Böcker av Mark Ribowsky

The first major biography of Little Richard, a rollicking, nuanced celebration of the late singer/songwriter¿s life and his role in the history of American music¿gospel, soul, rock, and more¿Tutti Frutti¿ ¿ ¿Rip It Up¿ ¿ ¿Good Golly Miss Molly¿ ¿ ¿Lucille¿ ¿ ¿Long Tall Sally¿ ¿ ¿You Keep A-Knockin¿¿Little Richard blazed the trail for generations of musicians¿The Beatles, James Brown, the Everly Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Prince . . . the list seems endless. He was ¿The Originator,¿ ¿The Innovator,¿ and the self-anointed ¿King and Queen of Rock ¿n¿ Roll.¿ When he died on May 9, 2020, The Big Life of Little Richard¿a nearly-completed book¿was immediately updated to cover the international response to his death. It is the first major biography of Macon, Georgiäs Richard Wayne Penniman, who was, until his passing, the last rock god standing.Mark Ribowsky, acclaimed biographer of musical icons¿the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding¿takes readers through venues, gigs, and studios, conveying the sweaty energy of music sessions limited to a few tracks on an Ampex tape machine and vocals sung along with a live band. He explores Little Richard¿s musicianship; his family life; his uphill battle against racism; his interactions with famous contemporaries and the media; and his lifelong inner conflict between his religion and his sexuality.The Big Life of Little Richard not only explores a legendary stage persona, but also a complex life under the makeup and pomade, the neon-lit duds and piano pyrotechnics, along with a full-body dive into the waters of sexual fluidity. By 2020, eighty-seven-year-old Little Richard¿s electrifying smile was still intact, as were his bona fides as rock¿s kingly architect: the ¿50s defined his reign, and he extended elder statesmanship ever since. His biggest smash, ¿Tutti Frutti,¿ is one of history¿s most covered songs¿a staple of the pre-Invasion Beatles¿and Elvis pivoted from country to blues rock after Little Richard made R&B¿s sexual overtones a fundament of the new musical order. Even Hendrix, the greatest instrumentalist in rock history, toured with him before launching a meteoric solo career. Whenever someone pushes the music and culture of rock to its outer borders, one should turn to Little Richard for assurance that anything is possible.

The Everly Brothers¿aka Don and Phil to fans with an intimate appreciation for them¿seemed to exist almost as an apparition. Emerging within the formative era for young Baby Boomer during the blandly regimented `50s, they were a ubiquitous presence, clad in snug suits and skinny ties, hair neatly Brylcreemed, never raising their voices when they sang. The two prim-looking country boys with dark, curiously penetrating eyes and perfectly merged, honey-dipped harmonies, were oddly but comfortably settled as sentimental, soothing, sometimes lovelorn voices of a still-uncharted cultural turf.Magnificent as the duo was, they have until now never received a definitive biography. In Long Time Gone: The Perfect Harmony and Imperfect Lives Of the Everly Brothers, the details, small and great, roll along on the mighty ¿Mississipp,¿ in near novel-like fashion, revealing facts drawn from exhaustive research and first-hand interviews that trace the character and influences of these hardy but flawed men who grew from teenagers to old men before our eyes. Mark Ribowsky¿s authoritative book serves as a fitting companion to an unforgettable collection of songs¿heard on countless albums, and covered literally thousands of times¿whose recording was a long time gone but that will never to be forgotten.

The first biography of soul pioneer Isaac Hayes, whose groundbreaking music provided the foundation for hip-hop and a new racial paradigm.

The acclaimed, first comprehensive biography of the most successful female vocal group of all time

A candid and nostalgic father-son memoir by Dale Berra, writing for the first time about his legendary Hall of Fame dad, the inimitable and highly quotable Yogi Berra.

A heart-breaking, unforgettable portrait of country music's founding father and "Hillbilly King".

A soul icon and the southern music he helped popularise come to life in this moving requiem.

A Publishers Weekly Holiday Gift Guide Selection Spanning seven decades, the notorious loss of Super Bowl III, and an historic undefeated season with the Dolphins, Shula is the definitive biography of a coaching legend.

It is said that Josh Gibson is the only man ever to have hit a fair ball out of Yankee Stadium. This work shows us Gibson's dark side, but also enhances his historical status even as it separates fact from fiction by examining the truth behind his legendary performances.