The Death of Rhythm and Blues - Softcover

George, Nelson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142004081 ISBN 13: 9780142004081

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2003

Synopsis

From Nelson George, supervising producer and writer of the hit Netflix series, "The Get Down," this passionate and provocative book tells the complete story of black music in the last fifty years, and in doing so outlines the perilous position of black culture within white American society. In a fast-paced narrative,  Nelson George’s book chronicles the rise and fall of “race music” and its transformation into the R&B that eventually dominated the airwaves only to find itself diluted and submerged as crossover music.

About this title

About the Author:

Nelson George, supervising producer and writer of the hit Netflix series, "The Get Down,  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: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0142004081
• ISBN 13: 9780142004081
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256