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Ray Charles
by Sharon Bell Mathis George FordIn a beautiful new edition of this 1973 multiple award-winning biography, young readers learn the rags-to-riches story of legendary musician Ray Charles's life - from age 7, when he loses his sight completely, to age 40, when he performs to dazzled audiences world-wide and participates in the fight for racial justice. A new introduction by the author sets the context for Charles's journey to stardom, and an afterword updates his life to the present.<P><P>Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Ray Charles
by Sharon Bell MathisCoretta Scott King Author Award Winner - American Library Association (ALA) Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner - American Library Association (ALA)A beautiful new edition of the award-winning biography of world-famous musician Ray Charles.As a young boy he fell in love with music, and as a man, the world fell in love with his music. Ray Charles and his soulful, passionate rhythm and melodies have been embraced around the globe for decades. Now, in this beautiful new edition of the award-winning biography, readers can follow Charles from his boyhood, when he lost his sight completely and learned to read and write music in Braille, until the age of 40, when he had become a world-renowned jazz and blues musician. In a new introduction, the author updates Charles' life to the present day.
Ray Charles: Man and Music, Updated Commemorative Edition
by Michael LydonRay Charles: Man and Music is a complete biography of this seminal singer/pianist who has been active on the American music scene since the mid-'50s. Originally published in 1995 by Penguin Books, and universally hailed as the definitive biography, this new edition will bring Charles's life up to date, covering the last 7 years of his life.There are only a few legendary singers who have developed mass audiences while pursuing their own artistic visions: Sinatra is one; Ella Fitzgerald another. Ray Charles undoubtedly belongs in this pantheon of major musical stars. Ray Charles: Man and Music begins with Charles's impoverished childhood in Greenville, Florida, where tragedy struck early when the young Charles went blind at age 6 and was orphaned at age 14. Driven by his enormous talent and determination, Charles landed work playing some of the toughest juke joints in the state, fought heroin addiction, and finally landed a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Unlike other R&B singers, Charles took control of his career from its earliest days, moving on from his gospel-soul stylings of the mid-'50s to break through musical barriers, recording two country albums in the late '50s (at a time when the black presence in country music was barely felt), pure jazz, and then the powerful pop hits of the '60s. Famed music journalist Michael Lydon - a founding editor of Rolling Stone - is uniquely qualified to document Charles's career, having interviewed Charles and followed the star's performances since the 1960s. Originally published in 1995, and universally hailed as the definitive biography, this new edition brings Charles's life up to date, covering the last 7 years of his life. It coincides with the release of a made-for-TV movie starring Jamie Fox as Charles, currently in production by Taylor Hackford. Charles has also issued a new CD recently and remains active as a touring artist throughout the world.
Ray Charles: Soul Man
by Ruth TurkA biography of the popular singer, who became blind as a young boy.
Ray Davies: A Complicated Life
by Johnny RoganNOW UPDATED WITH A NEW EPILOGUE In the summer of 1964, aged twenty, Ray Davies led the Kinks to fame with their number one hit ‘You Really Got Me’. Within months, they were established among the pop elite, swamped by fans and fast becoming renowned for the rioting at their gigs. But Ray’s journey from working-class Muswell Hill to the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame was tumultuous in the extreme, featuring breakdowns, bitter lawsuits, spectacular punch-ups and a ban from entering the USA. His relationship with his brother Dave is surely the most ferocious and abusive in music history. Based on countless interviews conducted over several decades, this richly detailed and revelatory biography presents the most frank and intimate portrait yet of Ray Davies.
Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else
by Thomas M. KittsRay Davies: Not Like Everybody Else is a critical biography of Ray Davies, with a focus on his music and his times. The book studies Davies’ work from the Kinks’ first singles through his 2006 solo album, from his rock musicals in the early 1970s to his one-man stage show in the 1990s, and from his films to his autobiography. Based on interviews with his closest associates, as well as studies of the recordings themselves, this book creates the most thorough picture of Davies’ work to date. Kitts situates Davies’ work in the context of the British Invasion and the growth of rock in the '60s and '70s, and in the larger context of English cultural history. For fans of rock music and the music of the Kinks, this book is a must have. It will finally place this legendary innovator in the pantheon of the great rock artists of the past half-century. Thomas M. Kitts, Professor of English and Chair of the Division of English/Speech at St. John’s University, NY, is the co-editor of Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks, the author of The Theatrical Life of George Henry Boker, articles on American literature and popular culture, reviews of books, CDs, and performances, and a play Gypsies. He is the book review editor of Popular Music and Society and the editor of The Mid-Atlantic Almanack.
