On December 10, 1967, a charter plane carrying singer Otis Redding (1941-1967) crashed in Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin as it made its final landing approach. Redding was twenty-six years old and left behind a widow Zelma, and three young children. At the time of his death, he was a top-selling recording artist on the brink a stellar career and the song he recorded shortly before his death “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay”, went on to become a hit that still sounds good to this very day. His widow Zelma, is the president of the Otis Redding Foundation and his children Karla, Otis, III, and Dexter are on the board of directors. Through their hard work, Redding’s legacy lives on as millions of fans of the Soul music replay his songs singing along with an artist who helped define a genre and an era.
Redding died more than a decade before I was born but I have come to appreciate his musical genius. When I saw this book by Jonathan Gould, I knew that it would be an interesting read. And to my satisfaction, my instincts proved to be correct. Admittedly, my knowledge of Redding’s personal life was lacking but I had always known, like millions of others, the particulars of his untimely death. But what I did not know, was the man behind the music. Redding, like other artists such as Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Wilson Pickett, became a larger than life figure and a titan in the genre of music that became known commercially as Soul. But the question remained, how did Redding rise to fame and why did he die so young? Contained within the pages of this definitive biography are the answers to those questions and many others and Gould not only tells Redding’s story, but also takes us back in time as we relive the Civil Rights Movement while taking a closer look at what race once was and still is in America.
Without question the book is a biography, Gould ingeniously intersperses Redding’s story with historical events that changed the United States one step at a time. And the way it is done fits perfectly for in order to understand Redding, it is necessary to understand the America he was born into, a country far different from the one in which more than 300 million now live. Born in 1941 in the deep south, Redding came face to face with the horrors of Jim Crow at an early age and the system of legal segregation and oppression affected every aspect of life for African-Americans. The daily threat of death and deprivation gave rise to a movement for equality, accompanied by music that reached deep inside a person, in effect, touching their soul. Some parts of the book might be a tough read as Gould does avoid many dark episodes that occurred during Jim Crow such as lynching, the humiliating practice of blackface and the absurd laws that once prevented Black and White Americans from being seen together in the same place. The stories and the events are uncomfortable but there is no way around it and its purpose is to remind us of the seemingly endless barriers artists like Redding were forced to overcome in pursuing the passion that they loved as America was being forced to look at itself in the mirror.
Similar to other singers of his time, Redding found his voice in the church as the son of a pastor before realizing that his voice could give him a career. But in contrast to other singers, his early life was not filled with craziness and in many ways was quite ordinary until fate takes over and he crosses paths with Phil Walden, the man who would help make him a star. At this point in the book, the story picks up in pace as Redding sets his sights on Los Angeles while becoming a husband and father. And at twenty-two years of age, he was living a life that many could only dream of. He performed with some of the biggest names in the business from James Brown, Booker T & The MGs to the late Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin (1942-2018). The result is that the book is not simply a biography but a step back in time to a period that we will never see again. In fact, what was being done by singers then could not be done today as Soul is a genre all but retired and there is no equivalent Civil Rights Movement. Hip-Hop and Pop haven taken over the airwaves making the days of Motown a distant memory. But to their infinite credit, the sounds coming out of Detroit, Los Angeles, Memphis, New York and other cities have stood the test of time, sounding as good today as they did when they were recorded.
It should be noted that Redding had his faults like other stars and also saw life through a different lens. Gould includes all of it as any good biographer should do. In the end, Redding was a human being, born with flaws that many of us have. Those flaws as well as his positive traits, are critical in analyzing his life and understanding why he was mourned in death. Stardom was already in his grasp and he was on track to ascend to an even higher level of fame. Gould, did an incredible job of putting together this story that covers Redding’s life from start to finish. Through interviews with those who knew him, Walden and even the late Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records, Gould has created the go-to book on the life of Otis Redding. His writing style brings the past alive and at times I felt as I were right next to Otis as he had discussions with Walden and Wexler. There will never be another Otis Redding who did in fact have, an unfinished life.
ISBN-10: 9780307453945
ISBN-13: 978-0307453945
One of the definitions of the word irony is an 
This November will mark twenty-seven years since the death of Farrokh Bulsara (1946–1991), known by his stage name of Freddie Mercury. On November 2, 2018, moviegoers will be able to see the anticipated biopic 
There is something about soul music that is incredibly hard to put into words. Its ability to reach the listener and touch them in ways they never knew give credence to the title of its genre. The men and women who perfected their craft singing soul music became legends in the process. Many of them are no longer with us having died either violently or tragically. Planes crashes, murder, drugs and diseases formed the nexus of poison from which they chose. Nevertheless, their voices still reign supreme and remind us of an era which we will never see again. James Brown is known as the “Godfather of Soul” but in reality there were other challengers to the throne, most notably the late Wilson Pickett (1941-2006). He is best known for his classic hit “In the Midnight Hour” which helped propelled him to legendary status. But behind the music was a man whose life was anything but ordinary. Instead it was filled with genius, vices, love and heartbreak. Pickett’s death on January 19, 2006 at the age of just sixty-four years of age, was the final chapter in the singer’s life which had steadily declined in his final years. However, to this day he still remembered as one of the best to ever do it and his legacy is cemented in the many memorable songs he mastered during his time on this earth.
