If you've ever wanted to know the ''correct'' words to ''Roll Me Over,'' or wondered where the melody of ''Sweet Betsy from Pike'' came from, this book can answer your questions. Extensively revised and including forty more songs than its predecessor, this new edition of The Erotic Muse is a unique scholarly collection of bawdy or forbidden American folksongs. Ed Cray presents the full texts of some 125 songs, with melodies for most of them and detailed annotations for all. His lively commentary places the songs in historical, social, and, where appropriate, psychological context.
''The revision and expansion of Cray's groundbreaking 1968 collection reaffirms the continuity of a Rabelaisian spirit of American culture virtuously damned by all. Preachers, professors - polite people of all persuasions-are discomfited by these shamelessly libidinous paeans to the glories of obscenity... Cray's thoughtful, well-reasoned, and useful introduction makes clear that society's inability to deal with these rude lyrics has resulted in considerable losses to historical scholarship... The book's importance for popular culture studies lies in its exploration of middle-class culture's continued complex relation to taboo: its pleasure in privately violating rules within intimate subgroups while enforcing strict decorum in the public sphere.'' - Jerome Stern, Studies in Popular Culture ''The Erotic Muse is now expanded and thoroughly updated, with a valuable introduction, by Cray... Strongly recommended for undergraduate and graduate libraries with an interest in folklore, Americana, music, and literature. The bibliography is a rich guide to the important literature in the field.'' - Choice ''These are the folksongs that usually don't get into the standard collections; or, if they do, usually in extremely censured form... These songs represent the sizable amount of fascination that the scatological and sexual sides of life have always generated for humanity.'' - Brendan Foreman, Folktales ADVANCE PRAISE ''Cray's notes are remarkably full. He has researched the songs thoroughly, outlining their history and giving several versions of many... Anyone interested in erotic material-and who isn't-will want this book.''-Edith Fowke, Come-All-Ye ''Cray's wonderful study cloaks this fascinating subject with academic respectability without diminishing the charm of the delectable body within.'' - Norm Cohen, the author of Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong ''Academics sometimes say journalism is history in a hurry. Now comes American Datelines, an anthology that suggests history is journalism refocused by hindsight.'' -- San Francisco Examiner ''A nifty idea, imaginatively executed and complete with the original, often hyperventilating, headlines.'' -- Los Angeles Times Book Review ''This singular approach to history will be enjoyed not only by students of American history and culture but also by journalism students, who will be able to witness the changes in journalistic writing from the narrative style of the early years to the concise style of today.'' -- School Library Journal
