Richard Carlin – författare

A new biography of one of the key composers of 20th-century American popular song and jazz,Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race illuminates Blake's little-known impact on over 100 years of American culture. A gifted musician, Blake rose from performing in dance halls and bordellos of his native Baltimore to the heights of Broadway. In 1921, together with performer and lyricist Noble Sissle, Blake created Shuffle Along which became a sleeper smash on Broadway eventually becoming one of the top ten musical shows of the 1920s. Despite many obstacles Shuffle Along integrated Broadway and the road and introduced such stars as Josephine Baker, Lottie Gee, Florence Mills, and Fredi Washington. It also proved that black shows were viable on Broadway and subsequent productions gave a voice to great songwriters, performers, and spoke to a previously disenfranchised black audience. As successful as Shuffle Along was, racism and bad luck hampered Blake's career. Remarkably, the third act of Blake's life found him heraldedin his 90s at major jazz festivals, in Broadway shows, and on television and recordings.Tracing not only Blake's extraordinary life and accomplishments, Broadway and popular music authorities Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom examine the professional and societal barriers confronted by black artists from the turn of the century through the 1980s. Drawing from a wealth of personal archives and interviews with Blake, his friends, and other scholars,Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race offers an incisive portrait of the man and the musical world he inhabited.

A new biography of one of the key composers of 20th-century American popular song and jazz, Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race illuminates Blake''s little-known impact on over 100 years of American culture. A gifted musician, Blake rose from performing in dance halls and bordellos of his native Baltimore to the heights of Broadway. In 1921, together with performer and lyricist Noble Sissle, Blake created Shuffle Along which became a sleeper smash on Broadway eventually becoming one of the top ten musical shows of the 1920s. Despite many obstacles Shuffle Along integrated Broadway and the road and introduced such stars as Josephine Baker, Lottie Gee, Florence Mills, and Fredi Washington. It also proved that black shows were viable on Broadway and subsequent productions gave a voice to great songwriters, performers, and spoke to a previously disenfranchised black audience. As successful as Shuffle Along was, racism and bad luck hampered Blake''s career. Remarkably, the third act of Blake''s life found him heralded in his 90s at major jazz festivals, in Broadway shows, and on television and recordings.Tracing not only Blake''s extraordinary life and accomplishments, Broadway and popular music authorities Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom examine the professional and societal barriers confronted by black artists from the turn of the century through the 1980s. Drawing from a wealth of personal archives and interviews with Blake, his friends, and other scholars, Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race offers an incisive portrait of the man and the musical world he inhabited.

A new biography of one of the key composers of 20th-century American popular song and jazz, Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race illuminates Blake''s little-known impact on over 100 years of American culture. A gifted musician, Blake rose from performing in dance halls and bordellos of his native Baltimore to the heights of Broadway. In 1921, together with performer and lyricist Noble Sissle, Blake created Shuffle Along which became a sleeper smash on Broadway eventually becoming one of the top ten musical shows of the 1920s. Despite many obstacles Shuffle Along integrated Broadway and the road and introduced such stars as Josephine Baker, Lottie Gee, Florence Mills, and Fredi Washington. It also proved that black shows were viable on Broadway and subsequent productions gave a voice to great songwriters, performers, and spoke to a previously disenfranchised black audience. As successful as Shuffle Along was, racism and bad luck hampered Blake''s career. Remarkably, the third act of Blake''s life found him heralded in his 90s at major jazz festivals, in Broadway shows, and on television and recordings.Tracing not only Blake''s extraordinary life and accomplishments, Broadway and popular music authorities Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom examine the professional and societal barriers confronted by black artists from the turn of the century through the 1980s. Drawing from a wealth of personal archives and interviews with Blake, his friends, and other scholars, Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race offers an incisive portrait of the man and the musical world he inhabited.

Country Music: A Very Short Introduction presents a compelling overview of the music and its impact on American culture. Country music has long been a marker of American identity; from our popular culture to our politics, it has provided a soundtrack to our national life. While traditionally associated with the working class, country's appeal is far broader than any other popular music style. While this music rose from the people, it is also a product of the popular music industry, and the way the music has been marketed to its audience is a key part of its story. Key artists, songs, and musical styles are highlighted that are either touchstones for a particular social event (such as Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man," which produced both a positive and negative backlash as a marker of women's roles in society at the beginning of the liberation movement) or that encompass broader trends in the industry (for example, Jimmie Rodgers' "T for Texas" was an early example of the appropriation of black musical forms by white artists to market them to a mainstream audience). While pursuing a basically chronological outline, the book is structured around certain recurring themes (such as rural vs. urban; tradition vs. innovation; male vs. female; white vs. black) that have been documented through the work of country artists from the minstrel era to today. Truly the voice of the people, country music expresses both deep patriotism as well as a healthy skepticism towards the powers that dominate American society. Country Music: A Very Short Introduction illuminates this rich tradition and assesses its legacy in American popular music culture.

