Music-Genres & Styles-Soul & R&B

In the months before she died, Florence Ballard, the spunky teenager who founded the most successful female vocal group in history--the Supremes--told her own side of the story. Recorded on tape, Flo shed light on all areas of her life, including the surprising identity...

Some fans say that Jay Dee was the greatest hip-hop producer ever. Wax Poetics speaks in-depth with Jay's peers and delves deep into his magical, musical life. With our first split-cover, we also honor hip-hop production masters, Public Enemy's Bomb Squad. Hank Shocklee &...

The story behind the making of the album that signaled the descent of Sylvester Sly Stone Stewart into a haze of drug addiction and delirium is captivating enough for the cinema. In the spacious attic of a Beverly Hills mansion belonging to John and...

From the field cries and work chants of Southern Negroes emerged a rich and vital music called the country blues, an intensely personal expression of the pains and pleasures of black life. This music--recorded during the twenties by men like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Big...

In 1963, sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Hawkins and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson traveled from the segregated South to New York City under the auspices of their manager, former pop singer Joe Jones. With their wonderful harmonies, they were an immediate success. To...

Voodoo, D'Angelo's much-anticipated 2000 release, set the standard for the musical cycle ordained as "neo-soul," a label the singer and songwriter would reject more than a decade later. The album is a product of heightened emotions and fused sensibilities; an amalgam of soul, rock,...

These are just a few of Willie Dixon's contributions to blues, R&B, and rock'n'roll--songs performed by artists as varied as the Rolling Stones, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, ZZ Top, the Doors, Sonny Boy Williamson, the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, Megadeth, Eric Clapton, Let Zepplin,...

A memoir by Morris Day of The Time centering around his lifelong relationship and association with Prince"A vital, illuminating, and wildly entertaining autobiography." -Billboard"Great book! Great storytelling!" -LENNY KRAVITZ"Lean, slick, cooler than Santa Claus, and surprisingly tender, this book not only traces Day's history...

"Seymour's brilliant book is like a great Luther song: elegantly written, effortlessly executed and eloquently delivered." - Michael Eric Dyson"Craig Seymour paints an intimate portrait of the man behind some of the most beautiful love songs of our time...Full of juicy anecdotes, fast-paced writing,...

Chicago has always had a reputation as a "wide open town" with a high tolerance for gangsters, illegal liquor, and crooked politicians. It has also been the home for countless black musicians and the birthplace of a distinctly urban blues-more sophisticated, cynical, and street-smart...

Ready to Master the Grooves of The World's Greatest Funk Bass Players?Get inside the grooves and techniques of the funkiest bass players on the planet 100 Funk Grooves for Electric Bass is your complete guide to mastering the essential skills of funk bass groove....

As seen in the Wall Street Journal "Alan Leeds was a proteg of James Brown and a true historian of the world that nurtured the great entertainer. Alan was a witness to the vibrant black music scene of the '60s and '70s--whose book is...

In 2018, ITV Studios and Reelz will release a documentary about the Supremes on which Peter Benjaminson will appearAlso in 2018, CNN will broadcast a four-part series about Detroit in 1963. Benjaminson will appear on the episode devoted to MotownMotown records will release its...

A memoir by Morris Day of The Time centering around his lifelong relationship and association with Prince.Brilliant composer, smooth soul singer, killer drummer, and charismatic band leader, Morris Day, has been a force in American music for the past four decades. In On Time,...

The 50's ushered in a period of major change. Crime was low, children played freely outside, Elvis was Rock n' Roll'n, a home cost $14,500, a car about $2,000. Teenagers were discovering the Rock n' Roll lifestyle spreading across the country including Motown and...

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). A must-have collection of 68 Motown masterpieces, including: ABC * Ain't No Mountain High Enough * Ain't Too Proud to Beg * Baby Love * Dancing in the Street * Easy * For Once in My Life * How Sweet It Is...

