The Canterbury Sound in Popular Music

Scene, Identity and Myth

Asya Draganova|Shane Blackman|Andy Bennett
Emerald
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Hardback
9781787694903
19 February 2021
$110.99
eBook (PDF)
9781787694897
19 February 2021
$110.99
eBook (ePub)
9781787694910
19 February 2021
$110.99

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  • Description
  • Contents
  • About
This collection is a unique exploration of the heritage and legacy of the Canterbury Sound: a signature style emerging in the 1960s that draws upon psychedelic music, progressive rock, jazz and pop to capture the real and imagined interactions between people, place and music.

The volume recounts the stories, and explores the significance, of the Canterbury Sound as heritage, ongoing legacy and scene. Originating from the experiences and ethnographic research of the three editors, all of whom have lived and worked in Canterbury, the book brings together reflections, stories, and critical insights from well-known musicians, researchers, DIY archivists and fans to explore the Canterbury Sound as an inter-generational phenomenon and a source of cultural identity. Associated with acts like Caravan, Soft Machine, Gong, Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers, this romanticised scene has a special place in popular music culture.

Chapters examine the emergence of the Canterbury Sound and the associated scene, including the legacies of key figures in forming the Canterbury Sound aesthetic, the documentation of the scene (online and off) and contemporary scenes within the city, which continues to attract and inspire young people.

Trying to Remember the Good Stuff: An extended Foreword; Asya Draganova with Robert Wyatt Introduction and leitmotifs; Asya Draganova, Shane Blackman and Andy Bennett  PART I. EMERGENCE, SOUND AND SCENE  Chapter 1. The Canterbury Sound as a Local, Translocal and Virtual Scene; Andy Bennett Chapter 2. The Canterbury Sound – From the beginning;  Brian Hopper   Chapter 3. The Canterbury Scenius; Murray Smith  PART II. JOURNEYS AND RETURNS  Chapter 4. From Canterbury to Kamijima: a musical journey; Dave Sinclair  Chapter 5. Unicorns, uniforms and the Canterbury Sound; Jack Hues  Chapter 6. Canterbury paths through the States; Rick Chafen  Chapter 7. From a fan’s point of view; Richard Dove  PART 3. PEOPLE  Chapter 8. Locating Robert Wyatt: Canterbury Sound and quintessential Englishness;  Marcus O’Dair  Chapter 9. A view from across the desk - An engineer’s personal perspective of the Canterbury Scene; David Woolgar  Chapter 10. The Sinclair Spectrum and Pathways of Artistic Influence; Billie Bottle  Chapter 11. “Songs from the bottom of a well” or Morpheus in the underworld: some thoughts on the music and lyrics of Kevin Ayers;  Neil Saunders  Chapter 12. Biographical Interviews and Reflections: ethnographic conversations from within the Canterbury Sound; Curated by Asya Draganova and Shane Blackman;  Interviews with Geoffrey Richardson, Pye Hastings, Neil Sullivan and Maria Sullivan  PART IV. DOCUMENTING MUSIC PRACTICES  Chapter 13. Researching and documenting the scene - online and offline; Aymeric Leroy  Chapter 14. The story of Facelift – a fanzine exploring the Canterbury scene and beyond in the pre-internet age - and its role in knitting together an international community of fans; Phil Howitt  Chapter 15. ‘Canterbury music’ and music in Canterbury; Alan Payne  PART V. MYTHS AND REALITIES: MUSIC IN CONTEMPORARY CANTERBURY  Chapter 16. Contemporary pocket music scene in Canterbury: an ethnographic study on D.I.Y. student bands; Mengyao Jiang  Chapter 17. Free Range: a Canterbury Scene; Sam Bailey  Chapter 18. Blue Gems and Colliding Moons: furthering the Canterbury Underground; Adam Brodigan  Chapter 19. Humour and gender of the ‘mischievous imaginary’ within the Canterbury Sound of Soft Machine, Gong and Caravan; Shane Blackman and Asya Draganova   Afterword: Three personal reflections on the muse of the Canterbury Sound;  Asya Draganova, Shane Blackman and Andy Bennett

    Asya Draganova is a Lecturer in Popular Music Culture at Birmingham City University, UK, and co-leader of the Popular Music Research Cluster at the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research. She is the author of Popular Music in Contemporary Bulgaria (2019).

    Shane Blackman is Professor of Cultural Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. He has authored and co-authored many books on youth culture, including The Subcultural Imagination (2016), and is an Editor of the International Journal of Youth Studies.

    Andy Bennett is Professor of Cultural Sociology at Griffith University, Australia. His numerous publications include Popular Music and Youth Culture, Music, Style and Aging (2012) and Music Scenes (co-edited with Richard A. Peterson, 2004).