September 30, 1955-Two motor vehicles collided at the intersection of Routes 41 and 46 near Cholame, California. The first vehicle, a Ford sedan suffered light damage. Vehicle number two, a Porsche 550 Spyder, was found twisted like a piece of aluminum foil. Inside the car is film star James Byron Dean (1931-1955). His passenger, Rudolf Karl Wütherich (1927-1981) was thrown from the vehicle but survived. Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital. He was twenty-four years old. Nearly sixty-three years have passed since his death but incredibly, he is still the poster boy for youths determined to be the “rebel without a cause”. He is credited with three films during his career and multiple television appearances. By Hollywood standards, his resume is short but at only twenty-four, he had the prospect of a long and successful career first in front of him and then taken away the instant his car collided with by Donald Turnupseed’s Ford. His fans were devastated and Hollywood was forced to grieve for a young star taken before his time. In death, he joins the long list of celebrities who died before their thirtieth birthday. But what is it about James Dean that captivates millions of people, young and old six decades after his death?
The images that were published in Jet magazine of Emmett Till’s (1941-1955) mutilated corpse still cause readers and viewers on the internet to recoil in shock. With their graphic detail and macabre detail, the pictures of Till’s face become burned into the memory of anyone who has seen them. The story of Till’s murder at fourteen years of age because of allegedly “whistling or cat-calling a white woman” is a dark reminder of the ugly history of racism that prevailed in American culture. Today such a crime is unimaginable, but in 1955 it was not only very real but also encouraged by rabid racists with a vendetta against people of color. In January, 2017, Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman at the center of the Till story, allegedly admitted that her claims were 
When we think of Reggae music, Rastafarianism and the island of Jamaica, the vision that usually comes to mind is of the mythical figure that was known as Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley (1945-1981). He has been gone for more than thirty-seven years but his music still inspires millions of people around the world and his image graces t-shirts, posters, book covers and other items deemed to be collectibles by their sellers. To some, there is no Reggae without Marley and he is considered to be one of Jamaica’s greatest icons, the superstar from Nine Miles who made his way up through the ghettos of Trench Town until making it big in the music business, where he found international fame. His untimely death on May 11, 1981, sent shock waves through the music industry and the sense of loss continues to confuse as many will ask the question, why did he leave this world at such a young age? To answer that question, it is first necessary to understand Marley’s life. Timothy White (1952-2002), a former journalist with the Associated Press, interviewed Marley scores of times and conducted extensive research to compose this phenomenal biography of the late musician. But just who was Bob Marley? And what was it about him that captivated millions?
He was arguably the greatest villain in the history of professional wrestling. His trademark shirt with the word “Hot Rod” and the red kilt he wore, made him stand out in an industry overrun with colorful character. To his family he was known as Roderick Toombs and Dad, but to the world, he was known as Rowdy Roddy Piper. You would be hard pressed to find any wrestling fan who does not know his name or story. He truly was one of the greats of the industry who’s ribbing of other wrestlers and shenanigans during his famous show Pipers Pit, cemented his legacy as a legend. When he died on July 31, 2015, the world was in a state of shock. I simply could not believe the news reports. At sixty-one, he was far too young to depart this earth and after a hard life in the wrestling business, it seemed as if his glory days were ahead of him. His shocking death still causes fans to shake their heads in disbelief that a man so loved was taken so soon. In all of the interviews I have watched or read with stars who knew him, not one had bad word to say about him. He is remembered as a kind soul backstage and a man possessed with genuine and undeniable talent that helped make Vince McMahon, Jr., the legend that he is in the wrestling business. But just who was the real Roddy Piper? And how did the world of Roderick Toombs, father and husband coincide with the public image he worked forty years to build? His daughter Ariel and son Colt took what remained of the second book Piper was writing about himself and decided to complete a biography of their father. The result? One of the best biographies I have read about a wrestling superstar.
At the height of 1930s era crime and depression, criminals that under normal circumstances would be looked upon with scorn, became larger than life iconic figures whose daring bank robberies and shootouts with policy became stuff of legend. The brazen thefts in the middle of broad daylight accomplished with the use of the Thompson Sub-machine Gun (Tommy Gun) and the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) catapulted America into a new and deadlier form of crime. In response, the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972) stepped into the foray and within a one-year stretch, arrested or executed America’s most wanted. At the top of this list was the late John Herbert Dillinger (1903-1934).
On February 19, 1979, eleven year-old Norman Ollestad was a passenger in privately chartered Cessna aircraft. He was joined by his father Norman and his father’s girlfriend Sandra. The flight was supposed to be a routine trip but weather conditions and pilot error resulted in a series of events that climaxed with the crash of the plane in the San Gabriel mountains in Northern Los Angeles County, California. Miraculously, he was able to descend the mountain and eventually encountered a family living in the area who alerted authorities that a survivor of the crash had been found. Suddenly without his father, young Norman is forced to keep going in life without the words, wisdom and encouragement of the man he called Dad. In 2006, he began to write this book, his life story and his memories of his father while growing up in Malibu, California.
You must be logged in to post a comment.