Name: Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
Brand: Carla Jean Whitley
SKU: 9781626192393
Price: 17.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

9781626192393

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

An estimated four hundred gold records have been recorded in the Muscle Shoals area. Many of those are thanks to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, dubbed the Swampers.

Some of the greatest names in rock, R&B and blues laid tracks in the original, iconic concrete-block building--the likes of Cher, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Rolling Stones and the Black Keys. The National Register of Historic Places now recognizes that building, where Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded the original version of Free Bird and the Rolling Stones wrote Brown Sugar and Wild Horses. By combing through decades of articles and music reviews related to Muscle Shoals Sound, music writer Carla Jean Whitley reconstructs the fascinating history of how the Alabama studio created a sound that reverberates across generations.

Cover image for Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, isbn: 9781626192393

King Records of Cincinnati

9780738560793

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Through stories of people, music, and dreams, King Records of Cincinnati tells the history of a recording company which launched countless musical careers.

Starting with a few songs and a dream in 1943, King Records--a leading American independent--launched musical careers from a shabby brick factory on Brewster Avenue in Cincinnati's Evanston neighborhood. Founder Sydney Nathan recorded country singers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Wayne Raney, and others and later added black acts such as James Brown and the Famous Flames, Bull Moose Jackson, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Lonnie Johnson, and Freddy King. Meanwhile, King also explored polka, jazz, bluegrass, comedy, gospel, pop, and instrumental music--anything that Nathan could sell. Although King's Cincinnati factory closed in 1971, the company's diverse catalog of roots music had already become a phenomenon. Its legacy lives on in hundreds of classic recordings that are prized by collectors and musicians.

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Motor City Rock and Roll

9780738552361

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Detroit is famous for its cars and its music. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Motor City fans experienced a golden age of rock and roll.

Rock was the defiant voice of the boomer generation. The 1960s and the 1970s were turbulent decades. Blacks and women asserted themselves, breaking down the establishment. Rock music, and the spirit and events that defined it, advanced these interests. The war in Vietnam brought tension and national conflict. Drugs and a sexual revolution, made possible by the introduction of the birth control pill, added to the volatile mix. Woodstock, May Day protests, and the resignation of Pres. Richard Nixon were just a few of the upheavals that made these decades two of the most important in the nation's history. Motor City Rock and Roll: The 1960s and 1970s features 200 images, capturing local musicians who started in Detroit and then traveled the world, as well as world-famous acts who came to the city to perform. Intimate stories of musicians, bands, and other members of the rock community make this history a must for dedicated fans.

New York City Jazz

9780738599144

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New York City Jazz explores many of the haunts and hideaways that have played host to iconic jazz musicians and singers like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lester Young. Considered the jazz capital of the world, New York City is known for its flashy venues. The stages of the Latin Quarter, Apollo Theater, Minton's Playhouse, Onyx, Stork Club, Downbeat Club, Birdland, Roseland, and Copacabana came to life with the sounds of pianos, drums, horns, and gypsy guitars. This collection of images presents why Fifty-second Street was nicknamed Swing Street and how musicians made timeless names for themselves in the Empire City.

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Southern California Surf Music, 1960-1966

9781467133203

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Dick Dale & the Del-Tones began holding weekend dances at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California, in the summer of 1960. Over the next year and a half, Dale developed the sound and style that came to be known as surf music. The result was the development of more powerful guitar amplifiers, a dramatic increase in the sales of Fender guitars and amplifiers, and a shift from New York to West Coast recording studios. More and more people were drawn to the sport of surfing, which became an important part of teen beach culture at the time. Even landlocked teenagers were captured by the moment, carrying surfboards atop their woodies in Phoenix or bleaching their hair blonde in St. Paul. For hundreds of thousands of kids, though, the attraction was not the connection to surfing; it was the connection to the music pioneered by Dick Dale.

Southern California Surf Music, 1960-1966

Cleveland's Rock and Roll Roots

9780738577869

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Rock and roll has been as much a part of the north coast city of Cleveland as the lake that hugs it.

Ever since Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed first called the records he was playing ""rock and roll,"" northeast Ohio has been a driving force in this musical phenomenon. From the disc jockeys who spun the music to the musicians who played it, the clubs that welcomed it and fans who encouraged it, rock and roll has been as much a part of this north coast as the lake that hugs it. It was those early years, from the 1950s on, that led Cleveland to becoming the ""Rock and Roll Capital of the World"" and ultimately home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. While the city spawned several widely recognized names, such as the James Gang (with Joe Walsh), the Raspberries (with Eric Carmen), and Bobby Womack, it is the music itself that will keep this town rocking on the shores of Lake Erie, and beyond, for a long time to come.

The Chicago Music Scene

9780738577296

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This is the story of Chicago's vibrant music scene in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 1960s and 1970s was a time when jazz, rock and roll, country and western, folk, blues, and R & B flowed through the streets of Chicagoland. Much has been written about the national and international talent of that time, but not enough has been written regarding local music scenes. This story focuses on the city of Chicago (along with its suburban club scene) and the homegrown performers who made the 1960s and 1970s one of the most electrifying and memorable periods in music history. Some of those players went all the way to the big time, while others made their mark and disappeared. But they all made a difference in their own way, and for those who were there, it is a time they will never forget.

