What's That Sound?: W. W. Norton StudySpace

Part 1. The World of Mainstream Pop in the Years Leading up to 1955

Building a National Audience for Music and Entertainment

Tin Pan Alley

The Singer Steps Forward

Part 2. The Growth of Country and Western Music

Regional Styles

Recordings and Radio Further a National Sound for Country and Western Music

Hank Williams, Country Music Singer-Songwriter in the Big Business of Country and Western

Bluegrass, the New, Old-Time Country Music

Part 3. Rhythm and Blues in the 1940s and 1950s

Rural (Delta) and Urban Blues

Rhythm and Blues as a Marketing Category That Includes a Broad Range of Musical Styles

Rhythm and Blues as a "Dangerous Influence" on American (White) Youth

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About W. W. Norton

W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Margaret D. Norton first published lectures delivered at the People's Institute, the adult education division of New York City's Cooper Union. The Nortons soon expanded their program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By mid-century, the two major pillars of Norton's publishing program—trade books and college texts—were firmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the company to its employees, and today—with a staff of 400 and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year—W. W. Norton & Company stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees.