Talking Italian blues
Roberto Leydi, Giovanna Marini and American Influence in the Italian folk revival, 1954-66
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4304191 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rachel E Love (New York University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 317-334 |
| Publication date | 2019-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Popular Music (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0261-1430 • E-ISSN: 1474-0095 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0261143019000114 |
| OpenAlex | W2942897208 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
This article examines how Roberto Leydi and Giovanna Marini, two important figures of the Italian 'folk revival', negotiated diverse American cultural influences and adapted them to the political context of Italy in the 1950s and 1960s. I argue that American musical traditions offered them valuable models even as many Italian intellectuals and artists grew more critical of US society and foreign policy. To explore this phenomenon in greater depth, I take as examples two particular moments of exchange. I first discuss American folklorist Alan Lomax's research in Italy and its impact on Leydi's career. I then examine how Marini employed American talking blues in order to reject US society in her first ballad, Vi parlo dell'America (I Speak to You of America) (1966). These two cases provide specific examples of how American influence worked in postwar Italy and the role of folk music in this process
Archaeology · Art · Art history · Ballad · Blues · Context (archaeology · Folk music · Folklore · Folkloristics · Humanities · Literature · Musical · Order (exchange · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Diverse Musicological Studies · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |