Miles from Motown

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Publisher : Fitzroy Books
ISBN 13 : 9781646030644
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (36 download)

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Book Synopsis Miles from Motown by : Lisa Sukenic

Download or read book Miles from Motown written by Lisa Sukenic and published by Fitzroy Books. This book was released on 2021-08-21 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twelve-year-old Georgia Johnson is sure she can win the "Spirit of Detroit Poetry Contest," judged by her idol, Gwendolyn Brooks. After moving from her beloved Detroit neighborhood to an unfamiliar suburb on the outskirts of the city, Georgia lies to prevent becoming disqualified from the contest (which is for Detroit residents only) by using her aunt Birdie's address. With her older brother deployed to Vietnam, and her family worried about when--or if--he'll make it home, Georgia tries to settle into her new life. But she misses the old--her friend Ceci, the cracks in the sidewalk that used to catch her skates, the hide-and-seek tree, and the deli on the corner. She wonders if she'll ever make new friends or feel like she belongs. To make matters worse, she must also find a way to intercept the contest finalist announcement that will be mailed to Aunt Birdie's mailbox before her family uncovers her deception. During that summer, Georgia discovers her own resiliency in the face of upheaval and the power of truth when lies ring hollow.

Motown

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Author :
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 0307538621
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (75 download)

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Book Synopsis Motown by : Gerald Posner

Download or read book Motown written by Gerald Posner and published by Random House. This book was released on 2009-04-02 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1959, twenty-nine-year-old Berry Gordy, who had already given up on his dream to be a champion boxer, borrowed eight hundred dollars from his family and started a record company. A run-down bungalow sandwiched between a funeral home and a beauty shop in a poor Detroit neighborhood served as his headquarters. The building’s entrance was adorned with a large sign that improbably boasted “Hitsville U.S.A.” The kitchen served as the control room, the garage became the two-track studio, the living room was reserved for bookkeeping, and sales were handled in the dining room. Soon word spread that any youngster with a streak of talent should visit the only record label that Detroit had seen in years. The company’s name was Motown. Motown cuts through decades of unsubstantiated rumors and speculation to tell the true behind-the-scenes narrative of America’s most exciting musical dynasty. It follows the company and its amazing roster of stars from the tumultuous growth years in Detroit, to the drama and intrigue of Hollywood in the 1970s, to resurgence in 2002. Set against the civil rights movement, the decay of America’s northern industrial cities, and the social upheaval of the 1960s, Motown is a tale of the incredible entrepreneurship of Berry Gordy. But it also features the moving stories of kids from Detroit’s inner-city projects who achieved remarkable success and then, in many cases, found themselves fighting the demons that so often come with stardom—drugs, jealousy, sexual indulgence, greed, and uncontrollable ambition. Motown features an extraordinary cast of characters, including Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder. They are presented as they lived and worked: a clan of friends, lovers, competitors, and sometimes vicious foes. Motown reveals how the hopes and dreams of each affected the lives of the others and illustrates why this singular story is a made-in-America Greek tragedy, the rise and fall of a supremely talented yet completely dysfunctional extended family. Based on numerous original interviews and extensive documentation, Motown benefits particularly from the thousands of pages of files crammed into the basement of downtown Detroit’s Wayne County Courthouse. Those court records provide the unofficial—and hitherto largely untold—history of Motown and its stars, since almost every relationship between departing singers, songwriters, producers, and the label ended up in litigation. From its peaks in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Motown controlled the pop charts and its stars were sought after even by the Beatles, through the inexorable slide caused by their failure to handle their stardom, Motown is a riveting and troubling look inside a music label that provided the unofficial soundtrack to an entire generation.