The Akron Sound

9781625858634

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Chrissie Hynde, Devo..Rubber City Rebels...The Rubber City's rebel musical roots

Music made in Akron symbolized an attitude more so than a singular sound. Crafted by kids hell-bent on not following their parents into the rubber plants, the music was an intentional antithesis of Top 40 radio. Call it punk or call it new wave, but in a short few years, major labels signed Chrissie Hynde, Devo, the Waitresses, Tin Huey, the Bizarros, the Rubber City Rebels and Rachel Sweet. They had their own bars, the Crypt and the Bank. They had their own label, Clone Records. They even had their own recording space, Bushflow Studios. London's Stiff Records released an Akron compilation album, and suddenly there were Akron Nights in London clubs and CBGB was waiving covers for people with Akron IDs. Author Calvin Rydbom of the Akron Sound Museum remembers that short time when the Rubber City was the place.

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Delta Music and Film

9781467113953

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The Delta Lowlands, a place of stunning innovation and creativity in music and film, has laid an incredible foundation for American entertainment. Talented singers, producers, and musicians from a narrow stretch of Arkansas Delta land--traversing U.S. Highway 65 south near England down to Pine Bluff and on through Lake Village/Eudora--have garnered every conceivable distinction, including Grammys as well as Country Music Association (CMA), Gospel Music Association (GMA), Stellar, Dove, Soul Train, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and other music awards. The mosaic of cotton blossoms, catfish farms, blues juke joints, foot-stomping churches, and rich Delta dirt has also served as the training ground for legends in blues, R&B/soul, country music, jazz, and gospel. In film and television, the Delta Lowlands has birthed the invention of sound in movies, the development of slow-motion footage, the creation of television's Neilson's ratings, the first western-genre movie star, a cadre of Emmy and Oscar award-winning personalities, and a television tower that was once the second tallest man-made structure in the world.

Gennett Records and Starr Piano

9781467117258

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The Starr Piano Company, based in Richmond, Indiana, quickly became one of the largest piano manufacturers in the United States during the 19th century. In 1915, the Starr Piano Company opened a recording division, Gennett Records, that led to a dynamic change in the music industry and American culture. Gennett embraced the vastly under-recorded genres of jazz, blues, and country music in the 1920s. They recorded artists who were groundbreakers and innovators in both popular and vernacular music, including Louis Armstrong, Charley Patton, Gene Autry, Hoagy Carmichael, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Uncle Dave Macon, and Jelly Roll Morton, often for the first time. The company, like many others, suffered a steep decline in the sale of their pianos and records due to the Great Depression, but the music recorded at Gennett continues to reach new generations and influence musicians as they discover it on reissues and streaming media services.

The Decade

9781467117203

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The Decade was the birthplace of rock 'n' roll in Pittsburgh, at the corner of Atwood and Sennott. The eclectic bar with parachutes covering the ceiling was home base for local bands such as the Iron City Houserockers, but it also served as a showcase for rising international recording acts, including the Police, U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Ramones. Under the shadow of the University of Pittsburgh, The Decade was an oasis of live rock and blues music in the 1970s to the early 1990s. The small venue had wide appeal to bands who felt they could intimately connect with their audience. Owned and operated by Dom DiSilvio, The Decade will forever be a home to many Pittsburghers, and Images of Modern America: The Decade is a home for their stories.

Cover image for The Decade, isbn: 9781467117203

The Muscle Shoals Legacy of FAME

9781626197695

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FAME Publishing first opened in 1959 and produced hits for great musicians like Etta James, Clarence Carter and Aretha Franklin.

ot long after, the city of Muscle Shoals became known as the "Hit Recording Capital of the World." FAME was the foundation that produced Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, the Nutthouse and Sundrop Sound at Single Lock Records - studios that gave a voice to artists like Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and John Paul White. A new generation, including the Pollies and Doc Dailey & the Magnolia Devil, today carries the tradition of great music. Through extensive research, and enriched with interviews from those who lived it, local author Blake Ells chronicles the epic story that started with FAME.

Memphis

9781467127394

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The music that has been produced in Memphis over the past 100 years is as unique and diverse as the city itself. Growing out of the Mississippi Delta, the Memphis blues have been transported worldwide by such ambassadors as B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf. Rock's first baby steps were taken at the tiny Sun Studio by a group of artists who have inspired generations of musicians to follow in their beat. Soul music found its groove at Stax with a homegrown sound that exploded onto the American music scene. Music producers, including Sam Phillips, Willie Mitchell, Chips Moman, and Jim Stewart, found in Memphis a sound as distinctive as their individual personalities. Each one inspired, motivated, and encouraged their artists and, in doing so, produced a volume of work that has become the sound track of their generation.

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Detroit

9780738561134

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Detroit has always been at the forefront of American popular music development, and the ragtime years and jazz age are no exception. The city's long history of diversity has served the region well, providing a fertile environment for creating and nurturing some of America's most distinctly indigenous music. With a focus on the people and places that made Detroit a major contributor to America's rich musical heritage, Detroit: Ragtime and the Jazz Age provides a unique photo journal of a period stretching from the Civil War to the diminishing years of the big bands in the early 1940s.