This biography tells the story of one of the most notorious figures in the history of popular music, Morris Levy (1927-1990). At age nineteen, he cofounded the nightclub Birdland in Hell's Kitchen, which became the home for a new musical style, bebop. Levy operated one of the first integrated clubs on Broadway and helped build the careers of Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell and most notably aided the reemergence of Count Basie. In 1957, he founded a record label, Roulette Records. Roulette featured many of the significant jazz artists who played Birdland but also scored top pop hits with acts like Buddy Knox, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Joey Dee and the Starliters, and, in the mid-1960s, Tommy James.Stories abound of Levy threatening artists, songwriters, and producers, sometimes just for the sport, other times so he could continue to build his empire. Along the way, Levy attracted ""investors"" with ties to the Mafia, including Dominic Ciaffone (a.k.a. ""Swats"" Mulligan), Tommy Eboli, and the most notorious of them all, Vincent Gigante. Gigante allegedly owned large pieces of Levy's recording and retail businesses.Starting in the late 1950s, the FBI and IRS investigated Levy but could not make anything stick until the early 1980s, when Levy foolishly got involved in a deal to sell remaindered records to a small-time reseller, John LaMonte. With partners in the mob, Levy tried to force LaMonte to pay for four million remaindered records. When the FBI secretly wiretapped LaMonte in an unrelated investigation and agents learned about the deal, investigators successfully prosecuted Levy in the extortion scheme. Convicted in 1988, Levy did not live to serve prison time. Stricken with cancer, he died just as his last appeals were exhausted. However, even if he had lived, Levy's brand of storied high life was effectively bust. Corporate ownership of record labels doomed most independents in the business, ending the days when a savvy if ruthless hustler could blaze a path to the top.

This biography tells the story of one of the most notorious figures in the history of popular music, Morris Levy (1927–1990). At age nineteen, he cofounded the nightclub Birdland in Hell’s Kitchen, which became the home for a new musical style, bebop. Levy operated one of the first integrated clubs on Broadway and helped build the careers of Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell and most notably aided the reemergence of Count Basie. In 1957, he founded a record label, Roulette Records. Roulette featured many of the significant jazz artists who played Birdland but also scored top pop hits with acts like Buddy Knox, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Joey Dee and the Starliters, and, in the mid-1960s, Tommy James.Stories abound of Levy threatening artists, songwriters, and producers, sometimes just for the sport, other times so he could continue to build his empire. Along the way, Levy attracted “investors” with ties to the Mafia, including Dominic Ciaffone (a.k.a. “Swats” Mulligan), Tommy Eboli, and the most notorious of them all, Vincent Gigante. Gigante allegedly owned large pieces of Levy’s recording and retail businesses.Starting in the late 1950s, the FBI and IRS investigated Levy but could not make anything stick until the early 1980s, when Levy foolishly got involved in a deal to sell remaindered records to a small-time reseller, John LaMonte. With partners in the mob, Levy tried to force LaMonte to pay for four million remaindered records. When the FBI secretly wiretapped LaMonte in an unrelated investigation and agents learned about the deal, investigators successfully prosecuted Levy in the extortion scheme. Convicted in 1988, Levy did not live to serve prison time. Stricken with cancer, he died just as his last appeals were exhausted. However, even if he had lived, Levy’s brand of storied high life was effectively bust. Corporate ownership of record labels doomed most independents in the business, ending the days when a savvy if ruthless hustler could blaze a path to the top.

Although a major star in her day, Lottie Gee’s (1886–1973) career has earned only brief mentions in standard musical theater histories. After appearing on vaudeville in the 1910s—including an early tour to England—she achieved her greatest success as the celebrated star of the landmark 1921 production of Shuffle Along. She sang the show’s biggest hit, "I’m Just Wild About Harry," and began a ten-year love affair with its composer, Eubie Blake. Following this success, Gee was the star in the ill-fated Chocolate Dandies, costarring with an up-and-coming comedian/dancer, Josephine Baker. Gee left to join a company bound for Europe, one of the first Black troupes to enjoy success there, some six months before Baker arrived in Paris.Gee’s commitment to perform a combination of traditional spirituals and Broadway and pop songs, along with her formal singing style, made her sound old-fashioned once the craze for blues came into vogue in the mid-1920s. Other Black actresses were able to make the transition to more popular styles, either by recording songs from the blues repertoire or by accepting stereotypical film roles aimed primarily at Black audiences. But Gee could not make this transition, and—despite her initial triumphs—she spent her final decades performing in obscurity, remembered only by a small number of her fellow performers. Wild About Lottie Gee: Pioneering Star of Black American Theater restores Lottie Gee’s rightful spot in Black theater history.

Although a major star in her day, Lottie Gee’s (1886–1973) career has earned only brief mentions in standard musical theater histories. After appearing on vaudeville in the 1910s—including an early tour to England—she achieved her greatest success as the celebrated star of the landmark 1921 production of Shuffle Along. She sang the show’s biggest hit, "I’m Just Wild About Harry," and began a ten-year love affair with its composer, Eubie Blake. Following this success, Gee was the star in the ill-fated Chocolate Dandies, costarring with an up-and-coming comedian/dancer, Josephine Baker. Gee left to join a company bound for Europe, one of the first Black troupes to enjoy success there, some six months before Baker arrived in Paris. Gee’s commitment to perform a combination of traditional spirituals and Broadway and pop songs, along with her formal singing style, made her sound old-fashioned once the craze for blues came into vogue in the mid-1920s. Other Black actresses were able to make the transition to more popular styles, either by recording songs from the blues repertoire or by accepting stereotypical film roles aimed primarily at Black audiences. But Gee could not make this transition, and—despite her initial triumphs—she spent her final decades performing in obscurity, remembered only by a small number of her fellow performers. Wild About Lottie Gee: Pioneering Star of Black American Theater restores Lottie Gee’s rightful spot in Black theater history.

This story is a very factual, believable tale that would be of interest to all readers, because most people who are educated and avid readers would be mesmerized by the scientific facts and the fictional explanations of time travel at the speed of light. Enterprise fans will devour the novel as pure magic. The characters are easy to read and believable. The actual story could actually happen, so therefore, taking this into consideration wraps them up in reading every chapter and wanting more.