Böcker av Preston Lauterbach

"The Blind Boys of Alabama are the quintessential gospel vocal group, and the longest-running musical institution in America. Their story intersects with pivotal moments and issues in American history and is [a] ... prism through which to trace music, culture, history, and race in America. [This book] invites readers to follow along the Blind Boys' eight-decade journey together, from a segregated trade school through the rough and tumble indie record game and grinding tour schedule of the golden age of gospel, to starring in an iconic Broadway musical, performing at the White House for three presidents twice, collaborating with Tom Petty, Lou Reed, and Ben Harper, among others, singing the theme song for 'The Wire,' and winning five Grammys. More than just a story of the Blind Boys' illustrious career, Spirit of the Century also sheds new light on the larger world of African American gospel music, its origins, and the colorful characters at its center'

"... [Preston] Lauterbach examines the lives, music, legacies, and interactions with Elvis Presley of the four innovative Black artists who created a style that would come to be known as Rock 'n' Roll: Little Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and mostly-unknown eccentric Beale Street guitarist Calvin Newborn. Along the way, he delves into the injustices of copyright theft and media segregation that resulted in Black artists living in poverty as white performers, managers, and producers reaped the lucrative rewards."--Provided by publisher.

Who was Ernest Withers? Most Americans may not know the name, but they do know his photographs. Withers took some of the most legendary images of the 1950s and '60s: Martin Luther King, Jr., riding a newly integrated bus in Montgomery, Alabama; Emmett Till's uncle pointing an accusatory finger across the courtroom at one of his nephew's killers; scores of African-American protestors, carrying a forest of signs reading "I am a man." But while he enjoyed unparalleled access to the inner workings of the civil rights movement, Withers was working as an informant for the FBI.In this gripping narrative history, Preston Lauterbach examines the complicated political and economic forces that informed Withers's seeming betrayal of the people he photographed. Withers traversed disparate worlds, from Black Power meetings to raucous Memphis nightclubs where Elvis brushed shoulders with B.B. King. He had a gift for capturing both dramatic historic moments and intimate emotional ones, and it may have been this attention to nuance that made Withers both a brilliant photographer and an essential asset to the FBI. Written with similar nuance, Bluff City culminates with a riveting account of the 1968 riot that ended in violence just a few days before Dr. King's death.Brimming with new information and featuring previously unpublished and rare photographs from the Withers archive not seen in over fifty years, Bluff City grapples with the legacy of a man whose actions-and artistry-make him an enigmatic and fascinating American figure.

The dramatic rise and fall of Beale Street, the legendary Memphis thoroughfare that shook American culture.

The first history of the network of black juke joints that spawned rock 'n' roll through an unholy alliance between vice and entertainment.