In Elvis Presley: A Southern Life; one of the most admired Southern historians of our time takes on one of the greatest cultural icons of all time. The result is a masterpiece: a vivid; gripping biography; set against the rich backdrop of Southern society--indeed; American society--in the second half of the twentieth century.Author of The Crucible of Race and William Faulkner and Southern History; Joel Williamson is a renowned historian known for his inimitable and compelling narrative style. In this tour de force biography; he captures the drama of Presleys career set against the popular culture of the post-World War II South. Born in Tupelo; Mississippi; Presley was a contradiction; flamboyant in pegged black pants with pink stripes; yet soft-spoken; respectfully courting a decent girl from church. Then he wandered into Sun Records; and everything changed. "I was scared stiff;" Elvis recalled about his first time performing on stage. "Everyone was hollering and I didnt know what they were hollering at." Girls did the hollering--at his snarl and swagger. Williamson calls it "the revolution of the Elvis girls." His fans lived in an intense moment; this generation raised by their mothers while their fathers were away at war; whose lives were transformed by an exodus from the countryside to Southern cities; a postwar culture of consumption; and a striving for upward mobility. They came of age in the era of the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling; which turned high schools into battlegrounds of race. Explosively; white girls went wild for a white man inspired by and singing black music while "wiggling" erotically. Elvis; Williamson argues; gave his female fans an opportunity to break free from straitlaced Southern society and express themselves sexually; if only for a few hours at a time.Rather than focusing on Elviss music and the music industry; Elvis Presley: A Southern Life illuminates the zenith of his career; his period of deepest creativity; which captured a legion of fans and kept them fervently loyal for decades. Williamson shows how Elvis himself changed--and didnt. In the latter part of his career; when he performed regular gigs in Las Vegas and toured second-tier cities; he moved beyond the South to a national audience who had bought his albums and watched his movies. Yet the makeup of his fan base did not substantially change; nor did Elvis himself ever move up the Southern class ladder despite his wealth. Even as he aged and his life was cut short; he maintained his iconic status; becoming arguably larger in death than in life as droves of fans continue to pay homage to him at Graceland.Appreciative and unsparing; culturally attuned and socially revealing; Williamsons Elvis Presley will deepen our understanding of the man and his times.
#1814234 in eBooks 2014-09-19 2014-09-19File Name: B00NPZITW8
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Makes it really easy to learn Drop 2 chordsBy KeybearIve always loved the sound of Drop 2 chords but never really understood how it worked and Mark Levine the master that he is of the instrument and master teacher really clarifies the whole process. I love working with this book and practicing my scales in drop 2 in different keys to get them under my fingers. Mark has you using your little finger initially to play a bebop scale; then has you fill in the chords in 4 way close harmony and once youve gotten that down; he has you drop the 2nd voice from the top (drop 2) to your left hand and voila!; youre playing drop 2; and then he goes on to different scales and tweaks; etc. lots of good material in this great little book to work with.48 of 49 people found the following review helpful. No Surprises Here (and thats a good thing!)By Fly By LightThis book is a welcome follow-up to Mark Levines Jazz Piano Book. The only frustration I had with the Jazz Piano Book is that it could not tell me EVERYTHING. The Jazz Piano book only introduced Drop 2 techniques; leaving the voracious student wondering where to find more information. The Drop 2 Book fills that void with the same clarity and pace that made the Jazz Piano Book so useful and popular. The book explains major; minor and dominant progressions; tweaks to make chords sound "modern"; applications; problems and work-arounds; soloing; comping; the Altered Bebop Minor Scale; and suggested practice routines. As an added bonus; this book includes a CD with recorded examples. Most students at this level could hammer out the examples; but the relative volumes of the left and right hands are important to this technique. Such nuances cannot be expressed clearly with standard music notation; so the CD is more than just a nice afterthought. If you have worked through the Jazz Piano Book and feel ready to explore Drop 2 voicings in greater depth; this book will take you there. Buy it and recommend it to all your friends so that we can see more Masterclass books by Mark Levine.6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Mark Levine - Brilliant Once AgainBy DYou want to learn about Drop 2 voicings? Then get this book.If you know who Mark Levine is; and you know how he is able to start from the very beginning of any music theory concept and build it into something rich and profound (that you will understand); then I really dont need to explain this book to you.For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mark Levine (or for those of you who have no knowledge of jazz theory); I would suggest that you dont start here with this book. This covers only one; very specific concept of jazz. For "newbies" I strongly recommend Levines The Jazz Theory Book and/or The Jazz Piano Book (they overlap a lot of the same information; but its good to have both books anyway!). After that - and before you graduate to playing in Drop 2 voicings - I would have to recommend first studying from Frank Mantooths Voicings for Jazz Keyboard. In fact; you could almost start with that book as soon as you have a good working knowledge of all your scales.
