Bob Gulla – författare

Drawn from a mosaic of influences, including folk, gospel, and blues, R&B represents both everything that came before and nothing that was heard before. This is the music that bridged the gap between audiences and helped, at the very height of racism in America, to dismantle racial barriers. So much of today's music is derived directly from the highly influential and critically important sounds of R&B that without it we would have never known the classic soul of the late '50s and '60s, the glory days of the genre. Similarly, rock n' roll as seen through the eyes of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley would have never evolved without the foundation laid by their R&B predecessors. Through substantial entries on the chief architects and innovators, Icons of R&B and Soul offers a vibrant overview of the music's impact in American culture and how it reflected contemporary society's politics, trends, and social issues.Numerous sidebars highlight Motown, prominent record labels, hit songs, related singers and songwriters, key events, and significant aspects of the music industry. Also included is a list of important print and Web resources, as well as a list of selected recordings. An essential reference for high school and public libraries, this encyclopedia will help students explore the historical and cultural framework of R&B and soul music through the musicians who have come to define the genre. Among the featured: -Ray Charles -Little Richard -Fats Domino & New Orleans R&B -Ruth Brown -Sam Cooke -Etta James -James Brown -Aretha Franklin -The Supremes -Otis Redding -Ike & Tina Turner -Curtis Mayfield -Berry Gordy -Stevie Wonder -Marvin Gaye -Smokey Robinson -The Temptations -Prince

Meet rock and roll's party crashers. They are the guitar-wielding heroes who came into an established musical framework, rearranged the furniture, tipped over a few chairs, and ditched - leaving the stragglers to pick up the pieces. Guitar Gods showcases the 25 players who made the greatest impact on rock's long and winding history.Meet rock and roll's party crashers. They are the guitar-wielding heroes who came into an established musical framework, rearranged the furniture, tipped over a few chairs, and ditched - leaving the stragglers to pick up the pieces. Chuck Berry, for example, the first guitar player to jumpstart rock and roll, left audience eyeballs in spirals when he blasted them with his patented Chuck Berry intro, a clarion call that served as rock and roll's reveille. A few years later, Jimi Hendrix, inspired in part by Chuck, made a lasting impression on rock and roll in so many ways, leaving us all in a purple haze, and sending guitar players scurrying to take a new look at their instruments. The ripple-like effect of Hendrix continues to this day.Guitar Gods showcases the 25 players who made the greatest impact on rock and roll's long and winding history. All the players profiled in this book threw fans for a loop; their advancements in music left the genre in a different place than when they arrived.Enhanced with numerous sidebars on such topics as landmark albums, this volume gives readers a solid understanding of the players' early influences, technique and style, equipment, and legacy. Also included are a number of resources for students, researchers, and anyone interested in the history of rock music: sidebars on related musicians and landmark albums; discographies of seminal and bestselling recordings; a resource guide of recommended print and Web resources; and comprehensive index.