Featuring more than 100 readings from a wide range of sources and writers, The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader has established itself as the #1 reader on the market for popular music studies. It provides a rich and engaging introduction to the development of American popular music and the important social and cultural issues raised by its study. Editor David Brackett brings together a vast array of selections from sources that include mainstream and specialized magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, interviews, and autobiographies of musicians and other music industry insiders.

David Brackett's profile page

David Brackett is Professor of Musicology at McGill University.

"I really appreciate the historical approach that David Brackett utilizes in The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader. I think that students get a different perspective by reading rock's history 'in the time' written by people as it occurred. Students enjoy this; it demonstrates that history is a process." --Edward Whitelock, Gordon State College

"The range of The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader is excellent. My students enjoy this book because the readings are manageable and engaging. The headnotes give enough context for students to be able to make sense of the issues raised by the readings. This is the strongest primary source reader on popular music available." --Gregory Weinstein, Davidson College