Louis Prima

Author : Garry Boulard
Publisher : University of Illinois Press
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0252070909

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Louis Prima by Garry Boulard Pdf

"This is the first paperback edition of the only biography of Louis Prima, one of the most underrated jazz musicians and entertainers of the twentieth century. In a career that spanned four decades, Prima infused the grit and grace of Dixieland jazz with swing and big band sounds, the first whiffs of rock 'n' roll, and a vaudevillian-like stage presence. A native of New Orleans, the Guy Lombardo protg known as ""The Italian Satchmo"" was the country's smashing new jazz sensation at New York's Famous Door in the 1930s. He went on to be a successful big band leader and a Vegas nightclub staple, and he virtually created the concept of the lounge act. Despite his longstanding success, Prima's over-the-top on-stage antics induced critics to not take him seriously and he was relegated to the status of mere ""entertainer.""Married five times and involved with numerous women in between, Prima has more often been remembered for his colorful relationships and quirky personality than for his abilities as a trumpeter and singer. After his death in 1978, his music gradually disappeared and jazz scholars rarely mentioned his name.Nudging Prima's legacy into the limelight the musician deserved, Garry Boulard nimbly explores Prima's ability to maintain a lifelong career, his knack for self-promotion, and how the cities in which he lived and performed--New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas--uniquely and indelibly informed his style. In a new preface, the author considers how the resurgence of big band and swing music in the late 1990s catapulted Prima and his music back into the public eye."

Author : Tom Clavin
Publisher : Chicago Review Press
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781569768136

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That Old Black Magic by Tom Clavin Pdf

Both a love story and a tribute to the entertainment mecca, this exploration shines a spotlight on one of the hottest acts in Las Vegas in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The illuminating depiction showcases the unlikely duo--a grizzled, veteran trumpeter and vocalist molded by Louis Armstrong and a meek singer in the church choir--who went on to invent "The Wildest." Bringing together broad comedy and finger-snapping, foot-stomping music that included early forays into rock and roll, Prima and Smith's act became wildly popular and attracted all kinds of star-studded attention. In addition to chronicling their relationships with Ed Sullivan, Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum, and other well-known entertainers of the day--and their performance of "That Old Black Magic" at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration--the narrative also examines the couple's ongoing influence in the entertainment world. Running concurrent with their personal tale is their role in transforming Las Vegas from a small resort town in the desert to a booming city where the biggest stars were paid tons of money to become even bigger stars on stage and television.

Author : Don Rickles
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 259 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2008-06-03
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780743293068

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Rickles' Book by Don Rickles Pdf

An internationally popular comedian describes his youth as a disadvantaged Jewish boy from Queens, the obstacles he overcame in order to achieve success, and his four-decade stage and screen career. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

Author : Gordon Jack
Publisher : Scarecrow Press
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Music
ISBN : 0810849976

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Fifties Jazz Talk by Gordon Jack Pdf

More than 25 muscians who first came to prominence during the 1950s are the subject of this collection of interviews. The author's purpose has been to help preserve the oral history of a great American artform, and this book reveals that jazz musicians who can 'tell a story' with their horn when improvising can be just as articulate in conversation.

Author : Patrick Burke
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2008-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226080710

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Come In and Hear the Truth by Patrick Burke Pdf

Between the mid-1930s and the late '40s the centre of the jazz world was a two-block stretch of 52nd Street in Manhattan. Dozens of crowded basement clubs played host to legends like Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. These clubs defied the traditional boundaries between art and entertainment, and between the races.

Author : Steve Jones,Joli Jensen
Publisher : Peter Lang
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : Art
ISBN : 0820463655

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Afterlife as Afterimage by Steve Jones,Joli Jensen Pdf

The mass media make it possible for fame to be enhanced and transformed posthumously. What does it mean to fans when a celebrity dies, and how can death change the way that celebrities are perceived and celebrated? How do we mourn and remember? What can different forms of communication reveal about the role of media in our lives? Through a provocative look at the lives and legacy of popular musicians from Elvis to Tupac and from Louis Prima to John Lennon, Afterlife as Afterimage analyzes the process of posthumous fame to give us new insights into the consequences of mediation, and it illuminates the complex nature of fandom, community formation, and identity construction.

