From its beginnings in the early 1920s, commercial country music--as
performed on stage, on records, radio, and in movies--became an
increasingly pervasive and lively part of American life, yet some forty
years passed before it was given serious attention by writers,
historians, scholars, and students of national culture. The first
publication founded for promoting the systematic research and
recognition of country music was the John Edwards Memorial Foundation
(JEMF) Quarterly at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1965.
Over time, the JEMF Quarterly brought to light the lives and careers of
dozens of pioneer musicians, including Alfred G. Karnes, the Carter
Family, Riley Puckett, and Buell Kazee, along with details of early
commercial radio operations, the sources of many traditional songs, and
the reproduction of historical documents. In addition, the early work of
many contributors who later became known as major scholars in the
field-Archie Green, Charles Wolfe, Norm Cohen, Simon J. Bonner, and
Loyal Jones among others-appeared on the pages of the JEMF Quarterly
during its 19 years in publication. Exploring Roots Music reprints
twenty-seven representative articles published in the JEMF Quarterly
over the years, until it ceased publication in 1985. It also includes
many illustrations and an introduction that seeks to place the journal
in historical perspective and illuminate its central importance to the
study of American culture.
