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Be my baby : a memoir / by Spector, Ronnie,1943-2022,author.; Richards, Keith,writer of introduction.; Waldron, Vince,author.;
"Be My Baby is the behind-the-scenes story-newly updated, and with an especially timely message-of how the original bad girl of rock and roll, Ronnie Spector, survived marriage to a monster and carved out a space for herself amid the chaos of the 1960s music scene and beyond. Ronnie's first collaboration with producer Phil Spector, 'Be My Baby,' shot Ronnie and the Ronettes to stardom. No one sounded like Ronnie, with her alluring blend of innocence and knowing, but her voice would soon be silenced as Spector sequestered her behind electric gates, guard dogs, and barbed wire. It took everything Ronnie had to escape her prisonlike marriage and wrest back control of her life, her music, and her legacy. And as shown in this edition, which includes a 2021 postscript from Ronnie, her life became proof that our challenges do not define us and there is always the potential to forge a fuller life. In Be My Baby, the incomparable Ronnie Spector offered a whirlwind account of the ever-shifting path of an iconic artist. And, more than anything else, she gave us an inspiring tale of triumph"-Book jacket.The leader of the 1960s singing group The Ronettes describes the early days of rock 'n' roll, her affairs with such stars as John Lennon, and her nightmarish marriage to producer Phil Spector, which almost ended her career.
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Spector, Ronnie, 1943-2022.; Ronettes (Musical group); African American women rock musicians; Doo-wop (Music); Popular music; Popular music; Rock musicians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The life and times of Hannah Crafts : the true story of The Bondwoman's Narrative / by Hecimovich, Gregg A.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A groundbreaking study of the first Black female novelist and her life as an enslaved woman, from the biographer who solved the mystery of her identity, with a preface by Henry Louis Gates Jr. In 1857, a woman escaped enslavement on a North Carolina plantation and fled to a farm in New York. In hiding, she worked on a manuscript that would make her famous long after her death. The novel, The Bondwoman's Narrative, was first published in 2002 to great acclaim, but the author's identity remained unknown. Over a decade later, Professor Gregg Hecimovich unraveled the mystery of the author's name and, in The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts, he finally tells her story. In this remarkable biography, Hecimovich identifies the novelist as Hannah Bond “Crafts.” She was not only the first known Black woman to compose a novel but also an extraordinarily gifted artist who honed her literary skills in direct opposition to a system designed to deny her every measure of humanity. After escaping to New York, the author forged a new identity--as Hannah Crafts--to make sense of a life fractured by slavery. Hecimovich establishes the case for authorship of The Bondwoman's Narrative by examining the lives of Hannah Crafts's friends and contemporaries, including the five enslaved women whose experiences form part of her narrative. By drawing on the lives of those she knew in slavery, Crafts summoned into her fiction people otherwise stolen from history. At once a detective story, a literary chase, and a cultural history, The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts discovers a tale of love, friendship, betrayal, and violence set against the backdrop of America's slide into Civil War."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Crafts, Hannah.; African American women novelists; Enslaved women; Fugitive slaves; Autobiographical fiction, American;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Dangerous Rhythms Jazz and the Underworld [electronic resource] : by English, T. J..aut; cloudLibrary;
From T. J. English, the New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne, comes the epic, scintillating narrative of the interconnected worlds of jazz and organized crime in 20th century America. "[A] brilliant and courageous book." —Dr. Cornel West Dangerous Rhythms tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America’s most notorious vice districts. For the first half of the century mobsters and musicians enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership. By offering artists like Louis Armstrong, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald a stage, the mob, including major players Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, and Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, provided opportunities that would not otherwise have existed. Even so, at the heart of this relationship was a festering racial inequity. The musicians were mostly African American, and the clubs and means of production were owned by white men. It was a glorified plantation system that, over time, would find itself out of tune with an emerging Civil Rights movement. Some artists, including Louis Armstrong, believed they were safer and more likely to be paid fairly if they worked in “protected” joints. Others believed that playing in venues outside mob rule would make it easier to have control over their careers. Through English’s voluminous research and keen narrative skills, Dangerous Rhythms reveals this deeply fascinating slice of American history in all its sordid glory.