Re-Locating the Sounds of the Western (Ashgate Screen Music Series)
by Kendra Preston Leonard Mariana WhitmerRe-Locating the Sounds of the Western examines the use and function of musical tropes and gestures traditionally associated with the American Western in new and different contexts ranging from Elizabethan theater, contemporary drama, space opera and science fiction, Cold War era European filmmaking, and advertising. Each chapter focuses on a notable use of Western musical tropes, textures, instrumentation, form, and harmonic language, delving into the resonance of the music of the Western to cite bravura, machismo, colonisation, violence, gender roles and essentialism, exploration, and other concepts.
Reach for the Stars #1
by Cindy JefferiesChloe loves singing and spends hours practicing in her bedroom, miming into her hairbrush in front of thousands of imaginary fans. So when she gets the chance to audition for Rockley Park- the school for budding pop stars-Chloe's determined to make the cut. But first she has to persuade her parents that her ambition is for real. She knows it's going to be tough, but life in the music biz isn't all glitz and glamour. Will Chloe get to live her dream at Fame School?
Reaching Beyond
by Daisaku Ikeda Herbie Hancock Wayne ShorterIn Reaching Beyond, Buddhist thinker and activist Daisaku Ikeda explores the origins, development, and international influence of jazz with legendary artists Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Reflecting on their lives and careers, Mr. Hancock and Mr. Shorter share the lessons they have learned from their musical mentors, including Miles Davis and Art Blakey, and how the Buddhist philosophy they’ve learned from President Ikeda over the past forty years deeply resonates with the emancipatory spirit of jazz. These wide-ranging conversations include such thought-provoking topics as: • Music’s mission for peace in a time of discord • The importance of the artist’s spiritual growth • The Buddhist concept of changing poison into medicine • Ways to make the “ideal America” a reality for everyone Reaching Beyond offers positive new ideas for musicians and nonmusicians alike.
Read My Mind: The Little Guide to Sabrina Carpenter
by OHWith billions of streams, millions of fans and record-breaking achievements, Sabrina Carpenter has captivated hearts across the globe. With a journey that began on Broadway, flourished on Disney Channel's Girl Meets World and has landed in the music industry, Sabrina has catapulted to fame. In the past 12 months alone, Sabrina performed on 25 stops of Swift's phenomenally successful Eras tour and racked up more than five billion streams on Spotify - 10 billion in total! With chart-topping hits and dynamic roles in a range of films, the international star has become a beacon of inspiration for many - a role model with a genuine personality, relatable lyrics and unwavering dedication to her many crafts. The Little Guide to Sabrina Carpenter dives into the enchanting word of the multi-talented star, with inspiring quotes, intriguing facts and fascinating insights that celebrate the authentic passion of Sabrina and her extraordinary rise to stardom."It always feels good to put something you're proud of out in the world.""Confidence is the most beautiful thing you can possess."August 4, 2009:The day Sabrina posted her first ever video to YouTube. She was aged just 10 years old! The video was a cover of Taylor Swift's "Picture to Burn". It features Sabrina belting it out straight to camera, no frills, no effects, just pure singing talent in her homemade singing studio. It now has 1.7 million views.
Read My Mind: The Little Guide to Sabrina Carpenter
by Orange Hippo!With billions of streams, millions of fans and record-breaking achievements, Sabrina Carpenter has captivated hearts across the globe. With a journey that began on Broadway, flourished on Disney Channel's Girl Meets World and has landed in the music industry, Sabrina has catapulted to fame. In the past 12 months alone, Sabrina performed on 25 stops of Swift's phenomenally successful Eras tour and racked up more than five billion streams on Spotify - 10 billion in total! With chart-topping hits and dynamic roles in a range of films, the international star has become a beacon of inspiration for many - a role model with a genuine personality, relatable lyrics and unwavering dedication to her many crafts. The Little Guide to Sabrina Carpenter dives into the enchanting word of the multi-talented star, with inspiring quotes, intriguing facts and fascinating insights that celebrate the authentic passion of Sabrina and her extraordinary rise to stardom."It always feels good to put something you're proud of out in the world.""Confidence is the most beautiful thing you can possess."August 4, 2009:The day Sabrina posted her first ever video to YouTube. She was aged just 10 years old! The video was a cover of Taylor Swift's "Picture to Burn". It features Sabrina belting it out straight to camera, no frills, no effects, just pure singing talent in her homemade singing studio. It now has 1.7 million views.
