Blackwell Guide To Soul Recordings
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It took me nearly seven months to get hold of this tome with the reason given that the publishers wait till they have sufficient orders before they are prepared to reprint it. Clearly I ordered at a bad time. And was the wait worth it? I can only answer unequivocally that it was. First published in 1993, the book is divided into ten chapters, each more or less considering an era or a geographical location. The chapter headings are as follows and each are self explanatory, Rhythm & Blues; New York & New Jersey; Philadelphia; Detroit; Chicago; The South (Tennessee, Alabama,Georgia, Virginia, Carolinas); The South (Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Mississippi); West Coast; Great Britain & The European Continent and finally, Funk & Later Trends. Although edited by Robert Pruter the book is written by an impressive collection of Soul writers including Peter Grendysa, Wayne Jancik, Dan Nooger, Bill Dahl, Jeff Hannusch, Randal C. Hill, Geoff Brown and the editor himself. Each chapter begins with an overview of each areas 'Soul Scene' followed by reviews of the top 5 to 15 "Essential Recordings" for each area. Each of the albums selected are considered seminal by the author, and these are followed by up to thirty other selections, all exceptional, but not quite making it into the 'pre-eminent' category. The book ends with an extensive bibliography, glossary and extensive index. The concept of this book is a sound one. At the time of writing I have just finished reading the first chapter on "The South". The writing from one chapter to the next varies in style, but all are well written. The overviews offer little that is new to the aficionado, but would give a good context to the less specialised reader. The main focus of the book is the album selections as each writer attempts to justify their choices. It is always interesting to compare how closely their selections match your own. The two benefits of this approach are that they might introduce the reader to new albums or artists they have not encountered before, or that they might cause the reader to re-assess the properties of a particular recording. In either event they certainly cause the reader to think and to learn. The book is entirely concerned with Albums whether in vinyl or CD format which caused one soul writer, who specialised in single releases, to withdraw from the project. The book assumes that releases can be found in both vinyl and CD format, unless the reference includes the (LP) symbol in which case it is in vinyl only. If I have any criticism of the book it is that this classification is now hopelessly out of date as many of the albums identified as being 'vinyl only' are now available on CD A really excellent book which can be considered as either a reader or a reference. For the soul aficionado I would undoubtedly put this in the "essential" category. |
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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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