Download or read book It Came From Memphis written by Robert Gordon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-11 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gordon's critically acclaimed and richly entertaining exploration of the birthplace of rock and roll is peopled with Delta bluesmen, manic deejays, matinee cowboys and Elvis.
Download or read book Memphis Mayhem written by David A. Less and published by ECW Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Memphis gave birth to music that changed the world — Memphis Mayhem is a fascinating history of how music and culture collided to change the state of music forever “David Less has captured the essence of the Memphis music experience on these pages in no uncertain terms. There's truly no place like Memphis and this is the story of why that is. HAVE MERCY!” — Billy F Gibbons, ZZ Top Memphis Mayhem weaves the tale of the racial collision that led to a cultural, sociological, and musical revolution. David Less constructs a fascinating narrative of the city that has produced a startling array of talent, including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Al Green, Otis Redding, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Justin Timberlake, and so many more. Beginning with the 1870s yellow fever epidemics that created racial imbalance as wealthy whites fled the city, David Less moves from W.C. Handy’s codification of blues in 1909 to the mid-century advent of interracial musical acts like Booker T. & the M.G.’s, the birth of punk, and finally to the growth of a music tourism industry. Memphis Mayhem explores the city’s entire musical ecosystem, which includes studios, high school band instructors, clubs, record companies, family bands, pressing plants, instrument factories, and retail record outlets. Lively and comprehensive, this is a provocative story of finding common ground through music and creating a sound that would change the world.
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.
Download or read book Memphis written by David Bryan and published by Applause Theatre & Cinema. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MEMPHIS THE MUSICAL: THE COMPLETE BOOK AND LYRICS
Download or read book Woman with Guitar written by Paul Garon and published by City Lights Books. This book was released on 2014-06-10 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hot off the press! A revised, expanded edition of the quintessential portrait of one of the blues' greatest artists and the popular poetry of her lyrics.
Download or read book Memphis Man written by Don Nix and published by . This book was released on 2022-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biography of Don Nix, a legendary Memphis-born musician (sax and guitar), singer and songwriter.
Download or read book The Singer from Memphis written by Gary Corby and published by Soho Press. This book was released on 2016-05-17 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “witty” mystery set in ancient Greece is “sure to amuse Lindsey Davis and Elizabeth Peters fans” (Booklist, starred review). In this historical murder mystery that “blends humor with fascinating details about the ancient world,” Nicolaos, the only private investigator in Athens, discovers that helping a writer with his book research can be very dangerous (Library Journal). Would-be author Herodotus has hired Nico and his priestess wife, Diotima, to accompany him to Egypt to research that ancient country’s history. Unfortunately, Egypt happens to be in the throes of a rebellion against its overlords, the Persian Empire. Pirates infest the sea route. Three different armies roam the Egyptian countryside. The river is full of crocodiles. Everywhere Nico turns, there’s a secret agent ready to kill him, and possibly worse, he can’t find a decent cup of wine anywhere. A simple investigation is about to turn into a dangerous adventure of international espionage, in a novel that is “recommended for lovers of historical mystery and all things ancient Greek (and Egyptian and Persian and Libyan)” (Historical Novel Society).
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.
Download or read book Timekeeper written by Howard Grimes and published by DeVault Graves Books. This book was released on 2020-11 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timekeeper is the first-person insider account of the birth and expansion of the Memphis Sound, told by Howard Grimes, the celebrated house drummer from the early days at both iconic Memphis soul studios, Stax Records and Hi Records. Author Howard Grimes backed Rufus and Carla Thomas, William Bell, Willie Mitchell, Ann Peebles, and Al Green among countless others, and shares his story of artistic and personal tragedies and triumphs in his raw and authentic voice. He was a member of the Mar-Keys and sat in the number one drummer's chair for the Hi Rhythm Section. Howard Grimes' co-author is Preston Lauterbach, the highly-acclaimed author of The Chitlin' Circuit, Beale Street Dynasty, and Brother Robert (about the life of bluesman Robert Johnson). With Lauterbach's help, Timekeeper is more than a waltz through the past; it is a rollicking, boots-on-the-ground up close look at the rise and ultimate fall of the soul era of Memphis music.
Download or read book A Man Called Destruction written by Holly George-Warren and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first biography of the artist who “essentially invented indie and alternative rock” (Spin) A brilliant and influential songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, the charismatic Alex Chilton was more than a rock star—he was a true cult icon. Awardwinning music writer Holly George-Warren’s A Man Called Destruction is the first biography of this enigmatic artist, who died in 2010. Covering Chilton’s life from his early work with the charttopping Box Tops and the seminal power-pop band Big Star to his experiments with punk and roots music and his sprawling solo career, A Man Called Destruction is the story of a musical icon and a richly detailed chronicle of pop music’s evolution, from the mid-1960s through today’s indie rock.
Download or read book Cher written by Mark Bego and published by Taylor Trade Publications. This book was released on 2001 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pop phenomenon Cher has had one of the most surprising and long-lasting careers in American entertainment. Her run of hits and comebacks have continued to defy expectations, right up to her Grammy Award-winning song "Believe" and subsequent tour and HBO special. Cher's string of successes includes dozens of hit songs from the '60s onward, two top-10 rated television shows, a critically acclaimed appearance on Broadway, and a succession of award-winning films roles, the latest being in Tea with Mussolini. In this brand new book pop music authority Mark Bego tackles all the recent developments including her well-documented grief after ex-husband Sonny Bono's tragic death. Cher: If You Believe also includes the most complete discography ever of her career as well as a "boyfriend-ography"!
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.
