Book Review
Feb. 16th, 2026 09:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariRoots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World
by Billy Bragg
This book covers the rise and fall of skiffle, a pre-rock British genre that flourished during the 1950s. It was based on traditional jazz, American roots music, and British folk. It was also very DIY, developing alongside mid-century youth culture. It was made almost entirely by amateurs, and was often rough and unpolished but very energetic. Bragg does a great job of looking at the music that gave rise to skiffle and following the people who developed skiffle. He tells a compelling story about interesting music. I especially liked the way Bragg connects this almost forgotten music to the seminal British rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as to punk (another raucous DIY music).
by Billy Bragg
This book covers the rise and fall of skiffle, a pre-rock British genre that flourished during the 1950s. It was based on traditional jazz, American roots music, and British folk. It was also very DIY, developing alongside mid-century youth culture. It was made almost entirely by amateurs, and was often rough and unpolished but very energetic. Bragg does a great job of looking at the music that gave rise to skiffle and following the people who developed skiffle. He tells a compelling story about interesting music. I especially liked the way Bragg connects this almost forgotten music to the seminal British rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as to punk (another raucous DIY music).
