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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Contemporary popular music > Rock & pop > Soul & Gospel
This book explores how funk emerged in the mid-1960s at the very
apex of the civil rights movement and shows how this music mirrored
the broader changes taking place within the African-American
community at a crucial political time and continues to this day to
underpin remix culture. It traces the extent of the Brown legacy,
musically, culturally and otherwise articulating decisive links
between Brown's work and the DJ culture that embraced it so
emphatically that Brown is now considered to be the most widely
sampled African-American recording artist in history; indeed, we
seem to have reached a point where many of Brown's refrains - the
screams, the horn stabs, the "funky drummer" breakbeats - have been
sampled so often as to have seemingly become part of the public
domain. Traversing the past forty years of popular music, the book
explores how the ubiquitous presence of Brown's groove, the
affective and transformative capacities of a grunt or a well-timed
"Good God" or punctuating scream take over where language fails and
compel even the most sedate listener to take to the floor.
In The Meaning of Soul, Emily J. Lordi proposes a new understanding
of this famously elusive concept. In the 1960s, Lordi argues, soul
came to signify a cultural belief in black resilience, which was
enacted through musical practices-inventive cover versions,
falsetto vocals, ad-libs, and false endings. Through these soul
techniques, artists such as Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, Nina
Simone, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, and Minnie Riperton performed
virtuosic survivorship and thus helped to galvanize black
communities in an era of peril and promise. Their soul legacies
were later reanimated by such stars as Prince, Solange Knowles, and
Flying Lotus. Breaking with prior understandings of soul as a vague
masculinist political formation tethered to the Black Power
movement, Lordi offers a vision of soul that foregrounds the
intricacies of musical craft, the complex personal and social
meanings of the music, the dynamic movement of soul across time,
and the leading role played by black women in this
musical-intellectual tradition.
A riveting cautionary tale about the ecstasy and dangers of loving
Marvin Gaye, a performer passionately pursued by all-and a searing
memoir of drugs, sex, and old school R&B from the wife of
legendary soul icon Marvin Gaye. After her seventeenth birthday in
1973, Janis Hunter met Marvin Gaye-the soulful prince of Motown
with the seductive liquid voice whose chart-topping, socially
conscious album What's Going On made him a superstar two years
earlier. Despite a seventeen-year-age difference and Marvin's
marriage to the sister of Berry Gordy, Motown's founder, the
enchanted teenager and the emotionally volatile singer began a
scorching relationship. One moment Jan was a high school student;
the next she was accompanying Marvin to parties, navigating the
intriguing world of 1970s-'80s celebrity; hanging with Don
Cornelius on the set of Soul Train, and helping to discover new
talent like Frankie Beverly. But the burdens of fame, the chaos of
dysfunctional families, and the irresistible temptations of drugs
complicated their love. Primarily silent since Marvin's tragic
death in 1984, Jan at last opens up, sharing the moving, fervently
charged story of one of music history's most fabled marriages.
Unsparing in its honesty and insight, illustrated with sixteen
pages of black-and-white photos, After the Dance reveals what it's
like to be in love with a creative genius who transformed popular
culture and whose artistry continues to be celebrated today.
2022 Winner of the Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded
Sound Research - Association of Recorded Sound Collections ARSC It
has long been acknowledged that Berry Gordy Jr and his Motown
Empire put Detroit on the International musical map but it was the
creative genius of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland
who would take the sound into uncharted territory. In this book
Howard Priestley explores in depth the story of the three friends,
their meteoric rise to fame and their fall from the heights. How
they helped to put Detroit Soul on the map and the series of events
that saw the collapse of not only the recognised sound of Detroit
but Soul in general as the 70s gave way to a more collective sound
away from the diversity of Memphis, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami
and, of course, Detroit. Priestley writes in both an entertaining
and analytical way that reminds us just how many songs the trio
have composed that have become an important and enduring part of
the soundtrack to so many of our lives.
In 2007, Ruben Molina published the first-ever history of
Mexican-American soul and R&Bmusic in his book, Chicano Soul:
Recordings and History of an American Culture. Ten yearslater,
Chicano Soul remains an important and oft-referenced study of this
vital but oftenoverlooked chapter of the greater American musical
experience. Chicano soul music of the1950s and 1960s still
reverberates today, both within Chicano communities and
throughoutmany musical genres. Molina tells the story of the roots
of Chicano soul, its evolution, and itsenduring cultural infl
uence. "Brown-eyed soul" music draws on 1950s era jazz, blues, jump
blues, rock 'n' roll, Latinjazz, and traditional Mexican music such
as ranchera, norteno, and conjunto music. With its rareand gorgeous
photos, record scans, concert bills, and impressive discography (to
say nothingof its rich oral histories/interviews), it is one of
those rare works that speaks to both generaland academic audiences.
