what he does less of: portraits of the context as it intersects w.the rest of the world — affects it and is affected by it (this is not QUITE so true of the elvis books)
what he lacks: a sense of playful fun
― mark s (mark s), Friday, 18 March 2005 14:30 (nineteen years ago) link
"Lost Highway" is pretty great, has some nice profiles of Merle Haggard, Charlie Rich and other lesser-knowns.
As for the Elvis books, the "dirt" is definitely more prevelant in the second volume. I sort of agree with Xgau, they books do sometimes seem like an endless travelogue and are lacking in analysis (or 'ideas'), but I don't think that was PG's point. I think he just wanted to tell the story as clearly as possible and leave out the pop psychology and historical contortions. What is amazing about these books is that it totally transforms your way of thinking about Elvis the icon vs. Elvis the man.
― Keith C (kcraw916), Friday, 18 March 2005 14:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 18 March 2005 14:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Friday, 18 March 2005 14:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 18 March 2005 14:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― snotty moore, Friday, 18 March 2005 16:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 18 March 2005 16:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 18 March 2005 17:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 18 March 2005 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 18 March 2005 17:55 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.peterguralnick.com/post/40248460716/peterguralnick-com-interviews-peter-guralnick
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 March 2013 15:35 (eleven years ago) link
another guralnick thread:
peter guralnick - C or D?
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 March 2013 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
Thanks for posting that self-interview. Especially liked the dream sequence.
― Johnny Too Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 March 2013 16:08 (eleven years ago) link
Conan O'Brien interview:http://teamcoco.com/video/sjj-guralnick-full-episode
― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 30 May 2013 00:40 (eleven years ago) link
Read Careless Love recently, it's marvelous - The lack of Guralnick's presence in the narrative makes it sadder, in a way - he spares his comments to the end of each chapter, but each chapter sees Elvis have a weird manipulative relationship with a group, take a shit tonne of drugs, piss off a friend, stagger through some karate and get some bad reviews (towards the end at least). You get the sense Elvis couldn't break out of his lifestyle.
If he feels like taking on another American musical touchstone, he's the only guy I'd think of who could write the proper MJ bio.
― random access maladies (hypehat), Thursday, 30 May 2013 00:47 (eleven years ago) link
group = groupie, fucks sake
― random access maladies (hypehat), Thursday, 30 May 2013 00:48 (eleven years ago) link
man, i would LOVE to read a guralnick bio of MJ. doubt he'd actually do it though.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 30 May 2013 05:03 (eleven years ago) link
The boy cannot fully understand.
― Oulipo Traces (on a Cigarette) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 May 2013 05:21 (eleven years ago) link
*bump*
― Wild Mountain Armagideon Thyme (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 2 February 2014 15:19 (ten years ago) link
http://www.peterguralnick.com/post/75040350081/guest-blogger-eli-paperboy-reed-on-roscoe-robinson
Saw a reference to this guest post on the Yahoo southern soul email group that Eli belongs to. I don't know gospel singer Roscoe Robinson but I probably should
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 2 February 2014 17:42 (ten years ago) link
It's here
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 03:37 (eight years ago) link
To Sam, “Rock and roll was no accident. Absolutely not an accident at all.” “You can say,” he told me, “he had the light coming on, and it spotted the possum. Right there.”
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 06:23 (eight years ago) link
Book title designed to garnish discussion.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 13 November 2015 13:38 (eight years ago) link
Elijah Wald is already wagging his finger and sharpening his quill.
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 14:14 (eight years ago) link
what does 'it's here' refer to?
― wizzz! (amateurist), Friday, 13 November 2015 15:26 (eight years ago) link
New Sam Phillips bio, as anticipated a little bit upthread.
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 15:27 (eight years ago) link
It was only implicitly referred to.
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 15:28 (eight years ago) link
http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-prj-sam-phillips-peter-guralnick-20151112-column.html
Greg Kot Review: 'Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll' by Peter Guralnick
In his latest book, "Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll," veteran music journalist Peter Guralnick spends a good portion of 600-plus pages backing up the claim made for the Memphis producer in the title. But by the end of this copiously researched biography, a skeptical reader might still not be persuaded that Phillips invented anything — not that he didn't try.