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West Virginia's Traditional Country Music

9781467123112

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West Virginia has been known for a century as a rich repository of traditional country music and musicians. Beginning in the mid-1920s, phonograph recordings and radios brought this music to a wider audience. With the passing of time and the influence of commercialization, this music developed into what became first known as hillbilly and then into the more refined country because of its long appeal to those of rural background. Although modernization has caused the traditional element to recede considerably, much still remains. Many folk still cling to the older sounds exemplified by the raw traditionalists and the neo-traditional bluegrass style that emerged in the 1940s. From the earliest recording artists, such as the Tweedy Brothers and David Miller, who was blind, to contemporary stars like Kathy Mattea and Brad Paisley, West Virginians and others have held their musicians in high esteem.

West Virginia's Traditional Country Music

New York City Vaudeville

9780738545622

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New York City Vaudeville provides a unique pictorial record of America's preeminent entertainment medium in the late 1800s through the early 1930s. New York's Palace Theatre
served as the flagship for vaudeville, on which stage every
vaudevillian aspired to perform. New York City Vaudeville
features photographs of some of the greatest names from
the Palace Theatre, including Jack Benny, George Burns
and Gracie Allen, Anna Held, the Marx Brothers, and Eva Tanguay, as well as legendary African American performers such as Bill Robinson, Ethel Waters, and Bert Williams. Through the photographs and the capsule biographies, the reader is transported back to a time when vaudeville was the people's entertainment, with a new bill of fare each week and an ever-changing number of performers with ever-changing styles of presentation.

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The Birth of the Detroit Sound

9780738520339

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From the 1940s through the early 1960s, a new form of popular music was born in the United States-one that would take the world by storm. Detroit disc jockey Alan Freed, among the very first to play and promote new music, christened it "Rock 'n Roll" from an old blues lyric. Detroit, like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Memphis, contributed its own distinctive regional character to the music and became a hub of industry activity. An epicenter of American music by the mid-1950s, Detroit built its reputation upon a wealth of talented singers and musicians, the vast amount of clubs and theaters available to them, and a multitude of enthusiastic industry professionals who helped bring their unique sound to the world. Many record labels, including Fortune and Fox, also thrived in the metro Detroit area in the days before Berry Gordy's Motown Records gained international recognition. This book documents the extraordinary style of music that took shape in Detroit well before Motown was a gleam in Gordy's eye. The Birth of the Detroit Sound chronicles great talents like John Lee Hooker, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, Jackie Wilson, Jack Scott, Andre Williams, and Nolan Strong. Featuring a rare collection of vintage photographs, the book also spotlights record industry personalities, deejays, and long-forgotten venues where the giants of Detroit music once performed.

The Dallas Music Scene

9781467131513

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For much of the 20th century, Dallas was home to a wide range of vital popular music. By the 1920s, the streets, dance halls, and vaudeville houses of Deep Ellum rang with blues and jazz. Blind Lemon Jefferson was discovered singing the blues on the streets of Deep Ellum but never recorded in Dallas. Beginning in the 1930s, however, artists from Western swing pioneer Bob Wills to blues legend Robert Johnson recorded in a three-story zigzag moderne building at 508 Park Avenue. And from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, a wrestling arena called the Sportatorium was home to a Saturday night country and rock-and-roll extravaganza called the Big D Jamboree.

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Carolina Bluegrass

9781467118248

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In the Carolinas, bluegrass is more than music—it's a way of life. The origins of the genre date back to the earliest frontier settlements, and banjo music appeared at dances in Greenville, South Carolina, as early as 1780. The genre was essential to socialization in the textile mills of both states. Old-time music of the Blue Ridge Mountains heavily influenced the sound. Bill Monroe, considered by many to be the father of bluegrass, began his recording career in Charlotte in 1936. Many of the most popular bands, such as the Hired Hands and Briarhoppers, regularly performed live on local television stations in Columbia, Spartanburg and Charlotte. Today, bluegrass festivals fill local calendars across the region. Author Gail Wilson-Giarratano uses interviews and the historic record to tell this unique and compelling story.

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Gainesville Punk

9781626197671

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Known for The Fest, Less Than Jake and Hot Water Music, Gainesville became a creative hub in the 1980s and '90s for many of punk rock's greats.

Whether playing at the Hardback or wild house parties, earnest acts like Against Me!, Spoke and Roach Motel all emerged and thrived in the small northern Florida city. Radon burst onto the scene with chaotic energy while Mutley Chix helped inspire local torchbearers No Idea Records. Through this succinct history, author Matt Walker traces each successive generation's contributions and amplifies the fidelity of the Gainesville scene.