To fans of sassy and savvy urban music, the name Rick James will
forever be associated with the mainstream emergence of funk--that
bottom-heavy blend of rock and soul that sparked a multiracial
musical revolution in the 1970s and 1980s and has since influenced
everything from rap to raves, punk to progressive rock. Along with
the fame, the Grammy Award, and superstardom came drug abuse and
even felony convictions, all of which are chronicled in this
gripping, posthumous tell-all of the funk revolution.
In Do You Remember? Celebrating Fifty Years of Earth, Wind &
Fire, Trenton Bailey traces the humble beginning of Maurice White,
his development as a musician, and his formation of Earth, Wind
& Fire, a band that became a global phenomenon during the
1970s. By the early 1980s, the music industry was changing, and
White had grown weary after working constantly for more than a
decade. He decided to put the band on hiatus for more than three
years. The band made a comeback in 1987, but White's health crisis
soon forced them to tour without him. During the twenty-first
century, the band has received numerous accolades and lifetime
achievement and hall of fame awards. The band remains relevant
today, collaborating with younger artists and maintaining their
classic sound. Earth, Wind & Fire stood apart from other soul
bands with their philosophical lyrics and extravagant visual art,
much of which is studied in the book, including album covers,
concerts, and music videos. The lyrics of hit songs are examined
alongside an analysis of the band's chart success. Earth, Wind
& Fire has produced twenty-one studio albums and several
compilation albums. Each album is analyzed for content and quality.
Earth, Wind & Fire is also known for using ancient Egyptian
symbols, and Bailey thoroughly details those symbols and Maurice
White's fascination with Egyptology. After enduring many personnel
changes, Earth, Wind & Fire continues to perform around the
world and captivate diverse audiences.
Although in 2000 he became the first sideman inducted into the Rock
& Roll Hall of Fame, "King Curtis" Ousley never lived to accept
his award. Tragically, he was murdered outside his New York City
home in 1971. At that moment, thirty-seven-year-old King Curtis was
widely regarded as the greatest R & B saxophone player of all
time. He also may have been the most prolific, having recorded with
well over two hundred artists during an eighteen-year span. Soul
Serenade is the definitive biography of one of the most influential
musicians of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. Timothy R. Hoover
chronicles King Curtis's meteoric rise from a humble Texas farm to
the recording studios of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and New York City
as well as to some of the world's greatest music stages, including
the Apollo Theatre, Fillmore West, and Montreux Jazz Festival.
Curtis's "chicken-scratch" solos on the Coasters' Yakety Yak
changed the role of the saxophone in rock & roll forever. His
band opened for the Beatles at their famous Shea Stadium concert in
1965. He also backed his "little sister" and close friend Aretha
Franklin on nearly all of her tours and Atlantic Records
productions from 1967 until his death. Soul Serenade is the result
of more than twenty years of interviews and research. It is the
most comprehensive exploration of Curtis's complex personality: his
contagious sense of humor and endearing southern elegance as well
as his love for gambling and his sometimes aggressive temperament.
Hoover explores Curtis's vibrant relationships and music-making
with the likes of Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Isaac Hayes, Jimi
Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam Moore, Donny Hathaway,
and Duane Allman, among many others.
Gerald Early, an award-winning music, sports, and popular-culture
scholar, brings us a concise study of Motown Records, one of the
most famous and successful black-owned businesses in American
history, and, arguably, the most significant of all American
independent record labels.
Early tells the story of the historical and cultural conditions
that made this record company possible, including the dramatic
shifts in American popular music, changes in race relations and
racial attitudes, and the rise of a black urban population. Early
concentrates in particular on the 1960s and 70s, when Motown had
its biggest impact on American musical tastes and styles. In
addition, he provides an up-to-date bibliography of the major books
that have been written about Motown Records specifically, and black
American music generally. With new appendices featuring interviews
with four of the major creators of the Motown Sound: Berry Gordy,
Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and Marvin Gaye.
Gerald Early is Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in the
Department of Arts and Sciences at Washington University. His book,
"The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and
Modern American Culture, won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle
Award for criticism.