Author : Garry Boulard
Publisher : University of Southwestern Louisiana, Center for Louisiana Studies
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 1989
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : UOM:39015015303673

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Just a Gigolo by Garry Boulard Pdf

Author : Brian Rust
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 992 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Jazz
ISBN : UOM:39015056677589

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Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942): L-Z, index by Brian Rust Pdf

Author : Richard Grudens
Publisher : celebrity profiles publilshing
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2004-11
Category : Music
ISBN : 0976387700

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The Italian Crooners Bedside Companion by Richard Grudens Pdf

Provides insight into the lives of Italian musical personalities and features over 100 photos. This compendium explores the musical world of Frank Sinatra, Frankie Laine, Perry Como, Jerry Vale, Al Martino, Dean Martin, Julius La Rosa, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Don Cornell, Bobby Darin, Louis Prima, Lou Monte, Russ Columbo, and many others.

Author : Will Friedwald
Publisher : Pantheon
Page : 832 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2010-11-02
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780307379894

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A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers by Will Friedwald Pdf

Will Friedwald’s illuminating, opinionated essays—provocative, funny, and personal—on the lives and careers of more than three hundred singers anatomize the work of the most important jazz and popular performers of the twentieth century. From giants like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland to lesser-known artists like Jeri Southern and Joe Mooney, they have created a body of work that continues to please and inspire. Here is the most extensive biographical and critical survey of these singers ever written, as well as an essential guide to the Great American Songbook and those who shaped the way it has been sung. The music crosses from jazz to pop and back again, from the songs of Irving Berlin and W. C. Handy through Stephen Sondheim and beyond, bringing together straightforward jazz and pop singers (Billie Holiday, Perry Como); hybrid artists who moved among genres and combined them (Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé); the leading men and women of Broadway and Hollywood (Ethel Merman, Al Jolson); yesterday’s vaudeville and radio stars (Sophie Tucker, Eddie Cantor); and today’s cabaret artists and hit-makers (Diana Krall, Michael Bublé). Friedwald has also written extended pieces on the most representative artists of five significant genres that lie outside the songbook: Bessie Smith (blues), Mahalia Jackson (gospel), Hank Williams (country and western), Elvis Presley (rock ’n’ roll), and Bob Dylan (folk-rock). Friedwald reconsiders the personal stories and professional successes and failures of all these artists, their songs, and their performances, appraising both the singers and their music by balancing his opinions with those of fellow musicians, listeners, and critics. This magisterial reference book—ten years in the making—will delight and inform anyone with a passion for the iconic music of America, which continues to resonate throughout our popular culture.

Author : Larry Kemp
Publisher : Dorrance Publishing
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2018-10-16
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781480976375

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Early Jazz Trumpet Legends by Larry Kemp Pdf

Early Jazz Trumpet Legends By: Larry Kemp Early Jazz Trumpet Legends is an examination of the lives and contributions of jazz trumpeters born before 1925. Included are Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry James, Bix Beiderbecke, Bunny Berigan, and Roy Eldridge along with scores of other men and women who created jazz with a trumpet. This is an essential guide for the student of jazz, those interested in history, and those who just like to read entertaining true stories about the most colorful people. Early Jazz Trumpet Legends is the most comprehensive book on the subject. More than 320 trumpeters are discussed. There is a glossary of jazz terminology and a Forward explaining the nature of a trumpet, the nature of jazz, and what a legend is along with background information about New Orleans during the first 30 years of jazz. The scholarship involved is impeccable, while the text reads as easily as a novel. Those who travel to New Orleans will find the information in this book extremely useful to understand the soul of this exotic city and its role as the incubator of jazz. An ideal gift for any musician or lover of jazz. Early Jazz Trumpet Legends is the first of three volumes organized chronologically by date of birth. The second volume, Modern Jazz Trumpet Legends covers those born between 1925 and 1940 and the third volume, Current Jazz Trumpet Legends, covers those born after 1940.