Motown

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Author :
Publisher : National Geographic Books
ISBN 13 : 0500294852
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis Motown by : Adam White

Download or read book Motown written by Adam White and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2019-01-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in paperback, the definitive visual history of Motown, the Detroit-based record company that became a music powerhouse. The music of Motown defined an era. From the Jackson 5 and Diana Ross to Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy and his right-hand man, Barney Ales, built the most successful independent record label in the world. Not only did Motown represent the most iconic recording artists of its time and produce countless global hits—it created a cultural institution that redefined pop and gave us the vision of a new America: vibrant, innovative, and racially equal. This new paperback edition of the first official visual history of the label includes a dazzling array of images, and unprecedented access to the archives of the makers and stars of Motown. Extensive specially commissioned photography of treasures extracted from the Motown archives, as well as the personal collections of Barney Ales and Motown stars, lends new insight into the lives of the legends. Motown also draws on interviews with key players from the label’s colorful history, including Motown founder Berry Gordy; Barney Ales; Smokey Robinson; Mary Wilson, founding member of the Supremes; and many more.

Before Motown

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Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 9780472067657
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (676 download)

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Book Synopsis Before Motown by : Lars Bjorn

Download or read book Before Motown written by Lars Bjorn and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of Detroit jazz comes alive with remarkable photographs, advertisements, and interviews

Motown in Love

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Publisher : Pantheon Books
ISBN 13 : 0375422005
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (754 download)

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Book Synopsis Motown in Love by : Herb Jordan

Download or read book Motown in Love written by Herb Jordan and published by Pantheon Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the complete lyrics to over one hundred Motown love songs, grouped into such categories as lessons of love, the joy of love, and love lost, and including "I'll Be There," "My Girl," and "Please Mr. Postman."

Standing in the Shadows of Motown

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Publisher : Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN 13 : 9780881888829
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (888 download)

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Book Synopsis Standing in the Shadows of Motown by : James Jamerson

Download or read book Standing in the Shadows of Motown written by James Jamerson and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 1989 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Guitar Book). Bassist James Jamerson was the embodiment of the Motown spirit and groove the invisible entity whose playing inspired thousands. His tumultuous life and musical brilliance are explored in depth through hundreds of interviews, 49 transcribed musical scores, two hours of recorded all-star performances, and more than 50 rarely seen photos in this stellar tribute to behind-the-scenes Motown. Features a 120-minute CD! Allan Slutsky's 2002 documentary of the same name is the winner of the New York Film Critics "Best Documentary of the Year" award!

Beatles, Motown, Beach Boys, Etc.: Classic Rock Discographies, Commentary, and Mono vs. Stereo Analysis

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Author :
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 : 1105754774
Total Pages : 215 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (57 download)

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Book Synopsis Beatles, Motown, Beach Boys, Etc.: Classic Rock Discographies, Commentary, and Mono vs. Stereo Analysis by : Dave Armstrong

Download or read book Beatles, Motown, Beach Boys, Etc.: Classic Rock Discographies, Commentary, and Mono vs. Stereo Analysis written by Dave Armstrong and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-05-12 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motown native and baby boomer Dave Armstrong (born in 1958) provides a goldmine of information in this homage to classic rock, with massive, fact-filled discographies of songs by Motown artists, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Detroit Rock (1965-1975), Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, and Van Morrison: including data concerning stereo and mono versions, recording dates, producers, songwriters, Billboard chart positions, best-sounding recordings, and many other facts. Also contains chapters on the topics of rockabilly, a blues and country musical pilgrimage to the South, recent landmark albums by Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson, selected Beatles mono recordings (deemed as superior to their stereo counterparts), a review of Beatles imitation groups, Bob Seger, classic rock artists 60 years or older, and favorite singles and albums from the classic rock era. A distinctly nostalgic tone is evident throughout. Any fan of classic rock (especially residents of Michigan and Detroiters) will love the musical reflections.

