Icons Of Blues & Soul
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For a detailed description of what this book is about please see my review “Icons of Black Music” Icons Of Black Music. Because it had a different title, I naturally assumed it was a different book, but when I noticed the cover pictures were identical I had my suspicions. I immediately looked up Louis Armstrong in both books and sure enough the text and the pictures were identical. At this point I began to suspect I had been conned by the fact they had different titles, but were effectively the same book. On closer examination this assumption proved to be false also. The fact is that ‘Icons of Blues and Soul’ has several common pages to ‘Icons Of Black Music’, but some of the artists from the first book have been omitted and others included. Whether these new pages had been added specifically for the book or whether they had been culled from other publications I cannot say, but if I were to hazard a guess I would say ‘Icons of Blues and Soul’ is a hybrid of ‘Icons of Black Music’ and some other publication. The artists which are common to both books are :-Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, George Benson, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Earth Wind and Fire, The Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Lionel Hampton, Isaac Hayes, Billie Holiday, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Whitney Houston, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Louis Jordan, Chaka Khan, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Leadbelly, Little Richard, Curtis Mayfield, Memphis Minnie, Jelly Roll Morton, Wilson Pickett, Ma Rainey, Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, Sly Stone, The Temptations, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Mama Thornton, Bobby Womack Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. Artists which appear in “Icons of Blues and Soul” but not “Icons of Black Music” are Duanne Allman, Big Bill Broonzy, James Burton, Larry Carlton, Maybelle Carter, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Robert Cray, Steve Cropper, The Reverend Gary Davies, Slim Gaillard, Peter Green, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Bunk Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Albert King, Freddie King, Eddie Lang, Blind Willie McTell, Wes Montgomery, Scotty Moore, King Oliver, Kid Ory, Keith Richards, Jack Teagarden, Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker, Fats Waller, Ben Webster. Just enough difference I suppose to justify a new title and the claim that this is a different book. It is worth noting that of all these additions only one might be considered a true soul artist (Steve Cropper) so we must assume the others gain entrance under the blues category. It is also worth noting how many of these inclusions are white into a genre that is supposed to be black. One or two inclusions are also bizarre to say the least, Count Basie is clearly a jazz artist whilst Maybelle Carter is unquestionably Country and Western. Artists, which appear in “Icons of black music”, but not “Icons of Blues and Soul” are: Jimmy Cliff, George Clinton, Nat King Cole, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Miles Davies, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Grandmaster Flash, Herbie Hancock. Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Michael Jackson, Miriam Makeba, Bob Marley, Charles Mingus, Theloneous Monk, Youssou N’Dour, Notorious Big, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Prince, Public Enemy, Sonny Rollins, Gill Scott Heron, Tupac Shakur, The Staple Singers, Sun Ra, Tina Turner, Sarah Vaughn, Dionne Warwick, Dinah Washington, Barry White, Stevie Wonder and Lester Young. Which begs the question why George Clinton, The Staple Singers, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Barry White and Stevie Wonder have been excluded from the Soul re-incarnation of this book. Surely they are more appropriate than some of the other inclusions. Whilst my copy of the “Icons of Black Music” is a hefty hardback, the Icons of Blues and Soul is a paperback I picked up from a budget bookstore in Holland for the equivalent value of Ł2. Given the massive overlaps between these books the prices are just about worth it. |
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Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
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