Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records

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Author :
Publisher : Omnibus Press
ISBN 13 : 0857124994
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (571 download)

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Book Synopsis Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records by : Rob Bowman

Download or read book Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records written by Rob Bowman and published by Omnibus Press. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Walk the halls of the famous studio that produced hits for Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, and Booker T. and the MGs. Soulsville, U.S.A. provides the first history of the groundbreaking label along with compelling biographies of the promoters, producers, and performers who made and sold the music. Over 45 photos. Winner of the 1998 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in Record Labels

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.

Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul

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Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0871408740
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (714 download)

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Book Synopsis Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul by : Mark Ribowsky

Download or read book Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul written by Mark Ribowsky and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Evokes the fire of Redding. . . . Ribowsky tells the story with nonstop energy, while always probing for the larger social and musical pictures.” —New York Times Book Review When he died in one of rock's string of tragic plane crashes, Otis Redding was only twenty-six, yet already the avatar of a new kind of soul music. The beating heart of Memphis-based Stax Records, he had risen to fame belting out gospel-flecked blues in stage performances that seemed to ignite not only a room but an entire generation. If Berry Gordy's black-owned kingdom in Motown showed the way in soul music, Redding made his own way, going where not even his two role models who had preceded him out of Macon, Georgia—Little Richard and James Brown—had gone. Now, in this transformative work, New York Times Notable Book author Mark Ribowsky contextualizes his subject's short career within the larger cultural and social movements of the era, tracing the crooner's rise from preacher's son to a preacher of three-minute soul sermons. And what a quick rise it was. At the tender age of twenty-one, Redding needed only a single unscheduled performance to earn a record deal, his voice so "utterly unique" (Atlantic) that it catapulted him on a path to stardom and turned a Memphis theater-turned-studio into a music mecca. Soon he was playing at sold-out venues across the world, from Finsbury Park in London to his ultimate conquest, the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival in California, where he finally won over the flower-power crowd. Still, Redding was not always the affable, big-hearted man's man the PR material painted him to be. Based on numerous new interviews and prodigious research, Dreams to Remember reintroduces an incredibly talented yet impulsive man, one who once even risked his career by shooting a man in the leg. But that temperament masked a deep vulnerability that was only exacerbated by an industry that refused him a Grammy until he was in his grave—even as he shaped the other Stax soul men around him, like Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, and Booker T. and The MG's. As a result, this requiem is one of great conquest but also grand tragedy: a soul king of truth, a mortal man with an immortal voice and a pain in his heart. Now he, and the forces that shaped his incomparable sound, are reclaimed, giving us a panoramic of an American original who would come to define an entire era, yet only wanted what all men deserve—a modicum of respect and a place to watch the ships roll in and away again.

Time Is Tight

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Publisher : Little, Brown
ISBN 13 : 0316485578
Total Pages : 334 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (164 download)

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Book Synopsis Time Is Tight by : Booker T. Jones

Download or read book Time Is Tight written by Booker T. Jones and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The long-awaited memoir of Booker T. Jones, leader of the famed Stax Records house band, architect of the Memphis soul sound, and one of the most legendary figures in music. From Booker T. Jones's earliest years in segregated Memphis, music was the driving force in his life. While he worked paper routes and played gigs in local nightclubs to pay for lessons and support his family, Jones, on the side, was also recording sessions in what became the famous Stax Studios-all while still in high school. Not long after, he would form the genre-defining group Booker T. and the MGs, whose recordings went on to sell millions of copies, win a place in Rolling Stone's list of top 500 songs of all time, and help forge collaborations with some of the era's most influential artists, including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave. Nearly five decades later, Jones's influence continues to help define the music industry, but only now is he ready to tell his remarkable life story. Time is Tight is the deeply moving account of how Jones balanced the brutality of the segregationist South with the loving support of his family and community, all while transforming a burgeoning studio into a musical mecca. Culminating with a definitive account into the inner workings of the Stax label, as well as a fascinating portrait of working with many of the era's most legendary performers-Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Tom Jones, among them-this extraordinary memoir promises to become a landmark moment in the history of Southern Soul.

Sweet Soul Music (Enhanced Edition)

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Publisher : Little, Brown
ISBN 13 : 0316199435
Total Pages : 697 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (161 download)

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Book Synopsis Sweet Soul Music (Enhanced Edition) by : Peter Guralnick

Download or read book Sweet Soul Music (Enhanced Edition) written by Peter Guralnick and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2014-11-04 with total page 697 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A gripping narrative that captures the tumult and liberating energy of a nation in transition, Sweet Soul Music is an intimate portrait of the legendary performers--Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, James Brown, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Al Green among them--who merged gospel and rhythm and blues to create Southern soul music. Through rare interviews and with unique insight, Peter Guralnick tells the definitive story of the songs that inspired a generation and forever changed the sound of American music. This enhanced edition includes: Exclusive video footage prepared specifically for the enhanced eBook that has never been seen before. Rare audio clips.