One Nation Under a Groove

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Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 9780472089567
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (895 download)

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Book Synopsis One Nation Under a Groove by : Gerald Lyn Early

Download or read book One Nation Under a Groove written by Gerald Lyn Early and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Motown changed the landscape of American popular culture

The Art of Grace: On Moving Well Through Life

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Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393243966
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis The Art of Grace: On Moving Well Through Life by : Sarah L. Kaufman

Download or read book The Art of Grace: On Moving Well Through Life written by Sarah L. Kaufman and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-11-02 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Sarah Kaufman offers an old-fashioned cure for a modern-day ailment. The remedy for our culture of coarseness is grace…This is an elegant, compelling, and, yes, graceful book." —Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive In this joyful exploration of grace’s many forms, Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Sarah L. Kaufman celebrates a too-often-forgotten philosophy of living that promotes human connection and fulfillment. Drawing on the arts, sports, the humanities, and everyday life—as well as the latest findings in neuroscience and health research—Kaufman illuminates how our bodies and our brains are designed for grace. She promotes a holistic appreciation and practice of grace, as the joining of body, mind, and spirit, and as a way to nurture ourselves and others.

Respect Yourself

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1608194167
Total Pages : 481 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (81 download)

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Book Synopsis Respect Yourself by : Robert Gordon

Download or read book Respect Yourself written by Robert Gordon and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-02-03 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the rise and fall of the original Stax Records, touching upon the racial politics in Memphis in the 1960s, the personal histories of the sibling founders, and the prominent musicians they featured.

Travels with Charlie

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781609054625
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (546 download)

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Book Synopsis Travels with Charlie by : Miles Backer

Download or read book Travels with Charlie written by Miles Backer and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the landmarks and geography of the midwestern United States : Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, illinois, Michigan, and Indiana.

Motown Encyclopedia

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Publisher : AC Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1311441549
Total Pages : 811 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (114 download)

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Book Synopsis Motown Encyclopedia by : Graham Betts

Download or read book Motown Encyclopedia written by Graham Betts and published by AC Publishing. This book was released on 2014-06-02 with total page 811 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motown means different things to different people. The mere mention of perhaps the most iconic record label in history is often enough to invoke memories and mental images of Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, The Supremes and numerous others. With each group recalled, there is an accompanying piece of music of the mind, from Baby Love, My Girl, Signed Sealed Delivered, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, ABC and Tears Of A Clown and countless more. Quite often, you can ask people what kind of music they like and they will simply answer ‘Motown’, and both they, and you, know exactly what is meant. Or rather, what is implied. The Motown they are invariably thinking of is the label that dominated the charts in the mid 1960s with a succession of radio friendly, dance orientated hits, most of which were written and produced by the trio of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland. This period is referred to, naturally enough, as the Golden Era, when Motown was not only the dominant force in its home city of Detroit but carried The Sound of Young America all around the world. The kind of music that had them Dancing In the Street from Los Angeles to London, Miami to Munich and San Francisco to Sydney. It was the kind of music that attracted scores of imitators; some good, some not so good. The kind of music that appealed to the public and presidents alike, and still does. It was that Motown that this book was intended to be about. However, when you start digging deeper into the Motown story, you realise that throughout its life (which, for the purposes of this book, is its formation in 1959 through to its sale in 1988) it was constantly trying other musical genres, looking to grab hits out of jazz, country, pop, rock, middle of the road and whatever else might be happening at the time. Of course it wasn’t particularly successful at some of the other genres, although those who claim Motown never did much in the rock market conveniently overlook the healthy sales figures achieved by Rare Earth, the group, and focus instead on the total sales achieved on Rare Earth, the label. This book, therefore, contains biographies of all 684 artists who had releases on Motown and their various imprints, as well as biographies of 16 musicians, 23 producers, 19 writers and 13 executives. There are also details of the 50 or so labels that Motown owned, licensed to or licensed from. All nine films and the 17 soundtracks are also featured. Every Motown single and album and EP that made the Top Ten of the pop charts in either the US or UK also have their own entries, with 222 singles, 84 albums and five EPs being featured. Finally, there are 36 other entries, covering such topics as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Motortown Revues, Grammy Awards and the most played Motown songs on radio. The 1,178 entries cover every aspect of Motown and more – of the link between Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies and Wonder Woman, of the artists from Abbey Tavern Singers to Zulema, and the hits from ABC to You Really Got A Hold On Me. The Motown Encyclopedia is the story of Motown Records; Yesterday, Today, Forever.

