- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: University of Illinois Press (25 May 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0252077326
- ISBN-13: 978-0252077326
- Product Dimensions: 22.1 x 14.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,715,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Through documentary materials, personal interviews, and oral histories, Cantor makes a good case for Dewey as an essential ingredient in the rise of rock-and-roll." Memphis "Cantor's biography offers more than the story of an underappreciated disc jockey and his relationship to Elvis. Woven throughout the book is thoughtful, original, and illuminating research on the social history of race and how notions about racial identity and geographical space informed the ways in which the segregated white and black residents of Memphis interacted and were involved in one another's musical cultures and social spheres." The Journal of Southern History "The book does a fine job of describing the Memphis scene, Dewey's ascent to the heights of popularity and the too-familiar fall from grace due to drugs and alcohol. It also makes a strong case for Daddy-O-Dewey getting more credit for his part in shaping the future of Rock 'N' Roll. Dewey and Elvis is a fascinating read well worth your time." Crossroads Blues Society News "The strength of this work lies in Cantor's use of oral histories and personal interviews with people who spent time with the major figures he discusses: Dewey Phillips, Presley, and Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records. In describing them the author provides an account of the biracial culture of Memphis during the 1950s and its musical scene on the eve of Elvis's rise to fame. Very little has been written on Dewey Phillips, who was extremely popular locally before Presley or Sam Phillips ever became known, and Cantor contends that their respective legacies owe much, if not all, to Dewey's influence. This biographical work should be in all music collections. Essential." Choice "Cantor takes us on the Dewey Phillips journey with an intelligence and rigour that is seldom found in run of the mill pop biographies, placing him firmly in the same terrain as Guralnick and Bowman rather than the cut and paste" merchants who populate the mainstream market...What's particularly powerful about the book are the exhaustive personal interviews, the anecdotes and insights from any number of key figures from the period, including Sam Phillips, George Klein and Dewey's wife Dot Phillips...This book is an essential read for all lovers of R & B and American southern music." Shades of Blue
Product Description
Beginning in 1949, while Elvis Presley and Sun Records were still virtually unknown - and two full years before Alan Freed famously 'discovered' rock 'n' roll - Dewey Phillips brought rock 'n' roll to the Memphis airwaves by playing Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and Muddy Waters on his nightly radio show Red, Hot and Blue. The mid-South's most popular white deejay, 'Daddy-O-Dewey' is part of rock 'n' roll history for being the first major disc jockey to play Elvis Presley (and subsequently to conduct the first live, on-air interview with Elvis). This book illustrates Phillips' role in turning a huge white audience on to previously forbidden race music. His zeal for rhythm and blues legitimized the sound and set the stage for both Elvis' subsequent success and the rock 'n' roll revolution of the 1950s. Using personal interviews, documentary sources, and the oral history collections at the Center for Southern Folklore and the University of Memphis, Louis Cantor presents a very personal view of the disc jockey while arguing for his place as an essential part of rock 'n' roll history.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
On the air, the real Dewey Phillips was always a bit stranger than any fictional radio character ever invented. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
On the air, the real Dewey Phillips was always a bit stranger than any fictional radio character ever invented. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Dewey Phillips, no relation to Sun Records Sam Phillips was the first DJ anywhere to play Elvis' first Sun release, "That's alright Mama" on his Red Hot and Blue show on Memphis radio station WHBQ,based on the mezzanine floor of the Chiska Hotel in Memphis. Dewey worked hard to become a DJ, starting off in a departments stores record department, where he rewired the the internal PA system speakers in order to blast the latest hits out into the street, increasing the stores record sales ten fold.
Dewey made out own Jimmy Saville look normal, setting a trend Jimmy and other DY's were inspired by. The book itself covers his close relationship with Elvis, Elvis often dropping in when in town to watch Dewey at work.
Dewey was so hard on the equipment at WHBQ other DJ's refused to share with him, so Dewey had his own studio, which required an almost total rebuild every few months.
Dewey's life eventually, through clashes with the studio owners spiraled out of control, and he eventually ended up on the streets, telling anyone who showed concern for him sat at the side of the road, that he was alright, and Elvis was on his way to pick him up. Which he never was,although Elvis took care of Dewey whenever he could.
If you want to read about another legend out of Memphis, this is a must read, and won't disappoint.
Read and enjoy.
Dewey made out own Jimmy Saville look normal, setting a trend Jimmy and other DY's were inspired by. The book itself covers his close relationship with Elvis, Elvis often dropping in when in town to watch Dewey at work.
Dewey was so hard on the equipment at WHBQ other DJ's refused to share with him, so Dewey had his own studio, which required an almost total rebuild every few months.
Dewey's life eventually, through clashes with the studio owners spiraled out of control, and he eventually ended up on the streets, telling anyone who showed concern for him sat at the side of the road, that he was alright, and Elvis was on his way to pick him up. Which he never was,although Elvis took care of Dewey whenever he could.
If you want to read about another legend out of Memphis, this is a must read, and won't disappoint.
Read and enjoy.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A fascinating, smoothly flowing examination of one man's life and contributions to popular music
5 Sep 2005
Format:Hardcover
Dewey And Elvis: The Life And Times Of A Rock 'n' Roll Deejay is a biography drawn from personal interviews, documentary sources, and oral history collections to give a personal, no-holds-barred view of celebrated disc jockey Dewey Phillips. Indiana University professor emeritus of history Louis Cantor suggests that Phillips zeal for and promotion of rhythm and blues music set the stage for a 1950's transformation in rock-'n'-roll, not to mention Elvis' legendary success. A fascinating, smoothly flowing examination of one man's life and contributions to popular music in the mid-twentieth century.
Pleasantly Surprised
22 July 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have to admit that I approached this book with some hesitation. I was not sure I wanted to spend the money and time finding out about a "Rock 'n' Roll Deejay." (The title did not reassure me.) Yet I was curious about Phillips, a much-mentioned but distant figure in the Sun Records and Presley story. Turns out, it is a very good book about both, but even more so about Dewey Phillips himself and the role of DJs in promoting the music. The author shows Phillips as the comic and tragic character that he was, with sympathy but without the uncritical or "gotcha" attitudes that mar much writing about this music. I learned a lot about the origins of R and R and the music industry in the South in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as how the Presley phenom came into being. Phillips' relationship with Elvis both made him and destroyed him. He ended up an alcoholic and drug addict in lonely isolation. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips (no relation) and Presley more or less had to support his estranged family as he descended into his personal hell. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in those subjects. A good and informative read, and a very interesting story.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Film, Television & Music > Music > Rock & Pop
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Rock & Pop > Styles
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Radio > History & Criticism
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Communication Studies > Media & Communication Industries > Radio
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
