I came
across a fantastic book titled Southern
Soul-Blues by David Whiteis, a book that should be read by everyone wanting to know
anything about the music we call southern soul. Unfortunately, hard copy print media including books, newspapers, and magazines are slowly becoming obsolete, but here’s a book that discusses southern soul like
you’ve never heard and provides a ton of info.
Mr. Whiteis wrote this book to not only give a snapshot of the current
southern soul scene but to also show us about our musical history. He profiles some great veteran and new
artists and has wonderful stories.
In addition
to singing, who knew Denise LaSalle could write?? She provided an excellent foreword on
“America’s Prodigal Son” and has an interesting way in which she describes the
life of the southern soul artist. I like
how she talks about how people in other countries love and respect the music
while America has little or no regard for it.
She, as other artists, love America because it is home but we need to
wake up and accept the music and give it the respect it rightfully
deserves. Otherwise, southern soul will
always be the prodigal son. That is so
deep yet so true.
In the next
few weeks, I’ll be posting tidbits from different chapters of Southern Soul-Blues . I can’t believe the things that I’ve learned
about Sir Charles Jones, Willie Clayton, Ms. Jody, and other artists!!
Stay tuned.
XXOOXX
Southern Soul Paradise
southernsoulparadise@hotmail.com
@ssoulparadise
