Buy this book and place alongside Guralnick’s Sweet Soul Music and Marcus’ Mystery Train. Yes, it’s that good."—Amazon.co.uk

"A model of how to marry the study of popular culture with political history--social history at its best."—Citation for the 1999 James A. Rawley Prize

"A superb demonstration of how to write American cultural history. Richly detailed and textured."—Citation for a 1999 American Book Reward

"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

American Book Award for 1999, The Before Columbus Foundation
Choice 35th Annual Outstanding Academic Book
James A. Rawley Prize, The Organization of American Historians

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