A House on Fire

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190287659
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis A House on Fire by : John A. Jackson

Download or read book A House on Fire written by John A. Jackson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-11-15 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "The Love I Lost," "The Soul Train Theme," "Then Came You," "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"--the distinctive music that became known as Philly Soul dominated the pop music charts in the 1970s. In A House on Fire, John A. Jackson takes us inside the musical empire created by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell, the three men who put Philadelphia Soul on the map. Here is the eye-opening story of three of the most influential and successful music producers of the seventies. Jackson shows how Gamble, Huff, and Bell developed a black recording empire second only to Berry Gordy's Motown, pumping out a string of chart-toppers from Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the Spinners, the O'Jays, the Stylistics, and many others. The author underscores the endemic racism of the music business at that time, revealing how the three men were blocked from the major record companies and outlets in Philadelphia because they were black, forcing them to create their own label, sign their own artists, and create their own sound. The sound they created--a sophisticated and glossy form of rhythm and blues, characterized by crisp, melodious harmonies backed by lush, string-laden orchestration and a hard-driving rhythm section--was a glorious success, producing at least twenty-eight gold or platinum albums and thirty-one gold or platinum singles. But after their meteoric rise and years of unstoppable success, their production company finally failed, brought down by payola, competition, a tough economy, and changing popular tastes. Funky, groovy, soulful--Philly Soul was the classic seventies sound. A House on Fire tells the inside story of this remarkable musical phenomenon.

I Don't Sound Like Nobody

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Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472035126
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis I Don't Sound Like Nobody by : Albin Zak

Download or read book I Don't Sound Like Nobody written by Albin Zak and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2012-10-04 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A definitive study of the most important decade in post-World War II popular music history

I Believe in You

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Publisher : Archway Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1665758775
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (657 download)

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Book Synopsis I Believe in You by : Gregory M. Hasty

Download or read book I Believe in You written by Gregory M. Hasty and published by Archway Publishing. This book was released on 2024-05-16 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Johnnie Taylor was an enigma. This soul, gospel, and blues sensation had two dynamic life forces, each battling for a stronghold. He was a victim of the back-and-forth face-off between his faith background in the church and his prestigious occupation, overindulgent lifestyle, and unorthodox upbringing. Despite his inner turmoil, he grew into a consummate entertainer who dazzled thousands on stage and sold millions of records. In I Believe in You, author Gregory Hasty, with T.J. Hooker Taylor, Johnnie’s son, offers a carefully researched account—the first written narrative of the renowned entertainer. It shares his unique essence as a father, husband, friend, and other-world performer. This biography captures thoughts and memories from his children, former girlfriends, devoted friends, and professional associates and sheds light on his many admirable qualities, despite the nature, degree, and number of challenges he faced. I Believe in You celebrates Johnnie’s achievements, his battles, and his many victories. For sixty years, he graced the stage and traveled the country entertaining devoted fans and will always remain in the annals of music history as the “Philosopher of Soul.”

Memphis Boys

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Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN 13 : 1604734027
Total Pages : 436 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis Memphis Boys by : Roben Jones

Download or read book Memphis Boys written by Roben Jones and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2010-11-12 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Memphis Boys chronicles the story of the rhythm section at Chips Moman's American Studios from 1964, when the group began working together, until 1972, when Moman shut down the studio and moved the entire operation to Atlanta. Utilizing extensive interviews with Moman and the group, as well as additional comments from the songwriters, sound engineers, and office staff, author Roben Jones creates a collective biography combined with a business history and a critical analysis of important recordings. She reveals how the personalities of the core group meshed, how they regarded newcomers, and how their personal and musical philosophies blended with Moman's vision to create timeless music based on themes of suffering and sorrow. Recording sessions with Elvis Presley, the Gentrys, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the Box Tops, Joe Tex, Neil Diamond, B. J. Thomas, Dionne Warwick, and many others come alive in this book. Jones provides the stories behind memorable songs composed by group writers, such as "The Letter," "Dark End of the Street," "Do Right Woman," "Breakfast in Bed," and "You Were Always on My Mind." Featuring photographs, personal profiles, and a suggested listening section, Memphis Boys details a significant phase of American music and the impact of one studio.