Beautiful Music

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Publisher : Akashic Books
ISBN 13 : 161775644X
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (177 download)

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Book Synopsis Beautiful Music by : Michael Zadoorian

Download or read book Beautiful Music written by Michael Zadoorian and published by Akashic Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[An] eight-track flashback of a novel set in 1970s Detroit” from the international bestselling author of The Narcissism of Small Differences (O, the Oprah Magazine, Summer 2018 Reading List). Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man’s transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio–loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence. But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny’s mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian’s own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one’s soul. “A sweet and endearing coming-of-age tale measured in album tracks.” —The Wall Street Journal “For Danny, cracking the seal on a fresh piece of wax and dissecting cover art and liner notes are acts of nigh religious experience that unveil to him a community of fellow rockers across Detroit . . . It’s in these small moments—a lonely boy experiencing premature nostalgia—that Zadoorian shines.” —The Washington Post “A disturbing yet humorous tale of beleaguered adolescence in 1970s Motor City.” —Steve Miller, author of Detroit Rock City

I Was Born This Way

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Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1439173354
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis I Was Born This Way by : Carl Bean

Download or read book I Was Born This Way written by Carl Bean and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In I Was Born This Way, Carl Bean, former Motown recording artist, noted AIDS activist, and founder of the Unity Fellowship of Christ Church in Los Angeles, shares his extraordinary personal journey from Baltimore foster homes to the stage of the Apollo Theater and beyond. CARL BEAN has been crossing boundaries all his life and helping others do the same. He’s never been stopped by his race or orientation, never fit or stayed in the boxes people have wanted to put him in. He left his foster home in Baltimore at seventeen and took the bus to New York City, where he quickly found the rich culture of the Harlem churches. As a singer, first with the gospel Alex Bradford Singers and later as a Motown recording artist, Bean was a sensation. When Berry Gordy signed him to record "I Was Born This Way," it was a first: the biggest black-owned record company broadcasting a statement on gender identity. The #1 song, recorded with the Sweet Inspirations, was the first gay liberation dance club hit. Whether making records, educating the black community about HIV and AIDS, or preaching to his growing congregation, Archbishop Bean has never wanted to minister to just one group. He’s worked on AIDS issues with C. Everett Koop and Elizabeth Taylor and on civil rights issues with Maxine Waters, Julian Bond, and Reverend Joseph Lowery. At the height of his recording career, he worked with Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Miles Davis, and Sammy Davis Jr. He’s brought South Central Los Angeles gang members into his church, which now has 25,000 members in twelve cities nationwide; those same Crips and Bloods have shown up at the Gay Pride parades Bean has organized with U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters. And he has courageously devoted his time and energy to spurring black civil rights leaders to address the AIDS health crisis within the African American community—an issue on which they had been silent. Preaching an all-embracing progressive theology, he is an outspoken practitioner of brotherly love, a dynamic preacher, and a social activist. The Unity Fellowship message is grace: "God is love, and God is for everyone"; "God is gay, God is straight, God is black, God is white." I Was Born This Way is the rare personal history of one of black gospel’s biggest stars and a frank, powerful, and warmhearted testament to how one man found his calling.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

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Author :
Publisher : Wiley
ISBN 13 : 9780470481509
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (815 download)

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Book Synopsis Signed, Sealed, and Delivered by : Mark Ribowsky

