Bill Malone
Encyclopedia
Bill C. Malone is an American historian
specializing in country music
and other forms of traditional American music. He is the author of the 1968 book Country Music, U.S.A., the first definitive academic history of country music. Malone is Professor Emeritus of History at Tulane University
and now resides in Madison, Wisconsin
.
Malone was born on a cotton-growing tenant farm 20 miles west of Tyler, Texas
in 1934 and grew up with music as "a constant companion". After studying at community college, he enrolled in the University of Texas in 1956 and became a well-known singer in the Austin
area, due in part to his encyclopedic repertoire of "hillbilly" songs he learned growing up. He performed at Threadgill's beer joint in Austin and completed his Master's degree. He was pleased when his faculty advisor suggested he write his doctoral dissertation on something he loved: "hillbilly", i.e., country, music. His 1965 dissertation was published in 1968 as Country Music, U.S.A.
Malone was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1984 to assist his research in U.S. history. In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for American Music
.
Malone hosts a weekly radio show, "Back to the Country", on WORT–FM
community radio in Madison, and performs country music with his wife, Bobbie Malone, playing mandolin and guitar.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
specializing in country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and other forms of traditional American music. He is the author of the 1968 book Country Music, U.S.A., the first definitive academic history of country music. Malone is Professor Emeritus of History at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and now resides in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
.
Malone was born on a cotton-growing tenant farm 20 miles west of Tyler, Texas
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
in 1934 and grew up with music as "a constant companion". After studying at community college, he enrolled in the University of Texas in 1956 and became a well-known singer in the Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
area, due in part to his encyclopedic repertoire of "hillbilly" songs he learned growing up. He performed at Threadgill's beer joint in Austin and completed his Master's degree. He was pleased when his faculty advisor suggested he write his doctoral dissertation on something he loved: "hillbilly", i.e., country, music. His 1965 dissertation was published in 1968 as Country Music, U.S.A.
Malone was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1984 to assist his research in U.S. history. In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for American Music
Society for American Music
The Society for American Music was founded in 1975 and was first named the Sonneck Society in honor of Oscar George Theodore Sonneck, early Chief of the Music Division in the Library of Congress and pioneer scholar of American music...
.
Malone hosts a weekly radio show, "Back to the Country", on WORT–FM
WORT
WORT is a listener-sponsored community radio station, broadcasting from 118 S. Bedford St. in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. WORT offers a range of programming....
community radio in Madison, and performs country music with his wife, Bobbie Malone, playing mandolin and guitar.
Selected publications
- An early history of Austin, Texas, 1839-1861 (1958) University of Texas, pp.272, googlebooks
- Country Music, U.S.A. (1968; revised edition 1984; 2nd revised, annotated edition 2002) University of Texas Press, pp.628, ISBN 0292752628
- Southern Music/American Music (co-author with David Stricklin) (1979; 2nd, illustrated, revised edition 2003) University Press of Kentucky, pp.236, ISBN 081319055X
- Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers: Southern Culture and the Roots of Country Music (1993) University of Georgia Press, pp.168, ISBN 0820325511
- Don't Get Above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class (2002) University of Illinois Press, pp.392, ISBN 0252026780
- Working Girl Blues: The Life and Music of Hazel Dickens (co-author with Hazel DickensHazel DickensHazel Jane Dickens was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs...
) (2008) University of Illinois Press, pp.102, ISBN 0252075498 - Music from the True Vine: Mike Seeger's Life and Musical Journey (2011) UNC Press Books, pp.240, ISBN 0807835102
External Links
- "Country Music Scholar", October 2005 video interview with Malone in Southern Spaces, published by Emory University Libraries, January 20, 2006. Accessed 2011-09-18.