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Where Dead Voices Gather (Paperback)

by Nick Tosches (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (Aug 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0316895377
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316895378
  • Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 14.1 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,014,507 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

For Tosches, biographer of Dean Martin and Sonny Liston, writing a life of Emmett Miller - the blackface performer whose yodel, like the cornet of Buddy Bolden, rode across the night sky in the early years of jazz - was like chasing a chimera. Against a background of crackling 78s, those few fellow artistes remaining dredge up their memories to shed light on Miller's forgotten brilliance. What adds another dimension is Tosches' comparison of minstrelsy with the modern world of gangsta rap. "Is the pose of many contemporary rap groups dissimilar in essence to that of the 'coon' acts of the past?", he asks bravely. "Is an exaggerated pretence of being dangerous and lawless anything more than a variation on the exaggerated pretence of being benign, comical and docile...?" This is courageous, controversial writing. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


The New York Times Book Review

‘Memorable…full of roguish passion and sardonic humour.’ --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Blackface Pardoned, 15 Sep 2007
By P. Smith "philreadsbooks" (Blackpool, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Where Dead Voices Gather (Paperback)
Daring as ever, Tosches here attempts to excavate all he can about the life & times of long-forgotten blackface minstrel Emmett Miller. Starting with nothing but a few scratchy 78s, he treks across the States, piecing together the history of a man who didn't mean that much to that many but who somehow now sums up that period and maybe tells us something about this one too.

I happened upon a compilation of Miller's work soon after reading this and there is no doubt that he has his moments, vocally gliding through the sweet melodies of The Old America, but the book is really about our attitudes to blackface and music in general. Tosches attempts to give an alternative view to the simplistic dismissal of blackface as racism and makes some controversial but pertinent points about today's rappers essentially going through the same motions (a point also picked up on in Spike Lee's film Bamboozled).

At times, the book lapses into endless reams of 78 titles, as Tosches draws endless obscure comparisons and makes ever more labyrinthine connections. However, as an obsessive work of music archaeology, it comes very highly rated. Definitely one for those who can never read too much about the more obscure corners of our music world.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Painstakingly researched., 4 Oct 2009
By R. Snow "Rusty nut" (sussex,england) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Where Dead Voices Gather (Paperback)
This book is obviously the work of years of research and dedication, even obsession! Not just about Emmett Miller but Nick Tosches traces Minstrelsy back to before the American civil war and follows through right up to recent musical history.He touches on lots of different people and events and gives some insight into why things are as they are, or his view of them. At times I found this book a bit heavy going, detail-laden ramblings and going off on a tangent taxed my concentration. Others of course will relish this tendency. What has the origin of the word "Wop" got to do with Emmett Miller, for instance? There are a lot of, to me, pointless deviations and the idea that almost everything is copied from earlier times. Also, I have found a mistaken notion in it. On page 119 (there are no chapters) it states that the phrase "As you sow, so shall you reap." is not in either the Old or New Testament. This is wrong for Galatians Chapter 6 verse 7 does read "Whatever a man sows,that he will also reap" So the paragraphs that follow that statement are somewhat less valid. I am also convinced this book would benefit from having some illustrations on the subjects under discussion.Maybe I am betraying my childish need for pictures! Mr. Tosches many times refers to various photo's of Emmett Miller that he has seen, but none are shown. Would it spoil the mystery to show them? If you are interested in Emmett Miller, Minstrelsy, Blackface or early American recording history, you may appreciate this book.
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