Subjects: Electronic books.; 20th Century; Jazz; Organized Crime;
© 2022., HarperCollins,
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Sing your name out loud : 15 rules for living your dream / by Derulo, Jason,1989-author.;
"In his page-turning and inspiring first book, legendary songwriter and recording artist Jason Derulo shares his 15 rules for finding success in any pursuit, and invites everyone--especially artists and creators--to start on their path to greatness. In 2009, an 18-year-old son of Haitian immigrants burst onto Billboard music charts with the instant #1 song, "Whatcha Say," which sampled a surprising hook and opened with what would prove to be one of the catchiest lines in pop music history--the artist's own name, sung out loud. Defying every possible odd, Jason Derulo cemented himself again and again, hit after hit, as one of the hardest working singers, dancers, and performers in the world and a risk-taking force of nature. This is the remarkable story of Derulo's come up, told through the valuable principles that guided and propelled him toward artistic excellence. Waking at 4am to catch buses across Miami so he could attend performing arts schools on scholarship, entering himself into local singing competitions at the mall on the weekends, and penning hundreds of songs before he ever saw the inside of a recording studio, Derulo's commitment to his dream--and dedication to seeing it come true--is the stuff of legend. But it was during his reinvention in 2020, after becoming one of the most followed creators on TikTok, that he realized his personal rules for self-mastery and success are applicable anywhere, for anyone, under any circumstance. "Now," he writes, "It's your turn." Sing Your Name Out Loud: 15 Rules for Living Your Dream takes readers into the mind of one of the most consistent, dominating, and versatile artists alive. Derulo reflects, in his own words, on the defining moments of his career thus far, most notably the wins and losses that strengthened his signature style of creative pursuit and offers his fifteen rules for turning goals into reality - where numbers mean everything, obstacles are opportunities, closed doors are meant to be opened, failure is inevitable, and good lighting is non-negotiable."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Self-help publications.; Personal narratives.; Derulo, Jason, 1989-; African American musicians; Celebrities; Rhythm and blues musicians; Self-control.; Success.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The beautiful ones / by Prince,author.; Piepenbring, Dan,editor.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 254-276).Prince was a musical genius, one of the most beloved, accomplished, and acclaimed musicians of our time. He was a startlingly original visionary with an imagination deep enough to whip up whole worlds, from the sexy, gritty funk paradise of "Uptown" to the mythical landscape of Purple Rain to the psychedelia of "Paisley Park." But his most ambitious creative act was turning Prince Rogers Nelson, born in Minnesota, into Prince, one of the greatest pop stars of any era. The Beautiful Ones is the story of how Prince became Prince-- a first-person account of a kid absorbing the world around him and then creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and fame that would come to define him. The book is told in four parts. The first is the memoir Prince was writing before his tragic death, pages that bring us into his childhood world through his own lyrical prose. The second part takes us through Prince's early years as a musician, before his first album was released, via an evocative scrapbook of writing and photos. The third section shows us Prince's evolution through candid images that go up to the cusp of his greatest achievement, which we see in the book's fourth section: his original handwritten treatment for Purple Rain-- the final stage in Prince's self-creation, where he retells the autobiography of the first three parts as a heroic journey. The book is framed by editor Dan Piepenbring's riveting and moving introduction about his profound collaboration with Prince in his final months-- a time when Prince was thinking deeply about how to reveal more of himself and his ideas to the world, while retaining the mystery and mystique he'd so carefully cultivated-- and annotations that provide context to the book's images. This work is not just a tribute to an icon, but an original and energizing literary work in its own right, full of Prince's ideas and vision, his voice and image-- his undying gift to the world.