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The Cincinnati Sound

9780738550763

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From 1940 to 1970, Cincinnati overflowed with musical opportunities. Hank Williams recorded his hit "Lovesick Blues." Andy Williams, Rosemary and
Betty Clooney, and Doris Day appeared regularly on WLW Radio, which also broadcast Boone County Jamboree. Then came the network television show
Midwestern Hayride and stardom for Kenny Price. Meanwhile, King and Fraternity Records released hundreds of hits for James Brown, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Cowboy Copas, Lonnie Mack, and the Casinos. In the late 1960s, the Lemon Pipers sang "Green Tambourine," and rock bands ruled Coney Island's Moonlite Gardens. It was a wild, incredible ride while it lasted, and it left such an indelible impression that today Cincinnati is remembered as one of America's top music capitals.

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Historic Dance Halls of East Central Texas

9781467131506

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Texas dance halls are iconic structures that have played a prominent role in the state's culture from its earliest stages. They became central institutions in the earliest European settlements and provided these immigrant communities with a common, central space in which to build new ways of life in a new land. The settlement patterns of the mostly German, Czech, Polish, and other central European migrants of this period gave East Central Texas the state's greatest concentration of dance halls. Thousands of these halls were built throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, but at present, their numbers have dwindled considerably, and many are at risk.

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Los Angeles's Central Avenue Jazz

9781467131308

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From the late 1910s until the early 1950s, a series of aggressive segregation policies toward Los Angeles's rapidly expanding African American community inadvertently led to one of the most culturally rich avenues in the United States. From Downtown Los Angeles to the largely undeveloped city of Watts to the south, Central Avenue became the center of the West Coast jazz scene, nurturing homegrown talents like Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, and Buddy Collette while also hosting countless touring jazz legends such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday. Twenty-four hours a day, the sound of live jazz wafted out of nightclubs, restaurants, hotel lobbies, music schools, and anywhere else a jazz combo could squeeze in its instruments for nearly 50 years, helping to advance and define the sound of America's greatest musical contribution.

Cover image for Los Angeles's Central Avenue Jazz, isbn: 9781467131308

Memphis Music

9780738544113

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Memphis means music. That relationship was solidified in 1909 when W. C. Handy wrote the song "Mr. Crump" and later published it as the "Memphis Blues." As Handy's songs were sung and played in streets and music halls, a spotlight began to shine on a new mecca for innovation in music--Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis Music: Before the Blues surveys the people, music, and events that contributed to the rich musical life that emerged against the backdrop of the Civil War and yellow fever in the 19th century. The story is not just one of the building blocks to what has been called America's greatest export--popular music--but rather it is a story of ongoing innovation and creativity that came from a convergence of people of different cultures.

Hollywood Studios

9780738547084

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Just after the turn of the 20th century, the motion picture industry moved to the West Coast, and the largest land of make-believe was created in Hollywood, California. From the silent-era beginnings of primitive, open-air stages to the fabled back lots of the studios' heyday, Hollywood Studios presents a bygone era of magical moviemaking in rare postcards. Assembled from the author's private collection, these images from the Chaplin Studios to Metro-Goldwyn Mayer depict an insider's look back at the dream factories known as the Hollywood studios.

Chicago Blues

9781467112208

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Blues was once described as the devil's music. It eventually became some of the most beloved American music that was embraced by a global audience. Originating in African American communities in the South in the late 1800s, it was inspired by gospel and spiritual music sung by field hands and sharecroppers who worked on plantations. During the Great Migration from the early 1900s to the mid-1970s, many African Americans moved north for a better quality of life. Chicago was one of America's leading industrialized cites, and manufacturing jobs were plentiful and provided better wages than sharecropping. Many blues musicians who worked as field hands and sharecroppers moved to Chicago not only for those jobs, but also to pursue their love of music. Greats such as Big Bill Broonzy, Tampa Red, Muddy Waters, Jimmy and Estelle Yancey, Robert Nighthawk, Elmore James, Willie Dixon, Earl Hooker, Koko Taylor, Sly Johnson, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Eddie Burns, Zora Young, Junior Wells, and a host of others came with their own styles and gave birth to Chicago blues.

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Cape Cod Jazz

9781467119320

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The first notes of jazz hit Cape Cod in the very early days of the genre. Bournehurst-on-the-Canal hosted top bands, and emerging swing era dancers packed the hall. Cape Cod's First Lady of Jazz, Marie Marcus, was a child prodigy in Boston and found some of her most important instruction in the art of stride piano during lessons with great pianist Fats Waller in New York. At the very tip of the Cape, the Atlantic House in Provincetown showcased performances from some of the biggest names like Gerry Mulligan, Billie Holiday and Stan Getz. Author John Basile details the fascinating history and amazing musicians that made Cape Cod a music destination.

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Pittsburgh Jazz

9780738549804

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Pittsburgh Jazz documents the almost forgotten magic created in the city of Pittsburgh by a host of artists, uptown inner city streets, and jazz joints that served patrons from a menu packed full of delightful music. The magical improvised songs, compositions, and unique styles of hundreds of those who were born, raised, or influenced by what occurred in the smoke filled clubs, bars, restaurants, and theaters is difficult to comprehend. And yet, every jazz artist in the world was attracted here to "stand the test" waiting in the Steel City. This book is committed to connecting Pittsburghstyle jazz as the synthesis that resulted in the art form called bebop. This photographic presentation was captured by Pittsburgh Courier photographers between the 1930s and 1980s.

