Born in Berkeley, California, to a Greek immigrant family, JOHNNY OTIS grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood and developed a passionate commitment to the culture and music of African-Americans. He became a professional musician and went on to become a successful performer, composer, record producer, and talent scout. Otis wrote and performed the rock and roll hit "Willie and the Hand Jive," played with such greats as Charlie Parker, Count Basie, and Lester Young, and discovered and promoted such stars as Little Esther Phillips and Big Mama Thornton. An author, sculptor, and painter as well, Otis continues t tour and perform regularly.
Music legend Otis's lifelong activism spans music, religion, politics, and business. This latest endeavor, a mix of music, culture, and race politics, is a bold and risky attempt to rattle white America's conscience. Otis assigns his intended readership of salvageable (socially conscious) whites the monumental task of going ``upside'' the head of the ``lip-servicing'' Euro-American whites, whom Otis most vehemently resents. The book basks in a bygone era, when black music as an American art form grew out of poverty yet sustained dignity. Remembrances, interviews, and abundant photos form the basis of a Who's Who of rhythm and blues and early jazz. From L.A.'s Central Avenue of the 1930s, to the rebellion of the 1960s, to Rodney King, Dan Quayle, and Maya Angelou's poem, there's much food for thought. Of interest to music and social historians as well as lay readers.-- Cynthia Cordes, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.
"As his memoir demonstrates, Otis was an important (and largely
unheralded) pioneer of rock 'n' roll . . . His wonderful evocations
of L.A.'s rock 'n' roll world and the 80-odd pictures documenting
it make the book required reading for anyone interested in rock's
history."--Village Voice
"Musician, painter, sculptor and preacher Otis is an angry and
eloquent man who writes from the unique viewpoint of a white man
who has been immersed in African American culture and music since
childhood . . . this is a wake-up call for white
America."--Publishers Weekly
"An educational, entertaining, and frequently thought-provoking
book . . . it is a pleasure to see what Otis has done in the
decades since he disappeared from the charts and to find that his
writing has much of the same exuberance that he always showed in
his music."--Boston Globe
"As his memoir demonstrates, Otis was an important (and largely
unheralded) pioneer of rock 'n' roll . . . His wonderful evocations
of L.A.'s rock 'n' roll world and the 80-odd pictures documenting
it make the book required reading for anyone interested in rock's
history."--Village Voice
"Music legend Otis's lifelong activism spans music, religion,
politics, and business. This mix of music, culture, and race
politics is a bold and risky attempt to rattle white America's
conscience . . . Of interest to to music and social historians as
well as lay readers."--Library Journal
"To a lively, generously illustrated account of black music in Los
Angeles, its author adds a grievous counterpoint of outrage at the
causes of so much racial disharmony within that city."--Stanley
Dance, author of The World of Count Basie
"Upside Your Head! Serves as witness and testimonial to the
endurance of black cultural imagination and community. Most of all
the wisdom, passion, wit, anger, and insight which punctuates Otis'
testimony gives the book a sense of urgency and relevance to
present day social and cultural conditions.""--Herman Gray, author
of Producing Jazz
"To a lively, generously illustrated account of black music in Los
Angeles, its author adds a grievous counterpoint of outrage at the
causes of so much racial disharmony within that city."--Stanley
Dance, author of The World of Count Basie
Musician, painter, sculptor and preacher Otis (author of Listen to the Lambs and creator/performer of ``Willie and the Hand Jive'') is an angry and eloquent man who writes from the unique viewpoint of a white man who has been immersed in African American culture and music since childhood. His assertion that racism in American society may be worse than ever glistens with conviction and rage. Otis uses as his backdrop the development of jazz, blues and rock--particularly on the West Coast--in the 20th century, giving a fresh perspective on the contributions of black musicians and composers, while lamenting the appropriation of what were essentially black art forms by white society. Otis's recounting of his daily association with musicians both famous and unknown provides disturbing insights into the struggles of black performers in the U.S., and, by extension, African American society as a whole. The clarity and pace of Otis's style are deceptive; this is a wake-up call for white America. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)
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