Read the Beatles
by June Skinner Sawyers Astrid KirchherrA must-have volume for all Beatles fans-a career-spanning selection of writings about the Fab Four There are, of course, many books on the Beatles, but this is the only one available that is a comprehensive, career-spanning collection of journalism about the legendary band, before and after the breakup. Consisting of more than fifty articles, essays, interviews, record and movie reviews, poems, and book excerpts-many of them rare and hard to find-Read the Beatles is an unprecedented compilation that follows the arc of the Fab Four's iconic and idiosyncratic career, from their early days in Liverpool through their tragic and triumphant histories after the group's split. The book also includes original essays from noted musicians and journalists about the Beatles' lasting influence and why they still matter today.
Reader's Guide to Music: History, Theory and Criticism
by Murray SteibThe Reader's Guide to Music is designed to provide a useful single-volume guide to the ever-increasing number of English language book-length studies in music. Each entry consists of a bibliography of some 3-20 titles and an essay in which these titles are evaluated, by an expert in the field, in light of the history of writing and scholarship on the given topic. The more than 500 entries include not just writings on major composers in music history but also the genres in which they worked (from early chant to rock and roll) and topics important to the various disciplines of music scholarship (from aesthetics to gay/lesbian musicology).
Reading Country Music: Steel Guitars, Opry Stars, and Honky Tonk Bars
by Cecelia TichiWith its steel guitars, Opry stars, and honky-tonk bars, country music is an American original. The most popular music in America today, it's also big business. Amazing, then, that country music has been so little studied by critics, given its predominance in American culture. Reading Country Music acknowledges the significance of country music as part of an authentic American heritage and turns a loving, critical eye toward understanding the sweep of this peculiarly American phenomenon.Bringing together a wide range of scholars and critics from literature, communications, history, sociology, art, and music, this anthology looks at everything from the inner workings of the country music industry to the iconography of certain stars to the development of distinctive styles within the country music genre. Essays include a look at the shift from "hard-core" to "soft-shell" country music in recent years; Johnny Cash as lesbian icon; gender, class, and region in Dolly Parton's star image; and bluegrass's gothic tradition. Originally published as a special issue of South Atlantic Quarterly, this expanded book edition includes new articles on the spirituality of Willie Nelson, the legacy and tradition of stringed music, and the revival of Stephen Foster's blackface musical, among others.Contributors. Mary A. Bufwack, Don Cusic, Curtis W. Ellison, Mark Fenster, Vivien Green Fryd, Teresa Goddu, T. Walter Herbert, Christine Kreyling, Michael Kurek, Amy Schrager Lang, Charmaine Lanham, Bill Malone, Christopher Metress, Jocelyn Neal, Teresa Ortega, Richard A. Peterson, Ronnie Pugh, John W. Rumble, David Sanjek, Cecelia Tichi, Pamela Wilson, Charles K. Wolfe
Reading Elgar’s The Music Makers
by David YoungElgar’s The Music Makers, for contralto solo, choir and large orchestra, has experienced a chequered reputation since its 1912 premiere at the Birmingham Festival. The work faced significant adverse criticism which re-emerged over time. Criticism targeted the poem Elgar chose for his setting – Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s ode, whose reputation was later tarnished by T.S. Eliot’s infamous critique ‘What is Minor Poetry?’. Misunderstanding of Elgar’s innovatory compositional procedure was another main reason behind the negative responses. Elgar integrated the poetic language with musical self-borrowings, transforming the words and offering perceptive listeners enhanced emotion at the highest artistic level. All aspects of Elgar’s musical language combine to produce one of his greatest, yet least understood, masterworks. Reading Elgar’s The Music Makers brings to the fore a prime example of how first musical performances can be misunderstood and reception can shift over time. The work remains as relevant today as ever. The book’s multi-faceted approach will be invaluable not only for conductors, singers and music students, but for concert goers and music lovers generally.