Download or read book Signed, Sealed, and Delivered written by Mark Ribowsky and published by Wiley. This book was released on 2010-04-19 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first definitive biography of music legend Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder's achievements as a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer are extraordinary. During a career that has spanned almost fifty years, he has earned more than thirty Top 10 hits, twenty-six Grammy Awards, and a place in both the Rock and Roll and Songwriter Halls of Fame—and he's not finished yet. On the verge of turning sixty, he is still composing, still touring, and still attracting dedicated fans around the world. For the first time, Signed, Sealed, and Delivered takes an in-depth look at Stevie Wonder's life and his evolution from kid-soul pop star into a mature artist whose music helped lay the groundwork for the evolution of hip hop and rap. Explores the life, achievements, and influence of one of America's biggest musical icons, set against the history of Motown and the last fifty years of popular music Based on extensive interviews with Motown producers, music executives, songwriters, and musicians, including founding Temptation Otis Williams, Mickey Stevenson, surviving Funk Brother Eddie Willis, synthesizer genius Malcolm Cecil, guitar legend Michael Sembello, and many others Traces Stevie's personal and musical development through the decades, from the early 1960s R&B of "Fingertips" to the social and political themes of "Living for the City" and other 1970s classics, through periods of musical and personal confusion, uncertainty, and, later, renewal Read Signed, Sealed, and Delivered to explore the life and work of one of pop music's most compelling masters of invention.

The Funk Movement

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Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 104017230X
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (41 download)

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Book Synopsis The Funk Movement by : Reiland Rabaka

Download or read book The Funk Movement written by Reiland Rabaka and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-10-23 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rabaka explores funk as a distinct multiform of music, aesthetics, politics, social vision, and cultural rebellion that has been remixed and continues to influence contemporary Black popular music and Black popular culture, especially rap music and the Hip Hop Movement. The Funk Movement was a sub-movement within the larger Black Power Movement and its artistic arm, the Black Arts Movement. Moreover, the Funk Movement was also a sub-movement within the Black Women’s Liberation Movement between the late 1960s and late 1970s, where women’s funk, especially Chaka Khan and Betty Davis’s funk, was understood to be a form of “Black musical feminism” that was as integral to the movement as the Black political feminism of Angela Davis or the Combahee River Collective and the Black literary feminism of Toni Morrison or Alice Walker. This book also demonstrates that more than any other post-war Black popular music genre, the funk music of the 1960s and 1970s laid the foundation for the mercurial rise of rap music and the Hip Hop Movement in the 1980s and 1990s. This book is primarily aimed at scholars and students working in popular music studies, popular culture studies, American studies, African American studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, critical race studies, women’s studies, gender studies, and sexuality studies.

Mercy, Mercy Me

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Publisher : Civitas Books
ISBN 13 : 0786722479
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (867 download)

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Book Synopsis Mercy, Mercy Me by : Michael Eric Dyson

Download or read book Mercy, Mercy Me written by Michael Eric Dyson and published by Civitas Books. This book was released on 2008-08-01 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty years after his murder at the hands of his own father, Marvin Gaye continues to define the hopes and shattered dreams of the Motown generation. A performer whose career spanned the history of rhythm and blues, from doo-wop to the sultriest of soul music, Gaye's artistry magnified the contradictions that defined America's coming of age in the tumultuous 1970s. In his most searching and ambitious work to date, acclaimed critic Michael Eric Dyson illuminates both Marvin Gaye's stellar achievements and stunning personal decline -- and offers an unparalleled assessment of the cultural and political legacy of R&B on American culture. Through interviews with those close to Gaye -- from his musical beginnings in a black church in Washington, D.C., to his days as a "ladies' man" in Motown's stable of young singers, from the artistic heights of the landmark album What's Going On? to his struggles with addiction and domestic violence -- Dyson draws an indelible portrait of the tensions that shaped contemporary urban America: economic adversity, the drug industry, racism, and the long legacy of hardship. Published to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of Gaye's death in 1984, and infused with the soulful prose that has become Michael Eric Dyson's trademark, Mercy, Mercy Me is at once a celebration of an American icon whose work continues to inspire, and a revelatory and incisive look at how a lost generation's moods, music, and moral vision continue to resonate today.