Have you been listening to Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter on repeat since it dropped? Are you interested in learning more about the history of Black Country music and those that inspired Beyoncé to make this album – and in some cases are even featured on it? Then check out our staff-curated list of books, music, and film on the musicians that inspired Cowboy Carter.

BOOKS:  ADULT

My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future by Alice Randall

Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions by Francesca Royster
Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South by Charles L. Hughes
Queen Bey : a Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter by Veronica Chambers
Brother Ray : Ray Charles' Own Story by Ray Charles & David Ritz
I, Tina : My Life Story by Tina Turner
Fame: Lil Nas X  by Darren G. Davis & Victor Moura
A Little Devil in America:  Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib & JD Jackson
Country Music:  An Illustrated History by Dayton Duncan & Ken Burns
The New Black West: Photographs from America's Only Touring Black Rodeo by Gabriela Hasbun & Jeff Douvel
The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-Hernandez
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts:  Stories and Recipes From Five Generations of Black Country Cooks by Crystal Wilkinson
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis

Music: Cowboy Carter Inspired Listening

Color Me Country by Linda Martell
Hoopla

Step By Step – Lesley Riddle Meets the Carter Family: Blues, Country, and Sacred Songs by Lesley Riddle
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if i ever get there: a day at blackbird studio by Brittney Spencer
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Other albums by Brittney Spencer
Remember Her Name by Mickey Guyton
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Other albums by Mickey Guyton
Wary + Strange by Amythyst Kiah
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Crashlanded by Madeline Edwards
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Other albums by Madeline Edwards
Bettie James: Gold Edition by Jimmie Allen
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Other albums by Jimmie Allen
Portraits: The First Recordings by Mississippi Fred McDowell
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Other albums by Mississippi Fred McDowell
One-Dime Blues by Etta Baker
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Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs by Blanco Brown
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Carolyn’s Boy by Darius Rucker
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Other albums by Darius Rucker
Lover’s Game by The War and Treaty
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Cross Country by Breland
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Other albums by Breland
Sounds of the South
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FILM:  Country Music:  A Film by Ken Burns

ARTICLES & Other Information:

• Beyoncé Asks, and Answers, a Crucial Question in Her Latest Album by Tressie McMillan Cottom, The New York Times, April 4, 2024
• Black Country is Not a Fad.  It's a Legacy  by Santi Elijah Holley. The Atlantic, October 21, 2022.
• For Nearly a Century, These Black Artists Have Shaped Country Music by Matthew Leimkuehler USA Today, Feb. 16, 2021
• Black Artists Helped Build Country Music—And Then It Left Them Behind by Andrew R. Chow, Time Magazine, September 11, 2019.
• WEBSITE:  Black Opry