Mark Kurlansky
Riverhead BooksTrade Paperback
From the publisher's website:
Can a
song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William
“Mickey” Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote “Dancing
in the Street.” The song was recorded at Motown’s Hitsville USA Studio
by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging
her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an
upbeat dance recording—a precursor to disco, and a song about the
joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of
the icons of American pop culture.
The Beatles had
landed in the U.S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in
full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the
Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the
passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election.
As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, “Dancing in
the Street” gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new
meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all
changing as the country changed.
Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places, Ready for a Brand New Beat chronicles
that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that
a simple song about dancing played in history.
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