The punk movement created a revolution in the music industry with its anarchic approach and DIY ethos. It was the antidote to a bloated record business that had become moribund and prog bands which had become hugely self-indulgent. Punk grew out of the politics...

CONTENTSOrigins: A sampling of the sphere of influence for Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), the debut album of the Digable Planets.The System: A shadowy synth-pop album unearthedRaymond Scott: Synthesizer innovator and composer sampled by DillaSusaye Greene: Singer-songwriter who worked with Ray...

"I don't know where he's buried, but if I did I'd piss on his grave." --Jerry Wexler, best friend and mentor Here Comes the Night: Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues is both a definitive account of the New York...

Few American superstar stories are richer, wilder, or more excessive than Rick James's. He played in a band with Neil Young, spent years in jail, produced his first album (which was then picked up by Motown) with money from shadowy sources, crossed rock and...

Author: R. E. RussellISBN-10: 1545661510ISBN-13: 9781545661512Publisher: Xulon PressLanguage: EnglishPublished: 02/15/2019Pages: 86Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.36lbsSize: 10.00h x 7.00w x 0.18d

Our new version of the classic Wax Poetics music journal Wax Poetics Issue 67 contains all-new content featuring interviews and write-ups on a slew of Prince's albums, including 1978's 'For You, ' 1986's 'Parade, ' 1987's 'Sign O the Times, ' 1988's 'Lovesexy, '...

Florida Historical Society Charlton Tebeau Award When recalling the roots of soul music, most people are likely to name Memphis, Detroit, New Orleans, Muscle Shoals, or Macon. But Florida also has a rich soul music history-an important cultural legacy that has often gone unrecognized....

A Chicago Tribune Book of 2019, Notable Chicago Reads A Booklist Top 10 Arts Book of 2019 A No Depression Top Music Book of 2019 Curtis Mayfield. The Chi-Lites. Chaka Khan. Chicago's place in the history of soul music is rock solid. But for...

When all else fails, when our compass is broken, there is one thing some of us have come to rely on: music really can give us a sense of something like home. With It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track, legendary music critic Ian...

A No Depression Most Memorable Music Book of 2022 The forceful music that rolled out of Muscle Shoals in the 1960s and 1970s shaped hits by everyone from Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon. Christopher M. Reali's in-depth...

Master the Grooves of The World's Greatest RnB, Soul and Motown Bass PlayersGet inside the grooves and techniques of the coolest bass players ever recorded!RnB, Soul & Motown Style Basslines is your complete guide to mastering the essential skills of Soul bass guitar. You'll...

Mod has its roots in in London with a group of young men in the late Fifties who were known as modernists because they listened to modern jazz. Mod culture included fashion, music, motor scooters, and amphetamine-fuelled all-night dancing. During the early to mid...

Though you may not know the man, you probably know his music. Arkansas-born Louis Jordan's songs like Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Caldonia" and "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" can still be heard today, decades since Jordan ruled the charts. In his fiveAuthor: Stephen...

Making headlines when it was launched in 2015, Omise'eke Tinsley's undergraduate course "Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism" has inspired students from all walks of life. In Beyoncé in Formation, Tinsley now takes her rich observations beyond the classroom, using the blockbuster album and video Lemonade...

In the sound of the 1960s and 1970s, nothing symbolized the rift between black and white America better than the seemingly divided genres of country and soul. Yet the music emerged from the same songwriters, musicians, and producers in the recording studios of Memphis...

Listen to Soul! Exploring a Musical Genre provides an overview of soul music for fans of the genre, with a focus on 50 must-hear singers, songs, and albums that define it. Listen to Soul! Exploring a Musical Genre provides both an overview and a...

From the young Black teenager who built a bass guitar in woodshop to the musician building a solo career with Motown Records--Prince's bassist BrownMark on growing up in Minneapolis, joining Prince and The Revolution, and his life in the purple kingdom In the summer...