Fort Worth's Rock and Roll Roots

9780738584997

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On the evening of February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced the Beatles to America. Across the country, teens were glued to their TV sets and witnessed a turning point in rock and roll history. Vibrant and creative teen scenes sprang up all across the country. The scene in Fort Worth, Texas, produced an exceptional burst of creativity in songwriting and musicianship. Weekend concerts and battles of the bands drew thousands of fans. Primitive teen recordings were pressed into 45s and received radio airplay in rotation with national acts. Local television shows featured live bands; fashions changed with go-go girls' skirts growing shorter; long hair became the style for women and men; and the seeds of the counterculture were planted and flourished. The music of this generation birthed every rock subgenre for the next 40 years (acid rock, heavy metal, punk, new wave, grunge), and today's musicians still reach back to these recordings for inspiration.

Music Makers of the Blue Ridge Plateau

9780738554105

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During the late 1920s, Ralph Peer and the Victor Recording Company visited the city of Bristol to look for new talent. They stumbled upon Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, two future legends of country music; however, other amazing musicians were unable to make the trip to Bristol for the auditions because of work and family obligations. For the locals, music was more than a way to earn fame and fortune; the music was part of the fabric of life in this rural environment. Some individuals did become famous, including the Stoneman Family, who recorded "The Ship That Didn't Return/ The Titanic," and Henry Whitter, who recorded "The Wreck of Old 97," but that was never the focus. The songs they played and created accompanied an entire generation through the Great Depression and World War II and into the vigorous growth of the 1950s and 1960s. All of these musicians influenced the birth, growth, and continued development of the Galax Fiddlers Convention, which is known around the world by old-time mountain music fans.

Spanish Harlem's Musical Legacy

9780738550060

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Spanish Harlem's musical development thrived between the 1930s and 1980s in New York City. This area was called El Barrio by its inhabitants and Spanish Harlem by all others. It was a neighborhood where musicians from the Caribbean or their descendants organized musical groups, thereby adding to the diaspora that began in Africa and Spain. The music now called salsa had its roots in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo, and it continued developing on
another island: Manhattan.

Washington, DC, Jazz

9781467127837

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Washington, DC, Jazz focuses, primarily, on the history of straight-ahead jazz, using oral histories, materials from the William P. Gottlieb Collection at the Library of Congress, the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives at the University of the District of Columbia, and Smithsonian Jazz.

Home to Black Broadway and the Howard Theatre in the Greater U Street area, Washington, DC, has long been associated with American jazz. Duke Ellington and Billy Eckstine launched their careers there in the early 20th century. Decades later, Shirley Horn and Buck Hill would follow their leads, and DC's jazz millennials include graduates of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. For years, Bohemian Caverns and One Step Down were among the clubs serving as gathering places for producers and consumers of jazz, even as Rusty Hassan and other programmers used radio to promote the music. This volume also features the work of photographers Nathaniel Rhodes, Michael Wilderman, and Lawrence A. Randall.

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Drink Small

9781626197404

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For fans of the blues, Drink Small is synonymous with South Carolina. Drink rose from the cotton fields of Bishopville to become a music legend in the Palmetto State and beyond. The self-taught guitarist has written hundreds of songs and recorded dozens of albums spanning the genres of country, blues, folk, gospel and shag. The success of that music allowed him countless honors, such as playing the stages of the Apollo and Howard Theaters, touring with legendary R&B singer Sam Cooke and playing the best blues festivals in the world. He even developed his own philosophy: Drinkism. Author Gail Wilson-Giarratano details the dream, the music and the life that created the Blues Doctor.

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Charleston Jazz

9780738543505

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Charleston Jazz sets out to reveal the rich, untold story of the evolution of American jazz in one of its major cradles: Charleston, South Carolina. The text and images show that what happened on the Gullah coast of South Carolina in terms of history, culture, and entertainment had a huge impact on jazz as we know it today. By all accounts, jazz is America's classical music. It now stands at the dawn of its second century and is poised to take its place as one of the more meaningful cultural phenomena ever to come along. Since Charleston was the gateway for enslaved Africans into the United States, it is no wonder that this uniquely beautiful place produced key creators of what many believe to be this country's most important influence on world culture. An international Charleston diaspora of jazz musicians attests to the fact that the likes of Freddie Green, William "Cat" Anderson, and Edmund Thornton Jenkins spread the Charleston style everywhere. Charleston jazz is one of the last great unknown stories in American history.

Kentucky's Bluegrass Music

9780738585611

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It is likely that most fans of bluegrass music would concede that no state should be more associated with bluegrass music than Kentucky--and rightly so. Bluegrass music draws its name from the band that Kentuckian Bill Monroe formed during the late 1930s and 1940s. Bill named his band Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys to honor his home state. Eventually, the music these bands and others like them were playing came to be known as bluegrass music. Later, another Kentuckian, Ebo Walker, while playing with the Bowling Green-based bluegrass band, New Grass Revival, coined the phrase "newgrass" to describe the band's progressive style of music. Other Kentuckians such as Bobby and Sonny Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, and Dale Ann Bradley have become bluegrass stars. Some of the musicians from Kentucky covered in this book are quite famous--some are not. Famous or not, all of them have a deep-rooted passion for the music they play.

