Alabama Musicians: Musical Heritage From the Heart of Dixie

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Alabama Musicians: Musical Heritage from the Heart of Dixie (eBook) Pub. Date: 2/28/2012 Publisher: The History Press, Inc.
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Alabama Musicians: Musical Heritage From the Heart of Dixie Pub. Date: 9/15/2011 Publisher: History Press, The

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Overview

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, legendary artists like Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan traveled to North Alabama to record with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm section, also known as The Swampers. But Alabama hasn't just attracted musical stars with its talent— it has a history of creating stars of its own. Join author and musician C.S. Fuqua as he showcases the breadth of Alabama's musical talent through the profiles and stories of its historic performers and innovators. From "the father of the blues" W.C. Handy to Hank Williams, the originator of modern country music, to folk music hero Odetta and everyone in between, this is an unprecedented compendium of Alabama's groundbreaking music makers.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781609491574
Publisher: History Press, The
Publication date: 9/15/2011
Pages: 160
Sales rank: 1,166,623
Product dimensions: 5.90 (w) x 9.50 (h) x 0.60 (d)

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FluteFlightsReviews

Posted October 7, 2011

5 STARS for an entertaining and informative book! Highly recommended!

The book, "Alabama Musicians - Musical Heritage From the Heart of Dixie", by C.S. Fuqua is an outstanding contribution to the genre of music history and lore. I have a weakness for biographies, especially biographies of famous, and even not so famous, musicians. For example, I've probably read every biography of Bob Dylan in print. Authors, depending on their skills, temperament and intentions have treated Dylan in widely varying ways, from scholarly to stupidly sensational. In "Alabama Musicians", Fuqua has skillfully managed to be highly informative with each biography, (this book is a collection of mini biographies), without being elitist and boring, and highly entertaining without insulting our intelligence. No simple trick, but somehow Fuqua pulls it off with real style. This is a book that will find its way to every library's bookshelf, as well as be a favorite to music lovers of any genre. The number of really famous musicians that were born in Alabama are astounding. Did you know that Hank Williams was an Alabaman? Emmylou Harris, the rock group "Alabama", Nat King Cole, Odetta, Big Mama Thornton - all these giants were/are natives of Alabama. Other musicians, like Wilson Pickett, (remember his signature cut, "Mustang Sally"?), Blind Boys of Alabama, the Delmore Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, Martha Reeves, and Dinah Washington, all famous but maybe not as well known to some, were given the same careful biographic treatment by Fuqua as the most famous personalities. Fuqua gives equal consideration to the likes of Sun Ra (jazz pianist), Ward Swingle (the Swingle Singers), and Michael Graham Allen (builder and consummate musician of the Native American flute), musicians all well known to aficionados, but not necessarily to the general population. Nevertheless, their biographies are as interesting as the biographies of the most famous, and that's what makes this book so worthwhile to read: there's something for everybody. Equally important to the value of this book are the photographs. We, the readers, like to look at pictures, and this book does not disappoint. Some photos are publicity photos of individual artists, while some are archival. The Library of Congress has provided photos of legendaries like John Lomax, for example. The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame has also contributed to the photo archive. Where other photos were needed, the author, as well as Tegan Fuqua, has contributed their own photos. I mention this because these added shots are so well rendered that they all fit seamlessly within the photo mix. Photos can make or break an otherwise great book. These photos make an already great book even better. This is a beautiful book. It's well conceived, artistically written, well laid out, and it's just a joy to peruse through its pages. The many short biographies make it fun to read a few, with the satisfaction that you have seen a complete snapshot of someone's musical life, and then lay it down until you have time to read the next few snapshots. It's constant fun. It's one of those books you can reread and enjoy all over again. It's like a Dylan tune: each time you hear it you absorb a little more. I gleefully and enthusiastically award this book 5 out of 5 STARS. Reviewed by Dick Claassen - author, musician, teacher
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