BROKERING A ROCK 'N' ROLL INTERNATIONAL: JEWISH RECORD MEN IN THE US AND UK
Presented by Jonathan Karp.
This talk presents a comparative analysis of Jews in the music
business on both sides of the Atlantic, beginning with the
entrepreneurs who pioneered the American Rhythm and Blues market in
postwar America and proceeding to the rise of Jewish music "Biz"
managers in London, Liverpool and throughout the UK during the
golden age of British pop. Throughout the presentation the question
of the Jews' distinctive class and entrepreneurial orientation,
stemming from the Eastern European background of both American and
Anglo-Jews, remains in the fore.
Jonathan Karp is Director of the American Jewish Historical Society
in New York City. He is also an Associate Professor in the Judaic
Studies and History Departments at Binghamton University, SUNY. His
book The Politics of Jewish Commerce in Europe, 1638-1848 was
published by Cambridge University Press in 2008. Karp has written
on a range of subjects in intellectual and cultural history,
including articles on Paul Robeson and Bob Dylan. He is currently
completing a book on economic and cultural relations between Blacks
and Jews.