Music in Washington

9780738548180

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For more than 100 years, the Pacific Northwest has been making music history. In this new retrospective, rare photographs evoke the musical memories of days gone by, from the earliest 19th-century brass bands to Roaring Twenties jazz combos, 1940s hillbilly twangers, 1950s rhythm-and-blues singers, and generations of rock 'n' rollers, including the original 1950s rockabillies, 1960s "Louie Louie"-era garage bands and psychedelic acid-rock acts, 1970s punks, and 1980s new-wave artistes and heavy metal headbangers. Readers will discover how a scrappy backwoods region struggled to build the necessary infrastructure to eventually create a viable music industry and an underground scene that would ultimately earn global recognition as the home base of the 1990s grunge movement.

Seattle's Music Venues

9780738599984

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The varieties of music venues in Seattle have been as vital and vibrant for the people of the Emerald City as the genres that have graced these famous halls. These houses of music have nurtured the entertainment legacy of this region. Each holds a beautiful, haunting, and unique history that has helped shape the Pacific Northwest's musical culture, which, in turn, has helped shape our community. Out of the ashes of the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the vaudeville age took Seattle by storm. The cultural and community centers harmonized with operas and symphonies. From the 1962 World's Fair to world-famous street musicians, Seattle's Music Venues will take the reader on a pictorial journey through 100 years of images compiled from the photographic collections of the Seattle Public Library, Seattle Municipal Archives, Library of Congress, and the author's personal collection.

Cover image for Seattle's Music Venues, isbn: 9780738599984

Connecticut Rock ‘n' Roll

9781625858801

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Long neglected in the annals of American music, the Nutmeg State's influence on the history of rock'n'roll deserves recognition.

Connecticut's musical highlights include the beautiful harmonies of New Haven's Five Satins, Gene Pitney's rise to fame, Stamford's the Fifth Estate and notable rockers such as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and Saturday Night Live Band's Christine Ohlman. Rock Hall of Famers include Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads and Dennis Dunaway of the Alice Cooper Band. Some events became legend, like Jimi Hendrix's spellbinding performance at Yale's Woolsey Hall, Jim Morrison's onstage arrest at the New Haven Arena and teenage Bob Dylan's appearance at Branford's Indian Neck Folk Festival. With in-depth interviews as well as rare, never-before-seen photos, author Tony Renzoni leads a sonic trip that captures the spirit and zenith of the local scene.

North Carolina String Music Masters

9781609498535

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North Carolina musicians pioneered and mastered the genres of old-time and bluegrass music.

The roots of American music are deeply grounded in North Carolina's music history. Doc Watson played mountain fiddle tunes on guitar. He emerged as the father of flatpicking and forever changed the role of the guitar in American music. Charlie Poole created techniques that eventually defined bluegrass, and folks around the state heard his banjo on some of the most important old-time recordings. Rising star Rhiannon Giddens keeps the music alive today through new interpretations of classic old-time and bluegrass songs. Elizabeth Carlson profiles these and other masters of string music in this fascinating record of North Carolina's musical past, present and future.

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Manhattan's Musical Heritage

9780738544502

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Manhattan is an important site in the evolution of all the major innovations in American music, ranging from vaudeville and big bands to folk music, modern jazz, and rock and roll. Manhattan's Musical Heritage, a fascinating postcard history, takes readers on a journey back in time and place to the scenes of seminal musical events and performances. Individual musical greats from Al Jolson to John Lennon are featured, as this book details the locations forever associated with their lives and careers. Armchair travelers and those who enjoy walks in the streets of Manhattan will find this volume useful in discovering the amazing musical history of this special place.

San Francisco Jazz

9781467132879

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San Francisco is probably best known for its hills, ubiquitous fog, dungeness crab and the Golden Gate Bridge. But jazz music's threads are similarly woven into the fabric of the city and its environs. Whether performed in renowned clubs like So Different, Jimbo's Bop City, Black Hawk, and the Jazz Workshop or in halls like the Primalon Ballroom and Great American Music Hall, jazz has infused the city from the Barbary Coast to the Fillmore, thrilling audiences for over a century. San Franciscans have grooved to and incubated scores of jazz acts, hot and cool, raucous and contemplative.

Austin in the Jazz Age

9781626199187

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Though renowned, Austin's contemporary music scene pales in comparison with the explosion of creative talent the city spawned during the Jazz Age. Dozens of musicians who started out in the capital city attained national and international fame--but music was just one form of artistic expression that marked that time of upheaval. World War I's death and destruction bred a vehement rejection of the status quo. In its place, an enthusiastic adherence to life lived without question or consequence took root. The sentiment found fertile soil in Austin, with the University of Texas at the epicenter. Students indulged in the debauchery that typified the era, scandalizing Austin and Texas at large as they introduced a freewheeling, individualistic attitude that now defines the city. Join author Richard Zelade in a raucous investigation of the day and its most outstanding and outlandish characters.

