The Death of Rhythm and Blues - Softcover

George, Nelson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452266971 ISBN 13: 9780452266971

Publisher: Plume, 1989

Synopsis

Examines the changing sound of rhythm and blues, from the electrifying music of such greats as Chuck Berry and Aretha Franklin to current mainstream names like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, and explores the reasons for this radical shift

About this title

About the Author:

Nelson George is an award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction. He has written for Playboy, Billboard, Esquire, the Village Voice, Essence, and many other national magazines, as well as writing and producing television programs and feature films.

From Publishers Weekly:

Slicing through the main layers of the world of R & B, George, music critic for Billboard and Playboy , profiles his personal heroes in the recent history of black musicespecially in the evolution of black radio, the growth of independent record labels and the development of retail outlets for R & B records. Here are perceptive summations of the contributions of such star creative performers as Chuck Berry, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson, as well as of lesser-known musicians, and of the links between black social and economic affairs and the changes in contemporary black culture. Above all, George examines the business of black music and probes the ways in which it has affected the "symptoms of illness" in R & B. He is convinced that "black America's assimilationist obsession is heading it straight toward cultural suicide." Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0452266971
• ISBN 13: 9780452266971
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256