Jazz category: 919 books

The expression of innovative women in acoustic and electric blues music is both vital and far-reaching. From the beginning, remarkable female artists have helped shape popular music with important blues contributions. As a result, their legacy should be kept in mind.This book commemorates a...

From Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of the award-winning hip-hop group the Roots, comes this vibrant book commemorating the legacy of Soul Train—the cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of artists such as Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Whitney Houston, Lenny Kravitz, LL...

Howlin’ Wolf was a musical giant in every way. He stood six foot three, weighed almost three hundred pounds, wore size sixteen shoes, and poured out his darkest sorrows onstage in a voice like a raging chainsaw. Half a century after his first hits, his sound still terrifies and inspires. Born...

The Epic Story of Motown and Detroit's Independent Soul Music Scene It's January 1967-and one of the worst snowstorms in decades is blanketing Detroit, Michigan. Berry Gordy, owner of Motown Records, is trapped in his home, unable to do anything about the internal war ravaging his most successful group,...

The definitive biography of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, with fascinating findings on his life as a Civil Rights activist, an entrepreneur, and the most innovative musician of our time Playing 350 shows a year at his peak, with more than forty Billboard hits, James Brown was a dazzling...

Ruth Pointer's story for the first time—and in her own words Still So Excited!: My Life in the Pointer Sisters offers an engaging, funny, heartbreaking, and poignant look at Ruth Pointer's roller-coaster life in and out of the Pointer Sisters. When overnight success came to the Pointer Sisters...

Informed by my years as a professional Blues musician and writer for Blues Revue magazine, my eBook presents some of my best column, snapshots and the stories behind them, and (intentional) Blues fiction. It is updated with current introductions to each story or photo.

Bars, Blues, and Booze collects lively bar tales from the intersection of black and white musical cultures in the South. Many of these stories do not seem dignified, decent, or filled with uplifting euphoria, but they are real narratives of people who worked hard with their hands during the week to...

I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone chronicles Jim Dickinson's extraordinary life in the Memphis music scene of the fifties and sixties and how he went on to play with and produce a rich array of artists, including Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Ry Cooder, Duane Allman, Arlo Guthrie, and Albert King....

The man who could make you cry when he sang' - RONNIE WOOD. Bobby Womack was born on 4 March 1944, and died on 27 June 2014, aged 70. In a career that spanned two centuries and seven decades, the soul singer, songwriter and guitarist carved a niche for himself that has rarely been equalled, and never...

There is only one Diana Ross. This is her story. Drawn from hundreds of interviews conducted over four decades, Diana Ross paints an unforgettable picture of an extraordinary and often controversial legend—a pop music goddess, acclaimed actress, loving mother, Civil Rights trailblazer, and...

Whitney Houston (1963–2012) was a superstar. Few in the world of show business reach the career heights that she attained with what seemed such ease. Her megastardom peaked in 1992 with the release of the hit movie The Bodyguard and the international Number One hit “I Will Always Love You.” The...

The vivid history of Beale Street—a lost world of swaggering musicians, glamorous madams, and ruthless politicians—and the battle for the soul of Memphis. Following the Civil War, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, thrived as a cauldron of sex and song, violence and passion. But out of...

The heartbreakers, lovemakers and dreamers always at the top of the music charts are revealed in probing, wide-ranging and provocative interviews that first appeared in Playboy magazine. From the forefathers of modern music Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and Bob Dylan to larger-than-life rock gods Elton...