Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom

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Nat Hentoff has called Peter Guralnick "a national resource," and for once this isn't a piece of hype. Guralnick may be a premiere chronicler of American popular music, which he writes about with brains, reverence, and a peculiar tenderness for dashed dreams. In this volume, he records the rise and fall of Stax Records--the Memphis powerhouse that produced a string of classics from the likes of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, Booker T. and the MGs, and Johnnie Taylor. The birth of modern rhythm-and-blues makes for a fascinating story. But there's another story behind that one--the racial tensions that eventually tore Stax apart--which makes the book richer, and sadder, than we have any right to expect.

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Customer Reviews:

A Rare Treat.......2006-12-23

I have two books always at my bedside table- The Holy Bible and Sweet Soul Music by Peter Guralnick. This is the complete southern Soul story from Ray Charles and Sam Cooke to the bitter end of the Stax/Volt era. Aided immeasurably by the participation of the one and only Solomon Burke, this book will take you to the time and place (and sometimes the very recording session) of the greatest music ever recorded. James Brown was the only Soul luminary who refused to participate, I suppose because he was saving all his thoughts and stories for his own rather unrevealing autobiography. Anyway, this is the only book where I've seen all this information in one place. Impeccably researched and although Guralnick can be a bit dry and academic at times, this is the Holy Bible of Soul.

Labor of Love.......2004-04-03

Like Robert Palmer's superb "Deep Blues," Guralnick's extensive look back at the roots of R&B and soul music combines criticism, biographical profiles and social history into one rich, printed tapestry. Meticulously researched, the book shows its author's deep love of the music without sacrificing objectivity.

Guralnick provides plenty of background on the "race music" that spawned R&B and the great soul music of the sixties and early seventies, on which much of the book concentrates. Like most, if not all, of the great blues musicians, the early pioneers of soul came from humble, mostly southern beginnings, and made little or no money from their work, which was liberally sampled by white musicians.

A good portion of the narrative revolves around the fascinating rise and fall of Stax Records, the tiny Memphis-based label that brought together white executive leadership and musicians with raw black talent from the South. Despite initially primitive recording conditions, Stax developed into a powerhouse that was home to some of the greatest musicians in soul music, from Otis Redding to William Bell to Carla Thomas to Sam and Dave to Johnny Taylor. The label became representative of the growing sense of black pride that defined the era, one in which civil rights, of course, moved to the forefront of America's consciousness.

All of these musicians and many more, including Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and James Brown, to name a few, are given finely drawn profiles by Guralnick, and he treats their contributions to American music with the respect that they deserve. Throughout, he is intent on letting the artists tell their stories in their own words, and remains content to use his own fine writing to direct and bind together the narrative.

Another great accomplishment of the book, for me, was Guralnick's successful effort to illuminate the ties between white and black musicians during this period. Yes, many of the most successful producers, notably Atlantic's Jerry Wexler, were white, but so were many of the musicians. Most had grown up in the south around blacks and were intimately familiar with African-American music. The Stax house band, which included Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn, was white, and they performed on many songs penned by great black songwriters such as David Porter and Isaac Hayes. Think of the great, ominous organ introduction to Aretha Franklin's "I Ain't Never Loved a Man." The white player is Spooner Oldham. This musical cross-fertilization is a notable point, one not often brought into considerations of the era.

As a young kid coming up in the mid-60s, I loved the music that Guralnick writes about here, and I could tell -- even if he hadn't said so -- that he did too. He goes beyond that love to really dig into its roots and understand it, and succeeds admirably.

get the facts right.......2004-01-02

I bought this book in the gift shop at the newly resurrected Stax Records museum in Memphis... the Satellite Record Shop, next door to the museum. I've lived in Memphis all my life, although I'm about 15-20 years younger than most of those made famous by the Stax phenomenon. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and it served to fill in the blanks about many things I had only heard about superficially growing up here. I'm bothered by a lot of factual errors, not noticeable or important maybe to many, but this is about my home. At least the author and/or his editor could have been more sure of producing a factually accurate book. The edition I bought was published in 1999... the original in 1986. Did no one else catch these errors in the '86 edition? Here are a couple of examples: He refers to a Memphis radio station, KWEM, which was and is actually in West Memphis, Arkansas, and whose call letters are KWAM. (Everybody knows stations east of the Mississippi River start with a "W" and all those west of the Mississippi start with a "K".... radio and TV stations alike. Does the author know where Memphis is?
He refers to a naval base in Tipton County, TN, where Booker T. & the MGs would play, when in fact it's in Shelby County, the same county Memphis itself is in. Does this change anything in the big picture? Probably not. Is the book any less enjoyable or informative? No, not really. But if you considered yourself a true New Yorker, and someone kept writing about it, calling it Gethom City, or The Big Orange, well, you get the picture. I do wonder how many other errors the book may contain that I didn't catch?

I Think the Book Ends Before its Climax.......2000-08-26

'Sweet Soul Music' is a fantastic book, the best book I've read on the subject. Having said that, it isn't by any means a complete history of Soul Music (it completely omits the great music that came from New York, Motown, Chicago and Philly), nor is it a complete history of Southern Soul Music (the book ends with the acrimonious break up of Stax/Volt records, even though great Soul was still being made elsewhere in Memphis). Guralnick's book starts off looking like a history of Soul Music (there are early chapters on Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and an amazing and hilarious chapter on Solomon Burke), but then the book changes emphasis and becomes the story of the involvement of white musicians in Southern R&B.

