Download or read book The Original Marvelettes written by Marc Taylor and published by Aloiv Publishing Company. This book was released on 2004 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the story of the Marvelettes, describing how they got started, the struggles they faced both personally and professionally, and the eventual breakup of the group.

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.

Download or read book Rock n Roll Unravelled written by Derek Shelmerdine and published by . This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Recollections the Detroit Years written by Jack Ryan and published by Glendower Media. This book was released on 2012 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes updates on many of the performers.

Download or read book Girl Groups written by John Clemente and published by Author House. This book was released on 2013 with total page 645 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the 1950s through the 1980s girl groups were hot --- and not just because of their looks. These rocking women had a profound impact on our culture and left us with a lifetime's worth of memorable tunes. Now you can learn about all your favorite female artists and you can build the ultimate girl-powered record collection for yourself! This expanded and updated book features biographical information of over sixty-five of the most significant girl groups of Rock 'N' Roll and Rhythm 'N' Blues, everyone from The Supremes to The Go-Gos. These profiles contain complete discographies for each of the groups and quotes from members of many of the featured groups. Also Included:  A comprehensive list of all girl groups and their labels  Pricing for 500 of the most collectible girl group records  More than 150 photos This book enables all music lovers to learn how those fabulous voices came together to form the harmonies that captured generations and also find out the most current values of the hottest collectible records.

Download or read book Leaders of the Pack written by Sean MacLeod and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-09-03 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Leaders of the Pack: Girl Groups of the 1960s and their Influence on Popular Culture musician and music historian Sean MacLeod surveys the hundreds of girl groups that appeared not only in the United States but also in Great Britain during the early 1960s. This study corrects the neglect of their critical contribution of popular music history by exploring the social and political climate from which the girl groups emerged and their effect, in turn, on local and national music and culture. MacLeod organizes his argument around seven leading girl groups: The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Ronettes, The Marvelettes, The Vandellas, the Supremes and The Shangri-Las. These seven “sister” groups serve as the basis for a broader look at the many girl groups of the period, offering a roadmap through the work of the many stakeholder—the singers, songwriters, producers, and record labels—that the girl group phenomenon made possible. MacLeod also reviews the significant influence girl groups had on the many male bands of the 1960s, as well as their influence on the post-‘60s movements, from punk to new wave, ultimately serving as the template for the girl groups and all-girl bands that emerged in the 1980s. Finally, The Leaders of the Pack brings us to the present as MacLeod compares the original girl groups with female performers of today, drawing lines of connection and contrast between them. Leaders of the Pack is essential reading for students, scholars, and fans of 1960s music and culture. It will further interest anyone interested in women’s studies, modern American and British culture, and music history, with important forays into such topics as the Civil Rights Movement, second and third wave feminism, and post-war life.

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.

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.

Download or read book Dynomite written by Jimmie Walker and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2012-06-26 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jimmie Walker was raised in a violent and abusive home in the Bronx. Starting in small clubs and eventually opening for Black Panther rallies, he ultimately became an icon playing J. J. Evans on Good Times. Walker was the first successful young black sitcom star, and his catchphrase--“Dyn-o-mite!”--remains an indicator of the era. He saw sudden and enormous fame in everything from comic books and a talking doll to pajamas, trading cards, a bestselling album, and TV Guide covers. In Dyn-o-mite!, Walker candidly talks about his rise and the considerable tensions on the set of Good Times that contradicted the show's image of a close-knit, blue-collar family struggling to survive in the projects. Walker made “Dyn-o-mite!” a catchword for the Baby Boomer generation. Today, Dyn-o-mite! will inspire that same generation to rediscover what once made America great--the freedom of thought, the freedom of speech, and the belief in the individual.

Download or read book The Pride of the Yankees written by Richard Sandomir and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I CONSIDER MYSELF THE LUCKIEST MAN ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH." On July 4, 1939, baseball great Lou Gehrig delivered what has been called "baseball's Gettysburg Address" at Yankee Stadium and gave a speech that included the phrase that would become legendary. He died two years later and his fiery widow, Eleanor, wanted nothing more than to keep his memory alive. With her forceful will, she and the irascible producer Samuel Goldwyn quickly agreed to make a film based on Gehrig's life, The Pride of the Yankees. Goldwyn didn't understand--or care about--baseball. For him this film was the emotional story of a quiet, modest hero who married a spirited woman who was the love of his life, and, after a storied career, gave a short speech that transformed his legacy. With the world at war and soldiers dying on foreign soil, it was the kind of movie America needed. Using original scrips, letters, memos, and other rare documents, Richard Sandomir tells the behind-the-scenes story of how a classic was born. There was the so-called Scarlett O'Hara-like search to find the actor to play Gehrig; the stunning revelations Elanor made to the scriptwriter Paul Gallico about her life with Lou; the intensive training Cooper underwent to learn how to catch, throw, and hit a baseball for the first time; and the story of two now-legendary Hollywood actors in Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright whose nuanced performances endowed the Gehrigs with upstanding dignity and cemented the baseball icon's legend. Sandomir writes with great insight and aplomb, painting a fascinating portrait of a bygone Hollywood era, a mourning widow with a dream, and the shadow a legend cast on one of the greatest sports films of all time.

