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TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BOOKS
MINNEAPOLIS
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NOTE TO READERS: some songs and music videos
by artists discussed in this book contain language and
images that readers may consider offensive.
Copyright 2013 by Aaron Mendelson
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior
written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief
quotations in an acknowledged review.
Twenty-First Century Books
A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.
Website address: www.lernerbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mendelson, Aaron
American R & B: gospel grooves, funky drummers, and soul power / by Aaron
Mendelson.
p. cm. (American music milestones)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780761345015 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)
ISBN 9781467759670 (Audisee ISBN)
ISBN 9781467701518 (eBook)
1. Soul musicHistory and criticismJuvenile literature. 2. rhythm and blues
musicHistory and criticismJuvenile literature. I. title. II. title: soul/rhythm
and blues.
ML3537.M46 2013
781.644dc23
2011045636
Manufactured in the United states of america
2 PC 8/1/13
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Further Reading,
Websites,
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EVERY DAY, AROUND THE WORLD, PEOPLE LISTEN
TO RHYTHM AND BLUES MUSIC, OR R & B.
A fan might hear Aretha Franklin
on an iPod, Michael Jackson on
a vinyl record, or Beyonc on the
radio. R & B fans live everywhere,
in places as far apart as Macon,
Georgia; New York City; and
Lagos, Nigeria. They have danced
and sung along to R & B for more
than fifty years.
From James Brown to Janet
Jackson, R & B musicians have
made exciting and original music.
Theyve also created new styles,
such as soul and funk. But before it
was enjoyed worldwide, R & B was
a new genre. A handful of talented
musicians from the American South
played R & Bs first notes. They
mixed together African American
styles including gospel, blues, big
band, and doo-wop. One of these
musicians was Ray Charles.
Ray Charles didnt invent R & B by
himself, but throughout the 1950s,
his music was the best example. As
a boy, Ray Charles Robinson was
known as R.C. R.C. grew up in the
Jellyroll neighborhood of Green
ville, Florida, during the 1930s.
Jellyroll was the African American
part of town. R.C.s home was a
From Aretha OPPOSITE
PAGE to Beyonc LEFT and
Adele RIGHT, the artists of
R & B have fused different
styles of music to create
some of the geNres most
listeNed-to tuNes.
The BIRTH of R & B
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wooden shack, where he lived with
his mother and brother.
R.C. went blind at the age of
seven. By then he was already a
music lover. He learned to play the
piano in a nearby shop. The shops
owner, Mr. Pit, played the piano
around Greenville. R.C. would hang
around the shop and listen when
ever he could. He played the piano
when Pit wasnt using it, and R.C.