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Hidden History of Mississippi Blues

9781609492199

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Although many bluesmen began leaving the Magnolia State in the early twentieth century to pursue fortune and fame up north, many others stayed home.

These musicians remained rooted to the traditions of their land, which came to define a distinctive playing style unique to Mississippi. They didn't simply play the blues, they lived it. Travel through the hallowed juke joints and cotton fields with author Roger Stolle as he recounts the history of Mississippi blues and the musicians who have kept it alive. Some of these bluesmen remain to carry on this proud legacy, while others have passed on, but Hidden History of Mississippi Blues ensures none will be forgotten.

New Jersey Folk Revival Music

9781626198241

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New Jersey shaped folk revival music into an art form. The saga began with the bawdy tunes sung in colonial-era taverns and continued with the folk songs that echoed through the Pine Barrens. Guitar Mania became a phenomenon in the 1800s, and twentieth-century studio recordings in Camden were monumental. Performances by legendary artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan spotlighted the state's folk revival movement and led to a flourishing community of folk organizations, festivals and open-mic nights at village coffeehouses. Author Michael Gabriele traces the evolution and living history of folk revival music in the Garden State and how it has changed the lives of people on stage and in the audience.

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The Oklahoma Cowboy Band

9780738552453

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The Oklahoma Cowboy Band was the first western string band in the nation to broadcast over the radio and appear on vaudeville, drawing large audiences throughout the Midwest and Northeast. The band began in Ripley as Billy McGinty's Cowboy Band and first played over radio station KFRU in Bristow in May 1925. Billy McGinty was a Rough Rider with Theodore Roosevelt and performed in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The public responded to the broadcast of his band with a steady stream of telegrams, telephone calls, and letters asking for more of that old-time cowboy music. Soon Otto Gray and his wife, Mommie, of Stillwater joined the band, with both performing rope tricks, Mommie singing sad songs, and their son, Owen, performing comedy routines as "the Uke Buster." Renamed Otto Gray and His Oklahoma Cowboys, the band traveled for a decade to such cities as St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse. Its custom-built Cadillacs drew crowds wherever the band went. By the early 1930s, other acts were copying the band's cowboy themes and songs, and Otto Gray's lawyers threatened legal action. The lawyers met with only limited success, though, and today the cowboy image is firmly established in country music, thanks in large part to the early success of Billy McGinty, Otto Gray, and the Oklahoma Cowboy Band.

Carolina Beach Music

9781609492144

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Just as the dances of Beach Music have their twists and turns, so too do the stories behind the hits made popular in shag haunts from Atlantic Beach to Ocean Drive and the Myrtle Beach Pavilion. In Carolina Beach Music, local author and Beach Music enthusiast Rick Simmons draws on first-hand accounts from the legendary performers and people behind the music. Simmons reveals the true meaning behind Oogum Boogum, uncovers just what sparked a fistfight between Ernie K. Doe and Benny Spellman at the recording session of Te-Ta-Te-Te-Ta-Ta, and examines hundreds of other true events that shaped the sounds of Beach Music.

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The Sunnybrook Ballroom

9780738550305

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As one of the last major ballrooms located in this great nation, the Sunnybrook Ballroom is a historical and intricate part of Pennsylvania's past. Since 1926, the Sunnybrook Ballroom has been an established landmark in its community and is recognized nationwide. Opening its doors in 1931, the grand ballroom was built as an addition to the swim club and dance pavilion. For years, Sunnybrook has served as a viable piece of Americana and has seen many big-name performers upon its stage, including Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Lawrence Welk, Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Checker, and even Bill Haley and the Comets. Using vintage photographs, The Sunnybrook Ballroom traces the history of this cherished haven for big band fans, rock and rollers, and music lovers alike.

Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras Revised Edition

9781467126915

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In 1958, under the founding music director, Prof. Marvin Rabin, the Boston University College of Fine Arts established a youth orchestra for junior and senior high school students from the Greater Boston area. The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO), formerly known as the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, has flourished over the past 60 years, impacting the lives of thousands of young musicians. BYSO members have experienced countless unforgettable moments, including performances at the White House, Carnegie Hall, and renowned concert venues across the world. Today, under the musical leadership of Federico Cortese, BYSO serves 500 students from over 120 communities throughout New England. BYSO is one of Boston's most prestigious arts organizations, with a programmatic scope that includes three full symphonic orchestras, two young string training orchestras, six chamber orchestras, a preparatory wind ensemble, a chamber music program, and a nationally recognized outreach program that provides rigorous instrument instruction to students from underrepresented communities. In 2008, BYSO established an opera program that has become an integral part of the season repertoire. BYSO has selected images from its extensive archives to exhibit its rich history.

Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras Revised Edition

Nashville Music before Country

9780738553986

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Nashville is a name synonymous with music. Years before the first radio broadcast of country music from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, music and publishing were central to Nashville's self-identity. Thousands of songs flooded into the Cumberland and Tennessee River valleys from Southern Appalachia, sung by folk performers. These songs became the foundation for the folk-hymn traditions that grew throughout Tennessee. Into this stream flowed a body of African American spirituals, gospel, and minstrel songs. The arrival of trained German musicians brought classical styles to this gathering stream of musical confluences. These musicians found a home in the academies and businesses of Nashville. Nashville Music before Country is the story of how music merged with education, publication, entertainment, and distribution to set the stage for a unique musical metropolis. The images for Nashville Music before Country come from private collections as well as public libraries and archives.

