Fox offers plenty of welcome facts, but analysis and wit are in much shorter supply.
In-depth but clumsy look at a significant independent record company.
Fox’s book has its roots in a 1986 NPR documentary he wrote and produced about King Records, one of the most important of all American indie imprints. Founded in Cincinnati in 1943 by former record retailer Syd Nathan, King was a critical outlet for “hillbilly” (country) and “race” (rhythm & blues) records eschewed by the major labels of the day. Blessed with the savvy talent scouts/producers Henry Glover and Ralph Bass, the company was home to country and bluegrass luminaries like Reno and Smiley, the Delmore Brothers, the Stanley Brothers and Moon Mullican, and top R&B and blues acts such as Wynonie Harris, Little Willie John, Roy Brown, the Dominoes and Freddie King. From 1956 to 1971, King’s biggest star was the groundbreaking soul singer James Brown, who cut one chart-topper after another for the label. For a time, King was the preeminent American indie, thanks to its color-blind musical policy and its sophisticated in-house recording, manufacturing and distribution systems. The volatile, abrasive Nathan alienated as many artists as he nurtured, but his keen business sense prevailed until his death in 1968. King was a one-of-a-kind operation, but Fox is more interested in logging discographical minutiae than in delineating the firm’s unique creative chemistry. Most of the book considers King’s releases by genre, and it runs aground in a laborious, often repetitious recitation of biographical details, recording sessions and chart positions. Minor musicians sometimes receive nearly the same amount of attention as pathfinding performers. While Brown at least rates a chapter of his own, his historic career at King and his combative relationship with Nathan are dispensed with in a mere 12 pages. The proceedings are also slowed by the author’s cliché-riddled style.
Fox offers plenty of welcome facts, but analysis and wit are in much shorter supply.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-252-03468-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Univ. of Illinois
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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