Legendary Locals Of Shreveport

Legendary Locals of Shreveport chronicles fascinating people who have made a difference in the Shreveport–Bossier City area. Some are good, some are bad, and more than a few are wicked. There are movie starlets, entertainers, decorated war veterans, gangsters, preachers, madams, politicians, giants of industry, and humble folk who rose to greatness or infamy. Shreveport began as a rough and tumble frontier town that came late to being “civilized.” A Baptist preacher shot one of Quantrill’s Raiders when he rode his horse into church during a Sunday service. The most famous madam in the region was also a suffragette. The first successful bankers in Shreveport were immigrants from Prussia who developed a business model that extends into the modern era. Shreveport lost one quarter of its population in less than a month due to a yellow fever epidemic. And that is just the beginning.

To borrow words from Stan “The Record Man” Lewis, Shreveport, Louisiana, is one of this nation's most important “regional-sound cities.” Its musical distinctiveness has been shaped by individuals and ensembles, record label and radio station owners, announcers and disc jockeys, club owners and sound engineers, music journalists and musicians. The area's output cannot be described by a single genre or style. Rather, its music is a kaleidoscope of country, blues, R&B, rockabilly, and rock. Shreveport Sounds in Black and White presents that evolution in a collection of scholarly and popular writing that covers institutions and people who nurtured the musical life of the city and surroundings. The contributions of icons like Leadbelly and Hank Williams, and such lesser-known names as Taylor-Griggs Melody Makers and Eddie Giles come to light. New writing explores the famed Louisiana Hayride, musicians Jimmie Davis and Dale Hawkins, local disc jockey “Dandy Don” Logan, and KWKH studio sound engineer Bob Sullivan. With glimpses into the lives of original creators, Shreveport Sounds in Black and White reveals the mix that emerges from the ongoing interaction between the city's black and white musicians.

Located at the center of the 12 rural parishes that comprise northeastern Louisiana, Monroe has long been a tiny metropolis offering its citizens a taste of the colorful politics and rich cultural history for which the Bayou State is known. Featuring the tales of the area's most prominent politicians, innovators, entrepreneurs, broadcasters, musicians, reality stars, athletes, educators, movers, shakers, and rabble-rousers, Legendary Locals of Monroe takes a look at the characters whose fascinating stories paint the vibrant history of this southern river city. Presented in a clear, concise format, this volume features biographical accounts that range from inspiring and captivating to shocking and tragic. Profiles include such notable locals as indie-film queen Parker Posey, Coca-Cola innovator Joseph Biedenharn, pizza restaurant dynamo Johnny Huntsman, Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton, baseball great Chuck Finley, country music superstar Andy Griggs, internationally renowned composer Frank Ticheli, flamboyant politician Shady Wall, and many more.

In 1831, Richard McLemore received a federal land grant of 2,000 acres located in the future Lauderdale County, Mississippi. He gave free land to those he considered good neighbors and built his home within the one square mile that would be incorporated as Meridian on February 10, 1860. On Valentine's Day 1864, Gen. W.T. Sherman's troops marched into the small railroad town. After burning the town, Sherman wrote in his journal, "Meridian . . . no longer exists." Meridian did survive and became Mississippi's largest city due to its railroad and timber industries and progressive settlers like the Weidmanns, Marks-Rothenbergs, Threefoots, Rushes, Rosenbaums, Rileys, Andersons, and others. Within these pages, meet the people who proved Sherman wrong and continue to influence the area today.

Fair Lawn's early history can be traced back to the Lenni-Lenape tribe before the early founders from the 1700s such as Peter Garretson and Jacob Vanderbeck settled the area. Through the years, it has been home to businessmen, entertainers, and even heroes, like police officer Mary Ann Collura who was fatally shot pursuing a suspect. Some have been lifelong members of the community, like Mayor John Cosgrove and state senator Robert Gordon. Marge and Julian Bornstein and Henry "Pop" Milnes are remembered for their service to Fair Lawn. Two youngsters found success on the Broadway stage with Donna Vivino in Wicked and Trevor Braun in Billy Elliot. Legendary Locals of Fair Lawn highlights a variety of the people and businesses who have contributed to both the town and the country.

Detroit sports a very uneven background. The city dates from 1701, when Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac planted the flag of New France, some 75 years before America became a nation. Almost two-thirds of Detroit's history was spent as little more than a frontier military outpost--home to French farmers and fur traders who shared the quarters with the soldiers. But as the 20th century arrived, the impact of the automobile roused the city from its slumber. Within a century's time, the industry set in motion by Henry Ford produced a skyrocketing population, a diverse mosaic of ethnic groups, and levels of culture and affluence rivaled by few other places. The literature of Joyce Carol Oates, the architecture of Albert Kahn, and the music fostered by Berry Gordy enriched life and created the "Paris of the Midwest." But growing pains were inevitable: growing racial instability culminated in the insurrection of 1967, inflicting deep wounds yet creating new opportunities for harmony and justice that were capitalized on by Rev. William Cunningham. Today, efforts continue to remove the tarnish from this corner of the "Rust Belt."

Lean back into Louisiana lore with an earful of New Orleans jazz and a bellyful of Cajun cuisine. But when the music dies down and the lights flicker out, hushed conversations bleed into the darker mysteries of the Pelican State. Storied outlaws like John Murrell, Eugene Bunch and Leather Britches Smith steal into the room. Voodoo priestesses Marie Laveau and Julia Brown are already there, along with the Phantom Whistler and the Axeman of New Orleans. Folklorist Alan Brown educates and entertains with tales of the unseemly, bizarre and otherworldly, like the legends of the Rougarou, the Lutin and the Honey Island Swamp Monster.

(Book). The guitar, particularly in its electric form, is the most influential instrument of the past 60 years. Guitar Masters spotlights the players who made it that way: the visionary talents and living legends who developed the sound and style of the electric guitar as we know and love it. This book traces the life stories and assesses the musical legacies of such superstar guitarists as Jeff Beck and Keith Richards as well as anonymous but influential sidemen and behind-the-scenes stalwarts such as James Burton. Veteran music journalist Alan di Perna draws on three decades' worth of experience as a writer and interviewer to extract the essence of what makes these gifted guitarists so influential and unique. Their stories are as diverse as they are inspiring. Yet what all these guitar masters share is an unshakable dedication to their craft and a deeply intuitive connection with their chosen instrument. Whether you're a fan, a player, or a master in your own right, Guitar Masters will give you new insights into the lives and music of the players to whom we owe our very notion of what a guitar sounds like and its extraordinary power to move people like no other instrument.