Rating: 
Summary: I Think the Book Ends Before its Climax
Review: 'Sweet Soul Music' is a fantastic book, the best book I've read on the subject. Having said that, it isn't by any means a complete history of Soul Music (it completely omits the great music that came from New York, Motown, Chicago and Philly), nor is it a complete history of Southern Soul Music (the book ends with the acrimonious break up of Stax/Volt records, even though great Soul was still being made elsewhere in Memphis). Guralnick's book starts off looking like a history of Soul Music (there are early chapters on Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and an amazing and hilarious chapter on Solomon Burke), but then the book changes emphasis and becomes the story of the involvement of white musicians in Southern R&B.Guralnick's thesis seems to be that Southern Soul achieved its great creative flowering in the 60s as a result of the partnership between black and white musicians, and even though he interviews a great number of musicians and businessmen - black and white - he can't help himself from empathising with the young white hipsters that made up the house bands at Stax and Muscle Shoals, with the result that the book becomes very much a story told from their point of view (Guralnick calls Dan Penn the "secret hero of this book" - fair enough, but surely James Brown should have been its overt hero). After these white musicians were intimidated out of the business during the racial tension that followed Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968, Guralnick concentrates more on the politics and seems to lose interest in the music itself. Which is a great pity, since Southern Soul in the 70s went on to even greater heights (James Brown's rhythmic revolution, then Al Green's great synthesis of the sexual and the spiritual). Though I learnt a great deal from the book (my CD collection has mushroomed after reading it) it felt to this reader as though the book had ended just before its real climax.
Rating:
Summary: I Think the Book Ends Before its Climax
Review: 'Sweet Soul Music' is a fantastic book, the best book I've read on the subject. Having said that, it isn't by any means a complete history of Soul Music (it completely omits the great music that came from New York, Motown, Chicago and Philly), nor is it a complete history of Southern Soul Music (the book ends with the acrimonious break up of Stax/Volt records, even though great Soul was still being made elsewhere in Memphis). Guralnick's book starts off looking like a history of Soul Music (there are early chapters on Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and an amazing and hilarious chapter on Solomon Burke), but then the book changes emphasis and becomes the story of the involvement of white musicians in Southern R&B. Guralnick's thesis seems to be that Southern Soul achieved its great creative flowering in the 60s as a result of the partnership between black and white musicians, and even though he interviews a great number of musicians and businessmen - black and white - he can't help himself from empathising with the young white hipsters that made up the house bands at Stax and Muscle Shoals, with the result that the book becomes very much a story told from their point of view (Guralnick calls Dan Penn the "secret hero of this book" - fair enough, but surely James Brown should have been its overt hero). After these white musicians were intimidated out of the business during the racial tension that followed Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968, Guralnick concentrates more on the politics and seems to lose interest in the music itself. Which is a great pity, since Southern Soul in the 70s went on to even greater heights (James Brown's rhythmic revolution, then Al Green's great synthesis of the sexual and the spiritual). Though I learnt a great deal from the book (my CD collection has mushroomed after reading it) it felt to this reader as though the book had ended just before its real climax.
Rating:
Summary: Essential reading in social history
Review: A thoroughly delightful book...glad to see it coming back into print. The STAX records story here is every bit as facinating as the earlier Memphis tale of Sun Records. Booker T & the MG's become a model - and a vision - for race relations in America. Also, the discography included is terrific. Buy it, study it...then crank-up the STAX boxed set.
Rating:
Summary: A thorough look at the creation of southern soul
Review: And that's about as good as books on music get. The stories of minor and supporting character's are given air in Mr. Guralnick's books and that is what sets them apart. As a fairly serious follower of American music it is a treat to have a writer who obviously loves his subject (and has similar tastes to me) choose to write at some length about people like Dan Penn, Solomon Burke and James Carr. That he does so in such a poignant yet unforced way is just icing on the cake. This is more than a history of Southern soul music. It's an exciting and surprising story of real people who created some real extraordinary music.
Rating:
Summary: Almost as good as Guralnick's Elvis book.
Review: And that's about as good as books on music get. The stories of minor and supporting character's are given air in Mr. Guralnick's books and that is what sets them apart. As a fairly serious follower of American music it is a treat to have a writer who obviously loves his subject (and has similar tastes to me) choose to write at some length about people like Dan Penn, Solomon Burke and James Carr. That he does so in such a poignant yet unforced way is just icing on the cake. This is more than a history of Southern soul music. It's an exciting and surprising story of real people who created some real extraordinary music.
