Monkey House Blues


Book Description

In 1993, Dominic Stevenson left a comfortable life with his girlfriend in Kyoto, Japan, to travel to China. His journey took him to some of the most inhospitable and dangerous places in the world, from the poppy fields of the Afghan-Pakistan border to the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road, before he was arrested for drug smuggling while boarding a boat from Shanghai to Japan. After eight months on remand in a Chinese police lock-up, Stevenson was sentenced to two and a half years in one of the biggest prisons in the world, the Shanghai Municipal Prison aka 'The Monkey House'. There, he was imprisoned alongside just five westerners amongst five thousand Chinese criminals in a block for death row inmates and political prisoners, where the guards drank green tea and let the prison run itself. The experience led him to reflect on his previous life in Japan, India and Thailand, during which time he took on a varied array of jobs, including English teacher, karaoke-bar host, factory worker, busker, crystal seller and dope smuggler. From Afghan gun shops to Tibetan monasteries, Thai brothels and the stirrings of the rave culture in Goa, Monkey House Blues is a tale of discovery and rediscovery, of friendship and betrayal.




Po' Monkey's


Book Description

Outside of Merigold, Mississippi, off an unmarked dirt road, stands Po’ Monkey’s, perhaps the most famous house in Mississippi and the last rural juke joint in the state, now closed to the public. Before the death of the lounge’s owner, Willie Seaberry, in 2016, it was a mandatory stop on the constant blues pilgrimage that flows through the Delta. Seaberry ran Po’ Monkey’s Lounge for more than fifty years, opening his juke joint in the 1960s. A hand-built tenant home located on the plantation where Seaberry worked, Po’ Monkey’s was a place to listen to music and drink beer—a place to relax where everyone was welcomed by Seaberry’s infectious charm. In Po’ Monkey’s: Portrait of a Juke Joint, photographer Will Jacks captures the juke joint he spent a decade patronizing. The more than seventy black-and-white photographs featured in this volume reflect ten years of weekly visits to the lounge as a regular—a journal of Jacks’s encounters with other customers, tourists, and Willie Seaberry himself. An essay by award-winning writer Boyce Upholt on the cultural significance of the lounge accompanies the images. This volume explores the difficulties of preservation, historical context, community relations, and cultural tourism. Now that Seaberry is gone, the uncertainty of the future of his juke joint highlights the need for a historical record.




Kasey to the Rescue


Book Description

This is a story of how miracles DO happen. How courage and a never-give-up spirit can emerge victorious. How an engaging little monkey helped change a family's life. Ellen Rogers considered herself something of a tragedy snob. The single mother of five believed she could weather any storm, that she could keep her family from harm with fortitude and grace. But nothing could have prepared her for the June 2005 car accident that left her son, Ned--then 22 years old--fighting for his life. Ellen refused to give in to despair. We'll get through this, she told herself. We have to. But love and determination can only go so far, and the road home was fraught with obstacles. Ellen and Ned took comfort in family and friends. And they prayed for a miracle. Miracles happen to those who believe, the saying goes, but who would have believed that one family's "miracle" would weigh in at five pounds sopping wet? Then Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled provided Ned with an affectionate and intelligent service animal with a steadfast devotion to hierarchy, a longing for "spa days," and a craving for Gummi Bears. In other words, a diva. Life with Kasey was yet another challenge for this large and lively family, but they persevered as families do, and in time this wise and sensitive animal did more than help Ned cope with his disabilities--she turned the simple tasks of life into a life worth living. Kasey's astonishing intelligence and compassion brought hope and laughter back to a family facing its greatest challenge, and helped them see the world in a new way.




Last Day Blues


Book Description

During the last week of school, the students in Mrs. Hartwell's class try to come up with the perfect present for their teacher.




Lightnin' Hopkins


Book Description

Based on scores of interviews with the artist's relatives, friends, lovers, producers, accompanists, managers, and fans, this brilliant biography reveals a man of many layers and contradictions. Following the journey of a musician who left his family's poor cotton farm at age eight carrying only a guitar, the book chronicles his life on the open road playing blues music and doing odd jobs. It debunks the myths surrounding his meetings with Blind Lemon Jefferson and Texas Alexander, his time on a chain gang, his relationships with women, and his lifelong appetite for gambling and drinking. This volume also discusses his hard-to-read personality; whether playing for black audiences in Houston's Third Ward, for white crowds at the Matrix in San Francisco, or in the concert halls of Europe, Sam Hopkins was a musician who poured out his feelings in his songs and knew how to endear himself to his audience--yet it was hard to tell if he was truly sincere, and he appeared to trust no one. Finally, this book moves beyond exploring his personal life and details his entire musical career, from his first recording session in 1946--when he was dubbed Lightnin'--to his appearance on the national charts and his rediscovery by Mack McCormick and Sam Charters in 1959, when his popularity had begun to wane and a second career emerged, playing to white audiences rather than black ones. Overall, this narrative tells the story of an important blues musician who became immensely successful by singing with a searing emotive power about his country roots and the injustices that informed the civil rights era.