Foreword by Steve Harvey and afterword by David Foster The
Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco
group tells his story and charts the rise of his legendary band in
this sincere memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist
whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today. With
its dynamic horns, contrasting vocals, and vivid stage shows,
Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the most popular acts of the late
twentieth century-the band "that changed the sound of black pop"
(Rolling Stone)-and its music continues to inspire modern artists
including Usher, Jay-Z, Cee-Lo Green, and Outkast. At last, the
band's founder, Maurice White, shares the story of his success. Now
in his seventies, White reflects on the great blessings music has
brought to his life and the struggles he's endured: his mother
leaving him behind in Memphis when he was four; learning to play
the drums with Booker T. Jones; moving to Chicago at eighteen and
later Los Angeles after leaving the Ramsey Lewis Trio; forming EWF,
only to have the original group fall apart; working with Barbra
Streisand and Neil Diamond; his diagnosis of Parkinson's; and his
final public performance with the group at the 2006 Grammy Awards.
Through it all, White credits his faith for his amazing success and
guidance in overcoming his many challenges. Keep Your Head to the
Sky is an intimate, moving, and beautiful memoir from a man whose
creativity and determination carried him to great success, and
whose faith enabled him to savor every moment.
In this remarkable book, Douglas Wolk recreates the evening of
October 24th 1962, at Harlem's Apollo Theatre, an evening at the
epicentre of Cold War tensions. An evening when James Brown took
the stage to be faced by 1500 screaming fans - fans who thought
they might well be dead within a week. Wolk reconstructs, in great
detail, what took place (and was recorded) inside the Apollo that
night: one of the tightest, most legendary performances ever put
down on tape. 33 1/3 is a series of short books about critically
acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on
one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense
with the standard biographical background that fans know already,
and cut to the heart of the music on each album. The authors
provide fresh, original perspectives, often through their access to
and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of
these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and
informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways
of writing about music. (A task that can be, as Elvis Costello
famously observed, as tricky as dancing about architecture.) What
binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all
of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in
love with the album they have chosen. Previous titles in this now
well-established series have beaten sales expectations and received
excellent review coverage - the third batch is sure to continue
this success. More titles follow in the spring of 2005.
The late Grammy-winning founder of the legendary
pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and charts the
rise of his legendary band in this sincere memoir that captures the
heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to
influence music today. With an introduction by Steve Harvey and a
foreword by David Foster. "To the readers of this book you need to
know that EW&F is simply the greatest living group in my
lifetime. No one put together lyrics to a melody like they did; no
one put harmony to sound and rhythm like they did; no one added
horns in the way that they did and no one, but no one messed with
our minds about love and life like they did...EARTH because they
grow on you; WIND because it moves you in one loving direction and
FIRE because they consume your heart in a single flame of
love."-Steve Harvey With its dynamic horns, contrasting vocals, and
vivid stage shows, Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the most
popular acts of the late twentieth century-the band "that changed
the sound of black pop" (Rolling Stone)-and its music continues to
inspire modern artists including Usher, Jay-Z, Cee-Lo Green, and
Outkast. At last, the band's founder, Maurice White, shares the
story of his success. White reflects on the great blessings music
has brought to his life and the struggles he's endured: his mother
leaving him behind in Memphis when he was four; learning to play
the drums with Booker T. Jones; moving to Chicago at eighteen and
later Los Angeles after leaving the Ramsey Lewis Trio; forming EWF,
only to have the original group fall apart; working with Barbra
Streisand and Neil Diamond; his diagnosis of Parkinson's; and his
final public performance with the group at the 2006 Grammy Awards.
Through it all, White credits his faith for his amazing success and
guidance in overcoming his many challenges. My Life with Earth
Wind, and Fire is an intimate, moving, and beautiful memoir from a
man whose creativity and determination carried him to great
success, and whose faith enabled him to savor every moment.
This comprehensive guide is a must-have for the legions of fans of
the beloved and perennially popular music known as soul and rhythm
& blues. The latest in the definitive All Music Guide series,
the All Music Guide to Soul offers entertaining and informative
reviews that lead readers to the best recordings by their favorite
artists and help them find new music to explore. Informative
biographies, essays, and "music maps" trace R&B's growth from
its roots in blues and gospel and its flowering in Memphis and
Motown, to its many branches today. Complete discographies note
bootlegs, important out-of-print albums, and import-only releases.
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