Reading Eminem: A Critical, Lyrical Analysis
by Glenn FosbraeyThis book critically analyses Eminem’s studio album releases from his first commercial album release The Slim Shady LP in 1999, to 2020’s Music To Be Murdered By, through the lens of storytelling, truth and rhetoric, narrative structure, rhyme scheme and type, perspective, and celebrity culture. In terms of lyrical content, no area has been off-limits to Eminem, and he has written about domestic violence, murder, rape, child abuse, incest, drug addiction, and torture during his career. But whilst he will always be associated with these dark subjects, Mathers has also explored fatherhood, bereavement, mental illness, poverty, friendship, and love within his lyrics, and the juxtaposition between these very different themes (sometimes within the same song), make his lyrics complex, deep, and deserving of proper critical discussion.The first full-length monograph concerning Eminem's lyrics, this book affords the same rigorous analysis to a hip-hop artist as would be applied to any great writer's body of work; such analysis of 'popular' music is often overlooked. In addition to his rich exploration of Eminem's lyrics, Fosbraey furthermore delves into a variety of different aspects within popular music including extra-verbal elements, image, video, and surrounding culture. This critical study of his work will be an invaluable resource to academics working in the fields of Popular Music, English Literature, or Cultural Studies.
Reading Jazz
by Robert Gottlieb"Comprehensive and intelligently organized. . . . Jazz aficionados . . . should be grateful to have so much good writing on the subject in one place."--The New York Times Book Review"Alluring. . . . Capture[s] much of the breadth of the music, as well as the passionate debates it has stirred, more vividly than any other jazz anthology to date."--Chicago TribuneNo musical idiom has inspired more fine writing than jazz, and nowhere has that writing been presented with greater comprehensiveness and taste than in this glorious collection. In Reading Jazz, editor Robert Gottlieb combs through eighty years of autobiography, reportage, and criticism by the music's greatest players, commentators, and fans to create what is at once a monumental tapestry of jazz history and testimony to the elegance, vigor, and variety of jazz writing. Here are Jelly Roll Morton, recalling the whorehouse piano players of New Orleans in 1902; Whitney Balliett, profiling clarinetist Pee Wee Russell; poet Philip Larkin, with an eloquently dyspeptic jeremiad against bop. Here, too, are the voices of Billie Holiday and Charles Mingus, Albert Murray and Leonard Bernstein, Stanley Crouch and LeRoi Jones, reminiscing, analyzing, celebrating, and settling scores. For anyone who loves the music--or the music of great prose--Reading Jazz is indispensable. "The ideal gift for jazzniks and boppers everywhere. . . . It gathers the best and most varied jazz writing of more than a century."--Sunday Times (London)From the Trade Paperback edition.
Reading Music: Selected Essays (Ashgate Contemporary Thinkers On Critical Musicology Ser.)
by Susan McClaryThis outstanding collection of Susan McClary's work exemplifies her contribution to a bridging of the gap between historical context, culture and musical practice. The selection includes essays which have had a major impact on the field and others which are less known and reproduced here from hard-to-find sources. The volume is divided into four parts: Interpretation and Polemics, Gender and Sexuality, Popular Music, and Early Music. Each of the essays treats music as cultural text and has a strong interdisciplinary appeal. Together with the autobiographical introduction they will prove essential reading for anyone interested in the life and times of a renegade musicologist.
Reading Musical Interpretation: Case Studies in Solo Piano Performance
by Julian HellabyPerformance studies in the Western art music tradition have often been dominated by the relationship of theoretical score-analysis to performance, although some recent trends have aimed at dislodging the primacy of the score in favour of assessing performance on its own terms. In this book Julian Hellaby further develops these trends by placing performance firmly at the heart of his investigations and presents a structured approach to analysing the interpretation of a musical work from the perspective of a musically informed listener. To enable analysis of individual interpretations, the author develops a conceptual framework in which a series of performance-related categories is arranged hierarchically into an 'interpretative tower'. Using this framework to analyse the acoustic evidence of a recording, interpretative elements are identified and used to assess the relationship between a performance and a work. The viability of the interpretative tower is tested in three major case studies. Contrasting recorded performances of solo keyboard works by Bach, Messiaen and Brahms are the focus of these studies, and analysis of the performances, using the tower model, uncovers an interpretative rationale. The book is wide-ranging in scope and holistic in approach, offering a means of enhancing a listener's appreciation of an interpretation. It is richly illustrated with examples taken from commercial recordings and from the author's own recordings of the three focal works. A CD of the latter is included.
