Backbeat Gangsters: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in Rock Music

by Jeffrey Sussman

During the early days of rock and roll the mob used every tactic they could, from creating their own record labels, bribing radio DJs and stacking jukeboxes with their own artists, to exploiting and intimidating performers, and creating their own black market of bootlegged records, to make millions.

In the 1950s, when rock and roll music burst upon the scene, the major established record companies thought that the new music was a passing...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1538190265
• ISBN13: 9781538190265
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 190 Pages