A wide-ranging but remarkably intimate account of a legendary music hall.
A comprehensive history of one of America’s most storied concert venues by its owner and founder, Oelze, and music writer Moore.
This detailed history opens with a thoughtful foreword by music critic Buzz McClain, who celebrates Oelze’s ownership of the Birchmere, a well-known music club in Alexandria, Virginia, since the mid-1970s. Over the course of the book, readers will recognize dozens of household names who graced the hall with their presence, from Joan Baez to Ray Charles, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock, but the venue itself always remains the star of the show. In the opening chapters, the authors describe the Birchmere’s early history, starting in the 1940s, when it was an “unassuming suburban neighborhood restaurant,” to when it became a fully fledged music space in the late ’60s where one could see bluegrass acts and burgeoning stars, such as Linda Ronstadt. Interspersed throughout these detailed descriptions of nights at the Birchmere, the authors regale readers with anecdotes of famous visitors, including some who weren’t professional musicians; once, President Bill Clinton, on the advice of Vice President Al Gore, went to hear Jerry Jeff Walker play on a Thursday night in 1993, during the early days of his presidency. For music aficionados, the work will serve as an encyclopedic trove of information—not only about major musicians of the second half of the 20th century, but also about the low-key charms of club life, which faced growing competition from arenas and stadiums as time went on. Although readers may be attracted by the accounts of the stars on the Birchmere stage, the most impassioned writing here centers on Oelze’s expert management of the club he loves; as he wryly comments, “Everybody knows how to run the Birchmere. They’ve been telling me how to do it for 55 years.”
A wide-ranging but remarkably intimate account of a legendary music hall.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64718-969-3
Page Count: 502
Publisher: Booklocker.com
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An engaging, revealing look at the wild world of the Wu-Tang Clan and beyond.
A memoir from one of hip-hop’s most inventive stylists.
As a member of the Wu-Tang Clan and throughout his solo career, Dennis Coles (b. 1970), aka Ghostface Killah, has been one of the most creative rappers in the game. In this deeply personal text, the author narrates his life story through 15 of his songs. It’s a testament to the richness of his rhymes to see him communicate the same thoughts and feelings in a handful of couplets as he does in a full chapter of prose. Sure, Ghostface offers more context and details in each chapter, whether he’s writing about the struggles of his youth that inspired “All That I Got Is You” or his time selling drugs in “Poisonous Darts,” but that is also a little too straightforward for such a creative artist. Ghostface occasionally uses graphic-novel techniques to make some points, and he turns over the narrative to friends and colleagues to make others. There is no sanitizing of his history here. Ghostface is frank about his drug use, his arrests and time in jail, and his health issues—especially how his diabetes can affect his performances and creativity. He also takes time to educate people about the problems in the music industry, what Islam means to his life and his art, and the impact of slavery and racism on hip-hop and America. “My ancestors used to get whipped, and the rest of the slaves had to sit out there and watch them get whipped until they died,” he writes. “When I watched George Floyd die, it felt like that.” His expansive thoughts on any number of topics are fascinating whether you follow hip-hop or not. The book is vividly designed, featuring pull quotes, sidebars, and color photos.
An engaging, revealing look at the wild world of the Wu-Tang Clan and beyond.Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 9781250274274
Page Count: 240
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Chronology, photographs and personal knowledge combine to make a memorable commemorative presentation.
Jackie Kennedy's secret service agent Hill and co-author McCubbin team up for a follow-up to Mrs. Kennedy and Me (2012) in this well-illustrated narrative of those five days 50 years ago when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Since Hill was part of the secret service detail assigned to protect the president and his wife, his firsthand account of those days is unique. The chronological approach, beginning before the presidential party even left the nation's capital on Nov. 21, shows Kennedy promoting his “New Frontier” policy and how he was received by Texans in San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth before his arrival in Dallas. A crowd of more than 8,000 greeted him in Houston, and thousands more waited until 11 p.m. to greet the president at his stop in Fort Worth. Photographs highlight the enthusiasm of those who came to the airports and the routes the motorcades followed on that first day. At the Houston Coliseum, Kennedy addressed the leaders who were building NASA for the planned moon landing he had initiated. Hostile ads and flyers circulated in Dallas, but the president and his wife stopped their motorcade to respond to schoolchildren who held up a banner asking the president to stop and shake their hands. Hill recounts how, after Lee Harvey Oswald fired his fatal shots, he jumped onto the back of the presidential limousine. He was present at Parkland Hospital, where the president was declared dead, and on the plane when Lyndon Johnson was sworn in. Hill also reports the funeral procession and the ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery. “[Kennedy] would have not wanted his legacy, fifty years later, to be a debate about the details of his death,” writes the author. “Rather, he would want people to focus on the values and ideals in which he so passionately believed.”
Chronology, photographs and personal knowledge combine to make a memorable commemorative presentation.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4767-3149-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
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