If It Sounds Good, It Is Good by Richard Manning (Hard Cover Book)

Seeking subversion, transcendence, and solace in America's music.

"Richard Manning tells the story of a feeling we've all known our whole lives: that those resonating sounds and melodies inside of us run generations deep and connect us to all living things. A beautifully written reminder that without music, we are nothing." 
    - Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam

This book address how music is fundamental to human existence, is a cultural universal among all humans of all times. The author also digs deep into how American roots music is not a product of some elite leisure class, as some academics contend, but of "explosive creativity among slaves, hillbillies, field hands, drunks, slackers, and hucksters." He explores how these poor, working people built the foundations of jazz, gospel, blues, bluegrass, rock 'n' roll, and country music, in an unparalleled burst of invention.

This is a sort of popular science version of an ethnomusicology study. It's written through stories and the author's own exploration and backed up by his vast knowledge.