Dreams to Remember

Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul

14 July 2015

Mark Ribowsky (Author)

Description

A soul icon and the southern music he helped popularise come to life in this moving requiem.

When he died suddenly at the age of twenty-six, Otis Redding (1941–1967) was the conscience of a new kind of soul music. Berry Gordy built the first black-owned music empire at Motown but Redding was doing something as historic: mainstreaming black music within the whitest bastions of the post-Confederate south. As a result, the Redding story—still largely untold—is one of great conquest but grand tragedy. Now, in this transformative work, Mark Ribowsky contextualises Redding’s life within the larger cultural movements of his era. What emerges in Dreams to Remember is not only a triumph of music history but also a reclamation of a visionary who would come to define an entire era.

Reviews

"A lot of familiar ground is inevitably covered, but Ribowsky is largely equal to the task of making it seem fresh again...He's especially good at the way the music business at the time was run…" — Uncut

"Ribowsky tackles his subject matter with conviction and aplomb, reaffirming Redding's seismic role in Southern soul music..." — Record Collector

"His [Ribowsky's] understanding of the music is exemplary..." — Mojo

"...lively and judicious account of the life of Otis Redding..." — The Daily Telegraph

Awards

Shortlisted — Marfield Prize for Arts Writing, 2015

Also By: Mark Ribowsky View all by author...

Hardback

9780871408730

170 x 246 mm • 400 pages

£21.99

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Ebook

9780871408747

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£13.99

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