Accordion Revolution: A People's History
ACCORDION REVOLUTION:
A People’s History of the Accordion
From the Industrial Revolution to Rock and Roll
by Bruce Triggs
About the Book:
Accordion Revolution is the squeezebox remix of music history. Discover how the “Beer Barrel Polka” saved the record industry during the Great Depression; the highest paid instrumentalist in show-biz was an accordionist who secretly married sex-symbol Mae West. And a psychedelic accordion band almost played Woodstock.
With an eye for colorful characters and a sharp sense of humor, accordion historian Bruce Triggs explores pop music with the squeezebox as tour guide. Musicians by the millions played accordions before the rise of rock and roll. Arriving in the arms of immigrants, they were heard in Mexican border cantinas and Inuit square dances above the Arctic Circle. Black Americans called them “wind jammers” before the rise of blues guitar, and the Accordiana Dance Band was there at the birth of jazz. Later, squeezeboxes saddled-up in hundreds of hit-making country and western bands.
Always more than foolish stereotypes of bubbles and lederhosen. New generations have picked up the instrument, but with few connections to its back-story. For readers today Accordion Revolution is a living, breathing restoration of the squeezebox to its rightful place at the roots of popular music in North America.
List Price: $20 US, $25 CAN
Paperback, 6 x 9 in, 430 pgs.
58 historical illustrations / In English
Publication Date: June 2019
Demian & Sons Publications
Vancouver, BC, Canada
ISBN: 978-1-9990677-0-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-9990677-1-7
🪗 Buy the Book: from me personally, or many other places 🪗
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Accordion Uprising 
Hi,
It’s Bill … I showed up this month with the Roland FR-3X. I had a great time. Hope to see you all again soon!!
I like this site, too, and will look forward to sharing posts via my own website for accordions,
http://squeezebox4jazz.,com
Bill Fulbright
Hello! Love the witty humor and factoids. So far everything feels spot-on with what I’ve been feeling, and with what I’ve heard and/or read elsewhere. In full disclosure, I grew up playing piano and guitar and only recently inherited a La Tosca Biviano 98. I managed to find an old catalog advertising its dimensions and features on eBay, otherwise not much to go on. Seems even worse with other less-common brands. The good news is that mine plays just fine. Sure it could use a slight tuning on the bass buttons, but the keys are perfectly level and have good spring action. Barely a scratch on her. I truly hope the “resurgence in North America” takes flight because I’m itching to play her in public … I did break it out for a wedding (bride requested Lois Armstrong’s “La Vie en Rose”) but that hardly counts; I played guitar on every other tune of the 4-hr reception!
To the author: thank you for writing this book. I enjoyed it. I am playing accordion for 40 years now. I started when I was 32 years old. People thought I was mad. My Idols were/are Clifton Chenier and Flaco Jimenez. I am mainly focussed on conjunto/texmex music. I am living in the Netherlands and a retired psychology-professor. Again: you made a great book. It was taken from my heart.
Glad you enjoyed the book Peter. So happy to hear from readers all over the world! You’re not the only Flaco Jimenez fan in Europe. That seems so far away, but it’s amazing how the music travels.
(Everyone feel free to leave reviews like this wherever you see the book online. That really helps books reach people these days. 😜)
Check out the Backwoods Accordion Festival, July 16 in Trego, Montana! It’s free!