Sweet Soul Music
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This has to be one of the most highly rated books ever written about soul music. It was first published in 1986, and for a time became difficult to get hold of. Thankfully Payback decided to re-print it in 1999. I was glad to get hold of a copy if only to satisfy my curiosity and to see if the plaudits were deserved. And my conclusion? Absolutely and without question, this is probably the best book about soul music I have ever had the pleasure to read. The book is misleading in its title because it in no way tries to be a comprehensive history of soul music. It exclusively restricts itself to the 'Southern' sound, only considering the work from the Stax, Fame and Muscle Shoals studios. The music coming out of Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia are not even afforded a footnote. Although restricted to this 'Southern' strand the research into it is so thorough, the story so well told, that it would have been impossible to cover all aspects of soul music in such fine detail. This project alone took Peter Guralnick over five years to research and complete. The book is constructed through the author's perceptions of what represents the key events in the development of southern soul. Sometimes a chapter is devoted to a label, sometimes an artist, sometimes a significant tour. Because much of what happened ran concurrently it is impossible to arrange into chronological order. The magic of Guralnick's craftsmanship is that he makes everything fit together as neatly as a jigsaw puzzle without any plan or scheme being evident. The order of his chapters appear to be based upon little more than a personal whim, nor does he offer any justification as to why he has afforded any particular artist more page space than another. Why does he give Aretha Franklin more detailed treatment than Carla Thomas? This he fails to explain, but I suspect the decision was made more from commercial considerations than personal taste. Aretha sold more records, made greater profits and is therefore more significant than Carla Thomas. This means is that order of priority is not based on any soul criteria, but on success within the 'Pop' world. One has to accept that this book is as much about business as it is about music. Whatever its principles there can be not questioning how wonderfully written it is or how thoroughly researched. The author's love for the subject shines out from every page. The intrigues are gripping, the story well told and it is every bit as good as the reviewers say it is. I only hope that Peter one day manages to do a similar job with Philly, Detroit or Chicago soul. Nick Hornby lists this as his favourite book and from such a talented writer there can be no greater accolade. |
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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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