april 20 - defending amy winehouse

From an article online:

Now, R&B--like all mass musical forms, from indie rock to hip-hop and techno--is a formally conservative art. What makes great R&B hasn't changed a lick since the days of Ruth Brown and Big Mama Thornton. (And, truth be told, if anybody knows any songs that match Brown's "5-10-15 Hours" or Thornton's "Just Like a Dog," please respond to the e-mail address below.) And, as any pop music listener from the past 50 years knows, any time white people start reaping the benefits of the work of black people it presents a bit of a social, political, cultural, and moral rub (see also: Presley, Elvis; rock 'n' roll, history; America, 18th- and 19th-century agrarian economy; etc.).