Rating: 
Summary: get the facts right
Review: I bought this book in the gift shop at the newly resurrected Stax Records museum in Memphis... the Satellite Record Shop, next door to the museum. I've lived in Memphis all my life, although I'm about 15-20 years younger than most of those made famous by the Stax phenomenon. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and it served to fill in the blanks about many things I had only heard about superficially growing up here. I'm bothered by a lot of factual errors, not noticeable or important maybe to many, but this is about my home. At least the author and/or his editor could have been more sure of producing a factually accurate book. The edition I bought was published in 1999... the original in 1986. Did no one else catch these errors in the '86 edition? Here are a couple of examples: He refers to a Memphis radio station, KWEM, which was and is actually in West Memphis, Arkansas, and whose call letters are KWAM. (Everybody knows stations east of the Mississippi River start with a "W" and all those west of the Mississippi start with a "K".... radio and TV stations alike. Does the author know where Memphis is?
He refers to a naval base in Tipton County, TN, where Booker T. & the MGs would play, when in fact it's in Shelby County, the same county Memphis itself is in. Does this change anything in the big picture? Probably not. Is the book any less enjoyable or informative? No, not really. But if you considered yourself a true New Yorker, and someone kept writing about it, calling it Gethom City, or The Big Orange, well, you get the picture. I do wonder how many other errors the book may contain that I didn't catch?
Rating:
Summary: get the facts right
Review: I bought this book in the gift shop at the newly resurrected Stax Records museum in Memphis... the Satellite Record Shop, next door to the museum. I've lived in Memphis all my life, although I'm about 15-20 years younger than most of those made famous by the Stax phenomenon. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and it served to fill in the blanks about many things I had only heard about superficially growing up here. I'm bothered by a lot of factual errors, not noticeable or important maybe to many, but this is about my home. At least the author and/or his editor could have been more sure of producing a factually accurate book. The edition I bought was published in 1999... the original in 1986. Did no one else catch these errors in the '86 edition? Here are a couple of examples: He refers to a Memphis radio station, KWEM, which was and is actually in West Memphis, Arkansas, and whose call letters are KWAM. (Everybody knows stations east of the Mississippi River start with a "W" and all those west of the Mississippi start with a "K".... radio and TV stations alike. Does the author know where Memphis is?
He refers to a naval base in Tipton County, TN, where Booker T. & the MGs would play, when in fact it's in Shelby County, the same county Memphis itself is in. Does this change anything in the big picture? Probably not. Is the book any less enjoyable or informative? No, not really. But if you considered yourself a true New Yorker, and someone kept writing about it, calling it Gethom City, or The Big Orange, well, you get the picture. I do wonder how many other errors the book may contain that I didn't catch?
Rating:
Summary: Sad and enlightening. A great book.
Review: I love this book. Guralnick gets inside the amazing world of Stax and other (mostly Southern) soul music empires. It's fascinating and in the end a bit heartbreaking..
Rating:
Summary: Brings Liner Notes to Life
Review: I stumbled upon this book, having seen neither a review nor promotional ad for it. Sometimes it STILL is worthwhile to wander into a bookstore when not online. Peter Guralnick has given life and dimension to people whom I'd seen perform on television and, luckily, a couple of times in concert. Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Solomon Burke and supporting performers like Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn gain substance and interest. Record executives come off even better, showing both wisdom and perspicacity instead of the fast buck hustle mentality with which most music journalism saddles them. It's all a function of Gurlnick's highly detailed but well-paced style. SSM also has a couple of subtle attributes that benefit the reader: •If it is read slowly and savored, even put down for a week, it does not lose immediacy or continuity. •Its photos appear inter-text, providing visual context to people or settings being described. Since I've nearly completed this book, know I'll be using it for a reference and purchasing guide for a long time to come.
Rating:
Summary: The Primer For Soul Music
Review: If you want a starting place in your search to find REAL Soul music, look no further than this book. Guralnick points you in the right direction. It is very clear that he loves the subject matter. He investigated the legends, and reports as much truth as will come to light, about performers like Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Arthur Alexander, Aretha Franklin, James Carr, O.V. Wright, Al Green, Wilson Pickett, and many others. There is also a history of Stax Records that Rob Bowman used as a reference for his epic history of the label. And there's a comprehensive discography, which has been updated for the CD era. Guralnick let the story take him wherever it led, even if he didn't always like the conclusions. It is an honest book and a good read. I write a lot of reviews on Soul music. Much of what I know about the roots of Soul, I learned from this book!
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