Robert Gordon (1) (1961–)
Auteur de Muddy Waters : Mister rollin'stone : du delta du Mississipi aux clubs de Chicago
Pour les autres auteurs qui s'appellent Robert Gordon, voyez la page de désambigüisation.
A propos de l'auteur
Robert Gordon has written for major publications in the U.S. and England, and has contributed to several books. He produced the Al green CD box set, "Anthology", for which his liner notes were Grammy nominated. As a filmmaker, he directed the award-winning blues documentary "All Day and All Night", afficher plus and his music video work has appeared on MTV, BET, and CMT. He is the author of a forthcoming biography of Muddy Waters, and director of the companion documentary. He lives in Memphis with his wife and two daughters. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins
Œuvres de Robert Gordon
Muddy Waters : Mister rollin'stone : du delta du Mississipi aux clubs de Chicago (2002) 222 exemplaires
Rock billy boogie 1 exemplaire
Elvis på nært hold 1 exemplaire
Respect Yourself; the Stax Records Story [dvd] 1 exemplaire
Robert Gordon, Link Wray : Cleveland '78 1 exemplaire
Robert Gordon With Link Wray 1 exemplaire
Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied [2003 film] 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
Membres
Critiques
Listes
Prix et récompenses
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 18
- Membres
- 586
- Popularité
- #42,792
- Évaluation
- 4.0
- Critiques
- 8
- ISBN
- 190
- Langues
- 8
- Favoris
- 2
The Stax story detailed here parallels the Civil Rights and integration movements happening in Memphis and across the country in the 1960s and 1970s. While community activists fought to support the the predominately Black sanitation workers and to integrate schools, Black and white musicians came together in peace within the Stax studios. The name of the integrated Stax house band, the MGs, has alternately been explained to mean "Memphis Group" or "Mixed Group" (among other things). Stax soon began to have big hits from artists such as Booker T. & the MGs, Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd, Sam & Dave, and Otis Redding. Black businessman Al Bell joined Stewart as co-owner of Stax furthering the integration of the company (although Axton would grow disgruntled with her role in the company and sell her shares a few years later).
Otis Redding's stunning performance at the Monterey Pop festival in June 1967 energized a crowd of West Coast hippies with Southern soul signaled another breakthrough for Stax. But several tragedies would soon follow. Redding and most of the members of the young house band Bar-Kays died in a plane crash in December 1967. In early 1968, Stax ended a distribution deal with Atlantic Records, inadvertently losing their master recordings and Sam & Dave in the process. Then in April 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis at the Lorraine Motel, a place that was a popular hangout for Stax staff and artists.
Al Bell challenged this adversity with what he called the "Soul Explosion," releasing a flood of new recordings and kickstarting the careers of several emerging artists including Isaac Hayes, The Staples Singers, The Dramatics, Luther Ingram, and a re-formed Bar-Kays. Stax artists were phenomenally successful on the R&B charts with pop success as well. Once again, a festival in California would be a highpoint for Stax success, the Wattstax concert of 1972. Stax began branching out into other ventures such as filmmaking.
While Stax was making a lot of money the expenses were also high. The company started accruing massive debts and facing lawsuits from various creditors. A new distribution deal with CBS Records also quickly went sour. There also was quite a bit of crime: payola and physical intimidation at radio stations, piracy of Stax records, fraud, and illegal drugs. Gordon takes note that these problems were rife within the music industry of the 1970s, but that the legal cases against Stax always made note of them likely due to fear of a Black economic power in Memphis at the time. Just as quickly as Stax rose, the company foundered and declared bankruptcy in early 1976 (although the Stax label name has been revived since).
This book took me an unusually long time to read but I was fascinated by the details and the unique history of this record company. It's amazing how much terrific music was made in such a short period of time by this dedicated group of people. Gordon's book is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in popular music and the Civil Rights Era.… (plus d'informations)