The Language of the Blues


Book Description

A comprehensive dictionary of blues lyrics invites listeners to interpret what they hear in blues songs and blues culture, including excerpts from original interviews with Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, and many others.




Rainy Day! (Blue's Clues & You)


Book Description

An all-new step 1 Step into Reading leveled reader starring Blue and her pals from Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues & You-includes over 30 stickers! It's raining outside! Play Blue's Clues with Josh to find out what Blue wants to do on this rainy day in this sweet step 1 Step into Reading leveled reader with over 30 stickers-perfect for Blue's Clues & You fans ages 3 to 5. Step 1 readers feature big type and easy words. Rhymes and rhythmic text paired with picture clues help children decode the story. For children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading. Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues & You stars Joshua Dela Cruz as he searches for clues left by energetic puppy Blue in order to solve a daily puzzle. The series combines the best interactive and educational elements of Nickelodeon's original Blue's Clues with a refreshed signature look.




Black Recording Artists, 1877-1926


Book Description

This annotated discography covers the first 50 years of audio recordings by black artists in chronological order, music made in the "acoustic era" of recording technology. The book has cross-referenced bibliographical information on recording sessions, including audio sources for extant material, and appendices on field recordings; Caribbean, Mexican and South American recordings; piano rolls performed by black artists; and a filmography detailing the visual record of black performing artists from the period. Indexes contain all featured artists, titles recorded and labels.




That Floating Bridge


Book Description

Alive to history in the making (and the weight of the past) this volume examines Obama's presidency and Lyndon Johnson's, the killing of Trayvon Martin and the death of Andrew Breitbart, Occupy Wall Street and "America Beyond Capitalism." It presents essays, poems, and plays that speak to our times and challenge the liberal imagination. The title, That Floating Bridge, evokes Representative John Lewis' line "Obama is what comes at the end of that bridge in Selma" as it quotes a track on Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues, which Scott Spencer lauds here in a review for the Ages.That Floating Bridge's peerless range of contributors includes Amiri Baraka, Gar Alperovitz, Bernard Avishai, Uri Avnery, Bill Ayers, Paul Berman, John Chernoff, Mark Dudzic, Carmelita Estrellita, Henry Farrell, Fr. Rick Frechette, Donna Gaines, David Golding, Eugene Goodheart, Lawrence Goodwyn, Lisa Guenther, Alec Harrington, Malcolm Harris, Casey Hayden, Christopher Hayes, Patterson Hood, Roxane Johnson, Ben Kessler, Bob Levin, Philip Levine, Bongani Madondo, Greil Marcus, Scott McLemee, Judy Oppenheimer, Jedediah Purdy, Nick Salvatore, Aram Saroyan, Tom Smucker, Fredric Smoler, Violet Socks, A. B. Spellman, Scott Spencer, Richard Torres, Jesmyn Ward, and Pablo Yglesias.An account of how Franz Boas "did more to combat race prejudice than any other person" anchorsone section, but the volume also addresses devolutions of "diversity" linked with careerism in the art world and academe. An un-scholastic section titled "Criticism of Life"celebrates older and younger critics/poets. Songs are key to this volume's good times. Music writing ranging from Eddie Hinton's Very Extremely Dangerous to Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet enhances the pleasures of this text.




Moanin' Low


Book Description

The first comprehensive guide to pre-1934 female popular vocal recordings sung in English—from around the world and including all styles—this discographical study includes solos, duets, trios, and quartets composed by the great songwriters of the early 1900s (from Irving Berlin to Victor Young). The majority of the listings includes material that has not been previously published, and a large number of entries profile such prolific artists as Helen Clark and Gladys Rice, who are not in previous discographies. A special feature includes data on sound-on-disc recording made for early talking-picture musical shorts (especially by Vitaphone) that is not documented elsewhere. A comprehensive title index includes composer credits for the majority of the titles listed. The first comprehensive guide to pre-1934 female popular vocal recordings sung in English—from around the world and including all styles—this discographical study includes solos, duets, trios, and quartets composed by the great songwriters of the early 1900s (from Irving Berlin to Victor Young). The majority of the listings includes material that has not been previously published, and a large number of entries profile such prolific artists as Helen Clark and Gladys Rice, who are not in previous discographies. A special feature includes data on sound-on-disc recording made for early talking-picture musical shorts (especially by Vitaphone) that is not documented elsewhere. A comprehensive title index includes composer credits for the majority of the titles listed. Many of the records documented in this volume are by the artists who introduced these songs at this time or who performed them in the original productions of the shows or movies for which they were written. The singing styles include those of cabaret performers, music-hall and vaudeville acts. Songs for the stage, screen, and radio are also included.