Guralnick's thesis seems to be that Southern Soul achieved its great creative flowering in the 60s as a result of the partnership between black and white musicians, and even though he interviews a great number of musicians and businessmen - black and white - he can't help himself from empathising with the young white hipsters that made up the house bands at Stax and Muscle Shoals, with the result that the book becomes very much a story told from their point of view (Guralnick calls Dan Penn the "secret hero of this book" - fair enough, but surely James Brown should have been its overt hero). After these white musicians were intimidated out of the business during the racial tension that followed Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968, Guralnick concentrates more on the politics and seems to lose interest in the music itself.

Which is a great pity, since Southern Soul in the 70s went on to even greater heights (James Brown's rhythmic revolution, then Al Green's great synthesis of the sexual and the spiritual). Though I learnt a great deal from the book (my CD collection has mushroomed after reading it) it felt to this reader as though the book had ended just before its real climax.

A GREAT JUSTICE FOR SOUL MUSIC!.......2000-08-03

THis is The Kind Of Book For Lovers OF Real SOul&it's Early History&Impact.So Many Great Artists.this Book Is Music To The Eyes&Heart.Very Well Detailed.SO Many Styles Covered&Told.It Covers a Wide Base Of Issues.A Must.

Sweet Soul Music : Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom

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Sweet Soul Music : Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom
Peter Guralnick
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTY422

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SWEET SOUL MUSIC, Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom
Peter Guralnick
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEN1LM

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Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom
Peter Suralnick
Manufacturer: Borgo Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

British Culture and the End of Empire (Studies in Imperialism)

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The Course from Empire

British Culture and the End of Empire (Studies in Imperialism)

Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0719060486

Book Description

The demise of the British Empire in the three decades following the Second World War is a theme that has been well traversed in studies of post-war British politics, economics and foreign relations. Yet there has been strikingly little attention to the question of how these dramatic changes in Britain's relationships with the wider world were reflected in British culture. This volume addresses this central issue, arguing that the social and cultural impact of decolonisation had as significant an effect on the imperial centre as on the colonial periphery. Far from being a matter of indifference or resigned acceptance as is often suggested, the fall of the British Empire came as a profound shock to the British national imagination, and resonated widely in British popular culture.

Customer Reviews:

The Course from Empire.......2005-11-17

British Culture and the End of Empire is full of intriguing and informative essays that cope with the legacy of the British Empire. The names of some of the contributors - Peter Hansen, Shompa Lahiri, or Hsu-Ming Teo, for example - promise a range of voices from around the globe, and the essays do not disappoint. Topics range from travel to film to cricket, and they analyze in depth their given topics within the context of British decolonization. Likewise, the point of view varies from pride in the British Empire to opprobrium over its aftermath. In this book, British heroes from bygone eras find themselves posthumously featured in films, and modern explorers seek to emulate their forefathers by finding exotic lands untainted by Western Civilization. The essays have a serious tone, and may seem a bit dry at times, but they provide valuable insights into the recent decades of British consciousness.

Cinema at the End of Empire: A Politics of Transition in Britain and India

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Cinema at the End of Empire: A Politics of Transition in Britain and India
Priya Jaikumar , and Priya Jaikumar
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0822337932

Book Description

How did the imperial logic underlying British and Indian film policy change with the British Empire’s loss of moral authority and political cohesion? Were British and Indian films of the 1930s and 1940s responsive to and responsible for such shifts? Cinema at the End of Empire illuminates this intertwined history of British and Indian cinema in the late colonial period. Challenging the rubric of national cinemas that dominates film studies, Priya Jaikumar contends that film aesthetics and film regulations were linked expressions of radical political transformations in a declining British empire and a nascent Indian nation. As she demonstrates, efforts to entice colonial film markets shaped Britain’s national film policies, and Indian responses to these initiatives altered the limits of colonial power in India. Imperially themed British films and Indian films envisioning a new civil society emerged during political negotiations that redefined the role of the state in relation to both film industries.

In addition to close readings of British and Indian films of the late colonial era, Jaikumar draws on a wealth of historical and archival material, including parliamentary proceedings, state-sponsored investigations into colonial filmmaking, trade journals, and intra- and intergovernmental memos regarding cinema. Her wide-ranging interpretations of British film policies, British initiatives in colonial film markets, and genres such as the Indian mythological film and the British empire melodrama reveal how popular film styles and controversial film regulations in these politically linked territories reconfigured imperial relations. With its innovative examination of the colonial film archive, this richly illustrated book presents a new way to track historical change through cinema.

Modern Architecture and the End of Empire (British Art and Visual Culture Since 1750, New Readings) (British Art and Visual Culture Since 1750, New Readings) ... and Visual Culture Since 1750, New Readings)

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Modern Architecture and the End of Empire (British Art and Visual Culture Since 1750, New Readings) (British Art and Visual Culture Since 1750, New Readings) ... and Visual Culture Since 1750, New Readings)
Mark Crinson
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0754635104

British Culture and the End of Empire.(Reviews of Books)(Book Review): An article from: Albion

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British Culture and the End of Empire.(Reviews of Books)(Book Review): An article from: Albion
Douglas M. Haynes
Manufacturer: North American Conference on British Studies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00082BVRG
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Albion, published by North American Conference on British Studies on September 22, 2003. The length of the article is 869 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: British Culture and the End of Empire.(Reviews of Books)(Book Review)
Author: Douglas M. Haynes
Publication: Albion (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2003
Publisher: North American Conference on British Studies
Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Page: 547(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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