Author : Pleasant "Cousin Joe" Joseph,Harriet J. Ottenheimer
Publisher : Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2012-01-31
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1455615439

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Cousin Joe by Pleasant "Cousin Joe" Joseph,Harriet J. Ottenheimer Pdf

A remarkable blend of history and drama seen through the eyes of a noted New Orleans bluesman. This extraordinary life history is the result of more than 15 years of recorded conversations, pieced together into a narrative of a uniquely American experience. Joseph's colorful portrayals of the characters who parade through his life document more than 70 years of changing relationships between blacks and whites. In his own words, he describes growing up in Louisiana, working a rice plantation, and how Gospel music put him on a career path. His candid remarks underscore the economic necessity prevalent in a musician's life. Within the tales of gigs, card games, and romantic exploits are intimate glimpses of legendary figures, including Billie Holiday and Muddy Waters. His descriptions of performing in New Orleans, New York, and Europe are especially revealing, filled with life experiences as rich as the rhythm and lyrics of the blues he played.

Author : Patty Farmer
Publisher : Beaufort Books
Page : 463 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2017-08-03
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780825307645

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Playboy Laughs by Patty Farmer Pdf

Following her success with Playboy Swings, Patty Farmer looks at Playboy’s relationship with comedians and cartoonists in her new book Playboy Laughs. Playboy Laughs invites readers onto the sets of the organization’s groundbreaking TV shows, Playboy Penthouse and Playboy After Dark. These popular variety series brought top-tier comedians, impressionists, and monologists—as well as the finest musicians—into people’s homes each week. Readers will learn how before he ever dreamed of conquering the magazine publishing world—and along the way establish a worldwide brand—Hugh Hefner harbored aspirations of making his mark in the world as a cartoonist. Playboy Laughs delves into the darker aspects of the time as well, tackling the ways Playboy and its comedy stars helped break down social and racial barriers as well as sexual ones. Known for her devotion to meticulous research and clear, honest storytelling, Farmer has gained the full cooperation of the Playboy organization—and Hugh Hefner himself—making this not only an entertaining read but a trustworthy history of an under-appreciated aspect of American comic culture.

Author : Fiona M. Collins,Jeremy Ridgman
Publisher : Peter Lang
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Education
ISBN : 3039102559

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Turning the Page by Fiona M. Collins,Jeremy Ridgman Pdf

Since the nineteenth century, children's literature has been adapted for both the stage and the screen. As the twentieth century progressed, children's books provided the material for an increasing range of new media, from radio to computer games, from television to cinema blockbuster. Although such adaptations are now recognised as a significant part of the culture of childhood and popular culture in general, little has been written about the range of products and experiences that they generate. This book brings together writers whose work offers contrasting perspectives on the process of adaptation and the varying transformations - social, historical and ideological - that take place when a text moves from the page to another medium. Linking all these contributions is an interest in the changing definition of children's literature and its target audience within an increasingly media-rich society.

Author : Larry Birnbaum
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 475 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780810886384

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Before Elvis by Larry Birnbaum Pdf

An essential work for rock fans and scholars, Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll surveys the origins of rock 'n' roll from the minstrel era to the emergence of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Unlike other histories of rock, Before Elvis offers a far broader and deeper analysis of the influences on rock music. Dispelling common misconceptions, it examines rock's origins in hokum songs and big-band boogies as well as Delta blues, detailing the embrace by white artists of African-American styles long before rock 'n' roll appeared. This unique study ranges far and wide, highlighting not only the contributions of obscure but key precursors like Hardrock Gunter and Sam Theard but also the influence of celebrity performers like Gene Autry and Ella Fitzgerald. Too often, rock historians treat the genesis of rock 'n' roll as a bolt from the blue, an overnight revolution provoked by the bland pop music that immediately preceded it and created through the white appropriation of music till then played only by and for black audiences. In Before Elvis, Birnbaum daringly argues a more complicated history of rock's evolution from a heady mix of ragtime, boogie-woogie, swing, country music, mainstream pop, and rhythm-and-blues--a melange that influenced one another along the way, from the absorption of blues and boogies into jazz and pop to the integration of country and Caribbean music into rhythm-and-blues. Written in an easy style, Before Elvis presents a bold argument about rock's origins and required reading for fans and scholars of rock 'n' roll history.