Blue Rhythms

by Chip Deffaa

Overview

”Somebody has to pay the dues,” says LaVern Baker. Here are the remarkable stories of six dazzlingly talented performers who blazed the R & B trail—the story of the performers' music and also of their struggle against racism and financial exploitation: Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker, two of the most popular female black singers of the 1950s; Little Jimmy Scott, whom Madonna calls the only singer who ever really made her cry; Charles Brown, master of the “club blues” style; Floyd Dixon, a more rambunctious fellow-traveler; and the earthy, urbane Jimmy Witherspoon, who recorded some of the biggest R & B hits ever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306809194
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	12/24/1999
Edition description:	1 DA CAPO
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Chip Deffaa, jazz critic for the New York Post, has written seven other books, including Voices of the Jazz Age: Profiles of Eight Vintage Jazzmen and Swing Legacy. A winner of the ASCAP–Deems Taylor Award, he contributes regularly to Entertainment Weekly, JazzTimes, and Crescendo.

Editorial Reviews

A noted jazz critic for the New York Post, Deffaa turns his attention to the world of rhythm and blues in his latest work. He does an admirable job of providing social and historical context for the lives of six R&B pioneersRuth Brown, Little Jimmy Scott, Charles Brown, Floyd Dixon, LaVern Baker, and Jimmy Witherspoon. The author knows his subjects well and allows them to recount their part in the story, but he relates both their successes and their failures in his balanced text. The book includes extensive notes and a detailed selective discography. Readable and enjoyable, it will provide insights to both lay readers and scholars. Highly recommended for all libraries with an interest in rhythm and blues.Ronald S. Russ, Brooklyn P.L.

Library Journal