People Never Give Up
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Described on the back cover as a biography this is a categorisation which is loose to say the least. It has probably been put there because it is the closest match the author could find. When I see a biography I think of someone's life, their birth, their childhood, their family, their romances, their philosophies. By the end of such a book you usually feel that you know the central character quite well, and either warm to them or dislike them. 'People Never Give Up' is nothing like this as it contains not a shred of personal information. Did Curtis Mayfield have lots of women? Did any of them break his heart? What was his family like? Under what sort of conditions did he grow up? Who were his biggest influences? How did he cope with racism or the exploitation inherent in the music industry? In this publication we are never told, and anybody wanting to know about Curtis Mayfield 'the person' will really need to look elsewhere. So if the book isn't a biography, then what is it? The best description I can come up with is that it is an analysis of his professional work, a kind of extended CV. Unfortunately this is not a description that is likely to appeal to the casual reader, nor are libraries and bookshops likely to have such classifications, so it appears under the biography banner by default. I may have laboured the point, but I would not like any potential buyer to be under any illusion as to what they are getting. This does not mean to say it is a bad book, far from it, it is well researched and well constructed, but is much more aimed at the soul anorak than the casual reader. Rather than being the subject of the story Curtis Mayfield is more of a common thread that the author uses to link many other aspects of Chicago Soul into his narrative. Just as much information is given about people who worked with Mayfield as there is about the man himself. Jerry Butler, The Impressions, Donny Hathaway, Linda Clifford, The Natural Four, The Five Stairsteps, The Fascinations and Leroy Hutson all feature prominently in a book that packed solidly with information. Again the information is professional, the songs they sang, their record releases, their chart positions as opposed to anything of a personal nature. Even after covering Curtis's death Peter Burns continues by giving details of all the CD releases which were released posthumously. To these he adds his own personal criticisms. I always enjoy this type of commentary because it inspires me to listen again to records I had long forgotten and to re-evaluate songs I might have previously dismissed. They certainly deepened my personal appreciation of Curtis's music. To conclude, this book is not really for the casual reader but is aimed firmly towards the soul aficionado. It covers much more than Curtis Mayfield the performer by embracing numerous other artists with whom he worked as a producer. In my view this is an ideal complimentary book to Robert Pruter's excellent 'Chicago Soul' |
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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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