Knock! Knock! Knock! on Wood

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781947026421
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Knock! Knock! Knock! on Wood by : Eddie Floyd

Download or read book Knock! Knock! Knock! on Wood written by Eddie Floyd and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Known for the classics "Knock on Wood," "634-5789," "Raise Your Hand," "Big Bird," and "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)," among others, Eddie Floyd's career as a soul legend spans over sixty years. His professional singing career began in Detroit in the 1950s as a founding member of the Falcons, considered "The First Soul Group." A solo artist and songwriter for Memphis's famed Stax Records from 1966 until 1975, Floyd has subsequently been the singer for the Blues Brothers Band and for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, while continuing to perform and record solo. In Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood, Floyd recounts how a three-year stint in an Alabama reform school shaped his young life; recalls the early years of R&B in Detroit alongside future Motown and Stax legends; discusses the songwriting sessions with Steve Cropper and Booker T. Jones that produced his biggest hits; addresses his complicated life-long relationship with the often-unpredictable Wilson Pickett; shares his memories of friend Otis Redding; reveals his unlikely involvement in the rise of southern rock darlings Lynyrd Skynyrd; and offers an insider perspective on the tragic downfall of Stax Records. With input from Bruce Springsteen, Bill Wyman, Paul Young, William Bell, Steve Cropper, and others, Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood captures Eddie's tireless work ethic and warm personality for an engrossing first-hand account of one of the last true soul survivors.

Funkiest Man Alive

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Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN 13 : 1496838416
Total Pages : 227 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (968 download)

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Book Synopsis Funkiest Man Alive by : Matthew Ruddick

Download or read book Funkiest Man Alive written by Matthew Ruddick and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2023-03-28 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rufus Thomas may not be a household name, but he is widely regarded as the patriarch of Memphis R&B, and his music influenced three generations. His first singles in the early 1950s were recorded as blues transitioned into R&B, and he was arguably one of the founding fathers of early rock ’n’ roll. In the early 1960s, his songs “The Dog” and “Walking the Dog” made a huge impact on the emerging British “mod” scene, influencing the likes of the Georgie Fame, the Rolling Stones, and the Who. And in the early 1970s, Thomas rebranded himself as the “funkiest man alive” and recorded funk classics that were later sampled by the likes of Public Enemy, Missy Elliot, and the Wu-Tang Clan. In Funkiest Man Alive: Rufus Thomas and Memphis Soul, Matthew Ruddick reveals the amazing life and career of Thomas, who started as a dancer in the minstrel shows that toured the South before becoming one of the nation’s early African American disc jockeys, and then going on to record the first hit singles for both Chess Records and Stax Records. Ruddick also examines the social fabric of the city of Memphis, analyzing the factors behind the vast array of talent that appeared in the late 1950s, with singers like Isaac Hayes, William Bell, Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire), and Thomas’s older daughter, Carla Thomas, all emerging from the tightly knit African American community. He also tells the story of Memphis-based Stax Records, one of the nation’s leading R&B record labels. From the earliest blues, the segregated minstrel shows, and the birth of rock ’n’ roll through to the emergence of R&B and funk, Rufus Thomas saw it all.

Otis Redding

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Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0307453952
Total Pages : 546 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Otis Redding by : Jonathan Gould

Download or read book Otis Redding written by Jonathan Gould and published by Crown. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The long-awaited, definitive biography of The King of Soul, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Redding's iconic performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Otis Redding remains an immortal presence in the canon of American music on the strength of such classic hits as “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” “Try a Little Tenderness,” and “Respect,” a song he wrote and recorded before Aretha Franklin made it her own. As the architect of the distinctly southern, gospel-inflected style of rhythm & blues associated with Stax Records in Memphis, Redding made music that has long served as the gold standard of 1960s soul. Yet an aura of myth and mystery has always surrounded his life, which was tragically cut short at the height of his career by a plane crash in December 1967. In Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life, Jonathan Gould finally does justice to Redding’s incomparable musical artistry, drawing on exhaustive research, the cooperation of the Redding family, and previously unavailable sources of information to present the first comprehensive portrait of the singer’s background, his upbringing, and his professional career. In chronicling the story of Redding’s life and music, Gould also presents a social history of the time and place from which they emerged. His book never lets us forget that the boundaries between black and white in popular music were becoming porous during the years when racial tensions were reaching a height throughout the United States. His indelible portrait of Redding and the mass acceptance of soul music in the 1960s is both a revealing look at a brilliant artist and a provocative exploration of the tangled history of race and music in America that resonates strongly with the present day.

Honky Tonk Hero

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Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 9780292706132
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (61 download)

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Book Synopsis Honky Tonk Hero by : Billy Joe Shaver

Download or read book Honky Tonk Hero written by Billy Joe Shaver and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2005-03-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Willie Nelson says, "Billy Joe Shaver may be the best songwriter alive today." And legions of fans agree. "Honky Tonk Hero" is the story of a man who not only walked on the wild side and lived to tell about it, but also got it all down in songs that many people consider to be some of the finest country songs ever written.

