Book Description
Heart & Soul celebrates the vibrant, flamboyant, and extravagant flowering in African American culture that occurred between 1930 and 1975. From Cab Calloway to Ray Charles, the Four Tops to the Delfonics, this informative and hugely entertaining book chronicles this musical history told in legends, facts, and rumors every bit as colorful as the images that illustrate the book. The story is filled with characters such as O. V. Wright, a singer deemed "too ugly to tour"; Frankie Lymon, who received a hot dog as full payment for some of the greatest R&B songs of all time; Billie Holiday shooting dice with the boys on the bus; and soul ghoul Screamin' Jay Hawkins locked in his coffin by the Drifters. Featuring 400 original photographs, publicity shots, posters, programs, advertisements, album sleeves, and more, here is a story of hot music and high style, of pencil-thin mustaches and zoot suits, and of audacious people who made the world a richer, wilder, and definitely cooler place for the rest of us.
About the Author
Bob Merlis, Senior Vice President for Worldwide Corporate Communicatons at Warner Bros. Records, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee. He lives in Los Angeles, California. Davin Seay, Director of Media Information Services at Warner Bros. Records, is the author of Stairway to Heaven and Mick Jagger: The Story of a Rolling Stone. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
