The high times and hard times of six of the greatest rhythm and blues artists unfold in this vivid slice of oral history.

Chip Deffaa has created incredible profiles of Ruth Brown, the most popular female black singer of the early 1950s; LaVern Baker, who succeeded Brown; Little Jimmy Scott, whom Madonna calls the only singer who ever really made her cry; Charles Brown, master of the "club blues" style he popularised. Floyd Dixon, a more rambunctious fellow traveller; and Jimmy Witherspoon, whose blend of earthiness and urbanity helped earn him as big an R&B hit as was ever recorded. Deffaa deals not only with the performers' music, but also with their struggles against racism and financial exploitation, capturing both the lives of these legends and the world in which they changed the course of American music.

"Deffaa displays a deep understanding of the artists' struggles and of their music…A wealth of fresh and detailed information." - Jazziz

"Delicious reading…interviews dissolve into a compelling narrative that transports us through the history of rhythm and blues." - MultiCultural Review

CONTENTS:
Ruth Brown: "Nobody knows you..."
Little Jimmy Scott: "Like a motherless child..."
Charles Brown: "I'm driftin' and driftin'..."
Floyd Dixon: "Hard living alone..."
LaVern Baker: "Where ya been so long?"
Jimmy Witherspoon: "How long blues?"

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