A Change Is Gonna Come

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Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472129627
Total Pages : 489 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (721 download)

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Book Synopsis A Change Is Gonna Come by : Craig Werner

Download or read book A Change Is Gonna Come written by Craig Werner and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ". . . extraordinarily far-reaching. . . . highly accessible." —Notes "No one has written this way about music in a long, long time. Lucid, insightful, with real spiritual, political, intellectual, and emotional grasp of the whole picture. A book about why music matters, and how, and to whom." —Dave Marsh, author of Louie, Louie and Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story "This book is urgently needed: a comprehensive look at the various forms of black popular music, both as music and as seen in a larger social context. No one can do this better than Craig Werner." —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University "[Werner has] mastered the extremely difficult art of writing about music as both an aesthetic and social force that conveys, implies, symbolizes, and represents ideas as well as emotion, but without reducing its complexities and ambiguities to merely didactic categories." —African American Review A Change Is Gonna Come is the story of more than four decades of enormously influential black music, from the hopeful, angry refrains of the Freedom movement, to the slick pop of Motown; from the disco inferno to the Million Man March; from Woodstock's "Summer of Love" to the war in Vietnam and the race riots that inspired Marvin Gaye to write "What's Going On." Originally published in 1998, A Change Is Gonna Come drew the attention of scholars and general readers alike. This new edition, featuring four new and updated chapters, will reintroduce Werner's seminal study of black music to a new generation of readers. Craig Werner is Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin, and author of many books, including Playing the Changes: From Afro-Modernism to the Jazz Impulse and Up Around the Bend: An Oral History of Creedence Clearwater Revival. His most recent book is Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul.

Passion and Pain

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Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
ISBN 13 : 142997446X
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis Passion and Pain by : Marc Shapiro

Download or read book Passion and Pain written by Marc Shapiro and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2007-06-26 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A definitive biography of Hector Lavoe's rise from Puerto Rico to stardom in New York that led to sold-out concerts and best-selling salsa albums, yet gave way to drug addiction, a strained marriage and tragedy. From the poverty-stricken streets of Ponce, Puerto Rico to the vibrant barrios of New York City, HECTOR LAVOE became the singer of all singers, and the driving-force behind the Salsa movement in the mid-1960s. His popularity rivaled that of his contemporaries, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco. Behind the music, Hector's life was filled with drugs, alcohol and women. An endless stream of tragedy plagued him, including a gun-related accident that killed his son, Hector's ninth floor jump from a hotel window, and his death in 1993 from AIDS. But Hector's pristine voice, one-of-a-kind stage performances, sold-out concerts and bestselling albums were what his fans remember most and what made him an international icon. His music brought joy to legions of people, and it continues today. Marc Shapiro's Passion and Pain is "A no-holds barred biography" (Uptown Magazine) of a fascinating life.

The Story of Motown

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Author :
Publisher : Grove Press
ISBN 13 : 9780802142856
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (428 download)

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Book Synopsis The Story of Motown by : Peter Benjaminson

Download or read book The Story of Motown written by Peter Benjaminson and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 1979 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motown was part of growing up in the 1960's and 70's. An amazing number of well-known stars worked for Motown: Diana Ross and the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Jr Walker and the All Stars, Mary Wells, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, Edwin Starr, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Lamont Dozier, Shorty Long, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Fifth dimension, the Marvelettes, the Contours, the Isley Brothers, the Spinners, the Originals, the Jackson Five, the Commodores, Rare Earth, Rick James, and many others. Most were Motown stars. Many started and ended with Motown. Motown is important for other reasons. A black company, Motown made black music popular among Americans of all ages.

Memphis 68

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Author :
Publisher : Birlinn Ltd
ISBN 13 : 085790938X
Total Pages : 373 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (579 download)

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Book Synopsis Memphis 68 by : Stuart Cosgrove

Download or read book Memphis 68 written by Stuart Cosgrove and published by Birlinn Ltd. This book was released on 2017-10-05 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF THE PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE 2018 In the 1950s and 1960s, Memphis, Tennessee, was the launch pad of musical pioneers such as Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Al Green and Isaac Hayes, and by 1968 was a city synonymous with soul music. It was a deeply segregated city, ill at ease with the modern world and yet to adjust to the era of civil rights and racial integration. Stax Records offered an escape from the turmoil of the real world for many soul and blues musicians, with much of the music created there becoming the soundtrack to the civil rights movements. The book opens with the death of the city's most famous recording artist, Otis Redding, who died in a plane crash in the final days of 1967, and then follows the fortunes of Redding's label, Stax/Volt Records, as its fortunes fall and rise again. But, as the tense year unfolds, the city dominates world headlines for the worst of reasons: the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King.