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Beneath the Underdog
 
 
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Beneath the Underdog (Paperback)

by Charles Mingus (Author), Richard Williams (Introduction)
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Payback Press; New edition edition (Oct 1995)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0862415454
  • ISBN-13: 978-0862415457
  • Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.4 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 678,514 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
These memoirs are of the great bassist and jazz composer Charles Mingus. Completed years before his death in 1979, this is the story of: growing up in the Watts, Los Angeles of the 1920s and 30s, ruled by a strap-wielding father and Bible-quoting stepmother; Mingus's outcast adolescent years ("a yella kid, running with the mongrels"); his apprenticeship, not only with jazzmen, but also with pimps, hookers, junkies and hoodlums; and his golden years in New York City with such legendary figures as Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. Here is Mingus in his own words, from shabby roadhouses to fabulous estates, from the psychiatric wards of Bellevue to worlds of mysticism and solitude. But for all his travels, he never strayed too far, always returning to the music.

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars read it again and again!, 15 Mar 2001
By A Customer
Mingus starts with his birth experience, oddball schooldays, from being bullied to being a pimp to having a jam with Tatum and falling in love with Bird. All the way you are absorbed into how he thinks, his attitudes, and especially his vulnerability, its very frank and cutting. Some of the best parts include his relationship with Fats Navarro, which have some really deep undertones, his first go at pimping with meeting his "uncle" in San Fran, to his trip to New York. Honestly, along with Art Peppers book, this is one of the best up front books documenting a jazz musicians (ming would deny he was one) life. You will read it many times!!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Beneath the Underdog, 29 April 2007
By Spider Monkey (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Beneath the Underdog (Paperback)
This is a good look at the life of Mingus, written in a very open, honest and conversational style. It isn't so much about his music life, as about his lifestyle that helped create the jazz he played. If you want an in-depth look at his recording career and concerts then look elsewhere, but if you want an in-depth look at the man then this is the place. You get plenty of stories of his childhood and various loves, as well as his experiences with being a pimp and in a psychiatric ward. An engrossing read, I gave it only four stars as I came away knowing very little about his music career, but that doesn't take away from the intimate nature of this autobiography and portrayal of the man.
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5.0 out of 5 stars MINGUS the surprising, 1 Jun 2009
By Nikica Gilic (Zagreb, Croatia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Beneath the Underdog (Paperback)
First of all, it was really surprising for me to see how much of the book has nothing to do with the music - this is a very personall confession, told in a form of a novel in which, accidentally, some of the characters (besides Mingus) have the names of Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and, since the depiction of Red Norvo is not very flattering (and he was very much alive when the book was published), he is "hidden" but instantly recognizible to anyone who has some knowledge of the illustrious carreer of Charles (not Charlie!) Mingus...

The hero of this autobiography/novel, very often presented in third-person narration, is very much concerned with spirituality and sexuality, so the important people from the author's life (family, friends, lovers, prostitutes, pimps, medical professionals) are often not the ones you've heard of before reading the book, while some familiar names (Fats Navarro, Nat Hentoff) are here because they were important for the main topic of the book. And the topic is Charles Mingus, the human being, the man - Afican, White and Asian /but dominantly black/ - musician, lover, son, father, patient... Lover again...

Naturally, if you DON'T know much about Mingus' remarkable music, you will hardly reach for the book but, if you do, this will be an interesting insight into his rich mind.
Eric Dolphy is mentioned only once, I don't remember the mention of people like Danny Richmond or Jimmy Knepper in the entire book, but the web of a complex and intricate life is remarkably presented. Compared to the music, this is not the best work of Charles Mingus, but if you like his music you probably won't mind reading this... After all, there's a lot of sex, psychiatry, violence and music inside this book; there's something for everyone's taste.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like Iceberg Slim...
If you like Iceberg Slim then you'll probably like this one. If you were expecting stories of Mingus going doo-do-doo-doo-do with Bird and Miles you'll be disappointed by all but... Read more
Published 21 months ago by David Hampson

4.0 out of 5 stars An intimate recounting of Mingus' life rather than of his music
First, let me say the writing is both beautiful and original as Mingus recounts his life at the third person, as if told by some guardian angel. Read more
Published 21 months ago by F. X. Dessioux

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