Heart & soul

by Bob Merlis

From the decline of the Big Band sound to the emergence of Black Pride, Sly, Superfly and the Funk, Heart & Soul celebrates the nearly half-century of vibrant, flamboyant and extravagant flowering in African American culture that enriched the entire world. Here is a musical history told in legends, facts and rumors every bit as colorful as the images that illustrate the book. The story is filled with characters such as O.V. Wright, a singer deemed "too ugly to tour"; Frankie Lymon, who received a hot dog as full payment for some of the greatest R&B songs of all time; LaVern Baker, a.k.a. "Little Miss Sharecropper"; Billie Holiday shooting dice with the boys on the bus; Solomon Burke, R&B immortal and Doctor of Mortuary Sciences; soul ghoul Screamin' Jan Hawkins locked in his coffin by the Drifters; and many other talented and unique entertainers. Illustrated with more than 400 original photographs, publicity shots, posters, programs, advertisements, program covers, magazine covers, alb