Search results for ""Author Thomas M. Kitts""

Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else is a critical biography of Ray Davies, with a focus on his music and his times. The book studies Davies’ work from the Kinks’ first singles through his 2006 solo album, from his rock musicals in the early 1970s to his one-man stage show in the 1990s, and from his films to his autobiography. Based on interviews with his closest associates, as well as studies of the recordings themselves, this book creates the most thorough picture of Davies’ work to date. Kitts situates Davies’ work in the context of the British Invasion and the growth of rock in the '60s and '70s, and in the larger context of English cultural history. For fans of rock music and the music of the Kinks, this book is a must have. It will finally place this legendary innovator in the pantheon of the great rock artists of the past half-century.Thomas M. Kitts, Professor of English and Chair of the Division of English/Speech at St. John’s University, NY, is the co-editor of Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks, the author of The Theatrical Life of George Henry Boker, articles on American literature and popular culture, reviews of books, CDs, and performances, and a play Gypsies. He is the book review editor of Popular Music and Society and the editor of The Mid-Atlantic Almanack.

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One of America’s great rock and roll pioneers, Richie Furay played alongside Neil Young and Stephen Stills in Buffalo Springfield, producing some of the signature sounds of American folk rock. He went on to form Poco, one of the bands that founded California country rock, and then Souther-Hillman-Furay. After declaring himself a Christian in 1974, Furay released four solo albums before taking up the ministry in 1983. He began recording again in 1997, and over the next twenty-five years he released two Christian and five secular albums.In this biography of Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Richie Furay, Thomas Kitts provides an intimate look at Furay’s life and music. Kitts chronicles the musician’s upbringing, his musical career, and his Christianity, drawing on interviews with Furay and others close to him. In documenting Furay’s extraordinary talent as a songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, Kitts argues that although he never attained the level of stardom of many of his bandmates, Furay is a pivotal figure in American popular music.Fans of Buffalo Springfield, Poco, and country-rock music will enjoy this quintessentially American story of a young man on a quest to fulfill his rock-and-roll dreams.

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