Download or read book Mello Yello written by Walker Smith and published by Sonata Books, LLC. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mello Yello is the intimate life story of music industry legend Jack Gibson a/k/a “Jack the Rapper.” Launching the careers of countless superstars, Gibson forged enduring friendships with some of the most illustrious African American personalities of the twentieth century. His long reaching influence began in 1949, when he and J.B. Blayton established the first black-owned radio station in the United States. As an emcee and promoter, he built enduring friendships with the early black royalty of the entertainment world, among them, Sammy Davis, Jr., Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson, and Ray Charles. When he was hired by Berry Gordy to head up promotion at a fledgling record company called Motown, Gibson befriended a new crop of stars, including Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, and Smokey Robinson. Moving on to the Revelot label, and then to Stax, Gibson’s uncanny timing once again positioned him to further the careers of Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas and many others. In addition to his involvement in the music scene, Gibson gave voice to the history as he lived it—covering the Civil Rights Movement, interviewing Malcolm X, and conducting a man-on-the-street report from Detroit as it burned following Dr. King’s assassination. With the publication of his influential Black trade magazine called The Mello Yello, The Rapper established a forum for discussions and contributed to sweeping changes for African Americans in radio and the recording industry. But his most long-reaching achievement was his glittering “Family Affair”—an annual black music convention that provided a springboard for new talent. Each year, without fail, the heavy hitters of the music industry cleared their schedules to lend their talents to the Family Affair: Prince, Tina Turner, Nancy Wilson, Janet Jackson, James Brown, Whitney Houston, Eddie Murphy, Hammer, Toni Braxton, Sinbad, L.L. Cool J. And the list goes on like a “Who’s Who” of entertainment superstars. After being honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, other accolades began to roll in from the United States Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and countless other organizations. But The Rapper wasn’t finished yet. With decades of stories and music still alive in his soul, he returned to his roots—radio. Nearly fifty years after his beginnings at WERD, Jack The Rapper’s voice once again crackled across the airwaves in Las Vegas, Nevada, proclaiming three simple words: “I’m still here.”

Download or read book Girl Groups written by John Clemente and published by Author House. This book was released on 2013-06-24 with total page 643 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the 1950s through the 1980s girl groups were hot and not just because of their looks. These rocking women had a profound impact in our culture, and left us with a lifetimes worth of memorable tunes. Now you can learn about all your favorite female artists, and you can build the ultimate girl-powered record collection for yourself! This all-new book features biographical information on over seventy of the most significant girl groups of rock n roll and rhythm n blues, everyone from The Supremes to The Go-Gos. These profiles contain complete discographies for each of the groups and quotes from members of the many of the featured groups. Also included: A comprehensive listing of all girl group and their labels Pricing for 500 of the most collectible girl group records More than 200 photos This book enables all music lovers to learn how those fabulous voices came together to form the harmonies that captured generations and also find out the most current values of the hottest collectible records.

Download or read book Dust Grooves written by Eilon Paz and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.

Download or read book Mary Wells written by Peter Benjaminson and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complete with never-before-revealed details about the sex, violence, and drugs in her life, this biography reveals the incredibly turbulent life of Motown artist Mary Wells. Based in part on four hours of previously unreleased and unpublicized deathbed interviews with Wells, this account delves deeply into her rapid rise and long fall as a recording artist, her spectacular romantic and family life, the violent incidents in which she was a participant, and her abuse of drugs. From tumultuous affairs, including one with R&B superstar Jackie Wilson, to a courageous battle with throat cancer that climaxed in her gutsiest performance, this history draws upon years of interviews with Wells's friends, lovers, and husband to tell the whole story of a woman whose songs crossed the color line and whose voice captivated the Beatles.

Download or read book Girl Groups Girl Culture written by Jacqueline Warwick and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Then He Kissed Me, He's A Rebel, Chains, Stop! In the Name of Love all these songs capture the spirit of an era and an image of "girlhood" in post-World War II America that still reverberates today. While there were over 1500 girl groups recorded in the '60s--including key hitmakers like the Ronettes, the Supremes, and the Shirelles - studies of girl-group music that address race, gender, class, and sexuality have only just begun to appear. Warwick is the first writer to address '60s girl group music from the perspective of its most significant audience--teenage girls--drawing on current research in psychology and sociology to explore the important place of this repertoire in the emotional development of young girls of the baby boom generation. Girl Groups, Girl Culture stands as a landmark study of this important pop music and cultural phenomenon. It promises to be a classic work in American musicology and cultural studies.

Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars written by Jeremy Simmonds and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 850 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "First published by the Penguin Group, London, as Number one in Heaven: the heroes who died for rock 'n' roll.

Download or read book Temptations written by Otis Williams and published by Cooper Square Press. This book was released on 2002-06-25 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Temptations were the most commercially successful and critically lauded male vocal group of the Sixties and early Seventies. Through the years, the group's trademark razor-sharp choreography, finely tuned harmonies, and compelling vocals made them the exemplars of the Motown style. This is the frank, revealing story of the legendary supergroup, told by its founder.