Michael Campbell (born 1945) is an American pianist, teacher and author. He has written two of the most widely-used college textbooks on the development of

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

, ''Popular Music in America'' (originally titled ''And the Beat Goes On'', first published 1996) and ''Rock and Roll: an Introduction'' (written with James Brody, first published 1999).

Biography

Campbell was born and grew up in and around

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

until 1967, and, after graduating, served in the

United States Naval Academy Band The United States Naval Academy Band was officially founded in November 1852. Previously, there had been a band since the founding of the Naval Academy in 1845, consisting of a fifer and a drummer. The band consists of US Navy career musicians. T ...

, where he began studying under

Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most re ...

. He continued studying with Fleisher at

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a private music and dance conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliated with Johns Hopkins in 1977. History Philanthropist and ...

, where he gained degrees in piano in 1972 and 1982. At the same time, he worked as a commercial musician with artists including

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...

, and

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Known as the "American Troubadour" or "King of the Trail", he is best known for his 1971 hit "American Pie (song), American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minut ...

. Michael Campbell, ''Arizona State University''
Retrieved 11 December 2022 "About the Author", ''Popular Music in America'', p.xiii
Retrieved 11 December 2022 He began teaching at

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

in 1981, while continuing to perform around the U.S. and Canada. His repertoire includes both classical and 20th century popular music, including the music of

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...

and transcriptions of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

solos such as those of

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum a ...

. He was clinician for

G. Henle Verlag G. Henle Verlag is a German music publishing house specialising in Urtext editions of classical music. The catalogue includes works by composers from different epochs periods, in particular composers from the Baroque to the early twentieth cent ...

in the U.S., and a member of the

Suzuki Association of the Americas The Suzuki method is a mid-20th-century music curriculum and teaching method created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki. The method claims to create a reinforcing environment for learning music for young learners. Background ...

, composing and arranging material for teaching. Dr. Michael Campbell, ''Suzuki Association of the Americas''
Retrieved 11 December 2022 His first textbook, ''And the Beat Goes On'', was first published in 1996, and, retitled as ''Popular Music in America'', has gone through several editions and has been described as "the first text to offer a comprehensive account of two centuries of popular music". He also wrote, with James Brody, ''Rock and Roll: an Introduction'', first published in 1999; and ''Music'', first published in 2011. As professor at Western Illinois University, Campbell taught courses in popular music, jazz improvisation, and American music. He retired in 2003. After moving to

Westerly, Rhode Island Westerly is a New England town, town on the Coast, southwestern coastline of Washington County, Rhode Island, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled by English colonists in 1661, and incorporated as a List of municipalitie ...

, he taught an online

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

course at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. He has also given presentations on "The Golden Age of the Piano", playing excerpts from all varieties of piano music that would have been heard in the early 20th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Michael 1945 births Living people 20th-century American pianists American music historians Rock music historians