Of all the music historians, Guralnick comes closest to cracking the shell
― curmudgeon, Friday, 13 November 2015 15:50 (eight years ago) link
Book tour:
November 11, 7 pm – Brooks Museum with Robert Gordon – Memphis, TN November 12, 7 pm – Margaret Mitchell House with Hank Klibanoff – Atlanta, GA November 13, 5 pm – Square Books – Oxford, MS November 14, 1:30 pm – Country Music Hall of Fame with Michael Gray – Nashville, TN November 17, 7:30 pm – Powell’s – Portland, OR November 18, 7 pm – Elliott Bay Bookstore – Seattle, WA November 19, 7:30pm - GRAMMY Museum with Conan O'Brien - Los Angeles, CA November 23, 7 pm – Strand Bookstore with Bill Flanagan – New York, NY December 2, 7 pm – Library of Congress with Geoffrey Himes – Washington, DC December 3, 7 pm – MIT’s Stata Student Center with PEN New England, in conversation with Tom Perrotta – Cambridge, MA January 14, 2016 – Florence Public Library – Florence, ALKeep an eye on the events page for updates. - See more at: http://www.peterguralnick.com/#sthash.BvwdKAas.dpuf
― curmudgeon, Friday, 13 November 2015 15:53 (eight years ago) link
Guralnick's bios of Elvis are great. Taking a major step down here though in terms of the subject in my opinion.
― calstars, Friday, 13 November 2015 16:07 (eight years ago) link
Taking a major step down here though in terms of the subject in my opinion.
A book less about the artists and "inventing rock 'n' roll" and more about the realities of running a small independent record label in the 1950s would be fascinating, I think. Also, detailed analysis (through primary sources - old industry trade mag articles, advertising, etc., etc.) of how the marketing of "rock 'n' roll" versus "rhythm and blues" actually took shape (in other words, how rock 'n' roll was really invented) would be great. I don't think this book is that.
― the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 13 November 2015 16:24 (eight years ago) link
So they gave you an advance copy that you've read already?
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 16:32 (eight years ago) link
xp i think guralnick is probably interested in covering all of the stuff you mention...at least i'd hope so. the "inventing rock & roll" thing seems like a bait to me. More like "Sam Phillips: The Man Who invented Rock & Roll?"
― tylerw, Friday, 13 November 2015 16:33 (eight years ago) link
https://global.oup.com/academic/covers/pdp/9780195341546
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 17:11 (eight years ago) link
yeah! and that is actually a pretty good book. i mean, you gotta have a title that grabs attention, right? Guralnick might've wanted to call Sam Phillips and the Rise of American Independent Labels in the 1950s, but it's not very sexy.
― tylerw, Friday, 13 November 2015 17:18 (eight years ago) link
Guralnick's bios of Elvis are great. Taking a major step down here though in terms of the subject in my opinion.So ... should he just stop writing, then?Sam Phillips was a giant, BTW. It's about time a serious writer tackled him.
― Jazzbo, Friday, 13 November 2015 17:48 (eight years ago) link
wald spends like 30 pages of his book basically apologizing for the title
― wizzz! (amateurist), Friday, 13 November 2015 18:15 (eight years ago) link
it's a very good book, a little too polemical than i'd prefer, i suppose, but again, you need an "angle"
― wizzz! (amateurist), Friday, 13 November 2015 18:16 (eight years ago) link
/Guralnick's bios of Elvis are great. Taking a major step down here though in terms of the subject in my opinion./So ... should he just stop writing, then?Sam Phillips was a giant, BTW. It's about time a serious writer tackled him.
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 18:28 (eight years ago) link
xp i just finished wald's dylan/seeger/newport book and it was good. think he's a pretty thoughtful writer.
― tylerw, Friday, 13 November 2015 18:29 (eight years ago) link
Might have to give him another chance but still can't quite shake the impression that he is a bit of a scold.
― The Cosimo Code of Blueshammer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2015 18:32 (eight years ago) link
I've been meaning to read that Wald book for a few years now. His Robert Johnson book, Escaping the Delta, is great, and so is Narcocorrido.
