Here is the story of perhaps the finest soul singer of the rock era--Etta James. . One of the great women of American music, equally at home singing blues and jazz, Etta regales us with tales of her chaotic childhood, the stars she has known, and her troubled trip to stardom in this mesmerizing autobiography.
KEEP THE FAITH is Faith's first person account of life at ground zero of hip-hop's greatest generation. She'll share the truth about the love affair that changed her life, and the innuendo that rocked the hip-hop world to its core. From her passionate and tragically short-lived life with Biggie, Faith will finally lay the true story on the line. ...
Howlin' Wolf (1910-76), one of the giants of Delta blues, was a charismatic, difficult, warmhearted, and hugely talented man whose greatness encompassed both his breathtaking guitar work and his famously dramatic raspy voice. This biography--the first complete life of Wolf--provides an outsized portrait of the man who was born in poverty as ...
BB King's name is nowadays synonymous with the blues, in much the same way that Bob Marley's is synonymous with reggae. But it wasn't always that way. In this candid memoir, King recounts his upbringing on a Mississippi cotton farm, his first forays to the blues Mecca of Memphis and his beginnings there as a bluesman aided by his cousin Bukka ...
This intimate portrait of living legend B.B. King celebrates the blues singer and guitarist with 75 color and black-and-white photos, facsimile reproductions of items from his personal archive, and an audio CD featuring unreleased music and interviews.
Long before "women in rock" became a media catchphrase, Rosetta Tharpe proved in spectacular fashion that women could rock. Born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, in 1915, she was gospel's first superstar and the preeminent crossover figure of its "golden age" (1945-1965). Everyone who saw her perform said she could "make that guitar talk." Shout, ...
Get your mojo working as you take a musical trip from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago's gritty South Side and points beyond with Blues For Dummies, an insightful, toe-tappin', music lovers' guide to the blues. Popular blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks serves as your tour guide through the life and times of the blues, from the acoustic mystique of ...
This biography of the blues guitarist is based on a large number of interviews with Walker himself as well as with members of his family and fellow musicians. It offers an insider's account of the life of a blues musician, from wild living on the road to a contented family life at home.
In honor of the Year of the Blues, the long-awaited reissue of a myth-shattering examination of a most enduring form of American music. Francis Davis's The History of the Blues is a groundbreaking rethinking of the blues that fearlessly examines how race relations have altered perceptions of the music. Tracing its origins from the Mississippi ...
From the observation in its opening pages that sharecropping, with its inequitable distribution of wealth, was good training for the music business, Robert Gordon's biography CAN'T BE SATISFIED demonstrates that the great blues musician Muddy Waters' background was inseparable from his music. Waters' Mississippi origins, the de facto slavery, and ...
American popular music reflects a rich cultural diversity. From Aaron Copland to Miles Davis to Elvis Presley to Muddy Waters, the United States has produced some of the most influential and beloved musicians and performers of the 20th century. The blues, jazz, and rock and roll - musical genres loved around the world - were born here, and ...
Skip James (1902-1969) was one of the greatest Mississippi bluesmen, and a creative and idiosyncratic blues musician. His 1931 performances of "Devil Got My Woman", "I'm So Glad" and "22-20 Blues" transcend the genre. "I'd Rather Be The Devil" is a biography of James - and one of the few accounts of the dangerous and disreputable life of a ...
Part biography, part fan letter, Peter Guralnick's classic 1971 study of the history of the blues and rock & roll through the lives of eight of its most singular, if sometimes unsung, exponents is equally revealing of its author and its subjects, who include a prickly Skip James, Muddy Waters (encountered recovering from a car accident), and the ...
Part biography, part fan letter, Peter Guralnick's classic 1971 study of the history of the blues and rock & roll through the lives of eight of its most singular, if sometimes unsung, exponents is equally revealing of its author and its subjects, who include a prickly Skip James, Muddy Waters (encountered recovering from a car accident), and the ...
An offshoot of the popular magazine, RAP-UP covers the history of hip-hop and R&B and places it within a broader cultural perspective, as well as delivers entertaining and illuminating profiles of its major artists and producers. It breaks down the East Coast/West Coast battles, infamous feuds, stand-out lyrics, and rap films. It also highlights ...
Recounting the history of "The Drifters" from the beginning to the present, "Last Dance" is as a celebration of the 40th anniversary of a group whose members were among the first inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. With the help of their manager Faye Treadwell, Tony Allan explores the origins, the music, and the people who have built "The ...
This series follows in the tradition of Chelsea House's African-American Achievers series in spotlighting various groups and organizations, and examining their historical and social impact. In stark contrast to jazz, the blues has always favored the expression of raw emotion over any musical complexity. From its origins in the cotton fields to its ...
This book offers first-person recollections from a new generation of artists who applied the musical and life lessons of the fathers of the blues, stoking the 1960s blues revival that continues today. Some of these musicians, like John Hammond, Rory Block and Taj Mahal, sought out the rediscovered 1930s bluesmen at the Newport Folk Festivals. ...
A gifted and charismatic entertainer, Josh White (1914-1969) was one of the best-known folk-blues artists of his day. In the early 1960s, one survey ranked him as America's third most popular male folksinger, surpassed only by Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. He appeared on national television, performed at numerous college concerts and club dates, and ...
With multiple Grammys, Soul Train Awards, and Billboard Music Awards (among many others) under her belt, Alicia Keys is one of the most successful and most popular artists today. "Alicia Keys" tells the story of this classically trained musician who has helped make hip-hop and R&B music popular in the mainstream, across class, gender, and age ...
Detailing the fascinating career of Joe Evans, "Follow Your Heart" chronicles the nearly thirty years that he spent immersed in one of the most exciting times in African American music history. An alto saxophonist who between 1939 and 1965 performed with some of America's greatest musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Charlie Parker, ...
Born in South Carolina, White spent his childhood as a "lead boy" for traveling blind bluesmen. In the early '30s he moved to New York and became a popular blues star, then introduced folk-blues to a mass white audience in the 1940s. He was famed both for his strong Civil Rights songs, which made him a favorite of the Roosevelts, and for his sexy ...
This book/CD pack is solely devoted to providing you with a complete overview of the techniques and styles popularized by the greatest blues saxophonists of all time. All the best are here: from the rough-hewn Chicago Blues of Eddie Shaw and A.C. Reed, to the organ combo soul/jazz of Stanley Turrentine and Willis "Gator" Jackson. Includes lessons, ...
In this celebration of B.B. King, author Charles Sawyer, a fan and critic who first met King in 1969 at a jazz club in Boston, provides a revealing portrait of the legendary bluesman. In addition to offering biographical material, an analysis of King's blues style, and the story of King's belated recognition, Sawyer explores the ways in which King ...
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