Search Results

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson endured substantial obstacles throughout his young yet remarkably dramatic life before becoming, in early 2003, the most discussed figure in rap, if not pop music in general. In this new biography, every detail of 50's "life on the edge" is covered.

Henry Townsend, who first arrived in St. Louis and began playing guitar in the mid-1920s, was an integral part of the St. Louis blues scene during its formative years. Three-quarters of a century later, Townsend is the last remaining link to the early blues world of St. Louis.

This enchanting oral history recounts Townsend's early days as a shoeshiner fronting for a bootlegging operation, his passion for the guitar ("the sound of that guitar just went through me, just penetrated me like a bullet"), and his collaborations and friendships with many of the musicians and entrepreneurs who shaped the blues scene in St. Louis. Through Townsend's easy reminiscences, the guitarist Lonnie Johnson, the pianists Walter Davis and Roosevelt Sykes, and the promoter Jessie Johnson come vividly to life, along with scores of other individuals both remembered and forgotten who left their mark on a key musical genre.

Touching on important social aspects of St. Louis life, from racism and police harassment to honky-tonk speakeasies, A Blues Life offers a personal and often moving commentary on music and culture in the city. Townsend recounts that in the 1920s, St. Louis's Booker Washington Treatre brought in famous acts like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Peg Leg Bates, but very few local blues artists ever appeared there. While middle-class blacks regarded jazz as on the border of respectability, the blues were far over the line, and especially the raw, "gut bucket style blues" that Townsend says set St. Louis blues apart from the styles developing in Chicago, Kansas City, and Mississippi.

A living legend, Townsend is still active as a performer and a recording artist. His story is a pricelessfirsthand account of a world long gone, even as his music-making continues to influence a new generation of St. Louis blues artists.

In A Life in Ragtime, Reid Badger brilliantly captures the fascinating life of James Reese Europe, tracing a critical chapter in the emergence of jazz through one man's remarkable odyssey. After an early start in Washington, Europe found his fame in New York, the entertainment capital of turn-of-the-century America. In the decade before the First World War, he emerged as an acknowledged leader in African-American musical theater, both as a conductor and as a prolific composer. Europe toiled constantly, working on benefit concerts, joining hands with W.E.B. Du Bois, and helping to found a black music school - all the while winning commercial and critical success with his music. In 1910, he helped create the Clef Club, making it the premiere African-American musical organization in the country during his presidency. Every year from 1912 to 1914, Europe led the Clef Club orchestra in triumphant concerts at Carnegie Hall, winning new respectability and popularity for ragtime. He went on to an extraordinarily successful collaboration with Vernon and Irene Castle, the international stars who made social dancing a world-wide rage. In World War I, the musical pioneer won new fame as the first African-American officer to lead men into combat in that conflict - but he was best known as band leader for the all-black 15th Infantry Regiment. As the "Hellfighters" of the 15th racked up successes on the battlefield, Europe's band took France by storm with the new sounds of jazz. In 1919, the soldiers returned to New York in triumph, and Europe was the toast of the city. Then, just a few months later, he was dead - stabbed to death by a drummer in his own orchestra. From humble beginnings to tragicend, the story of Jim Europe comes alive in Reid Badger's account.

Preston Love's resume reads like a Who's Who of American music: member of the Count Basie Band during its heyday in the forties, studio musician in Los Angeles, cohort of Jo Jones, Lester Young, Ray Charles, and Dizzy Gillespie, and back-up player for Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. In a distinctive and passionate voice, Love chronicles not only the famous personalities, but also the forgotten geniuses, and the little known world of the territory bands, tirelessly performing in outposts like St. Cloud, Minnesota, Guthrie, Oklahoma, and Honey Creek, Iowa. Love's story highlights significant facets of African American history: the central importance of the family in musical development, institutional racism in American popular culture, and the interracial nature of the music world, providing an important view into the evolution of jazz and the Motown sound.

R and B singer, talented actress, budding soul diva by the age of 22, Aaliyah had accomplished more than most dream of, and seemed destined for superstardom. But on August 25, 2001, the dream died in a plane crash. Tim Footman tells the dramatic story of this precocious talent, from securing her first record deal at age 12, to nailing her first number-one hit at 15, to an early romantic involvement with her mentor, R and B producer R. Kelly. The book shows how she became a leading female vocalist, paving the way for other young performers like Destinys Child and Alicia Keys. The book also covers her brief acting career in such blockbusters as Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Damned. Dozens of color and black-and-white photos are included in this in-depth biography of the ill-fated princess of R and B.

This exciting biography is in memory of one of the most loved recording artists of the 21st century who won the 2002 American Music Award for Best Artist and Best Song. Readers will learn all the details about Aaliyah's sacrifice and dedication, disappointments, bouncing back, and her rise to stardom. 25 photos.

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was that music business rarity: a teen idol who transformed herself into a critically acclaimed hip-hop soul artist, a singer who successfully made the transition to actress, and a beautiful woman who never let the trappings of celebrity go to her head. Following her impressive debut at age 14 with the album "Age Ain't Nothin' but a Number, Aaliyah raised the bar with her hugely influential and bestselling follow-up, "One in a Million. She then took her talents to Hollywood, starring in the action thriller "Romeo Must Die and the highly anticipated horror film "The Queen of the Damned. But soon after the release of her third album in the summer of 2001, Aaliyah's life was cut short in a tragic plane crash.

Here is the inspirational story of the star "The Washington Post dubbed "Hip-Hop's Lady Di" -- a woman who, by the time of her death at age twenty-two, touched legions of fans around the world with her haunting voice and gentle spirit.

The divas profiled in this compilation have one thing in common: they are all young, powerful African-American women who have made their mark in the recording industry. "Divas of the New Millennium" is an intimate look into the lives of these women who have become today's most influential female musicians by following the music within their hearts.

Aretha Franklin's soulful voice has earned her fifteen Grammies and the honor of being the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. An uncompromising survivor, Aretha has stirred millions with her classic hits, including, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Respect." But she has also faced daunting personal challenges: her mother's desertion; teenage pregnancy; several unhappy marriages; and a tragic shooting that led to the death of her father. With unique access to key figures in Aretha's past, and a new chapter revealing the most recent events both personal and professional in the life of the diva, this is the definitive biography of the woman who captivated the music world of the early fifties and became a star.

A bold, energetic, and lively musical biography on one of Africa's most popular and controversial stars, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti--the flamboyant originator of the "Afrobeat" sound and self-proclaimed voice of the voiceless.

Not Available

A star during his lifetime, a legend after a bullet killed him at the age of 25, Shakur was the most influential rap musician of his day. This is an eyewitness account of his formative years, written by his close friend from high school.

There he is, drumming on "Tutti Frutti," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," and thousands of other songs. As a studio player in New Orleans and Los Angeles from the 1940s through the 1970s, Earl Palmer co-created hundreds of hits and transformed the lope of rhythm and blues into full-tilt rock and roll. He was, as a result, one of the first session men to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Palmer's distinctive voice alternates with the insights of music journalist and historian Tony Scherman in an unforgettable trip through the social and musical cultures of mid-century New Orleans and the feverish world of early rock.

Considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time, Bessie Smith was also a successful vaudeville entertainer in the roaring twenties. This book--a revised and expanded edition of the biography--debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. 45 illustrations.