REGION, AGENCY, AND POPULAR-MUSIC - THE NORTHWEST SOUND, 1958-1966

Through the method of reconstituted regional geography, this paper exp lores the origins, development, and demise of a regional popular music al phenomenon, known as the Northwest Sound Renowned for the rock clas sic 'Louie Louie,' the music of the Pacific Northwest was a product of local geographic conditions within the context of the state of popula r music in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This tension between struct ure and human agency resulted in a period of musical creativity that e pitomized teenage social life in the region, but which had limited imp act beyond the local area at the time. The passing of the Northwest So und helped mark the integration of a frontier into the mainstream of N orth American culture.