Reading Religion and Spirituality in Jamaican Reggae Dancehall Dance: Spirit Bodies Moving (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by 'H' PattenThis book explores the genealogy of Jamaican dancehall while questioning whether dancehall has a spiritual underscoring, foregrounding dance, and cultural expression. This study identifies the performance and performative (behavioural actions) that may be considered as representing spiritual ritual practices within the reggae/dancehall dance phenomenon. It does so by juxtaposing reggae/dancehall against Jamaican African/neo-African spiritual practices such as Jonkonnu masquerade, Revivalism and Kumina, alongside Christianity and post-modern holistic spiritual approaches. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in performance studies, popular culture, music, theology, cultural studies, Jamaican/Caribbean culture, and dance specialists.
Reading Smile: History, Myth and American Identity in Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks’ Long-Lost Album (Routledge Studies in Popular Music)
by Dale CarterFirst conceived in 1966 but only completed in 2004, Brian Wilson Presents Smile has been called "the best-known unreleased album in pop music history" and "an American Sergeant Pepper." Reading Smile offers a close analysis of the recording in its social, cultural and historical contexts. It focuses in particular on the finished work’s subject matter as embodied in Van Dyke Parks’ contentious yet little understood lyrics, with their low-resolution, highly allusive portrayals of western expansion’s archetypes, from Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts to Diamond Head, Hawaii. Documenting their multiple references and connotations, it argues that their invocations of national self-definition are part of a carefully crafted vision of American identity, society and culture both in tune and at odds with the times. Critical of the republic’s past practices but convinced that its ideals, values and myths still provided resources to redeem it, the recording is interpreted as a creative musical milestone, an enduring product of its volatile, radical, countercultural times, and an American pop art classic. Of particular relevance to American Studies and popular culture scholars, Reading Smile will also appeal to those interested in 1960s popular music, not least to fans of Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks and the Beach Boys.
Ready For a Brand New Beat
by Mark KurlanskyCan a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote "Dancing in the Street." The song was recorded at Motown's Hitsville USA Studio by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording--a precursor to disco, and a song about the joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of the icons of American pop culture. The Beatles had landed in the U.S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election. As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, "Dancing in the Street" gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all changing as the country changed. Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places, Ready for a Brand New Beat chronicles that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that a simple song about dancing played in history.
Ready Steady Go: My Unstoppable Journey in Dance
by Paul Oakenfold"A wild ride of a life... Oakenfold's story is extraordinary" - The Times Follow Paul Oakenfold – world-renowned DJ and dance music pioneer – as he tells his incredible story of a phenomenal career at the beating heart of dance.Paul's journey takes him from a musical baptism in 1980s New York and underground club nights in London to running a seminal dance record label and a legendary trip to Ibiza that introduced him to trance and changed the face of dance music forever.A breathless adventure through music, Ready Steady Go is a story of dance, trance, excess and success.
Ready for a Brand New Beat: How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America
by Mark KurlanskyCan a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote "Dancing in the Street. " The song was recorded at Motown's Hitsville USA Studio by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording--a precursor to disco, and a song about the joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of the icons of American pop culture. The Beatles had landed in the U. S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election. As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, "Dancing in the Street" gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all changing as the country changed. Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places,Ready for a Brand New Beatchronicles that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that a simple song about dancing played in history.
Readying Cavalli's Operas for the Stage: Manuscript, Edition, Production (Ashgate Interdisciplinary Studies In Opera Ser.)
by Ellen RosandAfter more than three centuries of silence, the voice of Francesco Cavalli is being heard loud and clear on the operatic stages of the world. The coincidence of productions at La Scala (Milan) and Covent Garden (London) in the same month (September 2008) of two different operas signals a new stage in the recovery of these extraordinary works, confined until now to special venues committed to 'early music'-opera festivals, conservatory, and university productions. The works of the composer who is credited with having invented the genre of opera as we know it are finally enjoying a renaissance. A new edition of Cavalli's twenty-eight operas is in preparation, and the composer and his works are at the center of a great deal of new scholarship ranging from the study of sources and production issues to the cultural context of opera of this period. In the face of such burgeoning interest, this collection of essays considers the Cavalli revival from various points of view. In particular, it explores the multiple issues involved in the transformation of an operatic manuscript into a performance. Although focused on the works of Cavalli, much of this material can transfer easily to other operatic repertoires.Following an introductory part, reflecting back on four decades of Cavalli performances by some of the conductors responsible for the revival of interest in the composer, the collection is divided into four further parts: The Manuscript Scores, Giasone: Production and Interpretation, Making Librettos, and Cavalli Beyond Venice.