The noted blues scholar Paul Oliver here examines the many different skeins of the blues form, relating them to other black traditions--musical and religious--and tracing the origin of the blues through the dense, many-colored warp and weft of influences and inspiration. He describes "the...

Author: Michael HaralambosISBN-10: 0306802465ISBN-13: 9780306802461Publisher: Da Capo PressLanguage: EnglishPublished: 08/22/1985Pages: 188Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.58lbsSize: 8.58h x 5.56w x 0.47d

Our new version of the classic Wax Poetics music journal Wax Poetics Issue 67 contains all-new content featuring interviews and write-ups on a slew of Prince's albums, including 1978's For You, 1986's Parade, 1987's Sign "O" the Times, 1988's Lovesexy, 1991's Diamonds and Pearls,...

Though you may not know the man, you probably know his music. Arkansas-born Louis Jordan's songs like Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Caldonia" and "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" can still be heard today, decades since Jordan ruled the charts. In his five-decade career,...

Tony Bolden presents an innovative history of funk music focused on the performers, regarding them as intellectuals who fashioned a new aesthetic. Utilizing musicology, literary studies, performance studies, and African American intellectual history, Bolden explores what it means for music, or any cultural artifact,...

From the young Black teenager who built a bass guitar in woodshop to the musician building a solo career with Motown Records--Prince's bassist BrownMark on growing up in Minneapolis, joining Prince and The Revolution, and his life in the purple kingdom In the summer...

This book analyzes the process of composition, learning and performance of the Southern folk blues of black America. Never before has this musical form been examined so scrupulously. Evans traces the impact of commercialism, especially the phonograph record, on blues history, as well as...

Celebrating the seventeen-year anniversary of our debut issue (December 2001), we're releasing a special-edition reissue, completely redesigned and hardbound. We've added many more photos and record covers. Author: Various AuthorsISBN-10: 0999212753ISBN-13: 9780999212752Publisher: Wax Poetics BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 04/26/2019Pages: 142Format: HardcoverWeight: 1.42lbsSize: 10.00h x 8.00w x...

Reprint of Wax Poetics Issue One, originally published December 2001.Author: Wax PoeticsISBN-10: 0999212745ISBN-13: 9780999212745Publisher: Wax Poetics BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 04/11/2018Pages: 82Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.47lbsSize: 10.00h x 7.00w x 0.21d

The story of the rhythmic revolution of R&B, funk and soul, as told by the drummers themselves. An illustrated history of their lives and their bands. Includes interviews, discographies, rare photos, transcriptions of over 100 classic R&B and funk rhythms and downloadable mp3 audio...

Funk Guitar Mastery focuses on developing the rhythmic and technical skills needed to develop and understand how a funk guitar part functions and sits in the band. As proficiency is developed, funky chords, riffs, techniques and approaches are added to get you grooving like...

Few narratives in pop encompass Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Madonna, Duran Duran, Diana Ross, Johnny Mathis and Led Zeppelin. This story is one of them. Chic, led by former Black Panther activist Nile Rodgers and down-home family man Bernard Edwards, are one...

Launched by legendary music industry executive Art Rupe in the mid-1940s, the Los Angeles-based Specialty Records emerged as one of the most important independent labels for African-American music in the twentieth century. Recognizing that competing with major record companies was a losing battle, Rupe...

In the 1970s, Northern Soul held a pivotal position in British youth culture. Originating in the English North and Midlands in the late-1960s, by the mid-1970s it was attracting thousands of enthusiasts across the country. This book is a social history of Northern Soul,...

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Are you ready to master the Soul rhythm guitar skills that defined three generations? Discover where Gospel meets R&B Soul is one of the most important skills any guitarist can master. It's an essential genre that combines the best elements of Gospel, R&B and...

The multi-grammy-nominated R&B singer and songwriter Calvin Richardson shares his inspiring story of rising from a modest southern upbringing to fame and living the dream of doing what he loves--wowing crowds with his illustrious hits and writing beautiful music. With fans and upcoming artists...