Montana Americana Music

9781467135146

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Montana's relationship to Americana music is as wide and deep as the famed Missouri River that inspired countless musicians seated at its shores. From the fiddling of Pierre Cruzatte and George Gibson in the Corps of Discovery to the modern-day loner folk of Joey Running Crane and Cameron Boster, the Treasure State inspires the production of top-notch country music. In the 1950s, bands like the Snake River Outlaws fostered a long-standing love of hillbilly honky-tonk, and in the 1970s, the Mission Mountain Wood Band added a homegrown flavor of its own. Contemporary acts like the Lil' Smokies and songwriter Martha Scanlan promise a vibrant future for the local sound. Author and musician Aaron Parrett explores this history to show what it means to boot stomp in Big Sky Country.

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Columbus

9780738561530

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Columbus has long been known for its musicians. Unlike New York, San Francisco, Kansas City, Nashville, or even Cincinnati, however, it has never had a definable scene. Still, some truly remarkable music has been made in this musical crossroads by the many outstanding musicians who have called it home. Since 1900, Columbus has grown from the 28th- to the 15th-largest city in the United States. During this period, it has developed into a musically vibrant community that has nurtured the talents of such artists as Elsie Janis, Ted Lewis, Nancy Wilson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Dwight Yoakam, Bow Wow, and Rascal Flatts. But, in many instances, those who chose to remain at home were as good and, perhaps, even better.

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Canton Entertainment

9781467110846

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Everyone loves to have fun! Over the years, Cantonians have enjoyed a wide variety of amusements, from traveling theatrical shows to community-wide celebrations. Louis Schaefer opened the town's first opera house in 1868, attracting some of the 19th century's biggest stars to Canton. The tradition of first-rate entertainment continued in the 20th century, with stars like Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Guy Lombardo gracing the stage of the Moonlight Ballroom. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Canton enjoyed a cultural renaissance with the development of many arts organizations still cherished today, including the Players' Guild, Canton Symphony Orchestra, and Canton Museum of Art. In 1955, the city celebrated its sesquicentennial with the biggest parade in Canton's history.

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Oklahoma City Music

9780738584270

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Oklahoma City's rich music history traces back to Deep Deuce, the heart of the African American community that became an important resource for national jazz and blues bands seeking talented musicians who were often classically trained. Two icons and many legends are among the famous sons and daughters who lived in this cultural Mecca. Oklahoma City's Music: Deep Deuce and Beyond details the birth and growth of music in Oklahoma City's African American community from the 1920s until the late 1990s. Musical influences of families and individuals, venues, dance, and fashion blend with new-era traditions such as parades, jam sessions, and street parties to create a culture that became well known. This book explores how the seeds of music so deeply planted in the early days continue to produce great musicians and how the influences of those icons will vibrate throughout future international generations.

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The Phoenix Sound: A History of Twang and Rockabilly Music in Arizona

9781467118989

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The Phoenix Sound: A History of Twang and Rockabilly Music in Arizona

Kentucky's Bluegrass

9780738505657

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Within these pages are vintage postcards, created between 1900 and 1950, that depict an area known across the country as Kentucky's Bluegrass. From its horse farms to its military forts and river commerce, this seventeen county region exemplifies the spirit and pride of Kentucky, and the images preserved on these postcards bring the history of this unique area to life.

The Music Hall, Portsmouth

9780738512495

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On Christmas Eve 1876, Portsmouth citizens watched flames reduce their largest meetinghouse and entertainment hall to ashes. During the following year, local families, businessmen, and craftsmen combined their resources to build a new auditorium with state-of-the-art lighting, rigging, staging, and seating-a comfortable venue for public addresses, charity functions, and international entertainment. The Music Hall, Portsmouth, was born.

Twain spoke from her stage, Sousa's brass echoed from her walls, and Edison's films brought her silver screen to life. Enduring war, depression, and multiple threats of destruction, this grand hall today stands as New Hampshire's oldest operating theater. Showcasing the world's finest stage and screen talent, offering artistic education to young and old, and hosting fundraisers and private events, the Music Hall is a testament to the necessity of arts in local culture and the strength of a community's resolve.

South Carolina Blues

9781467114721

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The history of South Carolina blues is a long, deep—and sometimes painful—story. However, it is a narrative with aspects as compelling as the music itself. Geographical differences in America led to variations in the styles of music that developed from African rhythms. The wet, marshy landscape and hot, muggy weather of the Carolina Lowcountry combined to cultivate not only rice, but a Gullah-based style of South Carolina blues. In drier climates, toward the Midlands and the Upstate, the combination of European influences led to the emergence of Piedmont blues, which in turn spawned country music as well as bluegrass. Those same Gullah roots resulted in four major dance crazes, starting with the Charleston.