Subjects: Biographies.; Prince.; African American musicians; Rock musicians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Girl on fire [graphic novel] / by Keys, Alicia,author.; Fox, D. Forrest,illustrator.; Pattison, Ronda,colourist.; Pittarese, Frank,editor.; Temofonte, Saida,letterer.; Weiner, Andrew,author.; Williams, Brittney,1989-illustrator.;
From New York Times bestselling author and 15-time Grammy Award-winning artist Alicia Keys comes a new authentic and poignant coming-of-age young adult graphic novel, about finding the strength within when your whole world changes in an instant. Lolo Wright always thought she was just a regular fourteen-year-old dealing with regular family drama: her brother, James, is struggling with his studies; her dad's business constantly teeters on the edge of trouble; and her mother ... she left long ago. But then Lolo's world explodes when a cop pulls a gun on James in a dangerous case of mistaken identities. Staring down the barrel, with no one else to help, Lolo discovers powers she never knew she had. Using only her mind, she literally throws the cop out of the way. Problem is that secrets like Lolo's don't stay a secret for long. Skin, a dangerous dealer with designs on taking over the neighborhood, hears of Lolo's telekinetic abilities and decides that he needs her in his crew. Skin might not have Lolo's powers, but he's got nothing to lose and is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. And what he wants is Lolo. Lolo's not willing to let Skin use her to hurt the people -- and neighborhood -- that she loves. But it's going to take a whole different kind of bravery to stand-up for what's right, especially after Lolo's mom returns suddenly and turns Lolo's whole world upside-down. For too long, it's true, Lolo's had her head in the clouds, but this time, it's on her ... and she's not backing down.014+.Grades 10-12.
Subjects: Coming-of-age comics.; Graphic novels.; Abandoned children; African Americans; Brothers and sisters; Drug dealers; Families; Mothers and daughters; Psychokinesis; Racism; Self-confidence;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Led Zeppelin : the biography / by Spitz, Bob,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the author of the definitive New York Times bestselling history of the Beatles comes the authoritative account of the group Jack Black and many others call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious. Rock stars. Whatever those words mean to you, chances are, they owe a debt to Led Zeppelin. No one before or since has lived the dream quite like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. In Led Zeppelin, Bob Spitz takes their full measure, for good and sometimes for ill, separating the myth from the reality with the connoisseurship and storytelling flair that are his trademarks. From the opening notes of their first album, the band announced itself as something different, a collision of grand artistic ambition and brute primal force, of delicate English folk music and hard-driving African-American blues. That record sold over 10 million copies, and it was the merest beginning; Led Zeppelin's albums have sold over 300 million certified copies worldwide, and the dust has never settled. Taken together, Led Zeppelin's discography has spent an almost incomprehensible ten-plus years on the album charts. The band is notoriously guarded, and previous books shine more heat than light. But Bob Spitz's authority is undeniable and irresistible. His feel for the atmosphere, the context--the music, the business, the recording studios, the touring life, the radio stations, the fans, the whole ecosystem of popular music--is unparalleled. His account of the melding of Page and Jones, the virtuosic London sophisticates, with Plant and Bonham, the wild men from the Midlands, into a band out of the ashes of the Yardbirds, in a scene dominated by the Beatles and the Stones but changing fast, is in itself a revelation. Spitz takes the music seriously, and brings the band's artistic journey to full and vivid life. The music is only part of the legend, however: Led Zeppelin is also the story of how the 60's became the 70's, of how playing in clubs became playing in stadiums and flying your own jet, of how innocence became decadence. Led Zeppelin may not have invented the groupie, and they weren't the first rock band to let loose on the road, but they took it to an entirely new level, as with everything else. Not all the legends are true, but in Bob Spitz's careful accounting, what is true is astonishing, and sometimes disturbing. Led Zeppelin gave no quarter, and neither has Bob Spitz. Led Zeppelin is the full and honest reckoning the band has long awaited, and richly deserves"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Led Zeppelin (Musical group); Rock musicians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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