Download or read book Uptown written by Jack Schiffman and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the gilded age of vaudeville, one theater stood out as the fountainhead of black entertainment in America--and it's still going strong. Almost every important black performer in the past four decades has appeared at the Apollo Theatre, and always with the knowledge that the acid test of his act will be the rowdy, hip crowd in the theater's 1,700 seats. The son of the Apollo's founder reveals, in this colorful and exciting narrative, the special magic and charisma that have kept this theatrical institution alive. He recalls soaring successes, crushing disasters, and hilarious snafus. ... Uptown is the story of the Apollo Theatre, from its beginnings in the 1930s ... through the jazz revolution ... into today's turned-on generation ...."--Dust jacket.
Download or read book Right on written by Michael Haralambos and published by Causeway Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Memphis Rent Party written by Robert Gordon and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-03-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Blues, being the wellspring of all American music for over a century, is always worth studying. Robert does it right." --Keith Richards "An emotional map of musical Memphis. If you don't know these characters, let Robert Gordon introduce you." --Elvis Costello "Robert Gordon's book is proof that Southern heritage is American heritage, and all sorts of people--black and white, familiar and strange, dead and alive--are what it is." --Greil Marcus Profiles and stories of Southern music from the acclaimed author of Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion. The fabled city of Memphis has been essential to American music--home of the blues, the birthplace of rock and roll, a soul music capital. We know the greatest hits, but celebrated author Robert Gordon takes us to the people and places history has yet to record. A Memphis native, he whiles away time in a crumbling duplex with blues legend Furry Lewis, stays up late with barrelhouse piano player Mose Vinson, and sips homemade whiskey at Junior Kimbrough's churning house parties. A passionate listener, he hears modern times deep in the grooves of old records by Lead Belly and Robert Johnson. The interconnected profiles and stories in Memphis Rent Party convey more than a region. Like mint seeping into bourbon, Gordon gets into the wider world. He beholds the beauty of mistakes with producer Jim Dickinson (Replacements, Rolling Stones), charts the stars with Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star), and mulls the tragedy of Jeff Buckley's fatal swim. Gordon's Memphis inspires Cat Power, attracts Townes Van Zandt, and finds James Carr always singing at the dark end of the street. A rent party is when friends come together to hear music, dance, and help a pal through hard times; it's a celebration in the face of looming tragedy, an optimism when the wolf is at the door. Robert Gordon finds mystery in the mundane, inspiration in the bleakness, and revels in the individualism that connects these diverse encounters.
Download or read book There Was A Light written by Rich Tupica and published by Permuted Press. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Available for the first time as a traditional paperback, this revised and updated edition contains new and archival interviews with those closest to Chris Bell and the Big Star circle: their friends, family, former bandmates—even fans, exes, classmates, and coworkers. “Bell’s and Big Star’s existence was short, but the wealth of stories and quotes here provides a healthy sustenance for the truth seekers. A top-notch biography.” —San Francisco Book Review The varied cast of voices—many from the band’s hometown of Memphis—comprises all the members of Big Star, including Chris Bell, the iconic Alex Chilton, Andy Hummel, and Jody Stephens. In the following decades after its 1975 breakup, the obscure group somehow reached and inspired some of rock’s most important bands, including R.E.M., the Replacements, Yo La Tengo, Teenage Fanclub, Beck, and Wilco. With Chris Bell at the center of the Big Star universe, this book carefully reveals the production of the band’s masterful 1972 debut LP, #1 Record, for Ardent/Stax Records. Despite stellar reviews, the record suffered abysmal sales. Soon after, toxic personality conflicts and turmoil tore the band apart while Bell battled drug abuse and depression. There Was A Light then delves into Big Star’s second and third albums, while recounting Bell’s second act as a struggling solo musician and born-again Christian. During several trips to Europe, he produced ambitious recordings and pitched himself to record labels—even crossing paths with Paul McCartney. From this fertile era arose Bell’s lone solo album, the posthumously released I Am the Cosmos—his swan song and masterpiece. There Was A Light details the pop culture phenomenon that made Big Star legendary and divulges how its staunch fanbase saved the band from obscurity. “... an encyclopedic compendium…illuminating Bell’s life from a thousand angles.” —Memphis Flyer
Download or read book King of the Blues written by Daniel de Vise and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first full and authoritative biography of an American—indeed a world-wide—musical and cultural legend “No one worked harder than B.B. No one inspired more up-and-coming artists. No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues.”—President Barack Obama “He is without a doubt the most important artist the blues has ever produced.”—Eric Clapton Riley “Blues Boy” King (1925-2015) was born into deep poverty in Jim Crow Mississippi. Wrenched away from his sharecropper father, B.B. lost his mother at age ten, leaving him more or less alone. Music became his emancipation from exhausting toil in the fields. Inspired by a local minister’s guitar and by the records of Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker, encouraged by his cousin, the established blues man Bukka White, B.B. taught his guitar to sing in the unique solo style that, along with his relentless work ethic and humanity, became his trademark. In turn, generations of artists claimed him as inspiration, from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Carlos Santana and the Edge. King of the Blues presents the vibrant life and times of a trailblazing giant. Witness to dark prejudice and lynching in his youth, B.B. performed incessantly (some 15,000 concerts in 90 countries over nearly 60 years)—in some real way his means of escaping his past. Several of his concerts, including his landmark gig at Chicago’s Cook County Jail, endure in legend to this day. His career roller-coasted between adulation and relegation, but he always rose back up. At the same time, his story reveals the many ways record companies took advantage of artists, especially those of color. Daniel de Visé has interviewed almost every surviving member of B.B. King’s inner circle—family, band members, retainers, managers, and more—and their voices and memories enrich and enliven the life of this Mississippi blues titan, whom his contemporary Bobby “Blue” Bland simply called “the man.”