― the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 13 November 2015 18:52 (eight years ago) link
― calstars, Friday, November 13, 2015 4:07 PM (6 hours ago)
really? sam phillips is a major, major guy imo, and there's never been a really in-depth biography of him. i didn't know about this book till just now, but this is awesome news.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 13 November 2015 22:44 (eight years ago) link
Guralnick was on Fresh Air on NPR yesterday. Link includes the whole audio, plus some transcribed excerpts. Below is one of the themes of the Sam Phillips book
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/23/457083328/the-man-and-the-mistakes-that-invented-rock-n-roll
From the very beginning, from before he had opened up his studio in January of 1950, [Phillips] believed that the greatness of his music that so moved him, this African-American music, couldn't help but win over the general public, the mainstream audience. [But] the charts were totally segregated, like every other aspect of American life at that time.
When Sam started Sun Records in 1953, he had one hit after another. They were big hits by R&B standards. One of them was The Prisonaires' "Just Walkin' In The Rain." He had a couple of hits with Little Junior Parker. He had a big hit with Rufus Thomas with Bear Cat. A big hit in R&B meant that it sold 35,000, maybe 50,000. That was the ceiling. Sam Phillips was on the verge of going out of business. When Elvis came into his studio in July of '54 and he made "That's Alright," Sam was on the edge of bankruptcy, but he was determined to present the music in a way that was absolutely true to itself, not to present imitation music, not to present music that tried to ape the sound or the feeling of the great blues singers, the great R&B singers. And in Elvis he found that.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 20:36 (eight years ago) link
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-man-who-brought-down-racial-barriers-through-music/2015/11/20/b34aa078-870c-11e5-be8b-1ae2e4f50f76_story.html
Charles Hughes offers some criticism here:
Guralnick is so invested in presenting Phillips as a figure of racial change that he occasionally overstates his case. He exoticizes Phillips’s relationship with African Americans, especially his childhood inspiration Silas Payne and early client Howlin’ Wolf, and gives Phillips too much credit for developing supposedly untrained black artists. He overestimates the degree to which Phillips was a pioneer in recording black artists and pursuing musical crossover, both of which were occurring earlier and elsewhere. Most significant, perhaps, he is too quick to dismiss the criticisms of numerous black musicians at Sun who accused Phillips of abandoning black artists in the wake of Presley’s success. Guralnick skillfully engages with racial ambivalence throughout the book, but he is too focused on Phillips’s image of himself as a racially progressive hero to fully explore its implications.
As I read elsewhere, Guralnick does not really give credit here to African-american songwriter/producer Henry Glover who worked with r'n'b and country artists at King Records, prior to Phillips with Sun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Glover
― curmudgeon, Friday, 27 November 2015 20:42 (eight years ago) link
Missed him on Fresh Air, but gonna go see him tonight
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 2 December 2015 22:40 (eight years ago) link
Cool.
― Thank you very much, you've got a Lucky Wilbury (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 2 December 2015 22:47 (eight years ago) link
Critic Geoffrey Himes interviewed him. Guralnick kept going off topic, but I still found it interesting. Somehow Solomon Burke got mentioned, and Guralnick went off on several tangents re him. He wanted to write a Solomon Burke bio in the voice of Solomon Burke, and they talked about doing a book (after Guralnick sent Sol his Cooke one) but it never happened. He said Solomon had many amazing stories including one about doing a gig where it turned out the audience was KKK members.
Afterwards I asked Guralnick about Henry Glover and King Records (whom are not mentioned in the book). Guralnick acknowledged that they were doing great work with r'b'b and country, that Sam Phillips was of course aware of King Records, but Guralnick didn't think Phillips knew songwriter/producer Glover.
I wanted to ask Guralnick more about Ike Turner's unhappy comments to Phillips, but didn't get a chance.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 3 December 2015 15:17 (eight years ago) link
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/peter-guralnick-adventures-in-music-and-writing-tickets-487888336147
Tonight 7 pm eastern time US online from NYC library
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 January 2023 21:53 (one year ago) link
I missed all but the last 5 minutes. Oh well.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 January 2023 00:55 (one year ago) link