(P/B) THE EARLY YEARS OF RHYTHM AND BLUES

Παρουσίαση

"In the early 1950s, when Houston was the home of this country's most vital rhythm and blues, Benny Joseph was hired by Don Robey to photograph the rising stars of his two record labels, Duke and Peacock. Artists, such as Bobby (Blue) Bland, Clarence (Gatemouth) Brown, Johnny Ace and Junior Parker (whose "Mystery Train" inspired a young Elvis Presley) were making a new kind of Southern blues that would strongly influence subsequent pop, soul and gospel sounds. The Early Years of Rhythm and Blues is a guide to their universe. As the text by Alan Govenar, a writer and film maker explains, Mr. Joseph's black-and-white photographs also documented the beginnings of the civil rights movement in Houston's black community. Alongside images of B.B. King, Mahalia Jackson and Delia Reese are photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr., preaching, the future United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall exhorting a congregation under a painting of a supplicant Jesus and an N.A.A.C.P. meeting beneath a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Haunting, heartbreaking and always life-affirming, The Early Years of Rhythm & Blues is a triumph of the spirit and a celebration of the soul." (Leo Sacks, The New York Times)

Περιεχόμενα

Preface by Michel Fabre
The Early Years of Rhythm and Blues by Alan Govenar
The Photography of Benny Joseph
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index